VeganMoFo 2018: V Rev Vegan Diner, Manchester

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Jenny

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT CLOSED IN 2022

Cuisine: American

Americans may be offended by this, but to a lot of Europeans, American cuisine just is fast food and burger joints. I’m embracing the stereotype! And I mean, it’s called a diner – what could be more American than that?!

V Rev is something of a Manchester vegan institution, and some of the locals seem weirdly proprietary towards it in a way they aren’t towards all the other vegan places around town. On the one hand, it’s great that people are passionate about it. On the other, it’s rubbish to see people attacked for expressing any less than 100% complimentary opinion about it. I wrote a lukewarm review of V Rev in its old premises. In autumn 2016 it moved on to a bigger and better location, and I think it’s fair to say it experienced a few teething problems, generally more with the staff than the food.  In autumn 2017 it closed due to flooding, and I finally visited it in December when it reopened with a new menu and real plates instead of plastic baskets, at last.

My expectations were quite low from the negative reviews, and as such V Rev was comfortably better than expected.  Some of the complaints were that it was always impossible to get a seat and that the tables are too close together – we arrived for an early lunch, but even by the time we left there were still free tables, and we felt there was a respectable distance between them.  The other main complaint is the waiting times, and even when we were the only customers we still had to wait over 30 minutes for our food, which I feel isn’t unreasonable but just starting to push it perhaps.  The food was warm when it arrived, which we’d heard wasn’t always the case.

There were two chicken-style burgers on the menu, and three or four beef.  We both went for chicken.  This was my southwestern one, which had some spicy mayo, a good slab of cheese and some delicious fried onions. 

Dr HH got the kenan and kale, which had added avocado – always a smart move! We both enjoyed our burgers, but found it a shame that both chicken options were quite similar.  We also found the seitan patties a little tough in places, but generally approved of that good crispy exterior.  Yum!

All the burgers come with regular fries for £1 and loaded for £2. I got the regular ones and thought they were the perfect fries!  Dr HH went bold with the poutine fries, which he really enjoyed.

This probably would have been enough to fill us up, but I believe vegan law states that if you see mac n cheese balls on the menu, you have to order them.  So we did, and I regret nothing!  They were crispy and delicious, and I’m trying to figure out how to recreate them.

There’s quite a tempting cocktail menu, but as it was barely midday I didn’t feel that I could indulge.  Instead, we shared a cookies and cream milkshake.  The thin, watery milkshakes are another common grievance I see online, and to those complainers I simply say: stir!  A good stir resulted in a consistently thicker and creamier milkshake, which was totally delicious.

All in all, V Rev was better than its detractors would have me believe, but not quite the vegan haven that its biggest supporters claim.  It’s definitely getting there though, I think.  My biggest complaint on the day was that the restaurant was absolutely freezing – we had to keep our coats on! Bear that in mind if you’re visiting in the colder months!

If  you’ve been to V Rev, what was your verdict? And what does American cuisine suggest to you?

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VeganMoFo 2018: The Real Greek, London

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Jenny

Cuisine: Greek

When I was mapping out this theme for VeganMoFo, I made a list of cuisines that I could easily tick off (Indian, Italian), and those that I could try to find but would be unlikely to succeed in – Greek was one of those. Besides using a Greek cookbook for a month, I don’t have much experience with Greek food since giving up feta when I became vegan. So I was very happy when I accidentally happened upon this Greek chain in London that had just introduced a vegan menu.

The vegan options were fairly extensive – numerous cold and hot mezze dishes, plus two heartier souvlaki wraps, and three dessert options (and yes, one of those is baklava). It’s very much a sharing sort of place – just order a few nibbles and tuck in. I like that kind of eating, but it depends on having a relaxing atmosphere where you can leisurely peck at food while you chat with your companions. The Real Greek (or at least the Covent Garden branch) is decidedly not that place.

The tables are squeezed in very close together, and there must be some problem with the acoustics that makes the whole place deafeningly loud – I did not feel at ease the whole time, hollering at Dr HH, whilst trying to prevent our neighbours from hearing our every word as well. Nor could we really take our time – we ordered three hot mezze dishes, and they arrived five minutes after we placed our order. On the one hand, it’s nice to get quick service. On the other hand, that’s suspiciously fast.

Of course, the most important thing to consider is the food itself. We couldn’t resist these chickpea filo triangles, which were flavoured with cumin, turmeric, sun-dried tomatoes, and chilli. You probably don’t need me to tell you how good that pastry was. Just look at it! The filling was nice, and the sun-dried tomatoes were definitely the winning touch. They really elevated this, flavour-wise.

Pastry craving satisfied, we decided to focus on recognisably Greek dishes to round out our meal. So we went for these gigandes plaki, or giant beans, in a tomato sauce. The sauce was very rich and herby, and I’d definitely recommend it. It’s just a shame that it (along with our other two dishes) was so heavily garnished with dill. I can’t stand dill, and I hadn’t realised it was so big in Greek cuisine.

And you can’t go for Greek food without getting a moussaka! This one was made with potato, courgette, aubergine, and jackfruit, and it was also nice and flavoursome. Not ideal for sharing, of course, but still tasty. It is worth noting that all of these hot dishes were served lukewarm rather than actually hot, which was a bit disappointing.

All in all, the food was tasty, but the temperature and the atmosphere let it down a bit. And you’d probably have to spend quite a bit of money (or order one of the dips with bread) in order to fill up – we shared these three courses because we just wanted a light meal, but if you were properly hungry you’d definitely need a couple more. I was disappointed not to have room for the baklava, and I’m not sure I’ll be willing to return to see if it’s any good.

Have you ever been to a restaurant that was too noisy to be enjoyable? And what’s the best Greek dish?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Mamy, Prague

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Jenny

Cuisine: Korean

Mamy remains the only Korean restaurant I’ve ever eaten in. It’s always our default option when we have visitors in town, as it’s one of the few Prague eateries I know with both meaty and vegan dishes on the menu. I don’t know much about Korean food, but I’ve always sort of assumed I wouldn’t like it. Just about every ESL teacher ends up in South Korea at some point, but the food was one factor that discouraged me from seriously considering it – not only the lack of meat-free options, but also the spiciness. Fortunately, I’ve found a few mild dishes on the Mamy menu that keep me going back for more.

It is always a good idea to order this fried tofu dish to start. Fried tofu is always a winner in my eyes, and when you factor in a tasty sauce, I’m sold!

The vegetable kimbab is also always a good option – yes, largely because it’s not remotely spicy. I always forget how filling things like this are. It looks like just a few mouthfuls, but before you know it you’ve eaten a whole sack of rice! These are always fresh and delicious.

Dr HH will order anything with dumplings on the side, and rightly so – they are crispy and delicious. He enjoyed this mandu tangsu, with is fried dumplings and vegetables with sweet and sour sauce. This was obviously not as overwhelmingly spicy as the dishes we ordered on our first visit, so he managed to devour the lot.

We also enjoyed this tofu bibimbab, a big bowl with fried tofu, carrots, onions, salad, soy sauce, and rice, with a little dish of soup on the side. This is a hearty dish, but perhaps not quite as exciting flavour-wise as some of the other things we’ve ordered.

I had high hopes for this teriyaki tofu dish, but it was actually disappointingly bland – the tofu hadn’t really absorbed the teriyaki sauce as I’d hoped. Even as a great defender of tofu, I can’t endorse this dish. But they do definitely know how to cook tofu (again, I refer you to the fried tofu starter), so don’t be discouraged from ordering something tofu based if you visit.

Will I ever branch out to another Korean restaurant?! Who knows!

What veganised Korean dishes are top of your list? Any non-spicy, non-fermented dishes you’d recommend for me? (Yes, I’m not a fan of kimchi.)

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VeganMoFo 2018: Sova Vegan Butcher, Dublin

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Jenny

UPDATE: this restaurant closed in 2023

Cuisine: Irish

VeganMoFo is a lot of work for just one person. So here is the gallant Dr HH taking the reins for a day for his annual guest post (check out his excellent previous contributions: the greatest scramble recipe of all time, a detailed history of the best burger vegan spot in Nottingham (the world?), and a guide to demolishing a giant serving of tigelle). What’s he got up his sleeve this year?

Hello Dr. HH here to take you on a culinary tour of Ireland. Around Easter time we went on a little adventure to Dublin for a few days for a little spring sunshine. We actually experienced days of rain, upon rain, upon rain. On the one day it didn’t rain, we were on a day trip a little closer to the coast and were greeted with howling winds instead. None of this could possibly deter us from some holiday feasting though.

You may be wondering, why is Dr. HH talking to us about Ireland?

Does he have some Irish ancestry?

Is it because of his great knowledge of Irish history?

Does he already know the best of Dublin’s eateries?

Is it down to his cracking Irish accent? [Note from Ms HH:NO.]

Sadly, it is none of the above. On the day that we were all set for an Irish breakfast at Sova Vegan Butcher, Ms. HH was struck down with illness. She didn’t think she could even make it to the restaurant, nevermind eat anything, so it was down to me save VeganMoFo. This was a lot of pressure and it weighed heavily on me as we slowly made our way out. There were moments when Ms. HH didn’t think she was going to make it but the sight of numerous medical dogs [Note: they were wearing little medical coats! I really should have asked one of them for a diagnosis] along the high street raised her spirits and convinced her to plod on.

By the time we’d settled in at the restaurant Ms. HH’s spirits and (more importantly) appetite were raised and she managed a macaroni cheese, whilst the serious business of the full Irish was left to me. And serious business it was. A hearty plate came out, stacked with garlic and thyme sausages, streaky bacon, black pudding, scrambled tofu, baked beans, spinach, a tomato half, a giant mushroom, sourdough toast, and a little pot of ketchup. I told you it was hearty.

The sausages were great, lots of flavour and a good meaty texture. The tofu was well seasoned and had a nice eggy taste to it. The streaky bacon was quite the exciting novelty, it seemed to essentially be some tasty well seasoned seitan slices, and I am always delighted to see some nicely fried black pudding on my plate. The breakfast staples of a mushroom and beans were solid, though I always prefer some more mushroom on my plate, and the sauce for the beans had more depth than your regular tin of beans. The tomato and spinach are two things I’m never particularly pleased to have on my plate, I’m generally not a big fan of raw tomato and even this lightly grilled version didn’t particularly elevate it. The spinach fell foul of the usual breakfast spinach problems in that it was just spinach. I never understand why it isn’t seasoned, it doesn’t need much to elevate it to a worthy addition to the plate.

Overall, this was an excellent breakfast. It was a hearty plate with lots of different elements to it, just how I like my cooked breakfast. Three different meaty elements and a mushroom made it quite the treat.

How disappointed would you have been if you were too ill to sample this breakfast? Which component looks the most exciting?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Curry&Co, Dresden

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Jenny

Cuisine:  German

Many of you will know that Berlin is widely regarded as vegan heaven, so it’s not surprising to hear that there are some exceptional examples of veganised German cuisine.  Dr HH and I enjoyed some sensational vegan Bavarian dishes in Munich at Easter 2017, for example.  One dish I’d never had the chance to try was the currywurst.  Until now!

The first time we took a daytrip to Dresden back in 2015 we had Curry&Co down as our backup plan – in the end we were too stuffed from some gigantic burgers.  On our second visit, in 2017, we made it our priority.

There’s a vegan meal deal available, combining the vegan currywurst and chips.  There were several sauces to choose for the sausage, but we just went for the plain old curry one:  I got mild, Dr HH got spicy.  We both enjoyed the gigantic sausages and loved the spicy heat of the sauce (though I found mine a little sweet).  The sausages themselves were like hot dogs, and of course a “real” sausage would have been better, but this was good.

And the chips were delicious!  (They come in paper cones, which you can balance in little holes in the table.)  We were offered ketchup and vegan mayo with them too. They were really crispy on the outside, a very fine chip.

All in all: top notch fast food!

What German dishes have you veganised and loved?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Sweet Mandarin, Manchester

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Jenny

Cuisine: Chinese

When I was a child, going to the Chinese takeaway was the ultimate treat, and I still believe there are few things more satisfying than a good serving of crispy deep fried goods. Fortunately, there are a few Chinese places in Manchester with decent vegan options.

Sweet Mandarin is a nice restaurant in Manchester’s Northern Quarter with a separate, fairly extensive vegan menu.

I visited with Dr HH and Mama HH, and we ordered a trio of starters to share: salt and pepper mushrooms (which were extraordinarily juicy and flavoursome), salt and pepper tofu (small, tasty, chunks of tofu that won over my tofu-hating mother), and spring rolls (pretty standard, not mind-blowing).

My mother invariably orders Singapore noodles when we go anywhere for Chinese. She liked this one because it wasn’t as spicy as the dish can be in other eateries, and she enjoyed all of the veg (bamboo, water chestnuts, carrot, broccoli, and onion).

You’d expect the chilli garlic tofu to be quite a potent and exciting dish, which is precisely why Dr HH ordered it. Alas, he found it not that spicy, and he needed to slurp a lot of sauce for flavour. This had the same good tofu triangles as the starter, but he found it a bit samey as a main – some other veg besides onions would livened it up.

Those tofu triangles made another appearance in my two winters mushroom and tofu. It’s hard to go wrong with well-seasoned mushrooms and tofu, but the sauce was very mild – it was pleasant, but more of a side than a main, excitement-wise. Some cashews might have elevated it (but that’s probably true of most things).

I was pleased to see egg-less fried rice on the menu, which isn’t always the case at omni Chinese places. Fried rice is always preferable to regular old boiled rice.

This restaurant isn’t mega fancy, but it’s suitable for a nice occasion and has a really nice atmosphere. However, the music was a bit of a distraction. Not because they played any wild tunes, but because they played just about every ’00s middle of the road song you could imagine (or, as Dr HH put it, “This sounds like it’s the Scrubs soundtrack.”). We’ve been known to stay ages in any eatery that’s playing classic nineties R&B, but here the music pushed us out the door! Here are some of those tunes:

How to Save a Life – The Fray

Don’t Know Why – Norah Jones

Put your Records On – Corinne Bailey Rae

Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley (“At least it’s the Jeff version,” harrumphed Dr HH. And I know this isn’t early noughties, and it’s a great song, but still.)

America – Razorlight

Smile – Lily Allen

Wherever You Will Go – The Calling

In the Morning – The Coral

Valerie – The Zutons

Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez

Run – Snow Patrol

We fled before Coldplay could make an appearance!

Is there any better music to hear in a restaurant than ’90s R&B? And what’s your go-to Chinese takeaway dish?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Sri Lankan Curry House, Prague

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Jenny

Cusine: Sri Lankan

Apparently there is only one Sri Lankan restaurant in Prague and it’s right in our neighbourhood! Although they don’t actually label vegan options on the menu, they are a regular fixture at Prague’s vegan festivals and are always happy to confirm that all the meat-free options are vegan.

The menu is pretty simple: curry, kottu roti, the devil’s speciality, and ‘from the wok’. We always stick to the first two, because they can be served with jack fruit (for every dish, you need to choose your main element – there are various kinds of meat (bleurgh), or tasty vegan options like vegetables, soy meat, or jack fruit). Jack fruit hasn’t really taken off in Prague’s vegan scene like it has back home, so this is our go-to place if we want some. For every dish you also need to specify if you’d like it spicy, medium, or mild. Even Dr HH can’t handle the spicy version, so you might want to play it safe too.

The curry is delicious! It is chock full of tender jack fruit, and really beautifully seasoned. Our only complaint is that the sauce is quite thin, and would probably be best served with rice to soak it up. But who wants to eat rice when there’s a heavenly garlic roti on the menu?!

Even though we know that rice would work better, we order this without fail. I would love to be the genius who first thought to combine garlic and bread – this is truly the kind of innovation that should be rewarded!

The other dish that we order, the jack fruit kottu roti, also features some roti – apparently this is a street food dish, with shredded jack fruit, strips of roti, and bits of veg all stir-fried together. I’d never heard of this dish before, and I can tell you that it’s sensational. The bread really makes it.

The only bad thing about the Sri Lankan Curry House (well, besides the fact that they serve meat) is this weird mannequin in the restaurant. It’s a basement restaurant, so it’s quite dark with no natural light, and there’s just something unsettling about a mannequin lurking behind you while you eat. Obviously I don’t let it put me off too much though!

Have you ever seen anything creepier than this mannequin in a restaurant?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Alaska, Berlin

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Jenny

Cuisine:  Spanish

Tapas comes from the Spanish word meaning ‘lid’ or ‘cover’, and it’s rumoured that it started as a hunk of bread or little plate covering a glass to protect the booze inside from flies.  Whether that’s true or not, we can safely say that tapas dishes have vastly improved over the years.  I had some excellent tapas in Spain two summers ago (most notably from B12 in Madrid), and last year I found some in the slightly unlikely destination of Berlin!

I once had all-you-can-eat brunch at Alaska, and was keen to get back for the evening tapas menu.  It’s a really cosy and cool place with mismatched furniture and fun art, and really friendly service.  There were about ten different dishes on the menu, and it was very difficult to narrow it down, but here’s what we got.

Patatas bravas are a tapas must, in my eyes, and these ones didn’t disappoint.  The potatoes were very crispy on the outside, really cooked to perfection.  The alioli was packed with garlic, and the hot sauce was just the right level of fiery for me – in fact, a bit more of it wouldn’t have gone amiss!

Whenever I see tortilla on the menu, I have to try it! This potato omelettey dish was a very popular choice with other diners that evening, with good reason.  Obviously, it was huge!  The texture was great too.  I was a little baffled by the bread on the side, but Dr HH enjoyed slapping some tortilla on top.

The pastry on the empanada was top notch, but the filling was a little unexciting – all tomato and red pepper, when a bit of mushroom or olive (there was a small olive scattering on top, at least) would have livened things up a bit. Again, this was a huge portion.

And finally, we got some cheese!  The menu on the chalk board gave the impression that this was going to be a mini cheeseboard, but alas, we just had a choice between the two daily specials.  We settled on this soft cashew cheese paprika log.  It was lovely and creamy, and the spice really made it sing.  I loved it on the crackers, but couldn’t manage any bread after everything else we’d devoured!

In conclusion, Alaska is just as good in the evening as it is for brunch! The portions are generous, and the food is well seasoned and really tasty.  I’d love to tackle a few more items from the tapas menu!  And they have a great cocktail and wine menu too, if you’re looking to indulge.

And I’m not sure if this is a bonus or not, but on our visit they appeared to be playing the entire back catalogue of Savage Garden.  Dr HH and I surprised ourselves by recognising a whopping five of their hits!  When Truly Madly Deeply started playing, we had this exchange:

Me:  I thought this was the most romantic song in the world when I first heard it.

Dr HH:  And now you know it’s just rubbish.

Me:  What?!  Isn’t this the way you feel about me?!

Dr HH: What are the words again?

Me:  I want to stand with you on a mountain, I want-

Dr HH:  There’s no way I’d ever want to stand on a mountain with you!  You’d be moaning about being scared of heights, you’d be hungry, it would be a nightmare.

What a monster!

Which of these tapas plates would you most want to try? And what’s your favourite tapas dish?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Velbekomme, Manchester

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Jenny

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT CLOSED IN 2018

Cuisine: Danish

Velbekomme is a Scandinavian cafe in ultra trendy Chorlton with a small menu including omni, veggie and vegan options.  The small cafe is decorated with various Scandinavian flags and has cookbooks from Norway, but I’m classifying it here as Danish because I went for the smørrebrød option.

For anyone not quite Chorlton enough to be in the know, smørrebrød is a slice of rye bread, buttered (or margarined, in this case) and topped with some kind of cold topping.  Velbekomme offers this vegan smørrebrød plate for £5.50, combining these open sandwiches and a salad, if you so desire. I got one each of the vegan options when I visited.

I’m a sucker for beetroot hummus because it’s just such a pretty colour.  Also, it’s delicious!  The other topping was celery, red cabbage and mushroom, and was really tasty.  In both cases I kind of wished the bread had been toasted for a nice bit of crispness, but apparently that is not the Danish way. The potato salad was seasoned with caraway seeds and was also really good.

It was nice to try something completely different – Danish cuisine isn’t something I really see much, even when I went to Copenhagen! The prices in the cafe were almost as high as in Denmark itself, so I suppose it was nice to get the authentic Danish experience…

Is there much Danish cuisine in your neck of the woods?

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VeganMoFo 2018: Arepas de Lyna, Prague

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Jenny

Cuisine: Venezuelan

Back in 2014 I was working at a language school in Manchester, teaching English to students from all over the world.  At the start of the year we had lots of Venezuelans enrolled, many of them teenagers away from home for the first time and having the time of their lives.  As the year progressed, their moods notably changed as the situation at home worsened, and many of them returned home not knowing what state their country would even be in.  By 2015, there were only a handful of Venezuelans left – the ones lucky enough to hold a European passport thanks to one of their family members.  Nobody else could get a visa any more.

It’s hard to believe they have been stuck in the same situation for so many years now.  I wonder what the future holds for those bright, enthusiastic teenagers who spoke of their country with such pride.

In mixed nationality classes, it was always fun to get people talking about their national dishes.  I remember one Venezuelan girl being absolutely outraged that nobody in the class had heard of arepas, which she genuinely believed should be as famous as pizza.

She would be pleased to hear that I finally tried arepas for myself in 2017.  I’d walked past Arepas de Lyna many times before I spotted the words “vegan arepas” in one of their Facebook posts, and then I was there!

For the uninitiated, arepas is a kind of corn pancake stuffed with various good things.  Nothing on the menu here is explicitly labelled vegan, but the staff know what it means and served me the vegetarian arepas without the cheese.  It was stuffed with quinoa, black beans, chickpeas, cucumber and avo, and served with a pot of spicy sauce on the side.  It was tricky to eat (we used a lot of napkins!), but worth the effort – it was really good!

It’s a lovely place to while away some time too – lively music, friendly staff (presumably Venezuelans), and happy customers spilling onto the pavements in the summer.  The food was a little steep (120czk for one, and you’ll definitely want more than one unless you’re just grabbing a light lunch), but everything was fresh and delicious.  The homemade lemonades are really good too – I had the classic citrus one, and Dr HH went for passionfruit.

All in all, a great introduction to Venezuelan cuisine!

Have you tried arepas before? What other Venezuelan dishes are out there?

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