Plant based food locally

[Inthepink01]

What do people think about finding this food locally? I have converted to non-dairy and non-meat and am finding it challenging. There is not a lot of restaurant or cafe catering, aside of Indian or Chinese, which aren't that healthy or wholefood. Blue Brick seems ok but a bit chaotic and old-fashioned IMHO. They don't take cards and run out of the menu! Where else do vegans eat? Also which food shops are best, aside of Sainsbury's? All advice gratefully received.

[SBPy]

Spinach, Tart on LL have good options and for shopping you can do as nature intended or even co-op and M&S have plant based options.

[cookie]

Franklins now have a vegan menu and the Blue Brick cafe now take cards.

[J27]

SMBS and Health Matters are both good for vegan shopping.

Good to hear Blue Brick now takes cards - we love them. Yummy food, friendly people.

[Angelina]

Wagamama does great vegan food, there's loads out there!

Google Vegan London

[Sue]

Organic Village has loads of stuff at the back.

Gather in Bellenden Road is brilliant.

The Ivy House has a new chef and he does a great vegan burger.

ETA: I have also found it challenging. Someone on here recommended the Bosh cookbooks, which are excellent.

I also use the How Not To Die cookbook a lot.

I try out a few new recipes a month, make a load and freeze them. If I don't like them I delete them from my repertoire!

I find it's useful to keep a stock of snacks in the freezer.

Also I make my own hummus, and olive tapenade. Both very quick and easy in a food processor.

I also second Health Matters (they have a load of useful things in the back part of the shop) and Tart for yummy lunches, though not all their options are completely plant based.

[Angelina]

looking forward to a book of your recipes, Sue!

sounds amazing!

[Growlybear]

Guava Kitchen in Forest Hill is a vegan and vegetarian caf?. It gets really good reviews.

[Sue]

Angelina Wrote:

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> looking forward to a book of your recipes, Sue!

>

> sounds amazing!

Well, they wouldn't be "my" recipes, they would be recipes devised by other people :)) :)) :))

You probably wouldn't want to eat "my" recipes. Those usually consist of seeing what I've got in the fridge and making it all into a soup :)) :)) :))

[Sue]

You could have a look at this thread:

https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,2037970,page=1

Also, a few months back I had a fantastic vegan roast at The Actress. If they still have the same chef, it would be worth checking that out on a Sunday.

[wellington]

There are so many vegan options in our area. I?ve been plant based for 10 years and the offerings have really grown. Even if the restaurant at is not vegan/vegetarian I have found most have decent vegan choices.

My favourite entirely vegan cafe/restaurant is Zionly Manna in Peckham indoor market. Others I enjoy are Ganapati, Taco Queen and the Begging Bowl.

Also the Happy Cow website & app is very helpful especially when travelling and I?ve had excellent meals based on their users reviews. I would never have found Zionly Manna if it weren?t for Happy Cow.

[hammerman]

Inthepink01 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> What do people think about finding this food

> locally? I have converted to non-dairy and

> non-meat and am finding it challenging. There is

> not a lot of restaurant or cafe catering, aside of

> Indian or Chinese, which aren't that healthy or

> wholefood. Blue Brick seems ok but a bit chaotic

> and old-fashioned IMHO. They don't take cards and

> run out of the menu! Where else do vegans eat?

> Also which food shops are best, aside of

> Sainsbury's? All advice gratefully received.

Finding vegan based eateries can be a challenge if you want to eat out and it's also very over-priced! I found there is not a lot of choice on Lordship Lane and the surrounding area if you wanted to eat out and I'm talking over two years ago. It's not like vegans can't eat chips or pasta!

My daughters have introduced me to places on the indoors Brixton Market which are advertised as vegan but all very arty farty and are still very very expensive for what you get.

[One Dulwich]

Sorry for the ignorance, but what's the difference between 'plant based' and vegan?

[Sue]

rahrahrah Wrote:

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> Sorry for the ignorance, but what's the difference

> between 'plant based' and vegan?

I think you can have a very unhealthy vegan diet (ie not eating meat or dairy but eating a load of other crap).

Whereas plant-based is (I think ) supposed to be more healthy and unprocessed.

But I stand to be corrected :))

ETA: Just googled and found this:

"A plant-based diet is a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. ... A vegan diet is strictly against animal products, in every form. Not only do vegans not eat meat, dairy, eggs, or honey, they also don't wear animal products (think leather) or use products tested on animals."

Also found this:

https://www.health.com/nutrition/what-is-a-plant-based-diet

[Sue]

hammerman Wrote:

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> Inthepink01 Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > What do people think about finding this food

> > locally? I have converted to non-dairy and

> > non-meat and am finding it challenging. There

> is

> > not a lot of restaurant or cafe catering, aside

> of

> > Indian or Chinese, which aren't that healthy or

> > wholefood. Blue Brick seems ok but a bit

> chaotic

> > and old-fashioned IMHO. They don't take cards

> and

> > run out of the menu! Where else do vegans eat?

> > Also which food shops are best, aside of

> > Sainsbury's? All advice gratefully received.

>

> Finding vegan based eateries can be a challenge if

> you want to eat out and it's also very

> over-priced! I found there is not a lot of choice

> on Lordship Lane and the surrounding area if you

> wanted to eat out and I'm talking over two years

> ago. It's not like vegans can't eat chips or

> pasta!

>

> My daughters have introduced me to places on the

> indoors Brixton Market which are advertised as

> vegan but all very arty farty and are still very

> very expensive for what you get.

Not local, but Ethos (just off Oxford Street) is fantastic. Wide range of very yummy vegan food which you pay for by weight. Excellent value for money.

However not the sort of place you would linger for hours over a meal and a few drinks - more the sort of place you would go to for lunch if you were shopping nearby.

More boho but also yummy food is Vantra in Wardour Street (the Leicester Square end).

[Undiscovered]

The Real Greek has a separate vegan menu

[NewWave]

Blue brick now take cards, lovely food and its been lovely swift and friendly service every time I've been.

can't praise enough and I'm not vegan or vegetarian

[Asset]

Hisar has plenty on offer.

[Sue]

NewWave Wrote:

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> Blue brick now take cards, lovely food and its

> been lovely swift and friendly service every time

> I've been.

> can't praise enough and I'm not vegan or

> vegetarian

Agree the food is nice, but we stopped going there after waiting ridiculously long for our food on several occasions when it didn't seem to be particularly busy.

Maybe things have improved? We will try again.

[fishbiscuits]

rahrahrah Wrote:

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> Sorry for the ignorance, but what's the difference between 'plant based' and vegan?

This is just my personal interpretation, but it seems to apply to people who have chosen the diet for health and environmental reasons, rather than animal welfare. They may not be so strict about it, and occasionally indulge in the good stuff. And as Sue said, they may not be so careful about avoiding leather and products tested on animals.

[BrandNewGuy]

A litle further afield but a big shout out for LoveGift Vegan Cafe between Hither Green and Blackheath. Lovely home-cooked vegan Caribbean fare and a warm welcome:

https://www.happycow.net/reviews/lovegift-vegan-cafe-south-east-london-57965

[fishbiscuits]

Remember 2 Girls cafe in Peckham Rye for breakfast and lunch...

[Sue]

Ganapati has some good veggie options - we've just ordered a couple via Deliveroo.

Only a few actually vegan, but likely to be more interesting than the Lordship Lane offerings, and only a tad more expensive. I'm not strictly vegan anyway.

The menu you can download via this page is the current one - they change it quite frequently I think:

http://www.ganapatitakeaway.com/

If you want to eat in, it's this page:

http://www.ganapatirestaurant.com/

Haven't been there for ages, but now wondering why :) Had in mind that it was expensive, but Memsaab seem to have put their prices up, so it's now comparable.

We used to mostly go to and have takeaways from Surma, but sadly it's closed.

ETA: If you are a meat eater, their chicken is free range, which I'm pretty sure isn't the case at other local Indian restaurants, though I stand to be corrected.

[Grove boy]

Deliveroo and other such apps are hardly good for the environment. I must have seen thirty or so parked up around Brixton alone tonight,another load parked on Lordship lane with engines running.

[Sue]

Grove boy Wrote:

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> Deliveroo and other such apps are hardly good for

> the environment. I must have seen thirty or so

> parked up around Brixton alone tonight,another

> load parked on Lordship lane with engines running.

It is not Deliveroo per se which is bad for the environment. It is getting food delivered (sorry but that's part of modern life) but more to the point, people keeping their engines running, which should be made illegal.