restaurant review #538 – This place is a little bit outside of the city center, near the train station. It has a pub like atmosphere and is well know among locals.
I had inquired some years ago whether they offer vegan dishes, and they said they ‘have numerous vegetarian dishes which are or can be made vegan – if it’s not too busy‘.
I went here for lunch on a weekday, and was one of the first patrons.
I saw some vegetarian labeled dishes, e.g. wholegrain pasta with vegs & tomato sauce. But also ‘wok with cashews, vegs & oystersauce’. Ouch*.
I inquired which dishes are/could be made vegan (explained, no milk, no egg, no animal products), & after checking with the kitchen, the waiter came back and said the vegetarian curry was vegan (and that was the only option apparentely). I double checked to make sure the rice also didn’t come with fried eggs? And was reassured.
It took a while for my curry dish to be served. It was a very generous portion, with rice and curry served in seperate pots, and a plate with a salad. When I noticed the salad, I was thinking ‘luckily they didn’t put a dressing on it!!’
That feeling of relief vanished after a couple of bites into the salad, when I found the bottom part was covered in a white milky like dressing 😣 Inquired with the waiter and he had no idea whether the dressing was vegan. I didn’t want to return the dish to the kitchen, and said I would just eat around the salad .. 😑
The curry was nothing special, no distinct flavours really.
Very expensive: 26,90€. I didn’t want to leave any leftovers & asked to have the rice and curry boxed to take home. Which they happily did.
Restaurant is partly dowstairs, partly upstairs. ‘Pub’like chairs, not really comfy. And it was rather cold. Toilets upstairs. Didn’t see an accessible toilet.
When I went to the counter to pay, I asked again whether they had found out by now whether the dressing was vegan or not, still had no idea …
So all in all somewhat disappointing. Please offer clearly labelled vegan dishes on your menu, and be more knowledgeable about ingredients. 🙏🏼💚
- Visit January 2025
* Oyster sauce is not vegan, and not vegetarian (yes, oysters are animals). Vegan ‘oystersauce’ does exist, but is not so easy to find. So if you do visit this restaurant and would order this dish, it’s best to double check!
De Stoepa
website: https://www.stoepa.be/nl/
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