Author: trudi_bruges

#216 Vegan burger and croque at Sweet Nuts, Kortrijk

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restaurant review #216 – Sweet nuts is a combo of restaurant/lunch place and organic shop (mainly food and body and care products). Well, actually it WAS. A couple of weeks after our visit. Sweet nuts announced its closure (January 2019). I’m posting the review anyway (even if it is only for archival reasons). We were here for lunch during the Christmas holidays. Vegan options are indicated with a label on the menu. As far as we could tell, there were only 3 vegan options available: the vegan burger, a vegan quiche and a vegan croque (toastie) which we had seen noted on the chalkboard in the back. We were already seated a while, but nobody came to take our order. We went to ask at the counter whether we had to order there, but got a rather annoyed reply (yes, I will come in a minute!) The young lady serving us was a bit grumpy. When we ordered the vegan croque she seemed to have no idea. We said it was indicated on the chalkboard and …

#215 Two vegan pizzas at Otomat, Bruges

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restaurant review #215 – Otomat is part of a chain of restaurants in Belgium. The one in Bruges opened in the Summer of 2018. It is in the city center, on the Simon Stevin square. We were here a couple of weeks ago for lunch, in the Fall of 2018. Otomat has two vegan pizzas standardly available, each 13,9€. One with rucola and cauliflower (mega Vega), the other with yofu espuma (Las Vega), which is more spicy. So our choice was easily made! We also ordered a salad on the side (ask without the dressing). The pizzas were nice, but if you have a huge appetite this will not be filling. It would also be nice to have some vegan minced meat on the pizza, or tofu, or seitan on top, to add some more bite. It was good for a light lunch though. It’s a pity that none of the salads or appetizers is standardly vegan (you can ask a salad without the dressing, which we did). Ground level at Otomat Brugge is accessible, …

A visit to zero waste shop Refill, Oudenburg

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shop review #57 – Refill is a new zero waste shop in Oudenburg (close to Ostend). I was here with a friend a couple of weeks ago. Refill has a large collection of dispensers with nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and other bulk products. Also products like agave and cleaning products to refill. So bring your own boxes and bottles to fill! Also some vegan products in the fridge (burgers). Refill also sells vegan cake and muffins, and vegan labelled candy. I bought some nuts and vegan candy. First you have to weigh your container at the counter, label it, then fill it up, so the weight of the container isn’t included in the price. Also bought chocolate cake and a berry muffin. Very nice. Refill is a bright and modern shop. Everything seemed newely renovated. Pity it is not accessible though (several large steps to get in). Friendly lady at the counter. Refill is definitely a great addition to Oudenburg! Refill, location Hoogstraat 12, 8460 Oudenburg 0496 86 06 14 website: https://www.refilloudenburg.be/ See the list of shops, on The …

#214 Vegan lunch at Yak Tibetan restaurant, Ostend

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restaurant review #214 – Yak is a tibetan restaurant in Ostend, on the beach promenade, not far from the Casino Kursaal. In 2018, the name changed from Snow Tearoom to Yak Tibetan restaurant (I’m guessing new owners?). With no website and no facebookpage, it was hard to find any info about this place. We had already wanted to go previously, to arrive there and find out that it is closed on Tuesday (see Winter opening hours, sheet on front porch). We were on a Sunday last Winter, and besides a couple of casual visitors drinking a beer on the terrace, we were the only visitors for lunch. The menu has vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections. About half of the vegetarian dishes seem vegan (others are with butter sauce or with the use of dairy in curry). I was a bit anxious about having to ask and explain ‘vegan’ (no dairy no eggs), but the young lady serving us seemed to understand – in a mixture of Flemish and English. We had some springrolls and momos as an …

#213 The Dutch weedburger at Life Bar, Louvain

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restaurant review #213 – Life Bar is an all vegan lunch restaurant in the city center of Leuven (near Brussels). Not so far from the central market square. We visited Life Bar for lunch a couple of weeks ago, in the Fall of 2018. The menu is noted on a board above the counter and a menu card was also brough to our table. One orders at the counter, and there you also get your drinks. The food is brought to the table. We had the Dutch weedburger (9,50€), and a soup (it was leek soup) with a slice of bread (5€). We have eaten the Dutch weedburger on many occasions before, and I quite like the taste and texture! Life Bar is a cosy little place. Everything seemed newly renovated, and all was clean. Terrace out front. Reserved but friendly service. About accessibility: the restaurant is on ground level. There’s a small step to get inside. Toilets are on ground floor, but there is no accessible toilet. Toilets were clean and tidy. One damp …

#212 Disappointing fastfood at vegan hipster place By Chloe, London

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restaurant review #212 – By Chloe is an American chain of vegan fastfood restaurants. It has two locations in London. We went to the one in the Theater district (Covent Garden) during our last London trip (to visit VegfestUK). By Chloe is selfservice (order at counter, go pick your food up at counter, and clean up yourself). People at the counter were very friendly. We had the meat balls with pesto (£9,60), and toast with smashed avocado, cauliflower and radish (£8,40). That was a very awkward tasting combination. Fries on the side were airfried (£4). I was amazed by the amount of waste that was produced in the restaurant (also a lot of plastic). Not really big portions too, and all in all quite expensive. We found the seatings to be very uncomfortable, and there was loud music. Nice 70’s-80’s music though, I think we were the only ones at the restaurant who were actually around when this music was aired on the radio (lots of millenials on the tables around us) 😉. The place …

Impressions from Vegan Summerfest 2018, Ghent

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Vegan Summerfest 2018 is already a couple of months behind us, but I still wanted to add some photos of the event to my blog. I have documented all the previous editions (2015-2016-2017), so also did not want to have this edition missing. So here are some impressions! The edition in 2018 was the first time Vegan Summerfest was held in the EXPO in Ghent, a more spacious and accessible location. That also comes with a price, and this year was also the first time the festival was no longer free, but with an admission fee. But that also came with a spacious parking, and Expo has great connections with public transport of Ghent. We were there early, as we wanted to avoid the bigger masses that usually come in the afternoon. There was however a huge queue leading up to the entrance though. Although it was pretty dark that morning, luckily it stayed dry! Once inside there were the usual suspects: lots of stalls with food, some with clothes, and body and care products. …

#211 Very nice vegan lunch at La Vie, Ostend

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restaurant review #211 – La Vie is a restaurant and cocktail bar in the city center of Ostend. It is located in the old Fishermen’s quarter (Vissersplein), in a a renovated place. I had already mailed before to inquire about vegan options, and was said to be no problem. So a couple of months later, when making the reservation, I e-mailed again to make the reservation. This is from a visit a couple of weeks ago, in the Fall of 2018. Chef Joicy was very knowledgeable about ingredients, and made some suggestions of what we could order from the menu – in a veganised version. We went for the papadums (6,5€) and sushi as appetizers (8€) and the curry (18€) and faijita (16€) as main dishes. There was vegan icecream available, but we were too stuffed for dessert. The food was really nice. Freshly prepared, great taste, nice presentation. Service was swift and friendly. The interior also enjoyable (we were seated in the veranda area, which is bright and spacious – the area more inside …

Interview with The Vegan Rainbow Project

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The Vegan Rainbow Project is a project from Daniela and India, and wants to draw attention to and explore interconnections of oppression and enhance visibility for vegan living minorities, whilst at the same time joining forces to work towards liberation for all beings. I did an interview a couple of weeks ago, In December 2018. You can find it here. Why we need to talk about ableism, ageism and speciesism. Interview with Geertrui Cazaux.

#210 Loved the vegan pizzas at Bancale 61, Maastricht (NL)

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restaurant review #210 Bancale 61 is a pizza restaurant at the edge of Maastricht. It is across the street from where vegan restaurant the Loving Hut used to be. It’s a rather small restaurant, which also offers takeaway. There are not that many seating places. There’s also a small terrace in front (with two tables). A very informal atmosphere, with benches made from wooden pallets. This is from a visit at the beginning of Summer. There are several vegan pizzas standardly available. With homemade vegan cheese (from cashews). The pizzas are ovenbaked in a woodfire oven. You can see the flames from in the restaurant. We ordered the Al Bosco and Allure pizza, each 15€. We did not have to wait long for the pizzas to be served. The crust was very nicely baked, and the pizzas tasted great. We had some leftovers and it was no problem to take the remaining piece of pizza with home with us. Service was very friendly. Toilet in the back. Through the kitchen. Was clean and tidy (no photo this time!). The only …