All posts filed under: outside Bruges

#225 Lunch at vegetarian restaurant De Vleesch Lobby, The Hague (NL)

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restaurant review #225  – De Vleesch Lobby is the restaurant from De Vegetarische Slager (‘the vegetarian butcher’), a Dutch brand of vegetarian and vegan products. We were at their restaurant in The Hague for lunch a couple of months ago, with friends. The restaurant is a little bit outside of the city center of The Hague. I was a bit disappointed that the lunch menu only seemed to have rather simple fastfood snack items, as opposed to the dinner menu (with more elaborate dishes). But on the other hand, we were glad to at least be able to have lunch at this restaurant, as many other restaurants seem to be closed for lunch in the Netherlands. As it is the restaurant of De Vegetarische Slager brand, all of their dish contain their products, like ‘kipstuckjes’ (‘chicken’ pieces) or ‘visvrije Mackreel’ (fishfree mackerel). Although I do like to eat their vegan range of products, I have my reservations about naming vegan products as animals or animal parts, as it consolidates an objectifying view on animals (this …

#224 Vegan dinner at d’Afspanning, Beernem

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restaurant review #224 – d’Afspanning is a traditional restaurant in Beernem, about 15 km outside of Bruges. “Afspanning” is an old Dutch word for a restaurant or sleeping place along a travel route, where travellers dismounted from their horses and could stall the carriages and animals. We had been wanting to go to this restaurant for quite a while. When I inquired a couple of years ago whether they wanted to make a vegan menu, I received a negative response. But times change, and now they do make a vegan menu on request! Do make a reservation though and mention vegan specifically, preferably two days in advance. This review is from a visit a couple of months ago, in December 2018. We were warmly welcomed and could take a seat in the ‘voute’ room . I have no idea how ‘voute’ translates into English. It’s a room which is usually about 3 to 4 steps higher than the rest of the downstairs area, and was traditionally the bedroom in old houses. A cosy small room, …

#223 Nice but spicy lunch at Than Thai, Kortrijk

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restaurant review #223 – Than Thai is a Thai (obviously!) restaurant in the city center of Kortrijk. We were here for lunch on a weekday, a couple of weeks ago. The restaurant is divided into two rooms, bot facing the street, adjacent to each other. The interior is quite nice, comfortable and colourful. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. Vegetarian dishes are mentioned seperately on the menu. A lot of them contain oystersauce though. We inquired about the possibility of vegan oystersauce, but it ws said not to be available that day. Two dishes were said to be vegan: the tofu red curry with coconut milk (18,50€) and the garlic ‘black pepper’ tofu (17,50€). The dishes came with white rice (with fried onions on top). The food was nice, big portions. The red curry is very (VERY) spicy though. The restaurant room is accessible, but the toilets are with stairs (very dark!) going up, and are not accessible. Toilets were clean and tidy. We had a nice lunch at Than Thai, good food, enjoyable atmosphere, …

#222 Dinner at vegan resto SNCKBR (Waku Waku), Utrecht (NL)

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restaurant review #222 – SNCKBR is a vegan restaurant in the city center of Utrecht, just next to the concert hall Tivoli Vredenburg. We were here a couple of months ago, before going to show at the Tivoli. A couple of weeks ago, SNCKBR has been renamed into Waku Waku. At the time of our visit, the opening hours were not correctly noted on the website. We already passed by at 4PM – expecting it to be open – but they were still setting up tables and told us it would be open at 5PM. So we returned. Although it was still early, the place soon filled up. SNCKBR (Waku Waku) is a spacious place with a nice, newly renovated decor. We had several reviews that service could be slow at SNCKBR (Waku Waku), so we decided not to take an entree or soup. We ordered two mains, a the SNCKBR burger with fries on the side and a BBQ Peking Luck pizza. Luckily, the main dishes came relatively quickly. The pizza was very spicy …

#221 Lovely dinner at The Gate (Islington), London

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restaurant review #221 – The Gate is vegetarian restaurant in London. Actually there are already three The Gate restaurants in London (Islington, Marylebone, Hammersmith), and in March 2019 a fourth one will open (St. John’s Wood). We had already been to the one at Marylebone (see review here), so this time we went to the one in Islington. This was during our stay in London for VegfestUK, in the Fall of 2018 (see post here). The Gate at Islington is a spacious place, and nicely renovated. A combination of old and new. There’s a restaurant room at ground level, and a room in the back which is up a few steps. I had made a reservation online, and we were warmly welcomed and took place in the ground floor restaurant room, with a view at the bar. Everything on the menu at the Gate is vegan, except for the non-vegan options labelled as such (NV = not vegan). We had a lovely dinner. Mezze platter (£22) to share as a starter. Mushroom risotto (£16) and …

#220 The Beyond Meat Burger at Greenway, Leuven (3)

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restaurant review #220 – Greenway is a Belgian vegetarian brand (restaurants and products) and was founded in the mid nineties. There are three Greenway restaurants in Belgium: in Ghent (it’s been ages since I was there!), in Louvain and in Antwerp. There’s also a Greenway foodstall at the train station of Gare du Midi, where we had a nice lunch before boarding on the Eurostar to London (previous reviews of Greenway here). In 2018, Greenway announced that all it’s restaurants would become fully vegan! This is from a visit at the Greenway in Louvain a couple of months ago (end of 2018). We’ve been to the Greenway in Louvain several times before, but on this occassion, we went to try the Beyond Meat burger, a new vegan burger that has been getting quite a few headlines lately for its supposedly ‘meaty’ taste and texture. Greenway in Louvain is in the city center, next to the Oude Markt (Parijsstraat). The Beyond Meat burger does live up to its reputation: it does taste really meaty! For some vegans this might be a deterrent, …

#219 Lunch at the beach promenade: Toi, moi et la mer, Ostend

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restaurant review #219 – Toi, Moi et la Mer is a traditional restaurant on the beach promenade in Ostend. The restaurant serves mainly dishes with fish. I had already asked several months ago whether they would be prepared to serve a vegan menu, and was told that is possible, if one asks it two days in advance. So we did! This review is from a visit a couple of months ago, in the Fall of 2018. Toi, Moi et la Mer is located on the beach promenade of Ostend, not so far from the Casino Kursaal. When we arrived, we were the first for lunch. But afterwards more and more people came in for lunch. This is what we were served. as a small appetizer, a little dish with Swissh Chard and red beet then another small appetizer followed: a mousse from chervil, carrot and scorzonera the entree was falafel, scorzonera crips and beet carpacio as a main dish we were served a homemade lentil burger, with haricots salad mix and quinoa The falafel beet …

#217 Ethiopian lunch at Kokob, Brussels

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restaurant review #217- Kokob is an Ethiopian restaurant in the city center of Brussels. I have seen it mentioned on social media several times over the years, as a place where vegans are welcome. We were here for lunch on a Sunday, and were greeted warmly. Kokob has a very cosy interior. I loved the artwork on the wall, which was from ARI Graphic art. Chairs were rather uncomfortable though. There are several vegetarian dishes mentioned seperatedly on the menu. We specified that we wanted vegan (no dairy, no eggs, etc) and that was said to be no problem. The waiter sounded very reassuring. The waiter suggested a mixed platter, with a selection of 6 dishes, at 26€ per person, and this is what we had. We were served a small appetizer with lentils as an amuse gueule. To me, this tasted a bit monotone. Soon afterwards, our main dish was about to be served. As the waiter wanted to put the large plate on our table, he noticed it was not all vegan (with …

Fancy a vegan pancake (or two, or ..)? LEO pancakes, Louvain

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LEO pancakes is a coffee/lunch house in the city center of Leuven. And as the name suggests: they serve pancakes! We were here a couple of months ago, in the Fall of 2018. It was a nice sunny afternoon, and we could sit outside (small terrace in front). The menu mainly consists of pancakes, and a handful of lunch options (one vegan bagel available). Vegan options are clearly labelled. We had the Chocolate drops pancake (8€) and the Fruit circle pancake (9€) and some tea and lemonade. Unfortunately it took a very long while for our pancakes to be served (more than half an hour), which was a real bummer. Especially since the outdoor chairs are not really comfortable. The pancakes eventually came, and they were great! Loved it! Huge portions and as we already had lunch shortly before, we could not finish all of it. Note: Interior is wheelchair accessible (ramp to go in – didn’t see an accessible toilet though). LEO Pancakes, location Mechelsestraat 45 3000 Leuven 0484/46.04.66 no website facebookpage: https://www.facebook.com/LEOpancakesleuven/  

#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 …