All posts filed under: outside Bruges

#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 …

#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 …

#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 …

#209 ‘Beet the roots’ at Ellis Gourmet Burger, Louvain

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restaurant review #209 – Ellis Gourmet Burger is part of a chain of restaurants, with several locations in Belgium and the Netherlands. There is one vegan burger standardly available: “beet the roots”, which is made with (the name already gives it away) beet roots. We were at the restaurant in Leuven (Louvain, close to Brussels) during the Summer. The restaurant has a nice interior. There’s also a large terrace outside in front of the restaurant. We inquired about any other vegan options. The waitress was very friendly and went to check ingredients/allergenes with the kitchen. The Portobello burger could be made vegan: without the bun, and without the cheese (but not much remains then; in hindsight, I wonder why they cannot just take the buns from the vegan beet the roots burger?). The other vegetarian burgers were said to be not vegan. So we both ordered the vegan ‘beet the roots’ burger (11€), with fries (3,70€). Fries are baked in vegetable oil. The burger and fries came with mayo. The waitress realized her mistake, and came …

#207 Nice dinner in a relaxed decor, Het Strand, Louvain

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restaurant review #207 – Het Strand (‘the beach’) is a vegetarian restaurant in the city center of Leuven (Louvain, near Brussels). We were here for dinner during the Summer. We didn’t make a reservation as the restaurant only takes reservations for parties of six and more. We had to search a little bit, because the restaurant is located in a brand new complex (with cinema etc). Luckily, there were still plenty of free tables (we were there quite early, the place soon filled up though). Het Strand is a spacious modern place, everything is brand new. An enjoyable atmosphere, although quite uncomfy (hard!) schoollike wooden chairs. Lunch and dinner options are noted on the large chalkboards in the back. Most options seemed vegan, although that was not noted on the chalkboard. So to us, it was unclear whether everything was vegan or not. We asked the waiter, and he said he would check to be sure with the kitchen staff. The walnut spread with onions was unfortunately sold out. This is what we had for dinner: cauliflower …

Vegan eating out in Ostend

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Food’ Oostende, the culinairy department of the tourist office of Ostend (visitOostende), asked me to list some restaurants in Ostend, where vegans are welcome. So here is a shortlist with places with vegan options (or offering vegan on request), on their website. If you want to read reviews of places I have visited in Ostend (restaurants, shops, …) see this #tag on my blog vegan Oostende . For a more extensive list of places in Ostend (and other places in Belgium and beyond, see the list on my blog: restaurants outside Bruges

#205 Nice vegan lunch at conceptstore All About Eve, Hasselt

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restaurant review #205 / Shop review #55 – All about Eve is a vegan concept store in the city center of Hasselt. It’s a combination of a restaurant and a shop, that sells cosmetics and body and care products. The restaurant is all vegan, except for dairy used for coffee and drinks (on request). All About Eve is just next to the main shopping street, on a very central, but nonetheless quiet location. We visited a couple of months ago, during Summer. There is a small terrace in front, and at the back of the downstairs level, and then inside seating is on the first floor. Menu is quite simple, and besides the standard menu, there are some specials noted on a little chalkboard (in the form of a teapot) on each table. We ordered the asparagus soup (which was soup of the day), with bread and hummus (7,5€). And the oven baked stuffed bell peppers (13€). Next to that, the tempeh salad with avocado (8,5€). And we had pancakes with pear syrup for dessert (7,5€)! …

#204 Light vegan lunch at organic vegetarian resto Imagine, Middelburg (NL)

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restaurant review #204 – Imagine is an organic vegetarian restaurant in the city center of Middelburg (NL). We were here in the Summer of 2018, and had lunch on the terrace. It was a blooming hot day, and we were happy to take a seat under the big umbrellas on the large terrace in front, offering shade, with a nice view on the church. The lunch menu at Imagine is mainly snack items, like paninis and wraps. Vegan options are clearly indicated on the menu. There is also a small shop area inside, with nuts and seeds etc in dispensers (waste free). We ordered a vegan toasti with pesto, mushrooms, parsley and walnut (5,8€) and a wrap with cannelini spread, mushrooms, peanut, crunched onion and pickled red onion (8,5€). The food combinations were a bit odd and felt strange to our taste buds. Not really our cup of tea. There were several vegan cakes and pies on offer. We had a piece of strawberry and a piece of banana cake, and an ice coffee, which were …

#203 Vegan pizza at Pizza Break, Torhout

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restaurant review #203 – Pizza break is a small pizza restaurant in the city center of Torhout (a mall town near the Belgian coast, not far from Ostend). We had heard about their vegan pizza option through social media. During one of our bicycle tours last Summer, we were in the area and went to check it out! Pizza Break is a rather small more fast food type place, not really for elaborate wining and dining. There’s also a small terrace in front. There was one vegan pizza noted on the menu (small 9€ or large 11€). I checked about the crust and was reassured it is vegan. So we ordered two large pizzas! We didn’t have to wait long for the pizza to be served. Huge pizzas, topped with plenty vegetables and vegan cheese. Aferwards, we chatted a while with the owner, on why he decided to add vegan pizza to the menu, and his search for good vegan cheese and a crust that bakes nicely and can hold the weight of all the vegetables. …