All posts filed under: outside Bruges

#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 …

#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 …

#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 …