All posts filed under: shop reviews

A look inside organic shop Origin’O, Louvain

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Shop review #34 – Origin’O is a chain of organic stores in Flanders, with nearly 20 shops spreaded throughout the region. They are not supermarkets, but reasonable sized stores, with most often a good offer of vegan products. There is also an Origin’O is Bruges (see one of the earliest posts on The Bruges Vegan).  The one in Bruges will be moving to a bigger location soon, at the edge of the city (see pic below). Whenever we are visiting another city, we like to check out the vegan and/or organic stores to see what they have on offer. I’ve been to the Origin’O in Louvain (near Brussels) a couple of times before, and on our last visit, I took some pics. Please note that it is not a vegan shop, so not all the products on the photos are necessarily vegan. The shop does sell a lot of vegan items that are not so easily found in ‘regular’ shops (vegan yoghurt, tempeh, chocolates, cakes, toothpaste…). The vegetables and fruits section is in a seperate …

#120 Fast food dinner at Loving Hut Veganerie, Louvain (2)

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Restaurant review #120 – The Loving Hut Veganerie is a vegan restaurant in Leuven (Louvain, close to Brussels) and part of the international chain of Loving Hut restaurants. There is also a smaller Loving Hut restaurant in Louvain (just around the corner!), and next to those two Belgian Loving Hut restaurants, there is also the Viva Vega! Loving Hut Express, a fast food truck which you can encounter at festivals and other events (for example at Vegan Summer Fest or Fair Festival). We already posted a review of The Loving Hut Veganerie in the beginning of 2016 (see restaurant review #60). The Loving Hut Veganerie is a fastfood type restaurant, with self service: one orders at the counter, where you get an alarm device that notifies you when your order is ready and you get go pick it up at the counter. Afterwards one is supposed to put the trays and trash away. The menu consists of fastfood style dishes, ranging from burgers to wraps, but there are also salads available. There are also several vegan …

Shopping at organic shop Mordan, Ostend (2)

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Shop review #33 – Mordan is an organic shop in Ostend (at the Belgian coast) and has two locations: the oldest shop is the city center (right next to the main shopping street Kappelestraat) and has been there for decades. The other one is at the edge of Ostend, on the Torhoutsesteenweg (review of this one is here: shop review #16). Mordan now also has a webshop, with free delivery throughout Belgium (for any order above 25€). The shop Mordan has been there as long as I can remember. As I grew up in Ostend (and didn’t live far from it!), I know the shop quite well. Mordan in Ostend is not a vegan shop, but sells many vegan products that you won’t find so easily in ‘regular’ shops. From vegan cheese to chia seeds from coconut oil to vegan chocolate, from vegan bread spreads to vegan desserts. Note: as is the case in many organic shops in Belgium, there is unfortunately also a ‘meat and cheese’ counter: One big difference with the other shop at the Torhoustesteenweg is there is no …

Shopping at GoVeg vegan shop, Liège

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Shop review #32 – Goveg is a vegan shop in city center of Liège (in the south of Belgium, 200 km from Bruges). We had already got to know this shop during Vegan Summerfest in Ghent last year (see review here). We planned a trip to Liège to visit the Human Zoos exposition in La Cité Miroir (more about this very interesting exhibition in a later blogpost!) so this was a perfect occasion to do some shopping at GoVeg. The Goveg vegan shop is nor far from restaurant Como en Casa (actually in the same street), where we had lunch (review will follow). The shop is not really big, but it is packed with the ‘usual suspects’: body and care products, soy chuncks, vegan shoes, grains, nuts, jam, cereals, chocolate, etc. Also several coolers with vegan cheezes, sausages, pizza, burgers, etc. I was happy to find a pack of ‘vegan eggs’ from Follow Your Heart, which I quite like to eat scrambled! And also the vegan caviar that I had discovered first in Ghent and later also bought at …

Everything you need for home cooking, brewing and preserving: BMSwijndepot, Kuurne

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Shop review #31 – I had been looking for creme of tartar* for quite a while, to use for vegan baking. One of the comments in a facebook group led me to this shop near Kortrijk (Courtrai). As we had planned a trip to Kortrijk, during which I also wanted to check out the vegan goodies at Bakery Filip in Kuurne (see this blogpost), we stopped in BMS Wijndepot in Kuurne on our way back home. The shop is 49 km from Bruges. BMS Wijndepot is a store packed with materials and ingredients for home cooking, brewing and preserving. What a discovery! Bottles in all shapes and sizes, lids to seal jars and bottles, ingredients to make your own wine (also vegan fining agents like betoniet), cannin jars, corks, herbs, extracts and essences, … And also the equipment to do your own brewing, canning and bottling (and more).  Here are some more photos which give you an idea of the store. Note that not all the items pictured in the photos are necessarily vegan, as it is not a vegan store. I asked …

Vegan ‘koffiekoeken’ and pie from Bakkerij Filip, Kuurne

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Shop review #30 – Bakkerij Filip is a local bakery in Kuurne, which is a small town just next to Kortrijk (Courtrai) in the south of Flanders. I had already seen several posts on facebook and Instagram of their vegan pastry and cakes. Yeah! Vegan pastry is still a rarity in Belgian bakeries, and I have only been able to buy it on one ocasion before, at Bakkerij Frimout in Ghent (see blog here). So when we planned a trip to Kortrijk a couple of weeks ago, I definitely wanted to check out Bakkerij Filip! There is a selection of vegan items for sale at the bakery, among which some specialties that are not so easily found in regular shops in Belgium. Like this omelet mix (still need to try it). I also bought some cookies and other goodies (some very nice lemon cookies and veganaise). The wife of bakery Filip, Liraz – vegan herself, gave us a tour of the bakery downstairs, which still runs with some real antique machines (and more modern ones too of …

A look inside organic shop Panda, Ghent

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Shop review #29 – When I was in Ghent a couple of weeks ago, I had some time left before my lunch date with a friend at Mosquito Coast (see blog here). So I decided to go take a look at organic shop Panda in Oudburg, situated near the Vrijdagsmarkt. I had been ages since I been to Panda. The shop – and adjacent restaurant – already exists since a couple of decades. We had been here for lunch during the period that we lived and worked in Ghent (nineties). It was a rather old-school macrobiotic style restaurant, with a vegetarian plat du jour. Last time I had lunch here was a couple of years ago, and then discovered that restaurant Panda hadn’t changed much over the years. I asked for the plat du jour to be veganised, which was no problem. The dish was OK, but it was no gourmet experience. (btw Panda is often called a vegetarian restaurant, but it is not since they also serve fishes). Panda it is not an all-vegan shop, but they do have many vegan products available that you will not find so …

Vegan specialties at shop Moor & Moor, Ghent

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Shop review #28 – Moor & Moor is a little shop in Ghent, with many vegan food specialties. I had seen a facebook post with a photo of vegan caviar for sale at Moor & Moor, so during one of my lasts visits to Ghent, I wanted to go check out this shop. I already blogged about the vegan caviar (see my post here). Moor & Moor is in the city center, close to the main shopping street (Veldstraat) and close to Dille & Kamille. Moor & Moor has a small counter inside and a terrace in front, where you can have your coffee and a piece of raw vegan pie, or even some icecream! Pies are from raw food chef Julie. Although there are many vegan products availabe at Moor & Moor (and some brands that are not readily found in other Belgian shops), it is not an all vegan shop. So do not be surprised to find grilled crickets or ansjovis next to the kale chips. I suspect that the store concept is not so much …

‘Boterkoeken’ and ‘suissen’ from Bakery Frimout in Ghent!

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Shop review #27 – I went to Ghent, and I bought ‘koffiekoeken’. Yeah!! 🙂 These are called ‘koffiekoeken’ in Dutch, which translates as ‘coffee cookies or coffee pastry’. But ‘koffiekoeken’ are not really cookies, nor pastry, nor cakes, so that doesn’t really cover it. If someone knows a better appropriate English term, do let me know! ‘Koffiekoeken’ can be eaten on any occasion, mostly for breakfast or brunch, but also as an afternoon snack with tea or coffee. They come in different shapes and sizes, from the standard ‘boterkoeken’ (butter pastry or cookies) with or without chocolate, raisins, … to round shaped ‘suisses’ or pudding filled ‘Boules de Berlin’. They are sold in every bakery in Belgium, but unfortunately they are not vegan … So it was more than 6 years ago that I had eaten koffiekoeken from a Belgian bakery! In comes bakery Frimout in Ghent! After a request from a vegan living in the neighbourhood a cuple of months ago, Dieter Frimout started making vegan koffiekoeken. He now sells them on a daily basis (next to his …

Shopping at organic store Het Natuurhuis, Antwerp

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Shop review #26 – Het Natuurhuis is an organic shop in Antwerp, and exists since the seventies. It translates as ‘Nature home‘. Natuurhuis now has three locations in the Antwerp area: one in the city center (Otto Veniusstraat), one at Zuid (Verlatstraat) and one in Merksem (Eethuisstraat). These photos are from my recent visit to Het Natuurhuis in the city center. It is located close to Antwerps main shopping street the Meir, and about 10 minutes from the central train station. It is a fairly large shop (not as big as the shops from organic chain Bioplanet, but about the same size as Biovita in Bruges and Mordan in Ostend). As my visits to Het Natuurhuis are most often on my way back to the train station, I am mostly pressed for time, or too exhausted after some city dwelling to have a relaxed look around in the shop. I have however spotted several vegan items that I would love to take with me, but the vegan icecream from Professor Grunschnabel or the frozen items from De Vegetarische Slager (The Vegetarian Butcher) would not last …