All posts filed under: shop reviews

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 …

A look inside vegan shop Veganz in Vienna, Austria

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Shop review #25 – A couple of weeks ago, we went to Vienna for a couple of days (see other reviews from our trip to Vienna). Upon arriving in Austria’s capital, the first thing we did was head to vegan shop Veganz. I had not packed any toiletries for our citytrip (toothpaste, deo, body lotion, …) so needed some supplies to get us through the holiday. And I was also hoping to discover some new brands! (UPDATE 2017 – see below) Veganz is about a 10 minute walk from the Opera (walk down south on the Operngasse and you walk stray up to it). We were also quite hungry (it was already afternoon and we hadn’t had any lunch), so we bought a drink, a wrap and sushi from the Vreshtogo fridge and ate them on the bench just outside of Veganz. Lovely! Veganz is sometimes referred to as a ‘supermarket’, which led me to expect a bigger store. It’s not as big as the supermarkets like Delhaize, Carrefour or even Bioplanet (BE) and Ekoplaza (NL). But Veganz is a reasonably sized store, comparable …

Finding vegan goodies at Asian Supermarket Chow Chun, Ostend

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Shop review #24 – Chow Chun is an Asian supermarket in the city center of Ostend. It is located in between the Casino Kursaal and the Kapellestraat (Ostend’s main shopping street). It is not a vegan shop, but we did see a selection of vegan goodies that are not so commonly found in regular shops in Belgium. And also some rather rare fresh vegetables. These photos give you an impression of the size of the store and what’s for sale. Note that not all items on the photos are necessarily vegan, since it’s not a vegan shop.   Here are some items that caught our eye (I didn’t have time to check all of them for ingredients, but at first glance they looked vegan): This is what we bought: mock duck and mock chicken, soybean pudding, crackers and fried gluted with peanuts (seitan). (11,30€). Chow Chun, location Van Iseghemlaan 50 8400 Oostende +32 (0)59 80 13 68 website: https://www.hetwinkelweb.be/handelaar/detail/chow-chun-supermarkt

A look inside organic supermarket Bioplanet, Bruges

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Shop review #23 – Bioplanet is a chain of organic supermarkets in Belgium. There is also a Bioplanet in Bruges, and it is located at the edge of the city,  on the northside. There is easy parking in front of the shop. The Bioplanet is not as large as the regular (non-organic) supermarkets, but definitely larger than many other organic shops in Belgium. Bioplanet is not a vegan shop, but sells many vegan products which you won’t find so easily in ‘regular’ shops. To give you and idea: special cereals, sweeteners (agave, maple syrup, rice syrup, etc), nutrionial yeast, vegan cheeses, bread spreads, fresh fruits and vegetables, vegan milks (almond, rice, soy, ..), tofu and seitan, burgers, sausages, soy sauces, raw foods, supplements and herbal oils, body and care products, coffee and tee, pastas, vegan ice cream, nuts, dried berries and fruit, etc. The fridge counter (with many meats and cheeses) also has a selection of vegetarian stuff (like sausages, cordon blue, bread spreads) of which some are vegan (staff have a list available with all ingredients listed, so it’s easy …

Looking for gluten powder to make seitan. Visit to Gents Bakkershuis

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Shop review #22 – My search for gluten powder (for homemade seitan) led me to “Het Gents Bakkershuis“, a shop with baking equipment and supplies in Ghent. (NOTE see edit below) The shop is more aimed at wholesale trade and opening hours for retail is limited. Gluten powder or vital wheat gluten is not so easy to find in Belgian shops.  I had previously bought organic vital wheat gluten in organic shop Biovita in Bruges (only available on special demand), but that was very expensive (+/- 50€ for 5kg, being organic). Last year, I paid a visit to Flourpower in Pouke, a small shop inside the Artemeersmill at Poeke to buy gluten powder (13,70€ for 5 kg). I inquired beforehand to Het Gents Bakkershuis to be sure they had gluten powder in stock.  And they did. So I paid them a visit at the end of 2015. I found the wheat gluten powder, 21,62 for 5 kg. Het Gents Bakkershuis is packed with baking supplies, from pie decorations to rolling pins, packages for chocolates, cakes and other baking or pastry things. I arrived …

A look inside shop Vegetarian Shoes in Brighton, UK

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Shop review #21 – I’ve already posted several reviews of the restaurants we went to in Brighton during our mini break there this Summer (there are still some more to come!). Brighton not only has a large collection of vegan eateries and restaurants with vegan options. There is also a shop of the well-know brand ‘Vegetarian Shoes’. It’s located in Gardner street, which is in the main shopping area of the city. And it is right across from a Loving Hut restaurant (world wide vegan restaurant chain). We were there on a Saturday, and the street was made into a pedestrain zone, with terraces in front of cafés and pubs. The weather was beautiful, so it was a nice atmosphere! Although you can nowadays easily find vegan shoes online, I do find it difficult to buy shoes online, as I definitely want to fit and ‘feel’ them (out of 5 shoes I try, most of the times only one ends up being comfortable!). So I was eager to go to a ‘real life’ vegan shoe shop, where I could actually fit …

Our visit to vegetarian shop Veggie4U in The Hague (NL)

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Shop review #20 – Veggie4U is a vegetarian shop on the edge of The Hague, founded in 2013. The Hague is one of the larger cities of the Netherlands, and although Amsterdam is the official capital, The Hague is the political capital of the country. We only spent a couple of hours in The Hague, but it seems like a nice, relaxed town. Definitely want to visit again one day. And it is actually very close to Bruges, only about a 2 and a half hours drive away! Following our lunch at the new vegetarian restaurant Hortus (blog will follow soon!), we paid a visit to vegetarian shop Veggie4U. It is labelled a ‘supermarket’, but I would rather call it a reasonably sized store. It is a vegetarian shop and not a vegan shop, so note that not all items on the photos are necessarily vegan. They do have many vegan items though: The shop sells mainly food items, with also some body and care products. There are several freezers with many ‘meat replacers’ items, and also a large selection of vegan icecream from Professor …

Finding vegan goodies at organic supermarket Biomarkt, Kortrijk / Courtrai

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Shop review #19 – Biomarkt is an organic supermarket on the outskirts of Kortrijk (Courtrai) a town in Western Flanders, near the French border (57km from Bruges). We were in Kortrijk a couple of weeks ago, and I always like to go check out organic shops to go see if and which vegan products they offer. There’s easy parking right in front of the shop. The shop is not really a ‘supermarket’ but a reasonably sized shop (comparable to for example Biovita in Bruges or Roeselare, or Mordan in Ostend). Biomarkt is not an all-vegan shop, but they do have many vegan products available that you will not find so easily in other ‘regular’ shops. For example vegan cheeses, icecream or non dairy milkdrinks, tempeh, silk tofu, nuts, seaweeds, etc. Also a selection of fresh vegetables and fruits. Here’s a look inside shop Biomarket in Kortrijk, to give you an idea of the size of the shop and the space inside (as it is not a vegan shop, please note that not all items on these photos are necessarily vegan).  An overview …

A look inside vegan shop and café VegaBond in Amsterdam (NL)

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Shop review #18 – Vegabond is an all vegan shop at one of the canals in Amsterdam. It’s not very big, but packed with vegan goodies! Mainly food items, and some books too. Here are some photos to give you an idea of what’s on sale at Vegabond in Amsterdam: You can also order some food, either to take away, or to enjoy there. There aren’t that many seating places though (just a couch and one table), so don’t expect a restaurant style setting. I can imagine that at lunchtime, all the places are taken. We didn’t order any food at vegabond, since we had lunch that day at De Vegetarische Traiteur (about a 10 min walk from vegabond) but this is the menu that was available the day we visited: Limited seating places: You do have a nice view at the typical houses along the canal: If it was closer, I surely would have bought some icecreams to take home! Great selection! I bought some kala namak = black salt (had been looking for this for some time!) and this …

Finding vegan goodies. A visit to British shop Stonemanor, Everberg

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Shop review #17 – Stonemanor is a large British Store, where you can find a lot of products that are regularly sold in British shops, but which may be more difficult to find in regular Belgian shops. It is in between Brussels and Leuven, on the outskirts of the community of Everberg (120km from Bruges). There’s also a Stonemanor shop in Waterloo. We were there a couple of montsh ago, on our route to Leuven (Louvain), and took some time to discover the shop. Food items are downstairs, on the first floor you can find books (no vegan cookbooks though), baking tools, culinary decoration, posters etc, and on the top floor beds and accessories (didn’t verify if any of it was vegan). To be clear: it is not a vegan shop, nor an organic shop, but since it does sell many items that are not regularly found on the Belgian market, there are also some vegan goodies to be found here that are not so common in Belgian shops. There are some vegan products available in the frozen …