All posts tagged: 2stars

#111 Snack at Le Touquet, Ostend

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Restaurant review #111 – Le Touquet is a restaurant (brasserie style) on the beach promenade of Ostend. I had seen comments on social media that Le Touquet offers vegan snacks, like spaghetti and croques (toasted bread with vegan cheese, etc) and also vegan pancakes. We had already taken a look inside one afternoon when in Ostend hoping to have a pancake, but at that time the place was nearly packed (and very crowded and noisy) and as such we did not fancy taking a seat. A couple of months ago we were in Ostend again for a concert in the nearby Casino Kursaal. We had planned on eating homemade sandwiches after visiting family in Ostend, before going to the show. Helas, we forgot our sandwiches at home! So we headed over to Le Touquet, hoping to have a quick snack. (I did not have my camera with me, so the food photos are just from my mobile, and have poor lighting, sorry about that). The menu lists several vegan options, like vegan tostis (with Wilmersburger cheese) We ordered a tosti …

Adding stars to my restaurant reviews

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I have been contemplating this for a while, but decided to finally add stars to the restaurant reviews on The Bruges Vegan. (update Fall 2017: I stopped doing this – see below). In favour of adding stars: It is an easy way to give an ‘overall’ impression of a restaurant I can add it to the title of the restaurant review, so that immediately gives you an indication of our experience (either good or bad). Against adding stars: I find it difficult to score on a 5 star scale (but halves would complicate it too much) I feel al lot of places will fall in the 3 to 4 category People might only judge by the given star, and not read the review anymore (if they ever did 😉 ) A score is a medium of different aspects: food, comfort, service, hygiene, opening hours, etc. Foodwise it might be a 5 star, but comfortwise it might only be a 1 star, so that levels the score. My rating may change over time, as my assessment also evolves the more …

#97 – Taiwanese dinner at veggie resto Vegetasia, Vienna. A bit of a bummer

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Restaurant review #97 – Vegetasia is a vegetarian restaurant in Vienna. We visited Vegetasia earlier this year, during a short stay in Austria’s capital (see other reviews from our trip to Vienna). Vegetasia has a very extensive menu, with lots of ‘mock meat’ dishes (duck, chicken, ..). It was hard to choose. We have seen this restaurant being called a vegan restaurant on several fora, but there are still desserts with cow’s milk on the menu. This is what we ordered: corn creme soup with ‘crab’ pieces (4,50€), fried seaweed (5€). Main dishes Te pan yaki with soy (13€) and mock duck with mushrooms (13,50€), both served with white rice. Sparkling water (33cL) was 3,90€ and a glass of lemon soda 3,50€. The soup was very disappointing. It was quite tasteless, and had only some miniscule ‘crab’ pieces. The algae were not really fried. The mock duck was a large portion. It was nice, but after a couple of slices, it became rather monotone to eat. The tipan dish was nice, but not overwhelming. The interior is really …

#84 Lunch on the beach promenade at Bottarga, Ostend **

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Restaurant review #84 – Bottarga is a traditional restaurant in city center of Ostend, on the beach promenade, near the Casino Kursaal. I had seen Bottarga mentioned on social media as one of the restaurants where one can have a vegan meal, and on their website I could see there are two vegetarian dishes on their menu – which seemed possibly vegan or easy to veganise. I telephoned to inquire and received confirmation that the dishes did not contain any egg, dairy. So I made the reservation for lunch later that week and specified again that we are both vegan. We were quickly seated and inquired again about the vegan options. The waitress said the noodles contain egg, so they would serve the vegetable ragout with rice. The other dish was a Thai red curry with vegetables. We did not spot any vegan appetizers on the menu, or any dishes that could easily be veganised, nor were given any suggestions, so we just ordered a main dish. For drinks we had a tonic (2,80€) and a fresh orange juice (4,50€). Our drinks and lunch were …

#83 When in Vienna, do as the … Vegan Wiener schnitzel at Landia (Austria) **

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Restaurant review #83 – In the beginning of Summer, we spent a couple of days in Vienna, Austria. Landia was one of the many restaurants we visited (see other reviews from our trip to Vienna). I read it is renowned for making traditional Austrian dishes like Wiener schnitzel and cordon blue, but of course vegan style. So we definitely wanted to check this out! Landia is a vegetarian restaurant. Vegan options are clearly indicated on the menu. It is just outside the historical city center (Innere Stadt), about a ten minute walk from the Maria Theresian Platz. We were there at noon on a weekday, around 2PM and the lunch rushhour was already over, so no trouble getting a seat. We ordered a vegan schnitzel (9,80€) and vegan cordon blue (11,40€). Asked for extra potatoes, but these never came (they weren’t billed neither, so the waitress must have just forgotten). For drinks we had a freshly pressed orange juice (2,9) and a soda zitrone (sparkling water with a slice of lemon, 1,5€). The dishes were just slices of fried seitan and potatoes, …

#80 – Disappointing lunch at Tom’s Diner, Bruges **

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Restaurant review #80 – A couple of weeks ago, we visited restaurant Tom’s Diner in Bruges. It is located in one of the small alleys on the north side of town, just above the Augustijnenrei. There are no vegan options standardly available. Long time ago I had mailed them to request if vegan was possible, and then received a positive reply. So I phoned the day before we wanted to go to make the reservation for two for a vegan menu, and vegan was said to be no problem (and to be sure I repeated again: no animal ingredients, etc). The lady on the phone even seemed very enthousiastic about it! It sounded promising! We arrived at Tom’s Diner for lunch and were seated at a small table near the entrance. The waiter seemed very taken by surprise when we repeated that we had asked for a vegan menu. He asked whether we just wanted one dish? I repeated that I had requested a vegan menu. He went back and forth to the kitchen, where we also heard ‘no …

#69 The Dutch Weedburger at Novotel, Bruges **

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Restaurant review #69 – A couple of weeks ago, we went for dinner to the restaurant of the Novotel hotel in Bruges. Since a couple of months, most (or maybe all?) Novotel restaurants in Belgium serves the famous Dutch weedburger (no it has nothing to do with that ‘weed’, it is made from seaweeds ;-). Yeah! We have tasted the Dutch weedburger before on several occasions (see for example here in Texel) and are very happy that this specialty is now also available in Bruges! EDIT (2017): The Dutch Weedburger is no longer available at Novotel! I inquired beforehand with the reception of Novotel to be sure that the Dutch Weedburger is indeed available, and if we could get a vegan menu for two (explaining what we do and don’t eat). No problem. So a couple of weeks ago, we headed out to the Novotel. The restaurant is downstairs in the lobby of the hotel. It’s a very spacious place, with the hotel bar situated in the middle. It looks very modern and stylish, but it didn’t really give us …

#65 A quick vegan bite at Le Botaniste, Ghent **

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Restaurant review #65 – This new vegan hotspot in Ghent opened in 2015. Le Botaniste is founded by Alain Coumont, the same founder of world wide chain Le Pain Quotidien. This review and photos of Le Botaniste in Ghent are from a visit in the beginning of December 2015, when I was there together with a friend. Le Botaniste is located in the city center of Ghent, just next to the main shopping street (Veldstraat). On a side note, Dille & Camille (a nice shop for cooking pots and pans and other stuff) is right next to Le Botaniste, so that makes for a nice combined visit. The interior is very nice and refers to an old pharmacist shop, with old bottles and jars lined up, and ‘prescriptions’ written on the menu. Le Botaniste is not really a ‘restaurant’ though. There are no real dining tables, but either low seating table stools at one large low counter or high bar stools at some higher tables. There are also some benches in a verandalike room in the back. So not …

#63 Disappointing dinner at vegetarian resto Food for Friends, Brighton (UK) **

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Restaurant review #63 – This is the last restaurant review from our visit to Brighton (UK) last Summer. You can see an overview of all our reviews of our Brighton trip here. I wish I could say I have saved the best for last, but helas. Food for Friends is the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Brighton, and a ‘household name’ as it were. So we definitely wanted to visit it during our mini break in Brighton and made a reservation for dinner. It is located in the city center of Brighton, not far from the famous Brighton Pier.

#62 Buffet at vegan restaurant Moonfood in Brussels **

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Restaurant review #62 – Moonfood is a organic vegan restaurant in the city center of Brussels, just a 5 minute walk from the main Central train station. It opened in the beginning of 2015. Moonfood started out as a raw food restaurant, but there is now also a hot buffet. We had planned a visit to Moonfood in the Spring of 2015, but despite having received confirmation by mail that the restaurant would be open that day, we arrived … at a closed door. Bummer! Second try in the Fall of 2015, and luckily this time it was open! We went on a weekday at about 5PM and worked our way uphill to the restaurant, against the constant stream of commuters on their way to the Central station, going home. — UPDATE — see below The place is very spacious, with heigh ceilings and tables widely spread across the restaurant. Lots of incoming light from the wall to wall windows. The interior breathes a ‘natural’ feel, with lots of wood and branches of trees (btw, although conspicuously looking like leather, the …