All posts tagged: 3stars

#93 Nice vegan dinner at Japanese restaurant Amatsu, Ghent

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Restaurant review #93 – Amatsu is a Japanese restaurant in the city of center of Ghent (in between the Korenmarkt and Vrijdagmarkt – close to the city hall). I had seen restaurant Amatsu mentioned on one of the Belgian vegan facebook groups. Amatsu has a vegetarian menu standardly available, which can easily be veganised. A vegan friend telephoned and Amatsu said vegan was no problem, and so she made the reservation for the four of us (all vegans). It was a beautiful Summer evening and we sat on the terrace at the back of the restaurant (very spacious!). It was a Saturday evening and the terrace soon filled (so I definitely recommend making a reservation). Overview of our menu: (29€): The food was very nice. Lovely combinations, and some vegetables that are rather rare! I don’t have any photos from the interior of the restaurant, but walking through it on our way and out, it transpired a nice relaxing feeling. Toilet was clean. Nice tile colours too and a beautifull decorated sink (with flower print). We had a very …

#91 Nice lunch on the terrace of vegetarian resto Hollerei, Vienna

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Restaurant review #91 – Hollerei is a vegetarian restaurant outside of the city center of Vienna (Austria). It’s a 10 minute walk from the famous Schönbrunn palace. It was a hot Summer day and we sat on the shady front terrace of Hollerei. (see other reviews from our trip to Vienna) Vegan options are clearly indicated on the menu (and also the allergenes lettres as we saw everywhere in shops, bakeries and restaurants in Vienna, very handy!). I wasn’t very hungry and just ordered an appetizer for lunch: a quinoa dish with some vegetables (6,90€). More than enough for me. For drinks I had a ‘vitamine cocktail’, a nice fresh juice (4,90€). Jim had soup (Melone gazpachio, 6,90€, two breads were 0,90€) and as a main dish the seitan roulade (14,90€). Food was nice. The quinoa dish was a bit blend, even only being an appetizer. We shared a Chocolate mousse for dessert (6,90€). The dessert tasted nice, but it could hardly be descibed as a chocolate ‘mousse’ 🙂 It was more a thick chocolate paste. Very heavy stuff. We could hardly finish it, …

#88 – Light lunch at Bio Bar von Antun, Vienna ***

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Restaurant review #88 – Bio bar von Antun is a vegetarian restaurant in the city center of Vienna (Austria). We were there for lunch this Summer (see other reviews from our trip to Vienna). It was a beautiful sunny – but very hot – day, and we were pleased to see there is a large terrace in front of the restaurant (we managed to get a spot in the shade). The restaurant is located in a no-traffic zone, and despite being really close to the historic hotspots of Vienna, it was pleasantly quiet, with only a few passers by. – Update see below –  It is a vegetarian restaurant, but vegan options are clearly labelled on the menu card. I didn’t have a large appetite, so only took a starter: Bruschetta mit Paradeis-Sauce, Räucher-Tofu, Knoblauch und italienischen Kräutern, garniert (8,90€). Jim had soup, and a main dish with salad on the side (14,90€). The lady who served us was friendly, we didn’t have to wait long to have our order taken and food followed quickly. It was …

#86 Nice lunch at Roberto’s Love and Food, Hasselt ***

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Restaurant review #86 – Roberto Love and Food was a new place in Hasselt (opened in Spring 2016), on the far away side of Flanders (at least for us, coming from Bruges 😉 ). It was not a vegetarian nor vegan restaurant, but had several vegan options or dishes that could easily be veganised. Roberto used to be the chef at restaurant De Levensboom in Hasselt, a well know restaurant in Hasselt with vegan options. I write “was” because unfortunately only a couple of months after its opening, Roberto Love and Food already closed again in September 2016. The owner and chef found a dream job in Malaga (Spain) and so the excitement of having a new place in Hasselt with vegan options quickly dwindled. We visited the place in July (before the announcement of its closure), and had a nice lunch. Although you will not be able to visit Roberto Love and Food anymore, I decided to write this review anyway. Maybe who knows, Roberto will return to Belgium one day, or perhaps you can go taste his culinary creations in Malaga! We …

#85 – Vegan burgers at Swing Kitchen, Vienna ***

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Restaurant review #85 – Swing Kitchen is a vegan fast food place in Vienna. There are actually two Swing Kitchens in Vienna: one not so far from the famous Vienna State Opera and the other near the Westbahnhof. We visited the one near the Opera house, in the Operngasse (see other reviews from our trip to Vienna). It was a very hot couple of days in Vienna, and inside Swing Kitchen was just as hot! The menu is written on the large board above the counter. The menu consists mainly of burgers and some other fast food items (wraps, nuggets, but also salads). There are also some nice looking desserts in the counter. We ordered our food and drink at the counter, paid, and were given a number. Communication at the counter was very brief and not quite jovial, but maybe that had to do with the fact that we spoke in English. A short while later, our number was called out (and shown on a TV-screen), and we could pick up our food at the counter. We had a cheese burger …

#82 – Nice light lunch at new bistro Grün, Bruges ***

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Restaurant review #82 – Grün is a new bistro in the city center of Bruges, not far from ‘t Zand and ‘t Zilverpand. On their facebookpage, Grün describes itself as a “healthy food restaurant“, “Take out Deli” and a “green hang out spot“. I had read on social media that they have vegan options, and phoned beforehand to inquire and make a reservation, and yes, they confirmed they have vegan options. Note: see update below We were there for lunch on a weekday and the place soon filled up. There’s also a nice terrace in the back, and some tables in front of the bistro. It’s a spacious, bright place, soberly decorated, not so comfy chairs though. There did not seem to be a lot of vegan dishes available on the menu card, but some dishes could easily be adapted to make them vegan (with either falafel or baked tofu). We had the Lebanese salad (avocadohummus, roasted cauliflower, carrots and instead of haloumi, we choose falafel, 14€) and the plat du jour, which was pearl couscous with salad …

#81 – Light lunch at new veggie resto Funky Jungle, Mechelen ***

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Restaurant review #81 – Funky Jungle is a new vegetarian restaurant (bistro style) in the center of Mechelen (in between Antwerp and Brussels). It is located at the foot of St Rumbold’s cathedral. I visited Funky Jungle a couple of weeks ago for lunch with a friend. On the other side of the road, there’s a nice terrace (with robust chairs with armrests, hurray!) at the foot of the St Rumboldtower . The vegan options are clearly marked on menu, although there was some uncertainty about the burger buns being vegan or not (so we didn’t choose that). We shared a bowl of beet hummus as a starter (4,50€), it came with crackers and sourdough bread. The waitress wasn’t sure about the crackers being vegan, so we didn’t eat those (afterwards she did show us the ingredient list of the crackers, and they are vegan!). For drinks we had virgin mojitos (4,50€). The beet hummus was really nice (my photo failed miserably, I was trying to get the restaurant in the background in the photo, and as such lost focus on …

#78 Light salad lunch at Sanseveria Bagelsalon, Bruges ***

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Restaurant review #78 – Sanseveria Bagelsalon is a cosy little place in the city center of Bruges. It’s just a 5 minute walk from the Burg and City hall, and near the famous Rozenhoedkaai, where many tourists align to take that famous snapshot of Bruges’ canals and the Belfry. I visited Sanseveria Bagelsalon with a friend a couple of weeks ago. There are no vegan options standardly available on the menu, but upon making the reservation, my vegan friend who had been there before requested vegan for two. Sanseveria is the name of a succulent that used to be very popular in Flemish pubs and househoulds. I also read once that is one of the hardiest plants to stand sigarette smoke, so that may also be the reason why it survived the poor oxygen environment in the pubs in the old days. After being considered ‘old fashionned’ for a couple of years, the plants are now making their way onto windowstills around the country and are now hip again! We inquired about the ingredients of the bagels (bread), …

#76 – Light lunch at Wild Project, Antwerp ***

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Restaurant review #76 – Wild Project is a new vegetarian Bistro in the center of Antwerpen, close to the city hall and Het Steen (the castle at the river Scheldt). I went here for lunch a couple of weeks ago with a friend. It’s a cosy little place, with a handful of seating places inside (I later discovered there is also room upstairs, but we didn’t see that). There’s also a sunny terrace in front. This what we had for lunch: fresh made juice and a hot ginger drink (3€ each). A vegan burger sandwich (9,5€) and a tofu sandwich (7€). Food was very nice. The burger didn’t really have a burger texture, but was more a patty of grains and vegs. 7,5€ and 9,5€ for the sandwich and burger is cheap for a main dish, but take into account they are not large portions (a lot of bread and not so much filling). This light lunch was more than enough for us, but If you have a big appetite though, I would suggest you maybe order two things. Atmosphere was relaxed, it’s …

#75 – A piece of cake (or three!) at Greenway, Antwerp ***

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Restaurant review #75 – Greenway is a Belgian vegetarian brand (restaurants and products) and was founded by Paul Florizoone in the mid nineties. The first Greenway restaurant opened in Ghent in 1996 and I vividly remember it opening at that time (I worked nearby and was thrilled!). Meanwhile there are three Greenway restaurants in Belgium (Ghent, Louvain and Antwerp) and a take-away at the railway station of Brussels-Midi. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the one in Ghent, but I have visited the Greenway in Louvain again recently for lunch (blog is coming up soon). On my visit to Antwerp a couple of weeks ago (where my friend and I also went on board one of Sea Shepherd’s ships that was docked in the harbor for a couple of days, see the blog here), we visited Greenway in Antwerp for some cakes. The Greenway is at de Groenplaats, which is in the city center, close to the cathedral and the city hall. There were three vegan cakes on offer, all made by Julie from Flockfoods, a new company making vegan pies, muffins and …