restaurant review #280 – A couple of weeks ago, we had dinner at Mary’s Irish Pub in Kortrijk. We originally wanted to go to vegan restaurant BK6 just around the corner, but that was fully booked for the evening. Note: this is from a visit just before the current lockdown measures due to the COVID19 pandemic started (closure of all pubs and restaurants mid October 2020).
restaurant review #265 – This review is from a restaurant visit to vegetarian Ooogst a couple of months ago at the beginning of 2020, just before the lockdown measures due to the COVID19 pandemic started. On August 17, just two days ago, the restaurant announced its closure, due to the consequences of the lockdown on the business. I’m posting this review anyway, not only for archival reasons for myself, but as a nice memory from a visit to a lovely place. Ooogst was situated at the edge of Kortrijk, in a renovated industrial hangar. It opened in June 2019. It was a spacious place, mixed with rooms for people to come work there, or have a work meeting.
restaurant review #223 – Than Thai is a Thai (obviously!) restaurant in the city center of Kortrijk. We were here for lunch on a weekday, a couple of weeks ago. The restaurant is divided into two rooms, bot facing the street, adjacent to each other. The interior is quite nice, comfortable and colourful. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. Vegetarian dishes are mentioned seperately on the menu. A lot of them contain oystersauce though. We inquired about the possibility of vegan oystersauce, but it ws said not to be available that day. Two dishes were said to be vegan: the tofu red curry with coconut milk (18,50€) and the garlic ‘black pepper’ tofu (17,50€). The dishes came with white rice (with fried onions on top). The food was nice, big portions. The red curry is very (VERY) spicy though. The restaurant room is accessible, but the toilets are with stairs (very dark!) going up, and are not accessible. Toilets were clean and tidy. We had a nice lunch at Than Thai, good food, enjoyable atmosphere, …
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 …
restaurant review #175 – Petit Paris is a restaurant in the city center of Kortrijk / Courtrai, near the central market place. We were in Kortrijk a couple of weeks ago, when we visited waste free shop Zonder Meer, to try some of the vegan cheeses that were available to taste that day. Restaurant Petit Paris is just across the street from Zonder Meer, and Johan from Zonder Meer said that they are always willing to prepare something vegan. So we went to try it! View this post on Instagram Vegan cheese tasting today at waste free shop Zonder Meer! Yummie! @serotonina_cheeze @zondermeerkortrijk @recollets_antwerpen 🧀☘🧀☘🧀☘🧀☘🧀 #vegancheese #vegansofbelgium #vegan #veganfoodshare #vegansofbelgium #vegantasting #kortrijk #visitkortrijk #courtrai #vegankortrijk #wastefreeshop #verpakkingsarm #zondermeer #veganbelgium A post shared by trudi_brugesvegan (@trudi_brugesvegan) on Mar 24, 2018 at 4:25am PDT We were early for lunch and were one of the first custommers. Good thing, because by about half past 12, the place was packed and several visitors had to be turned away. Petit Paris is not really a ‘restaurant’ for elaborate wining and …
Restaurant review #155 – De Kleinkeuken is a vegetarian restaurant in the city center of Kortrijk (Courtrai). We were here previously about a year ago (see review) and had a nice lunch (although with some points to consider, e.g. the waitress not knowing whether the bread was vegan). A couple of weeks ago, we visited De KleinKeuken again for lunch. We combined our visit to the Kortrijk region with some shopping at vegan shop tAK in Marke, and dropped in at Zonder Meer, a new waiste reduction shop in Kortrijk. Afterwards, we picked up a order for vegan Danish Pastry at Bakkerij Filip in Kuurne. A Saturday morning well spent 🙂 The lunch menu consists of a salad bar (salad which you can compose yourself) or some hot dishes (with a special suggestions mentionned on the chalk board). Vegan options are clearly noted on the menu. This is what we had for lunch: Soup (courgette soup, large bowl, without bread – we asked about the bread and the waiter did confirm the bread is vegan …
Shop review #45 – Zonder Meer is an organic, ‘low package’, fair shop in the center of Kortrijk. It opened just a couple of months ago. The name of the shop literally translates as ‘without more’, referring to the waiste reduction aims of the shop. We visited the shop a couple of weeks ago, after our lunch at De KleinKeuken. There’s a large selection of nuts, grains and seeds in bulk. Also cleaning products, toys and gift cards, wines (also vegan ones: Giol) and beers, books and a variety of teas. And one can ‘grind’ grains to make flour yourself. Also some vegetarian dishes in the fridge to take away (like bread spread, seitan), of which some are vegan (clearly labelled as such). We bought some pecans, rice and lentils mix and basmatic rice (we had brought some paper bags). A nice addition to Kortrijk! If Zonder Meer were closer, would definitely visit regularly! Zonder Meer, location Rijselstraat 51 Kortrijk 0486/933.824 website: https://www.zonder-meer.be/ See our list of shops, which may interest vegans.
Shop review#44 – tAK is a new vegan shop in Marke (just outside Kortrijk / Courtrai, half an hour drive from Bruges). We were here a couple of weeks ago, before going to lunch to De KleinKeuken, and visiting the waiste reduction shop Zonder Meer in Kortrijk (blogs will follow). We also went to pick up an order of vegan Danish pastry at Bakkerij Filip. And tAK actually means “thank you’ in Danish 😉 Yes, it was a small vegan excursion to the Kortrijk region! Update – see below The shop is a bit tucked away behind a garden screen and hedge, but there are some signs on the pavement to lead you to the shop. tAK is not really a big shop, but it has a nice selection of products that will especially interest vegans, like gluten powder, nutritional yeast, dried tofu, vegan body and care products, … And also some nice self designed postal cards, candles, frames, toys, pottery and other items that make a perfect and original gift (or a treat to …
Restaurant review #108 – De KleinKeuken is a new place in Kortrijk (Courtrai), at the edge of the city (north side). It literally means: The Small Kitchen. We were here for lunch a couple of weeks ago. EDIT (see note below) It is a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options clearly indicated on the menu. We ordered the soup, and inquired whether the bread with the soup is vegan. The waitress clearly did not know and seemed quite baflled with our question and replied ‘it’s just bread bought from the bakery!‘. So Jim just ordered the mushroom soup, without bread. For main dishes we ordered the oven dish (13€) and the vegan burger (8€). The soup was quite waterish. The burger and oven dish were nice, although the latter was a bit monotone after a while. It is also a pity that the vegan option is just ‘without the feta’, but nothing vegan added in return. The desserts were nice (from Madame Bakster). Afterward our visit, it occured to me that if they did not know whether …
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 …
The Bruges Vegan 