All posts tagged: lentils

#132 Our dinners at veggie bistro De Plaats, Bruges

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Restaurant review #132 – De Plaats is a vegetarian restaurant in the city center of Bruges, close to the central market square and the Belfry (where restaurant Lotus used to be). De Plaats literally translates as ‘The Place’. De Plaats opened in 2016, and we had been eager to go check it out for several months. This review is from two visits, respectively in April and May 2017. The menu lists 10 dishes, of which about half are vegan (clearly indicated). We ordered some drinks (wine was said to be vegan), which came swiftly. We had the lentil dish (15€) and the vegan burger with potatoes (14€). The food was good, but we were culinairy a bit underwhelmed by the dishes, all in all just being a pre-bought burger and falafels (from La Vie est Belle), with lentils and potatoes, and salad on the side.  Something we would also eat as a weekday meal at home, when we don’t have the time nor motivation to cook up something more fancy and just flip a storebought …

#115 Ethiopian dinner at House of Lalibela, Louvain

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Restaurant review #115 – House of Lalibela is an Ethiopian restaurant in the city center of Louvain. I had seen House of Lalibela mentioned several times on social media, as a place with vegan options. Over the years, we have passed the restaurant several times. But as that was mostly during the day, and House of Lalibela is only open for dinner, we did not have the chance to go dining here yet. A couple of weeks ago, we stayed overnight in Louvain, so this was a perfect opportunity to go to House of Lalibela for dinner! I telephoned for a reservation, but did not get a response. Shortly after my call, I got a call back from House of Lalibela, so I was able to make the reservation for that same evening. Vegan was said to be no problem. We arrived shortly after the restaurant opened doors, and were welcomed by the lady of the house. She pointed out the vegan options on the menu. They are labelled as vegetarian, but she assured us that they were all vegan and that …

#89 Nice vegan dish at Bistro Belle de Jour, Ostend ****

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Restaurant review #89 – Bistro Belle de Jour is a small place in one of the quiet streets of the city center, at the back of cultural centre De Grote Post. (update: new location 2019 see below). It’s a two minute walk from shopping street Kappelestraat, I had inquired some time ago whether vegan was possible, and that was said to be no problem. So when making the reservation, I requested this again. Communication on the phone didn’t go very smooth (the lady answering didn’t seem to understand Flemish very well), so we were a bit anxious to go. But we were quickly reassured upon arrival. Chef Els came personally to give us some vegan suggestions, based on the vegetarian dishes of the day (listed on the chalk board) and what’s available in the kitchen. We were seated at a little table at the window, with antique glass vases on the windowstill. There is one large table in the middle, sharing space with others. When we make a reservation again, I would definitely ask for a private table, …

Zaboer Asian Food, shop Bruges

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Shop review #1 – After our restaurant visit to restaurant Chang Ton Thai (review will follow) we accidentally stumbled upon this Asian shop just around the corner, next to ‘t Zand: Zaboer Asian Food. Quite a surprise, also because it was still open at 21:30 (which is quite unusual for shops in Belgium, most close at about 6 or 7 pm). UPDATE: see below! It’s not very big, but has some specialities which are not so common to find, and may interest vegans: a wide variety of dried beans and lentils, some brands of coconutmilk that I’ve never seen before, and a good collection of spices and herbs (eg, I saw different kinds of kardemon pods, which are not so commonly available in regular shops around here). A bit messy and untidy place though, not all items were clearly labelled. Also noticed some items which were past their expiry date, eg a tiny flacon of coconut extract (yeah! never found this before!) which was a bit overdue, and as such I got it for free, thanks! …