All posts tagged: noodles

#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 …

#31 Restaurant Buddhasia, Bruges **

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Restaurant review #31 – Buddhasia is a new Vietnamese restaurant in the city center of Bruges (opened Fall 2014). It is located at the back of the Sint-Salvator Cathedral and near the main shopping street (a 5 min walk from ‘t Zand). NOTE: see update below.  Thai or Vietnamese restaurants often have a selection of vegetarian dishes that seem to be vegan (sometimes seperately listed as vegetarian or vegetable dishes on the menu), But restaurant Buddhasia takes it up to the next level and has a seperate vegan category on their menu card! Yeah! The vegan section lists five main dishes, ranging from 9€ to 14€. Upon ordering, we got an appetizer with noodles and bean sprouts (taugé). Our drinks followed quickly: a mango juice (4€) and a freshly squeezed orange juice (4,5€). We asked whether they also could suggest us some vegan entrees, and were suggested the Pho – noodlesoup (9€) (unfortunately no other vegan entrees possible). As a main dish, I asked the tofu with morning glory (water spinach) and garlic 14€) and my partner went for the noodles with vegetables …

Umeboshi broth with soba noodles

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Umeboshi paste is a salty, tangy Japanese condiment made from dried, pickled ume fruits. It is used to enhance the taste of sauces, pickles, vinaigrettes, veganaise, cooked vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc), rice, noodles, … This noodles dish takes about half an hour to prepare. The recipe serves 2, or you could use it for 4 starters. Umeboshi broth with soba noodles – vegan Ingredients 1 red onion, chopped in chunks 3 cloves grated garlic 1 tbs grated ginger 1/4 cup umeboshi paste (up to 1/3 cup if you want it to taste more salty) 200 to 250g fresh shiitake 300 to 400g fresh green vegetables (large leaved chicory; spinach, chard, kale, …), cut in large pieces 1/4 cup mirin 1/4 cup shoyu (or tamari if you like it more salty) 200 to 250g soba or udon noodles (1 pack) 0,5 l vegetable stock peanut oil or sesame oil, to bake Preparation Boil the noodles as indicated on the pack, rince them with boiling water and set aside. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan (wok style). Bake …

#20 Restaurant Lan Na Thai, Mechelen **

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Restaurant review #20 – Lan Na Thai is a Thai restaurant in the center of Mechelen (Malines). It’s about a big 5 minute walk from the market place. (** See NOTE at bottom of post) We made a reservation for a Saturday evening, at 7PM. Good thing we made a reservation, because the restaurant soon filled, and the owner had to refuse several patrons. It’s not a big restaurant (I’m guessing about 20 to 25 seats) and tables are placed pretty close to each other. Update  – see below –  The menu on their website mentions several vegetarian dishes separately, of which most seem to be vegan. We asked whether the vegetarian dishes we ordered did not contain any dairy or egg, and the waitress confirmed – although seemingly a bit confused by our question at first – that they didn’t. Nonetheless we did get a bowl of prawn crackers as a free appetizer, not really reassuring. Let’s hope the staff in the kitchen was more knowledgeable (one is of course never 100% sure when dining out that everything served is vegan). We …