All posts tagged: Oostende

Finding vegan goodies at Asian Supermarket Chow Chun, Ostend

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Shop review #24 – Chow Chun is an Asian supermarket in the city center of Ostend. It is located in between the Casino Kursaal and the Kapellestraat (Ostend’s main shopping street). It is not a vegan shop, but we did see a selection of vegan goodies that are not so commonly found in regular shops in Belgium. And also some rather rare fresh vegetables. These photos give you an impression of the size of the store and what’s for sale. Note that not all items on the photos are necessarily vegan, since it’s not a vegan shop.   Here are some items that caught our eye (I didn’t have time to check all of them for ingredients, but at first glance they looked vegan): This is what we bought: mock duck and mock chicken, soybean pudding, crackers and fried gluted with peanuts (seitan). (11,30€). Chow Chun, location Van Iseghemlaan 50 8400 Oostende +32 (0)59 80 13 68 website: https://www.hetwinkelweb.be/handelaar/detail/chow-chun-supermarkt

#64 Lovely plat du jour at vegan restaurant De Graankorrel (2), Ostend ****

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Restaurant review #64 – De Graankorrel is a vegan/macrobiotic restaurant, in the city center of Ostend (29km from Bruges). It’s located behind the town hall, just a 10 minute walk from the city center. I already posted a review of De Graankorrel in Ostend in 2014, you can see that review here.

Finding vegan goodies at organic shop Mordan, Ostend

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Shop review #16 – Mordan is an organic shop in Ostend (at the Belgian coast) and has two locations: the oldest shop is the city center (right next to the main shopping street) and has been there for decades (see shop review #33 here). The other one is at the edge of Ostend, on the Torhoutsesteenweg. The latter one is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. As I grew up in Ostend, I know Mordan in the city center of Ostend quite well. I was recently in Ostend and wanted to check out the other one on the Torhoutsteenweg. So this blog is about the Mordan shop at the edge of Ostend, although of course their offer is similar in both shops. There’s a large parking outside shop Mordan 2, which for some people will be a big advantage as to the shop in the city center (where there’s no parking, as it is also in a no-traffic zone). When I entered the shop, I immediately noticed the shop is really packed with rows and rows …

#28 Cultuur Café De Grote Post, Oostende ***

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Restaurant review #28 – CultuurCafé De Grote Post is a new addition to Ostend (on the Belgian Coast, 27km from Bruges). It is located in the city center, near the Leopoldpark, where you can find the ‘Floral Clock‘ and Ostends famous statue ‘Dikke Matille‘. CultuurCafé De Grote Post is about a 2 minute walk from the main shopping street (Kapellestraat) and 5 minutes from the casino Kursaal. De Grote Post is the former main postal building of Ostend and was built in 1953, and protected as a monument in 1981. The Post closed in 1999, but the building reopened as a Culture Center in 2012, with many exhibitions, performances, workshops, and other cultural activities. The Cultuur Café opened in september 2014. I didn’t really know whether I could get a vegan meal at Cultuur Café De Grote Post, but I had heard they did serve some vegetarian dishes. I hadn’t checked or called in advance to ask, but just decided to go check it out. To my surprise, the two suggested plats du jour were both vegetarian (with cheese) but …

Veggieshop, Oostende

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Shop review #7 – Veggieshop is located in the city center of Ostend, near the seaside, a 2 minute walk from the Casino Kursaal. On their website, Veggieshop says it’s a specialist dealer in vegan-eco-organic clothes, shoes and cosmetics. You can also buy their products through their onlineshop. The clothes available at veggieshop are mainly T-shirts and sweaters. I browsed through the T-shirts looking for one with a vegan message, but didn’t find one. Shopping for vegan shoes is not so easy in Belgian shops. There are of course several online shops to buy vegan shoes, but since I find 8 out of 10 shoes not to be really comfortable after trying them out, I like to be able to fit shoes before buying them (and sending them back through postal mail is such a big hassle). So it’s nice to see vegan shoes on offer in Veggieshop in Ostend. But I was hoping to find a larger variety and selection of vegan shoes. I asked whether I could order my size of a certain type/brand through the shop, and then decide to buy it after it …

#4 Restaurant De Graankorrel, Ostend ****

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Restaurant review #4 – De Graankorrel is a vegan/macrobiotic restaurant, in the city center of Ostend (29km from Bruges). It’s located behind the town hall, just a 10 minute walk from the sailing ship/museum ‘Mercator‘. Vegan Strangly, this place is not so well known among Belgian vegans. When asked about vegan restaurants in Belgium, most vegans will probably mention The Loving Hut in Louvain and Komkommertijd in Ghent. Most seem never to have heard of De Graankorrel, although it is very well known among Ostend locals since decades. I’ve also never encountered any tourists here.There also seems to be some confusion whether this restaurant is vegan – or even vegetarian – or not, some people saying the restaurant serves fish. I’ve visited this restaurant in Ostend several times during the last couple of years, and every time lunch was all vegan. I’ve enquired again on my last visit (January 2014), explicitly asking whether they sometimes serve fish or not and whether everything is vegan? The waitress (also the chef) assured me that everything is vegan and …