restaurant review #329 – Plant Dragon opened earlier this year and I have visited a couple of times! The bakery was previously located in Rotselaar, but now relocated to the city center of Leuven, near Ladeuzeplein and the university library, and is now also a coffeebar where you can enjoy drinks and cake and cookies!
restaurant review #306 – Basiel Urban Greenhouse is a tea/coffee house in the city center of Bruges, near the Gruuthuse museum. All the cakes/pastry are vegan and homemade! And you can also buy some to take home if you want.
Shop review #59 – La Besnéta is a little bakery in the Gracia area in Barcelona.
shop review #54 – Peas is a vegan bakery in city center of Hasselt. Peas was previously on another location on the edge of the city, but had no storefront then. This shop in the city center of Hasselt opened in June. We stopped by shortly after it had opened end June, on our way back home after a holiday. There were cinnamon rolls with several flavours (speculoos, chocolate, classic, pistache, ..), carrot cake and mini cheese cakes in several flavours. There are no tables to have a cup of coffee (plenty of space though). We asked why not, and the lady replied that would mean they are a different type of bussiness (‘horeca’ and not a shop). The lady serving us was very reserved, definitely not in for some chit chat or a smile. We bought some cakes, rolls and donuts. They were nice, but very dense. They are mostly all in the same ‘cube shaped style’ and have a dense cheese like texture, and on the expensive side (most connamon rolls 3,50€; cupcakes 2,50€ or …
Shop review #30 – Bakkerij Filip is a local bakery in Kuurne, which is a small town just next to Kortrijk (Courtrai) in the south of Flanders. I had already seen several posts on facebook and Instagram of their vegan pastry and cakes. Yeah! Vegan pastry is still a rarity in Belgian bakeries, and I have only been able to buy it on one ocasion before, at Bakkerij Frimout in Ghent (see blog here). So when we planned a trip to Kortrijk a couple of weeks ago, I definitely wanted to check out Bakkerij Filip! There is a selection of vegan items for sale at the bakery, among which some specialties that are not so easily found in regular shops in Belgium. Like this omelet mix (still need to try it). I also bought some cookies and other goodies (some very nice lemon cookies and veganaise). The wife of bakery Filip, Liraz – vegan herself, gave us a tour of the bakery downstairs, which still runs with some real antique machines (and more modern ones too of …
Shop review #27 – I went to Ghent, and I bought ‘koffiekoeken’. Yeah!! 🙂 These are called ‘koffiekoeken’ in Dutch, which translates as ‘coffee cookies or coffee pastry’. But ‘koffiekoeken’ are not really cookies, nor pastry, nor cakes, so that doesn’t really cover it. If someone knows a better appropriate English term, do let me know! ‘Koffiekoeken’ can be eaten on any occasion, mostly for breakfast or brunch, but also as an afternoon snack with tea or coffee. They come in different shapes and sizes, from the standard ‘boterkoeken’ (butter pastry or cookies) with or without chocolate, raisins, … to round shaped ‘suisses’ or pudding filled ‘Boules de Berlin’. They are sold in every bakery in Belgium, but unfortunately they are not vegan … So it was more than 6 years ago that I had eaten koffiekoeken from a Belgian bakery! In comes bakery Frimout in Ghent! After a request from a vegan living in the neighbourhood a cuple of months ago, Dieter Frimout started making vegan koffiekoeken. He now sells them on a daily basis (next to his …
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 …
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 …
The Bruges Vegan 