Nandos!

So Nandos have come to Dublin. We've heard some positive feedback from other people, both vegan and non-vegan, about this chain of restaurants so decided to give the one on Mary Street a shot. It predominantly serves chicken, but also has a lot of vegan dishes on its menu. I don't normally like to go to a place which is associated so widely with serving meat, but as they seem to cater so well for vegetarians and vegans and use separate cooking areas and utensils for vegetarian food, I thought this time I would give it a go.

We were greeted by a really friendly guy who explained how to order food and which sauces to choose. When we mentioned we were vegan he brought over a big booklet explaining what ingredients was in everything, which was great, but I would have preferred if he could have explained to us in person briefly what was/was not vegan, otherwise that booklet would have taken us ages to flick through if we hadn't already done some research prior to our visit.

I went for the Veggie Burger in a wrap with chilli jam (minus the mayo) cooked in mango and lime sauce with peri-peri salted fries on the side. My boyfriend had the same only in a pitta and cooked with a medium heat sauce, with an extra corn on the cob on the side. Our meals fell within the €10-12 range and were very filling, but we had to wait a long time to be served. It could have been because they had only just opened, but I noticed that people who ordered chicken after us got their food served a lot quicker.

Both my boyfriend and I were quite disappointed with the peri-peri fries, we thought they would have been cooked in the spices, but the flavouring was just sprinkled on top. I really enjoyed my wrap and the soya and tomato burger had a great texture. I think my boyfriend regretted getting it medium heat as he found it a bit too hot and lacking in any other kind of flavour. I normally love spicy food but decided to deviate from the norm as the mango and lime really appealed to me and it went so well with the chilli jam, so I had no regrets there!

It's also great that you can refill your glass with soda as many times as you like and the prices overall are definitely reasonable, but I did think almost €5 for some pitta bread and hummus was a little steep so we avoided the "appeteasers". I'd like to try the mixed olives sometime though as they sound like something I'd love. Other vegan options on the menu as far as I can see are the cous cous salad, mixed leaf salad (both available with chicken at extra cost) and some of the sides like their macho peas, ratatouille and possibly their new black bean casserole type dish and spicy rice. I would have to check before saying so for sure though. Their other vegetarian burger, the bean burger, is not vegan as it contains cheese, which is such a pity as it sounds lovely and is stuffed full of pulses and seeds.

We will most surely be paying another visit when we are in town again sometime soon, as the prices and service were very good and the portions were large - the wrap and fries are all I have eaten all day and I am still not hungry and it's gone 7pm!! It's great that there's somewhere for vegans to go and get a decent burger, but I'm afraid that if I am out and about with my fellow vegans/vegetarians I'd be more likely go to Deli O'Delhi or Govindas than to Nandos, for more flavoursome healthy food at better value. However, it's a great option if you are with friends who are meat eaters, so I'd definitely recommend giving it a shot!

Deli O'Delhi Update

If you remember my previous entries about Delhi O'Deli, the vegetarian and vegan Indian café on Moore Street, you will be glad to hear that the new version of their menu has everything vegan marked on it with a V! It's so useful that they have done this, and cuts ordering time in half! I've been in there quite a few times recently, but mainly to take advantage of their amazing "Five for a Fiver" offer, where you take a large plate to their buffet and help yourself to as much as you want from their five daily specials. You have to ask which ones are vegan, but usually four out of the five are free of dairy.

Yesterday I was doing some Christmas shopping in town and stopped here for a bite to eat. I had a huge plate of curried potatoes and green beans, chickpea saag (spinach), soya chunks with peas, with a little bit of pilau rice on the side and a few mini popadums. There was a vegan-friendly kidney bean dish as well, but I thought I had enough on my plate already!

If you haven't been to Delhi O'Deli yet, you're really missing out!

















Also purchased yesterday, my lovely little Maneki Neko.
Hopefully he's going to bring in some good fortune - I really need it!

Delhi-cious!

Over the weekend I visited the superb Delhi O'Deli on Moore Street in Dublin twice. I just had to go back for more!

This little vegetarian and vegan Indian café is tucked away just off Henry Street, the main shopping area in Dublin, so it's very convenient if you are out in town for the day and want a small (or large!!) meal at an unbeatable price.

The menu is quite extensive, and it was difficult to choose from, but the dishes are so cheap you can order a few and try several different things without breaking the bank. Most dishes are around €2.45-2.95, and some are even cheaper! They also have daily specials for €5, for which you get a really decent amount of food.

On my first visit, with my lovely friend Katie, we were greeted with a smile and everything vegan on the menu was explained to us. There certainly was a lot that was already vegan or easily veganizable. I opted for the Papri Chaat (a mixture of homemade Indian crisps with chickpeas, potatoes, green chillies, chutney and fresh spices - without the yogurt) and the South Indian VADA Samber (lentil donuts in a spicy sauce served with coconut dip). 

The VADA Samber arrived first. Two large donuts in a sauce which was very flavoursome and not too spicy. My friend had the IDLI Samber which was the same kind of dish only the donuts were made mainly from boiled rice. It was a filling dish but I think the donuts were quite heavy and stodgy, but it was nice all the same. I was extremely impressed with the Papri Chaat though, the chutney was deliciously sweet and the puffy little crisps at the bottom provided an interesting texture. I really enjoyed this and wanted more! My friend had a paneer dish and she said it was the best Paneer she had ever tasted (and she is a big paneer fan).

We decided to get dessert as well (why not?!) and although the only dessert on the menu that was vegan was the Gajar Ka Halwa (carrot pudding drizzled with fruit and cardamom) I was also offered a plate of Soan Papdi - wonderful little sweet square biscuits with almonds and pistachios in them, which reminded me a little of a drier version of the Turkish Baklawa. They had boxes of Soan Papdi behind the counter for sale for €6, and I was very tempted to get one... but I knew I'd eat them all at once as they were just too good, so my tummy advised me otherwise! My friend had the Pistachio Kulfi, which is an Indian ice cream (but is not vegan) and she was also raving about this, saying it was the best kulfi she had ever had.

The chai tea that I ordered was very nice also, but unfortunately I cannot give an accurate opinion on this because the food was so spicy I couldn't actually taste the Chai!!!

On my second visit, I took my boyfriend. I was so eager to get eating that I don't think I gave him enough time to browse the menu so I think he would have chosen differently if he'd had more time. I really wanted to get the Papri Chaat again, which was as good as before, although had a little less chutney than last time. He ordered the same thing but with the yogurt. Unfortunately he didn't really like it, he said that the yogurt didn't mix well with the flavours of the chutney and he'd have preferred the vegan version. I shared my Onion Bhajis with him (such good value for €1.95 as there were two and they were huge!) which were the best bhajis I've ever tasted. They were light and fluffy, not at all like the dense bhajis I've had before in takeaways (or even some of my favourite Indian restaurants!). My boyfriend was very impressed with them too. He also got the Aloo Chaat which was a serving of shallow fried potato cubes in chutney and spices, and we ordered an Onion Parantha to share.

The Onion Parantha was.............. VERY HOT. I had to eat it all as my boyfriend just couldn't cope with it! It was soooo nice, but at the end of it I had to get him to ask for some water. I drank over half a large jug...! This is unusual for me as I rarely need to drink while I eat, and I am a big fan of spicy food. This though, really blew my mouth off, and my stomach was actually burning about an hour afterwards! I just can't believe that it was a breakfast item!! I'd be tempted to get it again though, if I could share it with someone and have a jug of water at the ready at the time of consumption!

We both ordered one of their non-alcoholic cocktails - a Strawberry Mojito, made with fresh strawberries and mint... and "loads of labour"! It was so good that I wanted another, but the whole "loads of labour" bit on the menu made me feel a bit guilty to ask them to go to the effort to make me more ;)

I just can't wait to go back there! I might try a five euro special next time, or go for the Chole Bhature, which is a dish of seasoned chickpeas with onions and cilantro, served with fried breads and served with salad and chutney. I think someone on the table opposite had this and it looked amazing!

The staff were so friendly and helpful, made us feel at home and were very helpful in explaining to us what was and was not vegan on the menu. I think I am going to keep returning here until I've tried everything vegan that they have to offer.............. and then I'm going to start from the beginning all over again ;)

Here's their Facebook page for those who are interested.

And So It Begins Again...

Hi Everyone! So good to be back...

I had a wonderful time in Wales, full of gorgeous vegan food as always.

First stop was the Mulberry Bush - the little organic shop and vegetarian/vegan café in Lampeter. I didn't actually manage to take a photo of my food as it totally slipped my mind when we wandered upstairs and bumped into an old friend. I had the vegan dish of the day which was a creamy mushroom pie, accompanied by some very tasty beetroot, carrot and broccoli salads. My father opted for the vegetarian quiche, spicy potato wedges and a salad.

We did a bit of shopping afterwards, as my father hadn't got any supplies in, so I got some gorgeous Sojade blueberry yogurt from the shop downstairs and then went across to Sainsbury's to stock up on tomatoes, cucumber, bread, and some Good Life nut cutlets. These cutlets were extremely good, I'd really like to sample more in their range. I have discovered they are available in the Health Store at the Square in Tallaght so I'll definitely be buying some again in the near future. We cooked the cutlets in dad's halogen oven (the wonder-oven!!) and topped them last minute with some cherry tomatoes and Cheezly vegan cheddar cheese, and ate them with dad's homegrown parsley and vegan butter-covered baby "charlotte" potatoes, baby broad beans and peas. Perfect!

Another meal I ate while at home was a mixed salad with two savoury vegan pastries we picked up at the farmer's market in Aberystwyth. This stall, run by a company called Parsnip Ship, was the only one to label its food as vegan. I think there were about 4 different things I could have chosen from, but I decided to bring home the mini Thai butternut squash pie, and a type of Indian bhaji that contained beans and many different grated vegetables. They were both really good and I shared them with my dad who loved them too. I'd definitely go back and get more on my next visit!

While in Aberystwyth we also popped into Lidl and I found that they now sell bags of vegetable crisps and a lentil soup which is labelled as suitable for vegans. I bought this soup but didn't get around to eating it, so I'm going to purchase a tin in Dublin and will let you know what it's like. Other snacks I picked up were some maple syrup roasted cashews, macadamias and almonds... WOW. These were fabulous! A really good find for vegans as they're quite like honey roast nuts but even nicer, and totally guilt-free! The cracked black pepper and salted cashews and macadamias in the picture were nice as well, but I have a sweet tooth so definitely preferred the maple ones. After shopping we stopped for a well earned drink at a café where they sold Teapigs products where I had one of the nicest chai soya lattes I've ever tasted, so I decided to buy a box to take home. My dad had never tried chai before as he doesn't drink tea, but he says he's going to order one next time he's at the Mecca. I seem to have got several people into chai over the last year or so, but wasn't expecting to convert a seasoned tea-hater into a chai-lover! The café also sold mint and vanilla versions, which I haven't heard of before, although I think it may just be a regular chai with a dash of flavoured extract or syrup added to the mix.

One of the evenings, one of my father's friends invited us over for a meal. I was seriously impressed at the lengths she went to, seeing as I think she finds it difficult to understand what I can/can't eat! We had a large mushroom stuffed with hummus, topped with crispy breadcrumbs, encircled with cherry tomatoes. The main was a version of Glamorgan Sausages, a well-known traditional Welsh dish. These sausages were wrapped in pastry and made with vegan cheese, breadcrumbs, leeks, herbs and spices. I must get the recipe and post it here, as they were delish!! My father loved them too, but the other non-vegans weren't too impressed. Dessert was a sweet gooseberry crumble, made with fruit from the gardens at local National Trust property, Llanerchaeron, where our friend is a volunteer. I never used to be keen on gooseberries from our garden as a child, but then again when I was younger I didn't like cooked fruit very much on the whole... this time though, I could have eaten it until I popped!

After eating such wonderful homecooked meals I was very disappointed with the one restaurant we did go to. I was expecting great things of the Belle Vue, seeing as this pub/restaurant caters for vegans on request. One of my father's colleagues is a vegan and eats there regularly, so imagine my shock when I received the most dry, bland and inedible dish imaginable. This "maize cake", as it was called (although it looked and tasted more like a lump of clay to me), was so dense and stodgy with no flavour to it whatsoever. It came on a bed of buckwheat (which is also quite dry, so you can imagine these two combined was not at all good) accompanied with roasted peppers, garlic, onions, tomatoes and olives. There was no sauce to moisten it at all, and when offered sauce I was only given the choice of mustard, ketchup or brown sauce! I'd have been happy with just a larger portion of the buckwheat and the vegetables, to be honest, and I left pretty much all of the maize cake, so I hope the chef got my point!! I very rarely like to make a fuss and complain about something when someone else is paying, but in hindsight I really should have said something, especially as my father and other people who tried it also thought it was rather disgusting. I was very glad that I managed to eat quite a bit of the starter - shared platters of crusty bread, olives, pickles, hummus and balsamic syrup. This was the meal's only saving grace! I certainly won't be asking to go back to the Belle Vue ever again, not just because of the food, but because service was terribly slow as well. Everyone else ordered meat and seemed to like their dishes, but there seemed to be a bit too much mashed potato heaped onto the plates. Everyone else's food came with some sort of lovely looking sauce, so it was quite annoying that mine came with nothing. Even a plain tomatoey sauce would have been very welcome.

It's a real shame when you go out somewhere and have a disappointing meal which cost quite a bit, then go somewhere else the next day and hardly pay anything for a huge plate of delicious vegan food. We went to the Royal Welsh Show during my visit, and I immediately spotted an Indian Cuisine stall selling lots of vegan/vegetarian options. For £8.50 dad and I shared a huge mixed platter of vegetable curry, lentil curry, onion bhaji, pilau rice, and naan bread (which he ate as I wasn't sure what was in it). We were so stuffed! It was such a good find. I suppose the Royal Welsh isn't a very typical place for a vegan to visit, seeing as it's an agricultural show and you're surrounded by meat and cheese from local farms, farmers showing their livestock in the ring and row upon row of stalls promoting dairy products and cattle feed supplements. I'm not sure why, but this doesn't really bother me at all. I guess it bothers me a bit that the money you spend on the entrance fee goes to the NFU, but then again not all farmers are dairy and animal farmers, so I try to put it to the back of my mind. Going to the Royal Welsh has been a family tradition since I was small and I wanted to go there and experience it again. The main reason also being to take photographs of the event. It was very enjoyable walking around the flower and vegetable tents, watching the Section D stallions in the main ring, talking to the people at the Greyhound Rescue Wales stall, sampling the world's first organic whiskey made by Da Mhile, tasting the Co-op's new Moroccan chickpea hummus, eating some yummy fresh cherries, meeting some cute otters, and wandering around various wildlife conservation and alternative energy tents and stalls. We were lucky with the weather and it didn't rain too badly, although there was still quite a bit of mud!

So I had a very enjoyable time. Gerry was ecstatic to see me when I returned, bounding all over the place. My dad got him a present - a ball that makes about 20 different zoo animal noises - so it was hilarious watching his reactions to it. I was also quite shocked to see that he'd put on a bit of weight, seeing as my boyfriend (who couldn't make it to Wales this time as he couldn't get time off work) is afraid to let him off the lead in case he doesn't come back to him, so he hadn't been burning off much energy. I've had to put him on a little diet, with restricted treats, and am going to take him on extra long walks to places where he can start running with other dogs again! Poor little Gerry!!

Since being back, I've been researching starting my own photography business, which I'm extremely excited about. There will be more news to come on that when I've actually got the ball rolling. On my return I also did a big food shop and have discovered that Tesco are selling Innocent's new Veg Pots half price, at only €1.99 each. I bought five of them and shall review them in my next blog post. All of them are labelled vegan and look like they are going to be really good - a brilliant idea for a healthy, quick, work lunch. I don't think I'd pay full price for them though... well I suppose it depends on how much I like them. Watch this space! :)

I'll leave you with a few random photos from my visit.

Fun in the Sun!

Hi Everyone!

As always, apologies that things have been so quiet here at Velovegan. The weather is just too nice to be inside blogging. Gerry and I have been out on walkies in the sun and I have a new macro lens for my camera, so we've been wandering around exploring the local countryside. Gerry has also been terrorizing the neighbourhood, stealing bread rolls from families out on picnics and knocking small children over in excitement... I didn't know whether to laugh or be mortified!!! I guess dogs are there to embarrass you occasionally, just like children! Gerry's skin condition is getting much better, he really is on the mend now, and we went on an organised walk for Sighthounds up at the Hellfire Club in the Dublin mountains the other day which was amazingly good fun and made lots of new friends.

Here are a few photos I've taken recently:

That's Gerry's new girlfriend Stig, who belongs to my friend Jeni :)

I've not really been doing much cooking recently, although we did make the Cottage Pie again yesterday, but added some sweet potato to the topping as well, which was delicious. I also went to my boyfriend's sister's house over the weekend, who gave me some lovely homemade vegan soup and some roasted vegetable cous cous.

The only place I've eaten out at lately is Cornucopia - here's a photo of what I got: Delicious stuffed aubergine, spicy mash and lots of different salads. YUM!

Hope everyone's having a lovely time in this nice weather! :-)

The Boyfriend is Quite a Chef!

My better half has made some lovely meals this week. First is a Ginger and Lemon Chickpea Curry (adapted from a Chicken recipe), and secondly a Vegan Cottage Pie using this recipe from the Quorn website but substituting the Quorn mince with Soya. There are quite a few nice recipes on the website, which I think I may try using other vegan ingredients instead of the Quorn.

My dad also came to visit this week and we got up to loads of interesting things! We went to Airfield Farm and Gardens in Dundrum, and Russborough House in Co. Wicklow. I took a lot of beautiful photographs, my favourites of which you can see below.

We also ate at quite a few vegan places with good options. I got a Veggie Soup and Chips at the IFI Cinema Café, some Crisps and a Vegetable Samosa from M&S, a Vegan Pizza from Hell, lovely Vegetable Fajitas from The Speaker Connolly, and of course we went to Govindas and I had a very tasty Veggie Coconut Curry with mixed Salads (pictured below).

Gerry behaved himself well, it was the first time my father had met him and he's allergic to dogs... but he didn't sneeze at all and he loved him! So in all, it was a lovely week!

Dada Moroccan Restaurant

The boy and I had a lovely meal the other night, to celebrate 7 years of eachother's wonderful company. I'd never been to Dada before but love Moroccan food so I knew it was going to be good. This restaurant is situated at the top end of South William Street, just down from Dunnes Stores and around the corner from the Hairy Lemon pub.

For starter I had fried spinach with olives and spices. It was so tasty, with a salty flavour and subtle spices. It came with a small side salad and three small slivers of pitta bread, which were soft and delicious - although this wasn't really enough bread for the amount of spinach to be honest. The boy had the harira, a soup made with lots of different beans, chickpeas and vermicelli noodles. This came with pitta as well and he enjoyed it very much, saying it was a warm, hearty starter that he would definitely order again.

Our food was served promptly, which was good, as we hate waiting ages between courses. The starters were not very large so they left us with a real appetite for what was to come! I ordered the pumpkin and carrot tagine with lentils and I really wasn't disappointed - to look at, it wasn't very exciting, just three slices of carrot and three slices of pumpkin with a tomatoey lentil stodge surrounding it. However, once I tucked in, I was really impressed at how tender and tasty the pumpkin and carrot were, and when cut up into smaller chunks and mixed in with the rest of the tagine there was a lot more carrot and pumpkin than I originally thought there was. It certainly was very good and I think it was actually a really healthy option too. The flavours were simple, not at all spicy, but went well together. Sometimes I think simple, healthy food works best, instead of those dishes with too much going on that confuse your palate. The boy got chicken cous cous with sultanas and caramelised onions, which he said was also quite plain but with a nice sweet kick to it. We also had a lot of lovely homemade bread with the meal, which was brought out to us after I'd finished the three small pieces that came with my tagine. Three pieces definitely weren't enough, so it was a nice gesture of the waiter to bring out more. I only asked for a couple extra but he brought out a whole small loaf, which was warm and freshly baked!

After our meal we were brought some traditional Moroccan mint tea, which was delicious. The boy isn't a big tea drinker but even he was dismayed when he finished the small shot glass and would have had more if he could!

I will definitely be coming here again. The two course early bird menu for €19.90 is pretty decent value, and with the bill we got a stamped menu offering us a complimentary glass of wine with our next early bird meal. The staff were very welcoming, friendly and attentive. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the décor! It was very traditional with lots of plush, velvety cushions. We had a corner table which was very comfortable indeed and it was nice to lay back and relax and have a chat after we'd finished. The Moroccan lanterns made fantastic patterns on the ceiling of the dimly-lit restaurant, and there were dried chillies and bottles of wine lining the walls above our heads. I'm going to bring my father here when he visits next month and try the seven vegetables tagine for my main with the Zaaluk for starter (here's a recipe, how good and easy does this sound?!) with a selection of Moroccan dips and breads to share. NYOM!