What & Where I Ate: October – Vegetarian Special

October Round Up

So as anyone that follows me on Twitter & Instagram knows, I went veggie for October. It was partly as a “solidarity” type effort as some people at work were doing Stoptober and giving up cigarettes so the wider team gave various things up, and partly because I just wanted to know if I could. I used to be a very picky eater. When I was a kid I’d snub basically all veg and it took me moving out to really realise that I needed to start getting veg into my diet. Fast forward 9 years and here I am, in a much more open minded place and I just generally love to eat most things (apart from the odd thing, looking at you cucumber and banana).

Bundobust Pals
Bundobust Pals

I have been contemplating a monthly run down on what I’ve been cooking and where I’ve been eating for a while now and thought that a slightly more unusual month was a good place to start. So here goes. If you hadn’t already guessed, food is the reason I am poor as all hell. I have my own spreadsheet google doc which I keep update with places I want to try and where I have.

Where I ate:

This month was a great excuse for me to try a bunch of veggie options on menus which I usually look at and go “ohhh that sounds interesting” but opt for the meat. That means I had a few veggie burgers (massively ranging in quality) but also a number of other dishes. I should point out that I rarely take my proper camera out and about with me.

Bundobust – Leeds

I kicked the month off with a weekend in Leeds for the Bloggers Blog awards and went to my favourite Leeds haunt; Bundobust. It’s 100% veggie and is such a great breath of fresh air. What I ate: Okra Fries, Bundo Chaat, Egg Bhurji [Pic]

My Thai – Leeds

A place that grew to infamy after I moved away. Amazingly cheap and tasty Thai food. What I ate: Cha Am Tom Kha w/ Tofu (Coconut noodle soup) [Pic]

My Thai

Byron Burger – London

They were doing a 25p deal, I had the bean burger, it was flavourless crap, their veggie game is not good.

The Rum Kitchen – Kingly Court, London

I love the Rum Kitchen, but if you’re going to call a burger a Halloumi buger, it should have a nice thick wedge of halloumi, not a very thin slither on top of a mushroom. There’s better to come further down. What I ate: The Jerk Halloumi Burger, Sweet Potato Fries [Pic]

On The Bab – Covent Garden, London

I love this place, their chicken is some of my favourite ever. Going and not eating meat was more of a challenge. Their veg options are still pretty strong though. What I ate: Veg Fritter Steamed Buns, Cheese & Kimchi Egg Muffin. [Pic]

Counter Café – Hackney, London

It was gloriously sunny and I met my friend and future housemate for breakfast. Solid veggie full English, What I ate: Vegetarian Breaktast [Pic]

Dog Eat Dog (Brew Dog) – Angel, London

The new Hot Dog place from the guys at Brew Dog invited my friend and workmate Erica along to sample their menu and she took Shaun and I along. The meat options look pretty great and I may have to go back and try them. What I ate: Veggie Dog with Cheese & Avocado, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwich.

Chin Chin Labs – Camden, London

Favourite ice cream ever. Hands down. One of the few reasons I willingly go to Camden (other than gigs or Progress wrestling). What I ate: Matcha & Marshmallow, Apple Pie Ice Cream, Burnt Butter Caramel Brownwich [Pic]

Pizza Union – Kings Cross, London

Our now ritual pre-wrestling pizza. Quick and wonderful value for money. You know exactly what you’re getting.  What I ate: [Pic]

MEATmarket – Covent Garden, London

My favourite of the MEAT chain as it’s not too dark and you can hear each other talk. Their halloumi burger two huge chunks of halloumi, take note Rum Kitchen! What I ate: Halloumi Burger, Sambal Fries [Pic]

Bleecker St Burger – Spitalfield Market, London

One of my favourite burger places, hands down. Their veggie offering made a nice change from the cheese & mushrooms used by most places. What I ate: Tofu fried in Hot Sauce Burger, Angry Fries. [Pictured above]

Yeah! Burger – Strongroom Bar, Shoreditch, London

Best veggie burger I had all month, hands down. These are the guys behind the Scotch Egg Burger you may have seen doing the rounds (and on my insta). They always make sure their veggie options are up to scratch and for the Halloween specials that was no different. Great food. What I ate: Panko Bread Crumb Fried Pumpkin Burger, Pumpkin Croquettes

 

What I ate:

This is where I’ll do a quick round up of what I made myself and home, either with a quick how-to or else a link to where the recipe came from if there is one (I often just wing it). The more interesting dishes anyway, and I tend to prep in bulk (as you don’t need to hear about every instance of avocado on toast):

Coconut & Sweet Potato Soup – Recipe
[Pic]

Roasted Med Veg Soup with Kale, Chilli and Chick Peas – Roast the veg, mix with veg stock, add chopped tomatoes, smoke paprika, simmer and add the kale and chick peas. [Pic]

Pasta bake – used a portion of the above and turned it into a pasta bake for an evening meal.

Lentil Dhal – another one I winged I’m afraid [Pic] Veggie burrito bowl with red quinoa and buckwheat Sweet Potato burritos with avocado 3 Cheese Mac ‘N’ Cheese topped with Mozerella, Doritos and truffle oil I always wing my Mac ‘N’ Cheese. People ask me for my recipe and I just don’t have a recipe. [Pic] Squash & Goats Cheese Rarebit – Recipe here I saw this on Cate’s insta and knew I had to make it. It was worth it. Squash & Goats Cheese Rarebit  

What I baked:

Jalepeno & Cheddar Rolls – Recipe to Follow White crusty rolls with spicy jalapeno and tasty cheddar running through them. [Pic] Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze – Recipe Doughy soft cinnamon buns with a fantastic pumpkin flavour and maple syrup & cream cheese glaze. Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns

Pumpkin Pancakes – Recipe
Chocolate chip pancakes with added pumpkin. Ultra indulgent and great for autumn. [Pic]

Matcha & White Chocolate Cookies (twice) – Recipe
Matcha is the perfect partner for white chocolate, these were great. [Pic]

Pumpkin & Nutella Pie – Recipe
Never seen a bake disappear so quickly when bought into the office. Damn.

Pumpkin & Nutella Pie

7 thoughts on “What & Where I Ate: October – Vegetarian Special

  1. I have been a veggie for 10 years and get so bored of the repetitive options available. I am always looking for places that are not afraid of putting something different on their menu so definitely need to give Bleeker Street and Yeah Burger a go. Also I don’t understand places who are stingy with their halloumi, if that is the name of the burger then do it right!

    1. That’s a long time veggie. Yeah I bet. So many just do a token generic veggie option. Places are getting better but it can still be a bit ridiculous.
      Definitely give the bleecker one a go, it was really good. Not sure what Yeah Burger’s normal veggie option is but their special ones are always great.
      Oh god yeah exactly. If it’s called halloumi then put a good amount of halloumi in.

      Mike

  2. I love the look of that Black Bun – what made it black? So many veggie goodies over the month (and I thought I ate out a lot!), and a few baddies too! Great round up – I’d go for the Matcha Ice Cream any day..

    1. Black bamboo powder I believe. Fun fact, it turns your poo green…

      Yeah I ate out way too much this month. More than normal.
      Thanks though. I want to keep doing them. Chin Chin labs is ridiculous. They are the only place I generally go out for ice cream.

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