Vegan MoFo 2014 - Intro and NYC Trip

Welcome to Vegan MoFo 2014!  If you’re new to the joint, Vegan MoFo is the Vegan Month of Food, when vegan bloggers from around the world blog about vegan food for a solid month.  I think this is my 5th year to participate, but I could be wrong.

I have a few things planned for this month, but it’s not quite as plotted out as last year.  I’ll be doing Sunday baking, which I think I did two years ago, as well as Newsday Tuesday, where I’ll be making something new to me every Tuesday.  I’ll also continue my quest to cook through Cookin’ Crunk.

There are a couple of big deal things happening this month, namely the Scottish Independence Referendum followed two days later by Mike’s 30th birthday!  So I’ll be doing something to mark both of these occasions.

Speaking of occasions, my 35th birthday was in August, and I treated myself to a trip to NY in July to celebrate.  Well, the July part wasn’t exactly a treat because it was hotter than the devil’s balls.  But the timing was a concession to my family – my grandmother’s 80th birthday was in July!  I spent a weekend upstate with my family.  We had a BBQ at my uncle’s house, and since my cousins are GF and dairy-free, we had a vegan cake to go with the non-vegan cake!  Woot!

After that, I was in NYC for almost a week.  I ate so much, but I don’t think I photographed everything (for which you’ll thank me).

My first stop in NYC was Yonah Schimmel Knishery, which was right next to my hotel (though I only ate there once – sadness).  I got a spinach knish and a root beer.

I had Groupons for Vegetarian Paradise 2, so I ate there thrice (the only Groupon option was 3x $20 for $10, and I wanted to get my money’s worth).  But I must have gotten tired of taking pictures of all my food because I only have one meal’s worth of photos plus one starter (you’re welcome).

Collard green rolls

Spinach “crab” dumplings

Texas fried “chicken” and tots

Death by Chocolate Cake

Portobello pub fritters

I also hit up V-Note, mostly because I had a Groupon for there as well.  The big draw there was the tiramisu, which didn’t disappoint.  Actually, it was one of the best tiramisus I’ve ever had (including pregan).

Black-eyed pea cake

Seitan cordon bleu (or possibly Seitan Piccata)

Tiramisu

I hit up John’s of 12^th Street, which has a really impressive vegan menu, and had the seitan parmigiana.

I also had cannoli, but I didn’t take a picture of that.

The only other photo I have is of the vegan soft serve I got at The Ice Cream House (the Williamsburg location, I think), which is a kosher ice cream parlour with loads of vegan options.  Seriously, if I’d had a freezer while I was in NYC, I would’ve spent half my money there.

Vanilla soft serve in cookie crumb-coated cone

To round things off, as if this post wasn’t pic-heavy enough, here are some gratuitous tourist photos:

The Seinfeld café

Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park

One of the lions outside the NY Public Library (no free-floating vaporous apparitions, though)

Pavement art outside 8 Hook and Ladder

8 Hook and Ladder with the Ghostbusters 2 sign

Despite the heat, I absolutely loved NYC; I wanted to go back almost as soon as I got home.  I went to several museums and still missed out on a ton of stuff.  There were loads of restaurants that I didn’t get to just because I had to be so selective due to both time and monetary constraints.  NYC is HUGE, but it’s somehow still comfortable for me where other big cities (I’m looking at you, London) aren’t.  Maybe it’s because people in NYC are generally as uninterested in dicking about as I am.  I wish I could go back next year, but unfortunately/luckily I’m going to TX instead (for Vida Vegan Con, woot!).  Maybe I’ll go back for my 40th birthday but spend the full two weeks (instead of just 8 days) there and upstate (and maybe finally get to Lagusta’s!).

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 6 - Planning my US trip

This is kinda a cop-out post, but Saturday isn't a "required" day, so suck it.  I was actually gonna make food, but I'm super crampy and can't be bothered, so I'm taking the opportunity to instead plan my trip to the US.  What does this have to do with food?  Well, when I say "plan my trip", I really mean "figure out where I'm gonna eat and what I'm gonna bring home".

I'm starting my trip in New York.  I will eventually be in the city, but I'm starting out upstate in Pine Plains with my mom's side of the family for about a day and a half.  At first blush, it doesn't seem promising, but my plan is to get off the bus not in Kingston (which is nearer), but in New Paltz, where I'll be able to hit up Lagusta's Luscious!  And in case you're wondering, yes, I will be buying the vulva chocolates (hopefully to share with PPKers if I can arrange a meet-up when I'm in NYC).  I might try to convince my grandma to have lunch in New Paltz because it'll probably be home eating the rest of the time I'm there.  Pine Plains is pretty far away from, well, everything, and the places that are near-ish don't have many options.

After that I'm in NYC.  I have so many options and only just over a day.  The only thing I'm certain about is going to Dun-Well Doughnuts.  I freaking love donuts.  I have no qualms about eating a full dozen by myself.  There are only 2 vegan donut options here, and they're not exactly amazing (they hit the spot in a pinch, but meh), so having access to proper donuts is exciting.

After NYC, I'm going to DC for about a day.  I can't get Southern food here unless I make it myself, so I fully intend to go to Soul Vegetarian Cafe (their website is a bit crap, so I won't link it).  I will also most definitely go to Sticky Fingers.  Again, hopefully I'll meet up with some PPKers, so I'll leave any other choice up to them.

After DC, it's on to Chicago, and frankly, looking at the menu, I could eat every meal at the Chicago Diner.  I mean, they put umlauts in words to indicate that these are the vegan versions of the things they're offering!  I'm at least going for brunch when I get there and some other meal (because I'm determined to try the Reuben).

Then it's on to Dallas (well, the Dallas area).  Everyone thinks any part of TX outside of Austin is a vegan wasteland, but Dallas and its suburbs have loads of options, including completely vegan restaurants.  And they're not all downtown or in the swanky gentrified areas!

My first food stop will be Spiral Diner and Bakery.  I went to the Ft Worth location a couple of times when I lived in Dallas, but I've never been to the Dallas location.  I also now like vegetables, so it'll be a brand-new experience.  I'll also be eating several meals at Veggie Garden - not just because my friend Joy owns the place, but because I loved the food since before she took over.  Now that it's all vegan, I can't wait to try as many dishes as I can put in my face.  I also have a soft spot for Fadi's - it's an omni restaurant, but the vegan options are great and they have the best forking pita bread on the planet.  Another friend pointed out D'Vegan, which serves Vietnamese food, including pho.  I'm also determined to find some Ethiopian food.

After Thanksgiving, my mom and I will be road-tripping to Nashville to visit my grandpa.  Since we'll have to go through Memphis, this calls for a trip to Imagine Vegan Cafe.  An awesome PPKer makes desserts for them, so if nothing else, I'll go there for that.  But the menu looks pretty impressive, and they do Sunday brunch, so I see us stopping there both ways.

As if that wasn't enough, my brother and I will then be taking a day trip to Austin.  My plan is to start at Biscuits + Groovy (because it's a restaurant that specialises in biscuits and gravy).  Again, there are so many places that I want to try and not nearly enough time.  I really have no idea where to start.  If you look at Jojo's blog, Vegan in Brighton, you can see why this would be such a difficult choice!

When I was looking at hotels in Dallas, I limited my search to those with gyms.  Otherwise my clothes won't fit on my way home.

So, where else should I eat?  What should I absolutely not miss in NYC, DC, Chicago, Dallas, and Austin?

Thanksgiving in Scotland

I think everyone is aware that yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US.  Thanksgiving is one of those sketchy holidays that you almost think you should stop celebrating because of all the dodgy history behind it.  I wish I could find that awesome video of the children's Thanksgiving play where they talk about giving the natives smallpox blankets to illustrate my point.  That said, a lot of people, myself included, have decided that Thanksgiving is really about the food.  And when you boil it down to its essence, that's really what it is - we survived a year in a hostile land and we now have a crap ton of food, so let's gorge ourselves on it.  Basically, Thanksgiving is a holiday all about gluttony, and I'm totally down with that.

This year was pretty good.  Unfortunately, my bff couldn't make it like she did last year (oh man, I wish I had some tamales), so I only took Thanksgiving day off.  I decided on the spur of the moment last Friday night to invite people over, so 2/3 of my Ethnology Crew came round, and then I invited a couple of Mike's gaming friends (who've been to dinner here before).  I was a genius and didn't decide on a menu until Wednesday night, but you know what?  It's the UK, and no one gives a crap, so I didn't have to worry about the shops all being sold out of everything I'd need.

And it turned out to be a good thing anyway, because Isa posted her new Seitan Roast Stuffed with Shiitakes and Leeks on Tuesday.  The laziness took over and urged me to buy Smash and stuffing from a box and then cover both with Sage Gravy from Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations.  I also made roasted broccoli to balance out the white and brown.  (I had intended on making Q&EVC green bean casserole, but to my dismay, the only shop I ever saw fried onions in no longer sells them.  *sadface*)

Sorry about the darkness - the living room has even less light than the kitchen.

I know the roast is what everyone is here for.  First of all, it was actually pretty easy to make, and it was absolutely delicious.  It also reheated well in a microwave.  My problem with it was that I used UK vital wheat gluten and followed the recipe, so it was a bit moist.  I think it took nearly twice as long to cook as it was supposed to (I stopped keeping track after about an hour and 10 because I was trying to cook everything else).  But I'd definitely make this again - it looks good, it tastes amazing, and I went from decision to dinner (including shopping) in a few hours.  Oh, and it fed 6 people plus leftovers!  Next time, I'll use more vwg.

Rather than head right into dessert, we discussed our options and decided on nog.  No one but Mike had ever tried nog (even the non-vegan stuff), so everyone was intrigued.  I made my stand-by, absolute favourite vegan nog, Bryanna Clark Grogan's Pumpkin Nog.  Everyone thought it was good, and there was even discussion about making it into a custard (someone had mentioned having warm nog, and I said it would probably turn into custard if heated).

After sitting and chatting for a while to make a bit of space for more food, we moved on to dessert.  Naturally, I made pumpkin pie.  My go-to pie is usually the one I made last year, the Impossible Pumpkin Pie from the Fat Free Vegan blog.  But there was a pumpkin pie thread on the PPK, and Phoenix posted her Jack (the Pumpkin King) Pie.  A pie referencing The Nightmare Before Christmas and made with Speculoos cookie crust?  Hell yeah I'm making that pie.

It wasn't as burnt as it looks.

I served it with some Soyatoo Soy Whip (in a can - in my defense, the non-canned stuff is no longer being sold, and my only other option was Rice Whip).

Immediately after I took this picture, I covered the rest of the top with whipped cream.

I really liked this pie, but that's because I love a cookie crust.  The only thing I didn't like was that the crust didn't want to come up until day 2 (well, the last 2 slices).  But other than that, it was good.  The filling was pretty standard pumpkin pie filling.  But it was really easy to make and came out great.  We were all happy with it.

Along with the food, we also managed to polish off 2 1/2 bottles of wine between the 6 of us.  I usually don't drink much, but the Beaujolais Nouveau was released this week (I think), so I bought a bottle of that and had an astounding 2 glasses.  But with all the food, it barely made me sleepy.

And that was our Thanksgiving.  We're hoping to get to the US for T'giving next year, but we'll see how things go.  We'll be sinking a lot of money into the new flat, so we might not have it for traveling.

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you celebrate even though you aren't American?

I completely forgot to post some tester stuff (I got lazy), so I'll try to write that up soon!

An ode to Ms Cupcake

This post is pretty much a wall of text, so here's a picture of my gorgeous husband, reading a book instead of talking to me when we're waiting for our food at Infinity in Brighton:


(BTW, he's wearing the shirt he was wearing when we met. Aww.)

I'm sitting here hungry, waiting for my dinner to cook, with an open package of Oreos within easy reach. So what better activity to occupy my time than writing about cupcakes?

As mentioned in my post about the last two days of our holiday, we went to Ms Cupcake when we were in London. Holy hell. Let me put it this way - if Ms Cupcake were in Edinburgh, I would be fat and poor. If I'm ever in London again, I'll be hitting up Ms Cupcake on the daily, no matter what part of the city I'm staying in. I will get a day pass for the tube and take 3 trains if I have to. Lemme tell you why.

First of all, we got off the Victoria line at Brixton. I stupidly didn't print out directions because I looked at the map before I left Edinburgh and thought, that's right around the corner, I'll be able to find that. Well, we had no idea where to go. But I had their number, and I called them up, and they told me the way. Good customer service - that's what it's all about.

Then we got there. I wouldn't say the cases were overflowing, but there were so. many. cupcakes. And cookies. All vegan, all the time. And other things as well - Plamil chocolate spread, candy bars, cake baking and decorating ingredients and equipment, and multiple copies of every cookbook written by Isa and Terry (together and solo). I think there was even some variety of vegan jerky.

We decided to get a half-dozen cupcakes (3 each), a cookie sandwich with chocolate frosting (they were out of vanilla), and some Plamil milk chocolate spread (which I talked about in my chocolate post). Mike got a triple chocolate, a chocolate raspberry, and a banoffee cupcake, and I got triple chocolate, red velvet, and gingersnap. Later that day, while at Vx, I also got another cookie sammich (vanilla this time) and sausage rolls (since we'd be on the train for 5 hours and would need something savoury to eat).

We ate the sammich cookie - two large chocolate chip cookies with a thick layer of chocolate frosting in between - while we were still at the shop. I normally prefer vanilla frosting, but I hadn't had a proper sammich cookie in a dog's age, so I took what I could get. I'm so glad I did. It was exactly what a sammich cookie should be - slightly crunchy around the edges, but nice and soft in the middle. The frosting didn't overwhelm despite being chocolate. It was like the ones I used to get at the mall, except nearly twice as big and 10 times better. When I saw the vanilla one at Vx, I thought, surely this will be the perfect sammich cookie. AND IT WAS! I hesitated a bit with the first one because we were getting all those cupcakes, but when I saw the vanilla cookies, I almost bought 2. I kinda wish I had. It might actually have been the best thing we ate on the entire trip (well, the best sweet thing for sure), and it was a day old!

Then came the cupcakes. I think Mike finished all three of his before we even got on the train, while I managed to save two of mine until the day after we got back (probably because I ate most of both of the sammich cookies). We both started out with the triple chocolate - chocolate cake, a layer of chocolate ganache, and thick*, fudgy chocolate frosting, topped with a chunk of dark chocolate and two white chocolate buttons. I usually don't go for something so chocolaty - I like chocolate, but not in such heavy doses. But when I saw it, I just thought, I'll have that. And it wasn't nearly as overwhelmingly chocolaty as I expected. It was quite good, though I kinda expected more white chocolate than just the buttons. I guess we're programmed to see "triple chocolate" and think "three varieties of chocolate" rather than "chocolate three times". Meh.

I can't say much about Mike's other cupcakes. I barely had a glance at the banoffee because I'm not a fan and didn't really care. He said it was good, not great, but you'd probably love it if you like banoffee (he didn't know if he actually did). I did have a bite of the chocolate raspberry - chocolate cake topped with (I think) a thin layer of raspberry jam and then a thick* layer of raspberry buttercream. One bite isn't much to judge by (especially since I prefer the middle and I had to have an outside bite), but it had a good flavour - you could definitely taste the raspberry. I think I might have liked a more pronounced raspberry flavour, but that might just be because of the one-bite thing.

I loved my other two cupcakes less than the cookies, but they were still great. I think the red velvet was the only one that didn't have a layer of something between the cake and the frosting. It was just red velvet cake with thick* cream cheese frosting. What can I say - it tasted the way red velvet cake is supposed to taste. The gingersnap was golden cake (I'm pretty sure the cake itself didn't have any flavouring) with a layer of ginger preserves (I assume) and thick* gingery buttercream. I liked it a lot, but I would've preferred it to be a little more gingery. Or maybe to actually have bits of gingersnap in the cake and/or frosting (a la cookies and cream cupcakes) - that would've been awesome!

We did eventually eat the sausage rolls. Sausage rolls are something I prefer hot, but I usually end up eating them at room temperature because I'm usually eating them on the go. I'm used to dry, slightly stale-tasting, not very full sausage rolls from Holland and Barrett. But these were actually really good. They had a decent amount of sausage wrapped in gorgeous flaky pastry. They were lovely.

So, in case you couldn't tell, I'm now a huge fan of Ms Cupcake. If you're in London, even if you're not vegan, hit them up. You won't be disappointed.

I think I'm gonna experiment with those gingersnap cupcakes this weekend! That sounds like a good use of my time. I'll probably blog about that on Sunday.

*I keep talking about the frosting being thick. Here's why - the frosting on every cupcake was nearly as thick as the cakes themselves. It was at least an inch and a half to two inches thick. I had to bite from the top so I could sink my teeth into the frosting before getting the cake in order to not have a nose full of frosting. It was some thick damn frosting.

Adventure, excitement - a Jedi craves not these things.

I decided to cover the last two days of our holiday in Brighton in this post because there was so much to cover. I hope you're still awake by the end.

Day 4 (Thursday):

We started off with brunch at Wai Kika Moo Kau. We both had the vegan full breakfast, minus the tomato because the pesto was made with something I'm allergic to. I had a lovely chai latte with my brunch. The food was average - I'm pretty sure the beans and shrooms (at least) came from a can, and the sausage was probably Linda McCartney (though I can't really remember). They subbed baked tofu for the fried egg - unseasoned, unmarinated baked tofu, which was kinda weird.

Then we went to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. It was, again, a bit of a hodge-podge - everything related to Brighton, but stuff like the Ancient Egypt exhibit felt a bit incongruous next to the "life in Brighton"-type exhibits (which most of the rest of the museum was). But it was good. We were gonna go to the Royal Pavilion, but Mike was bored/tired, so we skipped it and instead did a bit more shopping. We checked out Taj, which was like a cross between Real Foods and Maqbool (the shop across from the AI building on Potterow). Then we got Mike a new t-shirt - a gray shirt with Clyde, the orange ghost from Pacman, on the front. We then got some snacks at Waitrose, including the elusive Isis Luxury Belgian Pralinoir - I've looked at both Edinburgh Waitrose locations for this stuff multiple times and never found it. It's amazing - more on it in a later post.

Mike decided that he was too tired for dinner, so I went to Loving Hut (again) by myself and got the burger and fries (and also grabbed a few more Go Max bars). Honestly, this was one of the best meals I'd eaten the whole trip - it was exactly what I wanted in a burger and fries. I also got a piece of the cheesecake. I stupidly forgot to ask what was in it - I even thought about it but decided not to ask (mostly because I'd already paid for it). Mistake!

About 2 bites in, I started to feel tingly in my mouth/throat (I assumed it was made from cashews). I calmly took my plate inside (I was eating outside because there were too many people inside when I got there) and took 2 Benadryl, which usually does the trick. I got something for Mike to eat and went back to the hotel. At this point, my eyes and pallet started to swell, I couldn't breathe through my nose, and I broke out in hives. We ended up having to go to A&E (in a taxi - the NHS Direct nurse said, since I was still breathing, she couldn't justify an ambulance). They gave me more meds, kept me there to see I got better, checked me out again and sent me home. They wanted to give me a scrip for an epipen, but I would've had to get it filled at their pharmacy (which was closed at the time), and we were leaving the next day, so they strongly suggested I speak to my dr about getting one. And I will - promise! They also sent us to an all-night pharmacy to get some OTC stuff, and the pharmacy turned out to be closed. And then it turned out that the taxi driver didn't take cards, so we had to be taken to a cash machine so we could pay him. We eventually got sorted and got back to the room and crashed for the night.

Day 5 (Friday):

Last day in Brighton! We started off with a trip to Infinity (the shop) to pick up some stuff I don't have access to here - Pepperjack, Bacon, and Bleu Cheezly and Tofutti sour cream (which seems to be available everywhere but Edinburgh). We then went to the Infinity Cafe for brunch. We both had the vegan full breakfast, which was so much better than the one at Wai Kika Moo Kau. First of all, it contained veg! The sausage was the same as the sammich I'd had a couple of days earlier, and they just threw the beans on top of the toast. But the mushroom (a big-ass portobello) was delicious - garlicky, meaty, a little salty - and I got two since Mike doesn't like shrooms! It was incredibly filling - shrooms, spinach, potato wedges, beans, toast, rashers and sausage. Some evil bastard bought the last piece of mocha cake, and the only other option that would've been appealing the day before was the cheesecake, of which, by that point, I was terrified, so we didn't get dessert. Then we walked to the train and went back to London.

Our first stop in London was Ms Cupcake. We got a half-dozen cupcakes (3 each), a sandwich cookie with chocolate frosting (they were out of vanilla), and some Plamil milk chocolate spread (I buy the plain almost exclusively, so we wanted to try this other option that we don't otherwise have). I'll talk more about Ms Cupcake in another post, but know this - if you're vegan and in London, it's worth the trip no matter what part of town you're in.

Despite the fact that we'd just eaten a giant-ass sammich cookie, we decided to go to lunch first, then find a place for Mike to sit at the station while I went to my next destination. Lunch was at Mestizo - their vegan menu isn't online, but they do have a separate one that you can ask for.

We split an order of panuchos



and an order of the enchiladas with salsa roja.



The panuchos - corn pastries filled with refried beans and topped with a red sauce and marinated onions - were incredibly delicious. The enchiladas - potato with probably the same red sauce, served with black beans and rice - were perfect. The whole experience was excellent - perfectly seasoned beans, fluffy rice, red sauce wasn't too spicy, potatoes were cooked properly. I wish I didn't have to go to London to get that again, but if we ever do have to go to London again, we'll definitely be hitting Mestizo for a proper meal (because I could eat the hell out of a couple of orders of panuchos).

After Mestizo, we got back on the Victoria line and headed for King's Cross. Mike found a convenient place to sit, and I headed up the road to Vx. It's a small shop that manages to pack in a ton of stuff - mostly vegan junk food, but also fresh-baked sweet and savoury goods from Ms Cupcake, shirts, shoes, accessories and a few cosmetics. I got 2 packages of fake Oreos, some chocolate-covered vanilla sandwich cookies (prepackaged), another Ms Cupcake sandwich cookie (this one with vanilla frosting, which I prefer), some Ms Cupcake sausage rolls, a donut stick, and a tube of chai spice lip balm. Then I went back to the train station - this whole trip took all of 30 minutes, so we still had about 2 hours to kill before our train at 7.30 (last one out until the sleeper).

About an hour before our train, we discovered that there had been a fatality at Alexandra Palace (I think), so all the trains were delayed. We thought we'd be sitting in the station for a few hours, but luckily Mike checked on our train and found that we'd been assigned a platform. When we got on the train, we realised that we were sharing with the 7pm train, so there were no seat reservations. Luckily, we found two seats together. Of course, it being first class, there were bound to be some privileged, entitled middle-class white folks who got their knickers in a twist because people were sitting in "their seats". We explained to them that there were no reservations because the trains were combined, and they continued to bitch and moan - but as they walked through the door, so I didn't have to pay any more attention to them. We left near 8pm, and then we were further delayed for some other reason, so we ended up being about an hour behind schedule. We finally got in to Edinburgh around 1.15am, and then we had to wait for a taxi. The taxi rank was full of people but empty of taxis because, of course, it was well past the time for the last train. But some kind soul at the station called one of the companies, so the taxis started arriving, and we managed to get home just before 2am.

Overall, it was a decent trip, though I have to say that I preferred Nottingham. I guess I just had my expectations too high, so I was disappointed on a lot of fronts. But I'm super picky about my food, so others who are less so would probably love it. I also had to contend with someone who, let's face it, doesn't really like to do stuff, so actually doing anything other than eating was a bit of a chore. Maybe next time, we'll agree a couple of things to do together but otherwise explore separately (or, more accurately, I'll explore while he reads in the hotel room). I'd still recommend Brighton to anyone, especially if you're more able to explore or are more inclined to Brighton's other amenities, like the pier or beach.

Holiday in the sun

We just got back from Brighton early this morning (nearly 2am - more on that later). We had a really good time, met some awesome folks, and ate a ton of junk (candy bars for breakfast more than once). I felt that giving a more detailed account than I would've given on the Facebook would be a good way to get me back into the blogging habit outside of Vegan MoFo (and give me more license to ramble), so expect a couple of posts in the next few days. Not only do I have a couple of posts about the holiday lined up, I'm also gonna do a couple reviews - specifically on chocolate and Ms Cupcake. So, on to the holiday review!

Day 1 (Monday):

We traveled from Edinburgh to London first class. Having gone to London on our honeymoon, Mike decided that 4.5 hours in standard was just no good on his legs. I didn't think first class was all that different to having a table seat in standard, but I guess it was better for him. We started off the trip with a mini-adventure - we had a last-minute change of platform and none of the catering stuff got onto the train. Apparently you get a bunch of free stuff in first class, but we mostly didn't bother (though we did on the way back).

We had planned on stopping for lunch in London, but we'd both eaten enough on the train that we weren't that hungry and just wanted to get to our final destination, so we skipped it. We got to Brighton around 2.30 and made our way to the hotel. We got a bit lost on the way there because Google's directions were a bit crap. When we finally got there and checked in, we were given the wrong room and ended up walking in on some people (who thankfully were fully clothed). We did eventually get a key for an empty room (which we later discovered had a nasty kettle with junk all over the inside (possibly limescale) that they didn't change after we asked - avoid Travelodge Brighton if you can).

It was balls hot in Brighton that day, and we hadn't had much to drink since we were on the train, so we made our way to Shakeaway. We'd had a good experience with them in Nottingham, so we were really looking forward to it. Mike got the coffee shake and I got a Bourbon biscuit shake (both of which we'd had last year). I have to say, neither of us was impressed. It tasted like they used Tofutti ice cream, which frankly isn't that great. (If you've ever had ice milk (not vegan), that gives you some idea of what Tofutti ice cream tastes like. It's nothing like it is in the Cuties.) After that we hit up Lush (we needed shampoo) and Waterstones (Mike had already finished all of his books), then went to dinner at Loving Hut after an insane taxi driver made me fear for my life. Mike had the veggie chow mein, and I had the stir-fry vermicelli. They were both really tasty, but I preferred mine. For dessert, I had a Tofutti Cutie and Mike had a Tofutti Rock 'n' Roll cone, and we bought a few Go Max candy bars (2 each of Twilight and Buccaneer).

Day 2 (Tuesday):

We had another mini-adventure on the second day. The plan was to do lunch at VBites, so we got on the bus to go most of the way and then walk the rest of the way. There was a march that held up the bus for about 15 minutes (we later guessed, from their "Psychiatry - an Industry of Death" banner, that they were Scientologists). We weren't sure where to get off the bus, so we ended up getting off way too early and had to walk about 20 minutes before we got there. Mike got a burger, chips and a mocha, and I got a bacon cheeseburger, chips and a chai latte. They screwed up 2 of the 3 elements of my order - no bacon on my burger and coffee with chai syrup for my chai latte. They fixed the chai, but I couldn't be bothered with the burger. Oh, and the chips were overcooked. Then, worst of all, the main reason I was there was for a soft-serve ice cream cone, and their machine was broken. Boo-urns. After that, we went to the Hove Gallery and Museum. It was a bit strange - there was no theme other than stuff that may have happened or is tangentially related to Hove. This part of the day was punctuated by a couple of pretty hefty thunderstorms that we just managed to miss the worst of - we saw some lightning at VBites and heard some thunder at the museum but were inside for most of the rain.

That evening, we were privileged to have dinner at Pho with a few PPKers - jojo and her mr, messyveggie and her mr, baps, and Ruby Rose. We had a great time, and the food was fantastic. I had some fried noodles (can't remember the Vietnamese name) and Mike had the tofu pho and veggie spring rolls. I really wish they'd open a location in Edinburgh. We then moved on to Terre a Terre for dessert, where most of us had the famed (and one of only 2 vegan options) churros with chocolate sauce and vodka cherries. They were delicious, though not really churros (not the way I remember churros) - they were thicker and doughier and not quite as crispy. I wouldn't say no to them if offered, though. Meeting everyone was really great - everyone was so nice and funny and just completely awesome, and I'm really looking forward to the PPKamping trip in August!

Day 3 (Wednesday):

This was a lazy day - we didn't even get up until about noon. We had lunch at Infinity. Mike had the sausage and puy lentil stew (special),



I had the hot sausage sandwich (which was cold by the time I ate it),



and we shared some garlic bread. The food was average at best - my sammich had a single piece of (probably Taifun) sausage, split down the middle, and Mike didn't eat most of his. We both had mocha cake for dessert, which tasted really good but was a bit dense.



We kinda had our early anniversary dinner on the Wednesday night at Terre a Terre. We started with the garlic foccacia and hoisin tofu, both of which were really nice. Mike had the Rosti Raj and I had the Rosti Revisited. Mike didn't seem super keen on his - I think he thought the mango was a bit weird. Mine, on the other hand, was one of the nicest things I've ever eaten. It was basically just a giant hash brown with spinach and a bit of tofu with some green sauce, but it was incredibly delicious. I wish I could've eaten it again, and the memory of it is making my mouth water. Nom. The choice of sorbets didn't strike our fancy, and we'd had the churros the night before, so we just had the boozy rum truffles for dessert. They were great - just enough rum to taste without having an overpowering feeling of alcohol, and the chocolate wasn't overwhelming (not too dense or bitter). Overall, it was a really good meal, and I didn't expect to be so full when it was finished considering the usual inverse correlation of price to amount of food (i.e., the more you pay, the less you get).

I'll leave this for now and do the last two days in another post, since we did a bit more in those two days. I apologise for the lack of pictures - I kept forgetting and didn't take very many.