All Things Vegan at Wagamamas

After cutting out meat throughout January, purely to see if and what effect it would have on my body and partly because I love a good challenge. I’m incredibly fond of meat, always have been but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found the inevitable bloating feelings and sluggishness in my energy levels. With my daughter turning vegetarian, she urged I try and ditch the animal products and so I did!

I was kindly invited to try the vegan menu at my local Wagamama at Cabot Circus, Bristol, in exchange for a review. Would I miss my regular favourite of spicy beef ramen? Let’s see;

We were greeted and promptly seated and ordered our drinks. I opted for a beautiful sparkling sake. Light and bubbly, it was the perfect way to liven up my taste buds in anticipation for my first course. We it’s to share a bowl of the chilli garlic salt edemame beans which were firm and perfectly cooked.

Next we tried the Yasai Gyoza. 5 steamed dumplings, filled with tasty vegetables with a dipping sauce. Delicate in flavour, they were my daughters favourite. To this we ordered the Mixed Mushroom and Pannonia aubergine Hirata steamed buns. Ok so these really hit my meat hankering spot. The mushrooms were incredible. Thick, firm and juicy, creating that perfect umami flavour. Added to the crunch of the crispy yet light panko  crumb on the aubergine, these were deliciously filling.

Now we were ready for our mains. My daughter opting for her favourite of Vegatsu. A take on the popular Katsu dish, this was a crispy Panko crumbed seitan fillet, on a bed of rice and covered in an aromatic curry sauce served with a side salad.

I went for something different than my usual choice of ramen and instead tried the Yasai Pad Thai. Rice noodles with bean sprouts, spring onions, tofu, leeks and chilli and topped with fried shallots, peanut, mint, coriander and lime. This dish was incredible, the lime was a wonderful contrast to the amai sauce and the peanuts gave it the added texture. I ate this dish so fast the the tofu was almost gone before I took the photos!!

We were so full at this point that we almost laughed when we were offered the dessert menu. Never one to turn down sweet offerings, we shared bowls of each flavoured sorbets. 

Lemon grass and lime with mint and pink guava and passion fruit. Both delicately flavoured and completely vegan, they were the perfect end to the meal. 

Since January, I have significantly cut meat out of my every day diet and now only have it occasionally when I eat out. It’s not made a massive difference to my wellbeing but I’m far less bloated and the environmental impact is enough to want me to continue to become more plant based. 

Have you checked out the vegan menu at Wagamamas? Do you have a favourite dish or recipe you’d like to share? 

***Disclaimer***

I was offered this meal for 2, in exchange for social media and or blog posts. All opinions are my own and no monetary exchange took place. 

Baileys Almande

The lovely guys over at Baileys  have recently sent me a (quite frankly, beautiful) bottle of the new Baileys Almande dairy free drink to try.

Having previously loved the original, I could no longer drink it as I’ve become more intolerant to dairy and it just added to my discomfort. Fast forward to this new wonderful creation, with delicious notes of almond that was ever so subtle and didn’t leave you with an overbearing nutty taste. Baileys Almande is not only dairy free but also lactose free and gluten free too! Suitable for those with related allergies, intolerances and diets. 

Baileys Almonde is made from sweet almond oil, almond essence -(from crushed almonds), cane sugar, purified water and a touch of vanilla. It’s also slightly less strong than the original at 13% ABV 

Of course simply poured over ice is always a winner but on this occasion, I made the most of my afternoon off work and sat in the sunshine. I decided to try it poured over my favourite dairy free ice cream as an afternoon treat. 

For other great recipe ideas, why not head on over to the Baileys page for some inspiration. I’m eager to try out the Flat White Martini!

            How do you enjoy yours? X

I've Gone (coco)Nuts for Ape Snacks

I've recently discovered these delicious snacks from Ape. A range of coconut goodies that are gluten free, high in fibre and vegan friendly too! With flavours such as Slightly Salted, Pepper and Spices and the more unusual, Salted Chocolate, they are far from what you'd expect when it comes to dried coconut. What's more, you won't find any nasty chemicals here, meaning I'm happy to give these to my kids knowing they are eating well.

As well as the dried curls, there's also three varieties of crunchy bites too. These little discs pack not just crunch but tonnes of flavour too. Sweet and coconutty as you'd expect, but also slightly savoury and very moreish! 

You can find these coconut Ape Snacks in Holland & Barrett, Ocado, Boots, Whole Foods Market, Harvey Nichols, Planet Organic or you could buy online from their home page here x

**Disclaimer**

Although gifted, all opinions and views are my own.

Vegan Cupcakes by 280 Bakes

This weekend I attended a small, low key hen party with some new friends. What better way to introduce yourself to a new group of people than coming armed with a box full of delicious chocolate cupcakes. Not only that, but vegan friendly too.

280 Bakes is a small, independent bakery company in Bristol that specialises in homemade cakes, particularly vegan and gluten free for a majority of their customers and pride themselves on being able to deliver on the same day of ordering. Firm favourites include their Fair trade banana loaf and chocolate peanut butter cake (omg!)

 On choosing our cakes, I went for the cupcake variety as I had to travel quite a fair distance and knew these would most likely last the best. And of course it had to be chocolate! 

 
 

 The cakes themselves were beautifully moist and full of flavour. They seemed to go down a treat! There's something so special and comforting about home made cakes rather than shop brought and it's great if you lack the spare time to make them yourself, especially when it's so simple to have them delivered to your home or work address. 

 

The 280 Bakes page can be found here where you can find many more of their Bakes on offer, and details of upcoming events in and around Bristol that they trade at x