European Vegan Food Tour

Over our four week trip to Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest and Vienna, we enjoyed some delicious vegan food! One of our favourite parts of travelling is checking out the local vegan scene. Some think being vegan while travelling means missing out but we find the opposite is true. Being vegan means you get off the beaten path to find restaurants and local vegan specialities. As always, our number one vegan travel trip is the HappyCow Worldwide Veg Dining Directory available as a free website or smart phone app. The site has over 40,000 listings, and I have contributed over 740 photos and reviews!

Starting in Amsterdam my favourite spot was Vegabond a simple vegan cafe with limited seating and a well stocked vegan specialty grocery. They make a great sandwich with locally made cashew basil pesto cheese. The coffee and desserts are also terrific. The shop has all the required vegan staples; faux meat, non-dairy cheese (including my favourite Vegusto), cookies, candy, ravioli and pasta. We ventured further out and went to the Loving Hut which had some nice filling dishes including a devious crispy faux chicken and a great tiramisu for dessert. Another further out spot is Koffie ende Koeck which had a nice sandwich, baked goods and coffee. I had high hopes for the vegan butcher I had heard about; De Vegetarische Traiteur, but we were a little underwhelmed with the offerings. It is still a good place to check out and their frozen take home items look good. In fact, we more than once enjoyed their delicious faux chicken product available on a bagel at the chain Bagel and Beans. A local recommended we check out Golden Temple, a vegetarian spot with a fun atmosphere. The flavours combinations (Indian, Asian and Mexican) sometimes were a bit different than expected, but we did enjoy our meal. The pakoras were particularly tasty. We checked out the TerraZen Centre one evening for an interesting mix of Japanese and Caribbean food. The space is small but the staff are friendly and we had a nice time. A favourite spot around Europe is the vegetarian falafel chain Maoz, which we enjoyed a few times. The best part is the all you can fill toppings bar with the great cilantro sauce. Amsterdam also has a candy shop, Candy Freaks, with vegan options clearly marked. We picked up some great licorices and chocolate covered raisons, which I haven't had in years! Amsterdam is also lucky to have a vegan shoe store; VegaLife, where J picked up a new belt. We found over all that Amsterdam vegan spots were more casual and cafe like and the city could do with a nice fancy vegan option.

Cupcakes from Vegabond Cafe

Part of the reason we opted to go to Prague is that we heard the vegan scene is really growing. We picked out our airbnb to be closed to a vegetarian spot; Etnosvet and Etnosvet Cafe. The cafe is all vegan and was our regular breakfast spot for yummy grilled panini with vegan cheese and espresso. It is a small shop with a few seats at the window. The vegetarian restaurant (with vegan options clearly marked) is around the corner. The setting is fancier - a great spot for a nice dinner. I loved the mock Peking duck, and peanut satay the best. There are few vegan options for both appetizers and mains; it is just lacking a vegan dessert. Our other common spot was Moment Cafe, an all vegan spot across from a nice park and near the train. We loved the vibe and the great staff. We ate many meals here and often stopped in later for a coffee break too. It is a great place for breakfast, lunch or supper and they have lots of desserts. Items I particularly liked; vegan egg spread, waffles, seitan bagel, and the soups. They also have great daily special meals. Prague also has a small shop and restaurant called Puro which is affiliated with the awesome vegan grocery chain, Veganz. We stopped in a picked up a few vegan snack items. However, we found the health food store, Bioobchod, near our accommodations to have more of the items we were looking for. It is all vegetarian, with lots of vegan items. There was a great selection of violife and other vegan cheeses, vegan sliced meats like wheatly, and vegan snacks. It also has pasta, canned goods, and a bakery area.

After connecting on social media, we also met up for coffee with Randi, one half of the full-time travelling duo behind the Veggie Visa website. We had a great visit! "Veggie Visa’s mission is to discover vegan lifestyle options all over the planet. Whether it be a delicious restaurants to dine at, great places to shop, vegan recipes, or health and wellness information, the site is devoted to traveling the globe to bring you great vegan resources, tips, and stories."

Grilled Panini from Etnosvet Cafe

Now Budapest has quite a few vegetarian and vegan restaurants, unfortunately due to the holidays some were not open the entire time we were there and others were only open part of the time. We were grateful we booked an apartment with a kitchen as we used it a few times. We stocked up on items from the Bio ABC health food market and picked up fruits and vegetables at the Great Market Hall (central market). However, Budapest is home to one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten; vegan fried cheese from Napfenyes Restaurant and Pastry Shop. This delightful dish was recommended to us by our new friend Randi, of Veggie Visa. She does a nice review of this delicacy in her article; Vegan Food Tour in Budapest, Hungary. Napfenyes is also home to amazing vegan cream filled eclairs. I admit we packed a few (several) for the train ride to Vienna. This spot also had great pizza and salad options, plus J's new favourite, a vegan napoleon square for dessert. Another great spot is Kozmoz Vegan Restaurant, and the highlight was the layered chocolate pancake dessert. HappyCow lists Madal Cafe as vegetarian friendly but it did not have a lot of options other than a few raw dessert items. However, the espresso is excellent so we stopped there regularly. There are also many Hummus Bar franchises with a good selection of vegan friendly hummus, falafel, soups and salads. 

Vegan fried cheese!

And on to Vienna, the highlight here was not one but two all vegan grocery stores: Maran Vegan and Veganz. Veganz is a chain of all vegan grocers, the first of which we went to in 2012 in Berlin. The Vienna store is terrific and we picked up some European favourites including vegan ravioli. Maran Vegan is actually a larger store and has a larger deli and produce area. Both stores had expansive selections of vegan cheese, faux meats, snack items, pasta, bakery items, personal care items etc. Whenever we visit a vegan grocer I always pick up a new reusable bag for a souvenir, and I particularly loved the all black one from Veganz. With the lovely groceries we made dinner a few times in our flat, after long days of wandering. We regularly visited Swing Kitchen, and all vegan burger joint. We went to both locations and loved the burgers, sides, and the soft dipped ice-cream cones! It was a novelty to have such a yummy vegan fast food joint with a fun atmosphere. For a more upscale and health focussed option, we loved Tian Bistro a vegetarian spot with lots of marked vegan options. The baked potato stuffed with cashew cream, and the tempeh salad were our favourites. Pirata Sushi was also a good spot with a variety of all vegan sushi. 

Vegan groceries 

To check out more vegan food photos see: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8751723@N02/albums/72157658369449113

Tel Aviv Vegan Food Tour

A big part of our love of travel is exploring the local vegan cuisine and Tel Aviv did not disappoint! There has been a lot of press on the vegan friendliness of Israel such as; http://www.timesofisrael.com/israelis-growing-hungry-for-vegan-diet/. Although we had a kitchen in our fabulous Airbnb rental we opted to enjoy the local vegan offerings at the many vegan and vegan friendly establishments.

Our favourite breakfast stop was Seeds, an all vegan bakery. We enjoyed assorted pastries, my favourite being the danishes, along side espresso and even iced coffee.

Our favourite overall restaurant was Buddha Burgers, offering an extensive all vegan menu, complete with amazing desserts. Featured below is a Schnitzel plate and a dreamy slice of strawberry pie.

Other spots we enjoyed included vegan sushi from The Green Roll, frequent meals at the Vegan Shawarma (including vegan Mr Donuts), and The Green Cat vegan pizza joint. We also stopped by a health food store and picked up some vegan cheese slices and snacks. 

We mostly opted to visit all vegetarian/vegan spots while in Tel Aviv but we were told that many average restaurants also have great vegan options. Check out HappyCow Restaurant Guide for the extensive vegan options in Tel Aviv!

Jordan Vegan Eats

When travelling we check out the traditional foods for items that are naturally vegan. Luckily Jordanian Cuisine has many vegan options. In Jordan we enjoyed hummus, falafel, foul (a mix of fava beans and spices), pita bread, Fattoush salad, tabouleh salad, baba ghanoush, olives, and diverse fruits!

In Amman we found a vegetarian restaurant on HappyCow; Hashem. It is a busy spot with outside seating. There is no menu but they come by and take your order which can be a combination of the following; hummus, foul, falafel, pita. It is served with a side of onions, mint and tomatoes. I have never tried hummus with mint before and it was delicious! It was extremely cheap and some of the best hummus and falafel I've ever had!


However, there is also a lot of dishes with meat or dairy so we often found ourselves eating a combination of the hummus, salads, falafel, assorted dips and pita for three meals a day. I had never considered falafel as a breakfast food before!

While in the region we also enjoyed Turkish Delight, a sweet fruit jelly, and Turkish coffee infused with cardamon.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More Calgary Vegan Delights!

Heart's Choices recently opened up their new Vegan Thai Cafe and grocery. They have fantastic meals, including my favourite dish; satay skewers with a peanut sauce. As well they have vegan cakes and desserts from Purple Pastry Chef and vegan chocolate bars from Sjaak's and Go Max Go Foods. In addition they sell hand crafted, local made, cultured cashew based vegan cheese.

My regular go to restaurant is the very tasty all vegetarian (and mostly vegan) Tamarind Vietnamese Grill & Noodle House. Favourite dishes include: Deep fried wonton, Crispy spring rolls, Tamarind house special noodle soup (Pho Dac Biet), and Pad thai. Generous portions, affordable prices and lovely staff!

My favourite coffee shop, Phil and Sebastian, often have a vegan muffin or cake donut at the Mission and Marda Loop locations I frequent. Speaking of donuts, did you know you can also advance order vegan doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts? Make a great birthday surprise sure to delight the vegan in your life!

Fresh pressed juices have exploded on the scene in Calgary with many different purveyors. I've enjoyed Well Juicery (also found at Phil and Sebastian) and my all time favourite Cru Juice. (Cru also has an amazing nut based milk with vanilla bean.) Cru Juice is available from their store front and various spots around town including the little neighbourhood bodega and caterer Our Daily Brett. Our Daily Brett does a great job remembering the vegans and often has a section of vegan friendly salads, dips, soups and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery breads. They make a new daily meal to go, which is sometimes a vegan friendly offering. Sign up on their website to get their weekly menu.

And you are looking for gluten free and vegan baking look no further than Baked From the Heart! I admit I rarely like GF baking but their moist, tasty mini cupcakes topped with piles of rich icing have swayed me! I'm glad I had some GF guests coming over to have an excuse to check out their wares.

Oh and a little bonus Justin's Dark Peanut Butter Cups are now available at Starbucks!

Calgary Vegan Cheese Options!

I've done a few other posts on vegan finds in Calgary and area including; Alberta's First Vegan Store (Cochrane), Top 10 Vegan Eats in Calgary, & Vegan Field Trip Around Calgary. Well a lot has happened since these posts so it's time for an update. My first update is all about Vegan Cheese!

There are some great new vegan cheese options available in Calgary. A long standing favourite is the soft cashew based vegan cheese by Basic Roots, made locally in Calgary, and available at Community Natural Foods.

A new comer is the lovely Banff based Glowfood, available in dishes at Nourish Bistro, also in Banff, or by special order. Also check out Glowfood on their Facebook page. Glowfood cheeses are beautiful with unique and complex flavours. A wonderful local product. From their website "At Glowfood, we use only the best organic, raw tree nuts to make our vegan cheeses. The spices, herbs, fruits, vegetables and salts that WOW your taste buds are hand selected.  Sourcing quality is really important to us. All we are saying is that . . . we did some research and we ate a lot of cheese. Our quest for greatness spanned far and wide across the continent and this is what we have to show for it. The proof is in the details. Dairy Free. Soy Free. Gluten Free. GMO Free. Bad for you free. Artisan vegan cheese. Cultured in small batches. Hand-crafted by the owner."

Another option to get your vegan cheese fix is to special order the USA based Vtopian Artisan Cheeses (and on Facebook) by phone via the Surrey, BC company, Antony & Sons. Description from the Vtopian website "All of our cheeses are dairy-free, vegan, and handmade in Eugene, Oregon. We enjoy making innovative special cheeses to please palates. All ingredients are organic whenever possible, which is the case for almost all our ingredients. All of our major ingredients, such as cashews, oils, herbs, spices, fruits, and tofu are always organic. The cheddars, bries, and Borealis spread contain probiotic cultures. All the cheddars and bries are gluten free. All the cheddars and bries are soy free except for the Spicy White Cheddar (a small amount in spice) and Dark Chocolate Strawberry Brie (a small amount in chocolate)."

I first tried these cheeses on a trip to Portland, Oregon, and these are definitely some of my favorite vegan cheeses! They even have a seitan cheese ball for the holidays! I recently ordered a great selection and they were easily UPS shipped to me with a cold pack. They arrived in great & tasty condition. They also stock other vegan treats including one of my favourites, Cocomels Caramels, and some faux meat products too. 

Alberta's first vegan store!

Today we drove out to Cochrane, Alberta, a short and pleasant drive from Calgary, to visit the brand new vegan store; VegOut Boutique. From their VegOut Boutique Facebook page, they describe themselves as "A health boutique that is dedicated to protecting your health, your planet and improving your quality of life." It is owned and operated by a lovely and passionate couple. The store is bright, well marked and with ample parking.

The store is amazing. The store stocks a wide variety of vegan items, some not found anywhere else in my travels in the Calgary area. They have a frozen & refrigerated food area with a large selection of Sweets from the Earth baked goods, tofurkey products (including the pizza pockets and quiche which I have not seen anywhere else in Alberta), raw foods and desserts, fillo dough, yoghurts, non-dairy spreads, assorted prepared meals and much more. 

There are 3 aisles of other goods including clothing, purses, yoga items, shoes (including Cynthia King vegan ballet slippers!), dried/canned food items, cosmetics, condoms, mushrooms, an impressive selection of books and DVDs, chocolates, snacks, Sea Shepherd products, and so much more! I spoke with the lovely owners and they also have plans to soon stock the line of Earth Balance snacks, Go Max Chocolate bars, & Premium Chocolatiers candies. If there is a vegan product you'd like stocked be sure to suggest it!

So with all this awesome inventory, what did we buy? I fell in love with the gorgeous recycled rubber fringed purse from the Canadian company http://www.ressac.ca/en/, a super warm Sea Shepherd hoodie with embroidered logo, tofurky pizza pockets and quiche, vegan probiotics, mushroom soup and gravy and powdered peanut butter. 

The store is amazing and we are lucky to have a vegan resource like this in the province. Get out there often and support this fabulous local business! Better yet make a day of it and have a meal at the nearby vegetarian (and mostly vegan) Thai-Onzon Veggie Restaurant. (Note Thai-Onzon is closed for vacation for the month of August 2014).

Vegan field trip around Calgary

We had a fun filled day that started at the Eat Real YYC Food Festival, outside of the Casel Marche Market. The market also stocks plenty of vegan staples. The event was chock full of Calgary Foodtrucks. I was pleasantly surprised to find some good vegan options. We had amazing chickpea fritter naan tacos (hold the cheese) from The Naaco Truck  (check out the photo below) and indulged in rich raw vegan desserts from Healthy Funky Foods. Healthy Funky Foods also has a stall in the Cross Roads Market, full of all sorts of raw vegan delights including mains, sides, drinks and desserts.

For supper we headed over to Anejo for great mexican eats. We had fire roasted salsa, fresh guacamole (both hand mixed table side), a quinoa side dish and black bean tacos. 

After dinner we thought we'd head over to Bridgeland and check out some of the new developments. We first visited the Bridgeland Market, a boutique grocery store with many vegan staples. Afterwards we checked out Luke's Drug Mart. I was blown away by the awesomeness packed into this little gem. I enjoyed a delicious espresso from the Stumptown coffee counter, browsed, vinyl records, interesting gift items, and a post office! Then we headed downstairs to the well stocked market area complete with assorted hardware items. I was very impressed with the great vegan food items, and natural cleaning products as well! They even had two Gardein products that I haven't seen anywhere else in Calgary (plus organic pizza sauce which I have also not found!)

Top 10 Vegan Eats in Calgary

Calgary may lack an exclusively vegan restaurant but there are still some great vegan dishes available. The only way we will increase the vegan options is by letting restaurants know we want them and celebrating those who already provide them. If the Wynn restaurant and hotel empire in Las Vegas can provide a vegan menu at each dining establishment, surely we can increase the options in Calgary! So if you find a great vegan dish let the owner know you appreciate it and tell your friends too! If you want a venue to add some vegan options send them an email or message them on twitter.

Here are the top 10 things I've eaten lately:

1.) The Treehouse Sandwich from Calgary's wonderful vegetarian eatery The Coup, is a staple of weekend brunch (or weekday lunch). The vegan version of the sandwich is smoked tofu and an amazing basil pesto mayo on hearty fresh bread. It comes with soup, salad or hash browns. I always opt for the hash browns with a side of garlic aioli.

2.) The flavourful  Gado Gado from Kaffir Lime, is a great weekend meal when checking out the Kingsland Farmer's Market. (It is located in the market food court).

3.) We were very spoiled by the NYC all vegan sushi place; Beyond Sushi, and have been on the hunt for a Calgary spot with decent vegan options. We recently checked out Sushi Motto and were very happy with the five different vegan rolls offered. They included; avocado, cucumber, vegetable, shitake  mushroom, and Inari (bean curd pouches). There are some vegetarian soups listed as well that could potentially be made vegan (ask your server).

4.) The tofu parma sandwich from Community Natural Foods Cafe is delightful. They veganize the normally vegetarian sandwich by using Daiya vegan cheese. The sandwich is pared well with the  moist, in-house made cupcakes, complete with decadent frosting. The cupcakes are sold in 4 packs in the cooler by the Cafe and flavours include vanilla, chocolate, lemon blueberry and carrot cake. You can also special order vegan cupcakes and whole cakes.

5.) Who doesn't love a critter free hot dog? Check out the great vegan hotdogs from Fat City Franks. I top mine with cilantro sauce, fresh cilantro, hot peppers and the homemade relish. 

6.) We were pleasently surprised to learn that Brulee Bakery often has vegan options on hand (and can do special orders). Check their facebook page to hear about specials. We indulged in the morning glory muffins, chocolate chestnut cakelet, and orange almond lavender cakelet. Beautifully presented and delicious! 

7.) The new kid in town is Tutti Frutti Yogurt. We checked them out on opening weekend and were pleased to see four vegan options; soy based peanut butter banana, soy based chai latte, blueberry sorbet and lychee sorbet. You fill your own bowl and then visit the topping centre to add your extras. There were several vegan friendly toppings including fruit, nuts, fuzzy peaches candy, Oreos, and the agar based bubbles (similar to the ones in bubble tea but these ones kind of pop). Plus they had Ghirardelli chocolate sauce, which appears to be vegan. 

8.) We managed to secure a table at Anejo, the very popular mexican restaurant. We thoroughly enjoyed the fresh, table side made guacamole and fire roasted salsa, plus the black bean burritos.

9.) One of the difficult things to find as a vegan is decent pizza. Famosa delivers great vegan pizza topped with Daiya cheese. (Apparently Avatara Pizza also offers vegan cheese and I look forward to checking them out soon). 

10.) The salty, spicy faux dry ribs from Buddha's Veggie Fusion Cuisine.

And a bonus entry! It is well worth the drive to nearby Cochrane to check out the Thai all vegetarian paradise, Thai-Onzon. I particularly like the peanut satay appetizer. They have a great selection of appetizers, noodle dishes and curries. Many of their selections are gluten-free as well. Plus they have vegan desserts.

So what are your top vegan-friendly eats in Calgary? You can also check out other reviews of vegetarian/vegan friendly spots in Calgary on HappyCow.