veganitalian

Frankie and Benny’s – January 2019

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I’ve only visited Frankie and Benny’s once in the 6 years being vegan and that was a couple of months ago when they did an offer on International Chicken Nugget Day with their vegan nuggets as well as their regular chicken ones.

They have really expanded their vegan offerings and one of things I like is that they are spread throughout the main menu in the normal categories not in a separate menu you have to ask for or a little section on the back of the menu.

We started with the cheesy garlic bread. The basic garlic bread is vegan and then you can choose to add mozzarella or the vegan alternative.

My friend Louise chose the beet burger (which is a beetroot and soya patty) it came with all the normal fixings including vegan mayo and she chose to have it with sweet potato fries. Louise isn’t vegan but eats a lot of vegan and vegetarian food and she really enjoyed this.

I chose the “I’m no chicken parmigiana” which is two Fry’s schnitzels covered in tomato sauce and vegan mozzarella with spaghetti, you can then choose salad, green vegetables or fries. I wasn’t in the mood for double carbs so I went for the vegetables.

I think this could have done with some more sauce but other than that I enjoyed it.

There are plenty of other options that I may be heading back for, such as the Mac and cheese and the not dog.

Update I previously said the only vegan desserts they had were sorbet but I have been corrected by my pals on Instagram (thanks Stephen and Liz!) that they offer a chocolate cake as well as sundaes. I must have missed those VG symbols on the menu. Just need to offer some vegan shakes and they’re all there!

Have you tried Frankie and Benny’s new vegan options? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

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Frankie and Benny’s – January 2019

MOD Pizza July 2018

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A week or so ago a new MOD pizza branch opened up in my town and after sampling the delights of the Leicester Square branch in London I knew this was going to a regular dinner location for my Husband and me.

MOD charges one price (£7.87) for a standard 11″ pizza and you can have as many toppings as you like. The bases are vegan and they have dairy free cheese available.

We shared a garlic bread with dairy free cheese and had a pizza each along with a refillable soft drink.

They had accidentally made too many vegan garlic bread so we got another one on the house which was a nice treat.

They certainly don’t scrimp on the toppings and the dough is light and crisp. For an extra fee you can get a thicker base which I think I’ll go for next time.

The cinnamon strips are also vegan if you ask for them to be made with oil instead of butter.

I really enjoyed my visit to MOD Pizza and will definitely be returning. I think the only thing that would make it better would be if they offered some vegan meat options.

Have you been to MOD Pizza before? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

MOD Pizza July 2018

Vegan Yes July 2018

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My friend Jo and I went out for our monthly meal on Tuesday and this month we chose Vegan Yes a Korean Italian fusion restaurant located in the middle of Brick Lane. The menu is a quirky as it sounds, featuring both Italian and Korean dishes as well as some featuring both cuisines.

Jo went strictly Korean for her main choosing the bibimbap that featured all four the kimchis Vegan Yes had to offer. She found this simple dish very filling and I was happy to help her finish it. Each kimchi had a distinct flavour and was very fresh.

On the side she had a hemp hot dog, I also snuck a bite of this and it was really taste with a definite umami flavour.

I had the Toppognocchi which featured Korean rice dumplings and Italian potato dumplings in a tomato and Korean spiced sauce with olive oil and sesame seeds. This was a fab dish and was surprisingly not too spicy for me. You could really taste the olive oil in the croutons too.

I had a gorgeous seaweed salad on the side to add a bit of greenery.

For dessert Jo chose the chocolate mousse, she said it had more of a pudding type texture than a mousse like one but it was tasty all the same and she finished the whole pot (I didn’t get a look in this time!) I chose the chocolate covered mochi. I’ve never had mochi with chocolate around it but it definitely won’t be the last time!

To drink with our dessert Jo had a ginger tea and a had a cold moringa with plant milk. We also had filtered water free of charge with our meal served in metal cups.

The restaurant is small with only two tables and then a bar with stools but I think you could fit quite a few people in there if you don’t mind it cosy!

The only disappointing thing I found was that it was cash only. I can’t believe in 2018 in central London you can get away with not accepting cards.

The meal was very reasonably priced coming in at around £13 each for us which isn’t too shoddy for a main, a side, a dessert and a drink each.

Would definitely recommend heading to Vegan Yes if you are in the area.

Have you been to Vegan Yes? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Vegan Yes July 2018

Mangia Siciliano June 2018

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Both my friend Mitsu (To Happy Vegans) and I had passed by Mangia Siciliano multiple times without entering. So we decided to bite the bullet and go in together.

We made our choices by looking at the boards outside.

Photo credit – Mitsu Ikeda

When we entered the there were quite a few tables, a counter and boards with the menu. I’m glad we made our decisions outside as the boards were jam packed and it was difficult to decipher.

I chose the tofu pasta. I love that they use wholewheat pasta. On the board it said mine came with capers, olives, lemon and basil. It was very olivey and I couldn’t taste any capers or lemon but it was lovely nonetheless.

Mitsu chose the vegan carbonara which was on the specials board. This was bright yellow with tumeric and very tasty when I grabbed a forkful. I’d definitely go for this one next time.

The only disappointing thing was that they had a number of cakes on the counter but I couldn’t see any marked as vegan.

I thought it was reasonably priced at £7 for my large plate, I’ll be returning for sure!

Photo credit – Mitsu Ikeda

What’s your favourite vegan pasta dish? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Mangia Siciliano June 2018

Purezza Camden May 2018

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On Sunday my Husband and I were heading to Camden to see J-POP superstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and needed somewhere to have dinner first.

We loved Purezza when we visited their Brighton restaurant a couple of years ago and hadn’t had the opportunity to visit their newer Camden restaurant until now.

We got to the restaurant at about 4pm so there were a few tables occupied but it wasn’t overly busy.

We decided to share a garlic bread to start. I love it when garlic bread comes with rosemary and this one didn’t disappoint!

For main my Husband chose the “Season 4 Pizza 1”

Marinated artichokes, black kalamata olives, oven roasted chestnut mushrooms & smoked beetroot carpaccio, finished with salad cress.

He enjoyed it although he isn’t a massive fan of beetroot and handed those over to me.


My pizza also had beetroot on it, I went for the Fumosa – Smoked tofu pieces, with oven roasted mushrooms and smoked beetroot carpaccio, finished with a drizzling of BBQ sauce.

Some of the beetroot was a little under-done and I definitely could have done with more mushrooms but overall I really enjoyed my pizza. The dough was so amazing, we could smell it as soon as we walked into the restaurant!

We had garlic mayo and barbeque dips with our pizzas although I couldn’t really taste any garlic in the mayo. The barbeque was quite fruity which I really liked.

I was starting to get full at this point but I could turn down a dessert! I went for the Oreo pizza and Oh My Word! was this delicious! Chocolate hazelnut spread on that amazing dough topped by Oreo cookies! I got pretty messy eating this and I had to leave a couple of the crusts but I regret nothing!

Purezza also offers a 10% student discount which is always handy to know.

I would definitely recommend stopping by if you’re in the area and fancy pizza!

Have you been to Purezza? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Purezza Camden May 2018

Pickywops Nov 2017

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Yesterday I spent a fabulous day with my dear friend and former university housemate Samarra. We went to see the Balenciaga exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum (which runs until 18th Feb 2018) which I would highly recommend and as we were out west decided to grab some food at Pickywops which I had heard great things about.

The shop is quite small and in the back of the “shopping palace” so we missed it when we first went past. There is one big table which seats six and then a bar with a few stalls.

The guys at Pickywops are proud of the flours they use which are less processed than those usually used in pizza. You can choose from multigrain, tumeric, burnt wheat, spirulina or kamut. They also offer three cheeses, Violife (made with coconut), Mozzarisella (made with rice) or their homemade cashew cheese.

I chose a veg loaded pizza on burnt wheat base with cashew cheese and Samarra went for a classic Margherita on multigrain with cashew. Yet again the Husband couldn’t go without so I took him home a seitan sausage and mushroom on multigrain with Violife and some garlic bread.

The pizza bases were thin and crisp although some of the water from my vegetables sometimes made mine a bit soggy. The vegetables were really flavourful especially the olives. I’m not in this part of London much but I would return here although I would say I prefer the pizza I had at Fed by Water which I had earlier in the week which was a similar price. Also we found that the garlic bread, although having a lovely texture didn’t taste much of garlic.

I also snagged a couple of Kizzy’s Cookies to take home and now visit to West Kensington is complete without visiting GreenBay where I picked up some gyros a Rudolph round up and a can of rhubarb Cawston.

Have you been to Pickywops before? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Pickywops Nov 2017

Fed by Water Nov 2017

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My friend Jo and I returned to Fed by Water after about 2 years when we first started our monthly dinners. (I have been in-between with others).

Fed by Water is a fully vegan Italian restaurant in Dalston, just a short bus ride from work. 

I remember last time being very full from a starter and main so as I wanted to try their dessert menu we skipped the selection of homemade cheeses and went straight for the pizzas.

I had a sempre verde (always green) which came with cashew mozzarella, olives, capers, smoked tofu, rocket and lemon. Jo went for the Vulcano which had soy mozzarella, walnuts and pears. We both went for the charcoal base which doesn’t taste any different but does look pretty! I was very happy with my pizza and the pear on Jo’s added a lovely sweetness without being overpowering as it just thinly shaved.

For dessert Jo chose the chocolate mousse and I went for the matcha and an espresso martini. It was all delicious!

I couldn’t leave without a little something for my Husband so I got him some garlic bread to take away.

I really enjoyed our visit, the staff were lovely and it was a really relaxed atmosphere. It was quite quiet when we arrived as we had come straight from work but it soon started filling up and was jam packed by the time we left at 7.40.

Have you been to Fed by Water? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Fed by Water Nov 2017

A Vegan Meal @ Zizzi’s

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Zizzi’s were one of the first major chains to being out a vegan menu and living in a London suburb with no exclusively vegan or vegetarian restaurants you have to rely on the chains to get your vegan eats.

I went with my friend Louise who has a taste card so we got a main free which was nice.

We shared a bruschetta to start. This was really nice and it would good to have a vegan pesto and this was a tasty start to the meal.

For main I went for my favourite lentil ragu, this is another tasty well thought out dish which I return to time and time again.

I’d never had the praline torte before so I went with that along with my americano and soya milk. It was really rich and the ice cream was nice with it to cut through that richness. My friend tried a bit and enjoyed it too. The honeycomb was a great addition too.

There’s a Pizza Express very close to Zizzi’s in my town but they only have sorbets for dessert so the Zizzi menu pips it for me! With Pizza Hut trialling vegan cheese at the moment it might soon be difficult to find a chain pizza restaurant that doesn’t often a vegan menu! We’re taking over people!

What’s your favourite dish from Zizzi? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

A Vegan Meal @ Zizzi’s

Review – Ask Italian 13th April

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I was glad to see another chain restaurant has introduced a dedicated vegan menu and decided to try it out yesterday with Mama Plumes.

I had looked on the menu online and had already decided on the vegetable fettuccine which came with spinach, courgette, tomatoes and a black olive tapenade on top.


My Mum ordered to grain salad but I forgot to take a photo of hers!

I was pleased to see we had vegan stickers on our plates and on the menu it said to make sure you ask for the vegan version. I assume there are non-vegan versions of some of the dishes. I was disappointed that when the waitress put the dishes down she asked if I wanted cheese. I assume this is an automatic phrase as they always ask if you want cheese and black pepper but a bit of training wouldn’t have gone amiss. 

The dish was nice but nothing special, I would have a liked a couple of fancy ingredients like pine nuts or artichokes included. 

The pasta was very filling but I wasn’t missing out on dessert so I ordered the chocolate orange tart to take home.


The tart was really rich and I think there could be a bit more orange running through it as it is just on the top. If you have this at the restaurant it comes with raspberry sorbet which sounds really good! It’s nice they have a proper vegan dessert and you can’t go wrong with chocolate.

Overall I enjoyed my meal but I wasn’t blown away. I would go back to Ask if I was in a pinch but with more offerings all the time from restaurants I think they could up their game a bit.

Have you been to Ask? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Plumes x

Review – Ask Italian 13th April

Review – Purezza

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As soon as I heard about Purezza I knew I had to visit. A 100% vegan Italian pizzeria?! Yes Please! I have been looking over the menu all week and was glad we booked as they were turning people away when we showed up.

For starters we had a garlic bread to share. I quite fancied the farinata but as I wasn’t sure how big the portions would be I didn’t want to risk it! In the end I’m glad I didn’t as the garlic bread was huge and really tasty.

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For our mains we both chose stuffed crust quattro stagioni  (four seasons). These came with artichokes, olives, mushrooms and seitan salami. The cheese was lovely and gooey and oozy. I haven’t had a stuffed crust in years so was so glad I could try this out. I really liked the seitan salami although I think we could have done with a bit more on our pizzas. Ollie was impressed with the vegan cheese having never had it before.

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I really liked the look of the dessert menu, with a chocolate calzone and ice cream from Boho Gelato (which I make a point of visiting every time I visit Brighton). But unfortunately we were too full!

Purezza also serve salads, yogurts, cakes and pastries along with pizza all day.

I’d really recommend Purezza not only if you’re vegan but if you just love pizza! And make sure you book a table in advance!

Have you tried out Purezza? What did you think?

Plumes x

Review – Purezza