VEGAN HEAVEN (4/5)

Wai kika moo kau

By now I'm probably boring you with all these Brighton posts but there really is a lot to say on the matter! It has without doubt been the easiest place I've found to holiday and eat 'normally' without having to worrying about a thing, which is exactly what you want from a relaxing trip away - alas if only vegan was the norm worldwide, but for now we have Brighton!

Wai kika moo kau (or Why kick a moo cow) is a strictly veggie/vegan cafe situated in the laines. It was our breakfast place of choice for the last morning of our stay, we chose pancakes as I'd been craving them for quite some time! They came nicely presented in a fluffy stack of 4, with cinnamon and sugar dusted all around the plate and a large pot of maple syrup for pouring - they were light, fluffy and absolutely divine. We decided to go all out, seeing as it was our last morning and ordered a creamy banana mylkshake to go with, the whole breakfast could have been straight out of an American diner.

I like that it took a while for them to arrive as this is usually a good sign (i.e no microwaves). The menu was also surprisingly cheap for the quality and quantity received. The place itself was light and airy with a fun cow print adorning the counter and walls. It also had a good energy about it, which I usually find with most strictly veggie/vegan places, I believe like-minded people coming together in this kind of environment in a great inducer of mindful conversation and feel good vibes. I would be interested to know if this is something other people have experienced while visiting all veggie restaurants and cafes, let me know in the comments below!

VEGAN HEAVEN (3/5)

Terre a Terre

Terre a Terre has a really special place in my heart as it opened my eyes to the wonderous possibilities of vegan food and made me confirm in my mind that I'd made the right decision by turning vegan. It's also the very reason we came back to Brighton in the first place, it's THAT good, albeit an indulgent treat. I've never had such beautifully presented plates that taste better with every bite, you won't want to waste a morsel! It deserves 10/5 for everything; food, presentation and service - no exaggeration.

This is a predominantly vegetarian restaurant but the menu is clearly labelled with what dishes are vegan or have a vegan choice and the same goes for gluten free. We were so excited to eat we actually forgot to say that we wanted the vegan option and had to hurriedly change our order!

While we don't normally drink wine this was organic and vegan so we decided to give it a try. We had it with our meal last year in celebration of my birthday and enjoyed it so much we had to order it again. You can even buy their wine, condiments and sweets to take home which I thought was a clever idea, especially for those that live out of town. Fyi these products are also available through their website if you can't make it all the way to Brighton. 

We skipped starters and went straight for the main. I fully recommend you go for the Terre a Tapas Plate to share as you get two of every mini dish (one on on either side), again much like the Food for Friends mezze it gives you a chance to sample a variety of different dishes the restaurant has to offer. The creamy possibly(?) cashew cheese dip in the middle was to die for and the grapefruit tucked into a Japanese style bun initially looked like salmon so that was a fun detail. To top our meal off nicely, for dessert we chose churros that came with 3 incredible dipping sauces: salty caramel, vodka cherries and dark chocolate, mm mm!

BRIGHTON BIRTHDAY

I wanted to get away from crazy city life for my Birthday this year (I must be getting old), so my boyfriend took me on a trip to Brighton for the day. The sun was shining and it couldn't have been a better day to have fun and enjoy the last of the Summer sun.

First we had a little stroll around the lanes then went for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Terre a Terre (sorry don't know how to do the accent on the a!). We opted for the sharing platter which comprised of mini versions of all the popular main dishes - we were blown away! There were mini nachos and guacamole, sesame tofu, wasabi cashews, aubergine zhuganoush and a teeny weeny glass of kale soup to name a few. 

All of this was followed by a chorus of Happy Birthday which was sung to me by the waiter (highly embarrassing but very sweet) and an amazing dark chocolate ganache and mixed berry birthday cake to take home - all vegan of course. 

The food was out of this world and we will definitely be visiting this restaurant in the near future (if not just to sample the churros). I'd recommend this place to everyone from veggie to meat eater as the quality of food is top notch, the service is excellent and presentation is incredible - what's not to like! All in all it was the perfect Birthday meal.