Aloka, again!

Just a heads up, Aloka is now closed and VBites is open in the same location.

I'm going to write about Aloka again because every time I go there the food seems to get even better. It's so good that I've been three times in the last month and it's my new top suggestion for people when they ask me where to get a bite to eat in Brighton. Aloka used to be a vegetarian cafe with vegan options making up about 65% of the food but now it seems that everything is vegan apart from the option to have cows milk in your coffee or tea.

Aloka has a pay by weight buffet which I think must be cheaper than it used to be as my last two plates of food have only been around £4 at lunch time. It's more expensive in the evening but even cheaper if you get takeaway. The food changes every day & is as organic, seasonal and locally sourced as possible. Last time I visited they had a sweet potato curry, brown rice, a decent selection of raw foods and this delicious selection.

I went for the roasted vegetable & vegan mozzarella stack, mixed kale salad, cashew cheese lasagne and a white bean & rocket salad with cauliflower & pesto. The lasagne was my favourite part of the meal, it was full of lentils & mushrooms and their homemade cashew cheese was delicious as always.

On a previous visit I also went for the buffet option & filled my plate with a roast vegetable stuffed baked squash, tabouleh, white bean salad, a piece of creamy mushroom filo pastry bake & some green salad.

The creamy mushroom bake was SO damn good, I keep hoping it will be there again! I really enjoyed the baked squash too and I like that their green salad always has some interesting leaves.

Aloka always have a soup of the day, which, as far as I've seen, is always vegan. I'm not usually into soup but last time I met up with a friend there I had a cold & was craving something warm and comforting, this huge bowl of creamy lentil soup really hit that spot.

At only £3 (or £3.50 with bread) this bowl of soup's definitely good value for money, it was huge and really delicious.

Aloka has a raw restaurant upstairs & there are a few raw treats on their cafe menu. I finally got around to trying the Raw Cashew Cheese & Flaxseed Crackers the other day...

...these dehydrated crackers are made from a combination of flaxseed & parsnip and they were pretty good, I was surprised at how crunchy they were and also that the cashew cheese was strongly flavoured enough for a little to go a long way - yum.

If I had to pick a favourite thing about Aloka I would have to pick the desserts, after a bit of trial and error last summer they've really perfected their raw ice creams and they even make my favourite flavour (joint favourite with Pistachio really!) Mint Chocolate Chip.

This is a beautifully smooth minty ice cream filled with chunks of cacao, I could go there & eat this every day!

Aloka always have a well stocked dessert cabinet & on valentines day they had some extra special treats.

Our dessert decision was a closely run thing between the Superfood Chocolate Mousse Cake & the Valentines Special Chocolate Lovers Torte (I feel I need to point out that we were only choosing because they cost £5.50 not because we wouldn't have happily eaten one each!) but the huge chocolate lovers that we are went for the Special Torte.

This was one seriously awesome dessert, it was, as described, really chocolatey & it was definitely worth it's £5.50 price tag when you consider the cost of the ingredients that would have gone into making it.

If you're in Brighton you should definitely head to Aloka for lunch, dinner or a dessert & a smoothie, you won't be disappointed.