Exploring Leeds.

After arriving home from my US travels in the second week of October (more on that trip soon!) I turned around in a day and a half and hopped on a train followed by a Megabus up north to Leeds. The mission, to get tattooed. This isn't something I'd necessarily recommend as I was still feeling a little jet lagged and fragile by the morning of my appointment! I popped to the shop for my consultation as soon as I arrived in Leeds and then went to warm up with some hot chocolate and crumpets at veggie spot Roots & Fruits.

Roots & Fruits is a super cute cafe run by a lovely couple, these crumpets were the perfect comfort food and aren't something you often see in vegan friendly places. None of their main meals really jumped out at me so I didn't end up going back for one but I'd definitely say that this place is worth a visit.

The next day I grabbed a super hearty and filling breakfast of Baked Beans and Cheese on Toast at Global Tribe Cafe. This is another cute little place, located above a crystal shop, and run by super friendly people. As you can see the cheese on toast was suuuuper huge and filling. I loved that it was essentially a cheese on toast covered in beans, brilliant. I could hardly wait to go back!

This breakfast kept me going for a good few hours but after my appointment I was in need of sustenance asap and decided to check out Little Tokyo because of it's close proximity to Out Of This World, the health food store where I planned to stock up on awesome stuff for a hotel room dinner picnic. Unfortunately I don't think I can really review Little Tokyo fairly right now, it came recommended to me by two vegans who I assume enjoyed the food there and it has good reviews on Happy Cow but everything I tried was worse than mediocre and Japanese food is my favourite so I know what a decent dumpling's like. I only ordered dim sum though so maybe the full meals are better? If you've been let me know what you like there and maybe I'll give it another try.

The good news is that after my disappointing lunch I went dessert crazy at Out Of This World and got myself four desserts and a sandwich ready for bed picnic time! I was really excited to see the pistachio cardamon cake made by local company That Old Chestnut who I stumbled upon at the Northern Vegan Festival in Manchester earlier this year. I loved that cake then and I still love it now, it's delicately flavoured and not too sweet. Perfect as part of a dessert medley! I also grabbed a slice of Peanut Butter Chocolate tiffin which may have also been made by That Old Chestnut. It was exceptional, I've eaten a lot of tiffin in my time and this is up there with the best.

Next I was drawn to the piece of Bakewell Tart, I will never turn down a piece of Bakewell and this was the most authentic vegan version I've ever tried. It had the thin bottom layer, moist sponge and almond / cherry ratio spot on. It was delicious. Lastly I grabbed a Pudology chocolate pudding which I remembered enjoying at the Northern Vegan Festival but I was a little disappointed at how much more coconutty it seemed this time around, it really overwhelmed the chocolate flavour and I'm unsure if I'd buy it again.

I also enjoyed a couple of sandwiches from Out Of This World whilst in Leeds, the fillings change regularly and they come in either a large bap or on gluten free bread. My only complaint was that the chopped salad inside both sandwiches contained red pepper which I dislike and it was a challenge to pick out the pieces (especially on the bus!) because they looked so similar to the delicious chunks of tomato - hardly the worst thing ever though and I'll definitely be revisiting Out Of This World on my next Leeds adventure, they're only little but they have all of your vegan needs covered.

For my last meal, a brunch of sorts, I finally got to go back to Global Tribe Cafe to try their pie special. The day I visited it was Creamy Chicken & Mushroom, my favourite. It came with roasted root veggies, salad and a decent sized jug of gravy - there's nothing worse than somewhere that gives you a thimble of gravy ...or maple syrup, ugh! Moving on from my dining out pet peeves this meal was delicious and filling and I love the homely vibe here.

I really enjoyed my little weekend break in Leeds and I'll certainly be recreating the epic beans on toast soon. Since I got back from Leeds I've been in Berlin and now I'm getting reaquainted with Brighton and spending far too long lying around snuggling with Rorschach, our foster kitty, how could you resist this floofy belly?!