Wednesday 23 September 2009

Bristol, Bath and an exciting announcement!

So it was mine and Nicks anniversary on the 21st so we went away for the weekend, we'd heard Bristol was nice & had good veggie options so away we went!

We were pretty damn hungry after our long drive so we headed out to the cafe / bar at The Watershed for some food. They only had one vegan option on their menu which was a salad but I was way too hungry for that! I enquired as to whether any of the vegetarian options were or could be made vegan & was told by the super helpful staff that the risotto often is but unfortunately after a quick chat with the chef it turned out that that day they'd already cooked the rice with butter. I fancied some carbs so Nick and I shared the chips with ketchup...


...and the hummus, olives & bread.


The hand cut chips were awesome and came with a really great and obviously non big brand ketchup but the star of the meal for me was the hummus. It was chunky and delicious and clearly homemade, the best hummus I'd had in ages. The olive oil for dipping was obviously really high quality too, I'd totally order this again!

After checking out the local area and walking off our food we headed back to The Watershed to catch newly released indie movie Away We Go - it was a great movie with a really cute message, if you haven't seen it yet get yourself to your local independent cinema asap!

That night we went to old favourite Pizza Express where I tried one of their new Leggera Pizzas, a pizza with no centre and a yummy salad in its place. I totally forgot to take a photo but here's a photo of me & Nick instead!


The next morning we woke up starving and our hotel The Bristol Royal Marriott had no vegan options on their super expensive breakfast menu so we headed out in search of food. We stumbled upon Start The Bus on Baldwin Street, a pub that happened to be open for breakfast. They had no vegan option on the menu but minus the butter and eggs their vegetarian breakfast was easily veganised.

This was a pretty greasy breakfast but if you can't have a massive fry up on holiday then when can you?

We went for lunch at Cafe Kino, an all vegan workers cooperative in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol. I'd been really excited about this place and I wasn't disappointed.

We decided to share again and went for more chips, again hand cut and perfectly fried, and with a side of vegan mayo - yum.

We also went for the large falafel plate which consisted of perfectly fried crispy coated falafel, delicious homemade hummus, wholewheat pitta and a really nicely dressed seed covered salad.


I think hand cut chips & hummus are Bristol's specialities! The hummus here was even better than the aforementioned best hummus I'd had in ages at The Watershed!

I picked up some rad desserts to take away too, the strawberry caramel shortbread.


This was super delicious. I haven't had shortbread in ages and the caramel topping wasn't at all sickly. I also couldn't resist the bakewell tart slice.


This tasted exactly like the bakewell tarts I remembered from before I was vegan. The texture was perfect but the strange thing about this dessert was the puff pastry crust, it didn't really add anything and just made it a little difficult to eat!

After lunch we went to this cool place called Ashton Court Estate just outside of Bristol. It's a stately home and the majority of the land is a deer sanctuary - rad!


Here's the exciting bit...on our lovely day out in the countryside my lovely man proposed!! We're SO excited!! Here's the picture I took of the ring...


...I love how it looks a bit like a traditional diamond from a distance! It's actually a solid metal rock carved from silver from thebeside at Etsy.com , much more me than some dubiously sourced diamond!

If you're interested in reading more about how diamonds can be sourced check out stopblooddiamonds.org or this United Nations Site.

We spent the evening celebrating in typical Jojo & Nick style by having a floor picnic in our hotel!

The next morning we went back to Cafe Kino.

I didn't have any of the yummy looking flapjacks or cake for breakfast, instead I went for the Full English Breakfast.


The breakfast came with sausages, beans, garlic mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns and either fried bread or toast. I opted for the fried bread instead of toast which was horribly unhealthy I'm sure but I don't think I've had fried bread for about 15 years! This was an awesome start to the day.

If you hadn't guessed it yet Cafe Kino was my favourite place to eat in Bristol, if I'm ever back there again I'll certainly be stopping by to eat my way through the rest of their menu!

On our way back to Brighton we decided to stop off in Bath for some lunch at vegetarian pub The Porter Bar. I went for the creamy mushroom pie with potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

I have to say I had expected a little more from the seasonal vegetables than just cabbage but the pie was super creamy and delicious so I'll let it go.

They had a few vegan options but their menu could've been made better with the addition of some vegan cheese so we'd have the options of toasted sandwiches, pizzas and nachos too. I think The George in Brighton is still my favourite veggie pub.

I'd never visited Bath before but I'd really love to go back to explore the city and it's vegan dining options properly!

28 comments:

  1. Great looking food! I love potatoes in any format. Congratulations! When's the wedding?

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  2. congratulations!!
    I'll never get used to the difference in u.k. flapjacks vs. u.s. flapjacks...!
    nice yummy finds.
    oh! coincidentally, netflix just shipped me the film "blood diamonds" today- I'm so with you on this issue!

    yay for jojo and nick!

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  3. p.s. I expect my wedding invitation is in the mail...

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  4. CONGRATULATIONS LADY!!! And that ring is totally awesome! I've seen that store and they're amazing!

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  5. That English breakfast looks a-freakin'-mazing! I love beans and toast, but fried bread! Plus hasbrowns and mushrooms and vegan sausages. I think I need to move to Bristol.

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  6. Your ring is beautiful! Congrats again!! My first (veggie) fry up happened in the UK this year and while I was amazed by it, it's a good thing they don't have those here!

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  7. Congratulations! How exciting! All of the food looks great--what a yummy trip.

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  8. Hello-- just found your blog through Vegan Crunk's blog. Congrats on the engagement!! And I'm amazed at the vegan friendliness of the UK. Just added you to my google reader!

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  9. I already told you on the boards, but CONGRATULATIONS again! I'm almost positive you've already found it, but just in case - I have a blog dedicated to my vegan wedding trials and tribulations: http://newyorkveganwedding.blogspot.com

    I LOVE the ring! It is so unique and amazing, while still being so distinctly an engagement ring. My ring does have two diamonds and a sapphire in it, but like y'all we're very conscious of where such things come from. So my ring came from GreenKarat. They only use lab-created stones (no mining, no cartels) and recycled metals. Plus, since it's all done with science the diamonds get to be blue! :)

    Ugh, you are going to be the most beautiful bride! I demand lots and lots and LOTS of pictures.

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  10. congratulations! it sounds like a wonderful anniversary AND an awesome surprise!

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  11. Wow... CONGRATULATIONS! What a beautiful ring - I love things that are different, and ethical! But... congratulations!

    When I went the The Porter earlier this year they did not have that pie on the menu! They were also out of onion rings and wedges (but gave us free chips to make up for it). But I agree, The George is better. Not that I am an incredible expert, I have only ever been to each one once. Still, I am excited that I got to go at all!

    And... again - congratulations :D

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  12. CONGRATULATIONS! All the food (and the gorgeous ring!) looks amazing!

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  13. Congratulations! Agreed, the choice of ring is way better than 'some dubiously sourced diamond'!

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  14. Wow! Great looking food and such exciting news! I hope you'll both have a very long, happy, ethical marriage! :o) And what a great idea for an engagement ring!

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  15. Congrats, your ring is great. I got my wedding ring from Etsy too. Not only are there ethical issues with diamonds but I find them kind of boring too, I love unusual rings.

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  16. i know i said it on the ppk already but congratulations!!

    That mushroom pie sounds heaven!!

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  17. Congratulations! I am so happy for you!

    Your pics are awesome, it looks like you had so many good meals while you were away. I like your ring, it's so much more unique than a diamond.

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  18. Glad you were able to find proper food in the end! Congratulations on your engagement!

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  19. Heej,

    I thought I'd say hi. I came across your blog when I was looking for a picture of vegan ginger cake (I used it on my blog, but I linked back here ^^).

    Just wanted to say that I like your blog and will be adding you to my blogroll...

    Have a nice day :)

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  20. Congratulations and best wishes!!! and all the food looks good, too.

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  21. Oh my goodness congratulations!! I'm so happy for you. :)

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  22. Congratulations on the ring front. What a hoot.

    And do come back to Bath... I've lived here since I came to study at the university and really do love the place. It's so lively and happening for such a small city and there are some fabulous places to eat vegan too, even though there's nowhere fully vegan, there are plenty of places you can do so.

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  23. next time you're in Bath you should check out Demuths... fabulous I tell you! i just moved about 30mins from Bristol (from London) - good to hear there are some tasty vegan treats in my vicinity (sort of). congrats on the engagement!

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  24. Happy Anniversary!!
    And CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
    WooHoooo!
    Super excited for you and super excited to see and hear all about the wedding plans (especially the cake).
    Those chunky chips look yummy. When ya gotta have carbs a salad just doesn't work does it!
    But I am digging the salad in a PIZZA! OOh yeah.
    The falafel looks awesome too as does the shortbread with caramel. DROOOOOOL!
    Puff pastry on a bakewell is a bit strange - I keep meaning to make a bakewell tart. Now the weather's cooler I might pull my finger out and get on with it.
    I'm loving that creamy mushroom pie too.
    Looks like you had a wonderful trip and what a great way to celebrate.
    :)

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  25. Congratulations on the engagement!!!

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  26. congrats. that is a seriously rad ring!

    now i want falafel. ;)

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  27. I've just found your blog! Even though I live in Bristol I've never been to Cafe Kino- I'm SO checking this place out. Glad you enjoyed Bristol- I think it's an awesome place.

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