Guys, something extremely exciting has happened: Pizza Express has launched a vegan cheese and it is delicious!
So as I’m sure you all know, Pizza Express has had an amazing cheeseless vegan pizza – the Pianta – for a while now, and their dough balls are easily veganisable by switching out the garlic butter for garlic oil.
However, with the new vegan cheese, there are now a tonne more vegan options and I couldn’t be more excited! Matt and I headed to Pizza Express to try it out last week, and it’s safe to say we are obsessed.
To start, we of course ordered the dough balls with garlic oil, and also decided to go rogue and order the garlic bread with vegan cheese and oil instead of butter. WHAT. A. GREAT. IDEA. It was one of the yummiest things I have ever eaten! Garlic bread with cheese used to be my favourite dish at Pizza Express (sometimes I would just order 2 or 3 of them instead of a pizza!!!), so I’m beyond happy that I can now enjoy a vegan version.
For main, I ordered a vegan cheese margarita with mushrooms and red onions, whilst Matt went for a vegan cheese margarita and they were both delicious. I’ve always loved the pizza express bases and their new vegan cheese is awesome, so I am definitely a fan!
Whilst the Pianta is still my favourite pizza, it’s so nice to now have the option of ordering a cheesy pizza; and one thing’s for sure, I will definitely be having the cheesy garlic bread every time I visit!
You guys have probably all seen on social media that PickyWops – a west London pizzeria – has recently gone 100% vegan! How awesome is that?! As soon as I heard, I knew I had to check it out, so earlier this week I was super excited to head there with my mum to try a couple of their delicious pizzas!
We met the lovely owners, Cristiano and Andrea, who explained to us that they decided to make PickyWops 100% vegan to align with their values, as they both recently became vegan themselves. They also explained that not only is PickWops now a fully vegan pizzeria, but it is also the first (and currently only) one to specialise in alternative dough. I absolutely love this super unique concept and it was so cool getting to choose from the 6 alternative bases offered at PickyWops: hemp, multigrain, burned wheat, kamut, turmeric and spirulina.
Every single pizza on the menu looked insanely delicious so we had a really hard time choosing which ones to order. We eventually decided to order 2 pizzas to share: the vegan parmigiana on a burned wheat base and the today special on a turmeric base with a vegan almond ricotta stuffed crust. Yep, you read that right an almond ricotta stuffed crust!
Believe me when I say that these pizzas were absolutely incredible, like the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten! The toppings were all finely chopped so they flavours fused together perfectly and the parmesan sprinkled on top was the perfect finishing touch. Oh, and btw, the almond ricotta stuffed crust was heavenly!
Not only are the pizzas at PickyWops kinder to the animals and the planet but they also taste absolutely delicious, so I really can’t recommend that you check them out enough!
Head to the PickyWops website to read the full menu and for more details on opening times so that you can plan your trip to pizza heaven. I’m already planning my next visit and which pizza/base combo I want to try out next!
Last night, a bunch of my friends and I headed to MOD Pizza in Leicester Square, and I had to tell you guys about it right away as it’s seriously one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to!
MOD is a build your own pizza (or salad, but let’s be real – PIZZA) place, where you line up in a subwayesque vibe & and choose every single aspect of the pizza, from the sauce, to the type of cheese (including a vegan cheese), to every single topping you could ever dream of!
So here’s what I ordered: classic mod base, tomato sauce, vegan cheese, roasted garlic, mushrooms, red onions & spinach. It was INCREDIBLE and under £10! MOD also has an awesome refillable drink selection, including all your typical soft drinks, iced tea and a whole range of lemonades!
They also do an awesome vegan cheese garlic bread which Matt loved so much that he refused to share!
We all loved the food and friendly vibes at MOD so will definitely be back! There’s a whole range of locations across the UK, so if you’re a pizza lover, be sure to check out your local MOD!
On Boxing day we visited Matt’s lovely Grandma in Bournemouth and went for a big family meal at an awesome vegan-friendly restaurant: Cosy Club.
Cosy Club has a main menu as well as a vegan menu with lots of options; however Matt and I both decided to go for the vegan breakfast made up of: grilled tomato, field mushroom, falafel, wood-roasted peppers, spinach, fried potatoes, baked beans and toast. As if that wasn’t enough, I also ordered extra hummus and avocado on the side which created the perfect breakfast combo!
If you’re in Bournemouth and are looking for a great, vegan-friendly restaurant, then the Cosy Club is definitely worth a visit.
A few weeks ago Matt and I went to Leeds for the weekend and we had an incredible takeaway from Pizzanet which I had to tell you guys about!
Matt ordered the 16″ Thin Vegan Margherita and I went for the 9″ Deep Gourmet Vegan; both pizzas were absolutely delicious and super reasonably priced (we’re talking around £15 total!).
So if you’re in Leeds and are looking for a vegan-friendly pizza takeaway, be sure to check out Pizzanet!
Last weekend the JGV Compassionate Clothing Line had a stall at the Bournemouth Vegan Fair. As Matt’s lovely Grandma lives in Bournemouth (who btw at 90 years old is insanely cool, open-minded & banterous), we decided to make a weekend of it by travelling up on Friday lunchtime to spend some quality time with Grandma JJ, as well as checking out the Bournemouth vegan food scene.
AMALA CONSCIOUS FOOD ▷▷▷
We were really excited to hear that Bournemouth’s vegetarian restaurant Zoukinis had recently been transformed into a fully vegan restaurant, now named Amala. So, on Friday evening, we took Matt’s grandma for her first ever vegan restaurant visit to Amala.
The restaurant has a great yogi/eco-friendly vibe, with the beautiful woodland themed décor sprinkled with delicate fairy lights.
Firstly, let me say that I absolutely love the fact that you’re greeted by a glass of warm lemon water – what a great way to start a meal! The menu features an abundance of healthy and nutritious vegan cuisine, something Matt and I as wannabe HCLF but in reality Junk Food Vegans are not used to, but were very excited to try.
For main course, Grandma JJ and I both ordered the burger with sweet potato fries, whilst Matt ordered the veggie filo pastry. Although usually a bit of a Joey from F.R.I.E.N.D.S when it comes to sharing food (Joey doesn’t share food), Matt let me try a bit of his pastry and we both agreed it was absolutely delicious!
The burger of the day when we visited was a quinoa patty and had a very sweet taste, which we discovered was due to the fact that it contained dates. Neither Grandma JJ or I are big sweet mixed with savoury lovers (the idea of putting pineapple on a pizza has always seemed beyond weird to me); however, if you love that kinda thing, which I know a lot of people do, then this would definitely be the burger for you! The burger was accompanied by sweet potato fries that were cooked to perfection, deliciously creamy vegan mayonnaise and coleslaw which I definitely could have eaten by the spoonful!
For dessert, Grandma JJ ordered the sorbet which she absolutely loved; Matt ordered the chocolate brownie, and I ordered the cheesecake. Matt has a very mild nut allergy and forgot to check if the desserts contained nuts; unfortunately both mine and his did, so I had the verrrry difficult task of eating two equally delicious vegan desserts #itsahardlife! The Amala team were really lovely and offered to bring Matt another dessert even though it was our mistake; but he was very happy eating the sorbet that came on the side of his brownie.
Thank you very much to Amala for inviting us to their lovely restaurant; it’s always great to find a new vegan spot and it makes me so happy that you can now find a vegan restaurant almost everywhere you go!
BOURNEMOUTH VEGAN FAIR RECAP ▷▷▷
Now, before this post turns into a book, I wanna quickly say a couple of things about the festival! The organisation was impeccable, making the festival one of the best I’ve ever been to. The stall layout was extremely spacious meaning it was comfortable for stall-holders and customers alike, not to mention the location was incredible with a beautiful view of Bournemouth beach. We were really lucky as the weather stayed mostly dry and sunny, but let’s be honest, of course there was a little bit of rain, we are in England after all.
It was great to get to hang out with so many of my favourite veggie business owners, as well as discovering a few new businesses/charities (check out my Bournemouth vlog at the end of this post for interviews with You Cork It, Solkiki and F.R.I.E.N.D). As always, I also love meeting clothing line customers/blog readers and nothing is cooler than seeing people walking around in my designs; I really do feel so lucky to have such awesome customers!
BOURNEMOUTH PIZZA CO▷▷▷
Finally, I can’t finish this post without telling you guys about Bournemouth Pizza Co. Lizzie, a lovely lady we got chatting to at the festival, told us about Bournemouth’s booming vegan food scene, and gave us a leaflet showing lots of places that have great vegan options. As soon as we saw that Bournemouth Pizza Co. offered a vegan cheese, we knew we had our Saturday night sorted! Pretty much as soon as they opened, we called to order: two large pizzas, a garlic bread, and a chocolate and banana calzone – is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is! Did I mention, they deliver? And this all came in at under £30? And it was insanely delicious. This place is basically heaven on earth for pizza lovers! Thank you very much Lizzie!!!!
VLOG OF THE WEEKEND ▷▷▷
We had such a great weekend hanging out with Grandma JJ, chilling by the beautiful sandy beach, meeting other lovely vegans and eating A LOT of delicious vegan food. I’m seriously considering a move to Bournemouth, as beautiful beaches coupled with a delicious and growing vegan food scene is basically everything I want in a place to live!
Be sure to check out my vlog of the weekend featuring our visit to Amala, our pizza night in, and a few interviews with awesome vegan business/charities at the Bournemouth Vegan Fair!
I love, and I mean love pizza. If we’re all being honest, who doesn’t?!
So, needless to say, I was extremely excited when Matt discovered Pizza Pilgrims in Soho.
Although not a veggie restaurant, Pizza Pilgrim’s caters very well for vegans, making it the perfect place to go with our group of friends that includes veggies, vegans and meat eaters. As if that isn’t awesome enough, at only £5 for The Marinara, the pizzas are extremely reasonably priced, especially considering its location in central London.
I ordered the first item on the menu – The Marinara – a delicious vegan pizza topped with tomato, oregano, fresh garlic, basil and olive oil (and added extra mushrooms, because YUM). With a perfectly crispy crust and flavourful toppings, it’s safe to say I was a big fan and will definitely be heading back to Pizza Pilgrims asap!
As you guys probably already know if you read my Berlin Vegan Guide, earlier this summer my mum and I went traveling around Europe. After our amazing time in Berlin, we headed to Venice and then to Lake Garda.
We had some incredible experiences in Italy, from sitting on the rocks feeding swans in Lake Garda to Gondola rides in Venice.
We also ate a lot of pizza and pasta. In fact, for our entire time in Italy, aside from fruit filled breakfasts, we ate exclusively pasta and pizza for lunch and dinner!
During our time in Italy, I picked up some tips that I think will be really useful for any other vegans/vegetarians traveling in Italy. You can check them out in the video below as well as some footage of our amazing trip!
▹▸▹▸ ITALY VLOG & TOP 5 VEGAN TRAVEL TIPS
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on my video and any ideas of videos you guys would like me to film.
Aside from Mr Singh’s in Birmingham, my absolute favourite place to get vegan pizza is The Old Firehouse pub in Exeter. They have a day-time menu with lots of meat, veggie and vegan options; then from 8pm onwards they serve the most delicious pizzas. Their menu is definitely one of the most vegan-friendly I’ve seen, with 4 clearly labeled vegan pizzas.
Since the pizzas are absolutely huge, I usually share the Vegan Mushroom with Maria (which is absolutely heavenly btw, I mean rocket + vegan cheese + tomato + mushrooms + onions + peppers on the perfectly doughy base = major party in your mouth). Meanwhile, Matt manages to eat an entire Vegan Margherita by himself – I seriously envy that boy’s metabolism!
Btw, sorry for the poor quality pizza pic, let’s just say that mood lighting + iPhone camera ≠ the best photos; but trust me when I say these pizzas are delicious!
Aside from the amazing food, another thing that makes Firehouse so awesome is its cool Harry Potter/traditional english pub vibe. Seriously though, how cute is that decor?! ▽▼▽▼▽
With such a diverse menu that caters for all diets, Firehouse is the perfect place to hang out with friends, have a couple of drinks and eat some insanely good food!
Matt is moving to London next week (eeek – too exciting!) so I am spending this weekend in Birmingham helping him pack up his house (read: watching Matt pack whilst I chill out on the sofa watching The Mindy Project)! In-between packing/TV watching, we are spending the weekend eating at our favourite veggie and vegan restaurants in Birmingham. Tomorrow we will be heading to Bistro 1847 for Sunday Lunch which I am so excited for; but tonight we decided to have a lazy night in and order delivery from our favourite takeaway – Mr Singh’s Pizza. Mr Singh’s is an entirely vegetarian restaurant that also has a lot of delicious vegan options. Hand’s down, their vegan pizzas are going to be the main thing I miss in Birmingham.
I have never shared Mr Singh’s on the blog before, as I’m usually too excited to tuck in and start eating to take pictures of the pizza. However, as this is my last one for the foreseeable future, I managed to muster up enough self control to take some pictures so I could share these delicious pizzas with you all.
As always, I ordered a large vegan cheese margarita pizza with mushrooms and red onions, and Matt ordered an XL vegan cheese margarita! Not only are these pizzas insanely delicious but they’re also extremely affordable and a lot cheaper than all of the mainstream pizza deliveries, with a 14 inch XL pizza costing only £7.99 – say whaaat?!
If you live in Birmingham or ever find yourself visiting, Mr Singh’s is an absolute must-try!
Thank you for all of the great pizzas Mr Singh’s – if you could open a restaurant in London, I would be eternally grateful.
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