Kasbah Cafe Bazaar Bold Street Liverpool - 28th January 2017

Kasbah is on Bold Street and it is always busy, as we walked past it several times, so went in to book for a Saturday night, just in case, good job we did.

I did not manage a photo from the front, as there was work going on and lots of scaffolding, but inside, it is a multitude of colours, textures, smells and great ambience.  

On the menu outside, it has vegan options, all clearly marked, which makes for easy ordering.

Kasbah is not licensed, so no alcohol served, but with such good food, its not something we missed, we enjoyed it that much.

When we arrived on a busy Saturday night, the place was buzzing and vibrant, we were shown to our table and ordered drinks, Moroccan lemonade, such a refreshing drink with plenty of mint.

We started with barba mcharmela, a beetroot salad and zaalouk, an aubergine dish of roast aubergine, tomato, cumin and smoked paprika, served with flatbread.   I loved the simplicity of these two dishes, just the kind of food I adore, it was a great start to the meal.

Main course was berkani tagine of chickpeas and spinach, with saffron rice, it was piping hot, so much so I had to leave it 5 mins too cool, before I could even attempt to eat it.

The tagine was perfectly spiced and seasoned, so easy to ruin a dish with the spices clashing, but with the saffron rice, it was a perfect warming winter dish.

I was far too full for a dessert, which was oranges with cinnamon and rosewater, so instead chose Moroccan mint tea, which was served in a lovely teapot and glass cup.

Kasbah is a wonderful place, apparent by the number of people coming in to eat, quite late on, I would definitely return, when back in Liverpool

Maray Bold Street Liverpool - 27th January 2017

Maray is located on busy Bold Street and as I was unable to get a table, the last time I was in Liverpool, I made a reservation before we went away.   Maray serves eclectic and seasonal food, concentrating on sharing plates, with an excellent vegan menu offered.

Maray is small, but has a great vibe and music, with low lighting perfect for dining, though not ideal for photos so my pics do not do justice to the food.

We had a lovely table for two in the window, so whilst we perused the menus, I ordered a bottle of red Bodegas Ochoa wine from Navarra Spain, after the winemaker confirmed it was vegan friendly, via email correspondence.

I contacted Maray, prior to our visit, asking which wines were vegan and was delighted to find that they are in the process of labelling vegan friendly wines on the list, a great move in my opinion.

Our waitress Lau suggested we order two or three dishes each, plus side orders, depending on how hungry we were, so we kicked off with Nocellara olives with chilli, orange and sea salt, I am a sucker for olives, they were delicious.

I love the unusual combinations, the chefs have created, which work so well, so the first dish was sprouts, medjool dates, lime and sesame.   I adore brussel sprouts and with the sweetness of dates, the acidity of lime and crunch of sesame, I could have eaten this dish on my own, it was wonderful.

Next was salt baked beets, with orange and endive, a light refreshing dish and beetroot and orange is a classic marriage, again I could have eaten it on my own.

This was followed by tenderstem broccoli, dukkah and tahini, another fabulous dish, some of my favourite ingredients all on one plate.

Steven ordered artichoke, miso, coconut and pickles, as he loves artichoke, but it was Jerusalem artichokes, but even so he loved it.

Our two final dishes, were two of the best, half a cauliflower, flaked almonds, pomegranate, tahini and fresh herbs, what a mega dish, the humble cauliflower elevated to a dish of total deliciousness.

Finally fries with houmous and green chilli sauce, not for the faint hearted, as the chillies really packed a punch, but we could easily have polished off two portions, they were that good.

A small break, whilst we finished our wine and then it was impossible to resist the carrot and cardamon baklava served with coconut cream.

An inventive dessert and a far cry from boring sorbet offered, in so many places, it was not dense or too sticky, like most baklava and the coconut cream set it off perfectly.

We thought Maray was a brilliant venue, a relaxed ambience, friendly and cheerful service, if only I lived in Liverpool, maybe they will open a branch in Manchester.   Highly recommended for vegans and interestingly enough, the reason for the vegan menu, is due to the demand from their customers, so great to see the guys at Maray listening to customer feedback.

Meeting House Cafe School Lane Liverpool - 27th January 2017

Meeting House Cafe is situated inside the Liverpool Quaker Meeting House and provides vegetarian and vegan food and is a perfect place for a light lunch.

There is a small courtyard to the rear, with outside seating and you can enter the cafe from here, as well as off School Lane itself.

The cafe is bright and airy inside and you order at the counter, where they have a clearly labelled vegan menu.

I love jacket potatoes and with houmous, its the perfect light lunch, though this jacket potato did defeat me, it was huge, but really tasty.

I was too full for cake, but spotted a vegan and gluten free raspberry Victoria sponge cake, in the chiller cabinet,  it was mighty tempting.

I really liked the Meeting House Cafe, really chilled atmosphere, lovely fresh food and plenty vegan options.

All Bar One Derby Square Liverpool - 28th January 2017

All Bar One is a group of stylish city bars, with around fifty venues throughout the UK, owned by parent company Mitchells and Butlers, who also own amongst others, Harvester and Toby Carvery, who have vegan options on their menus.  I was really pleased that All Bar One were taking part in Veganuary, by introducing a vegan menu and were really marketing this to the general public on their website and in their venues.

I was visiting Liverpool for a belated birthday weekend away and Emma from All Bar One's social media team, kindly sent me a voucher, to sample their vegan offerings.   I never turn down the offer of food, so took Steven for lunch.

The Liverpool site has plenty outside seating for warmer weather and inside is modern and contemporary, light and bright and very busy on a Saturday lunchtime.   We were shown to our table by Jonny the Assistant Manager and given menus, whilst we waited for our drinks.

I must be honest, my experience of food at chain restaurants, is not brilliant, so hence I do not visit them often, mainly because I have high expectations of the food and have had so many let downs, so this visit I went with an open mind.

There is an interesting selection of vegan dishes, so I chose patatas bravas and avocado and tomato bruschetta, the presentation was excellent, you eat with your eyes first, so you just wanted to dive in.

Both dishes were fresh and delicious, the patatas bravas were crisp and not oily and the sauce was perfect, I was impressed.

Main courses were miso rice bowl for Steven and kale pakora on flatbread, with houmous and tahini for me.

Steven, who although not vegan, absolutely loved the miso rice bowl and said it was not something he would think of ordering, but this dish changed his mind, he loved it.   The kale pakora dish was superb, so many flavours and textures and as for the jackfruit chutney, I should have asked for the recipe.

We were quite full, but could not resist dessert, so Steven chose the coconut and vanilla rice pudding and chocolate, chilli and cardamon cake with Belgian chocolate sauce for me.

It shows how much I loved the chocolate cake, as I posted all the photos I took, it was one of the most lush, indulgent chocolate desserts I have eaten, if they take this off the menu, its a crime.   The rice pudding went down well with Steven too and although he had a spoon or two of my cake, it was a generous slice and it defeated me, as I was popping.

Jonny was friendly and helpful and we had a brief chat, about the vegan menu, which seems to be going down well.   I have contacted All Bar One (@allbarone) and their parent company Mitchells and Butlers (@eatdrinkmb) on Twitter, to ask if the vegan menu will be a permanent fixture, so anyone reading this, if you feel the same, let them know.

I was sceptical about the food, but my visit completely changed my mind, they are well thought out dishes, well cooked.   I will definitely look out for All Bar One, when out and about on my travels.

Sanskruti Ormond Bixteth Street Liverpool - 26th January 2017

Sanskruti Liverpool was a place I had to visit, on a four day trip to this former European City of Culture.   Sanskruti originates from the word 'Sanskrit' which is believed to be the world's oldest language.   Sanskruti is a pure vegetarian and vegan restaurant, with a diverse menu, offering quality food and the menu is heaven for vegans and gluten free diners.

The team behind Sanskruti are Jay and his wife, whose original venture is in Manchester, which I have yet to visit, they obviously have a thriving business.

You enter via a small stairwell from pavement level and the restaurant is decorated in warm colours and was quite busy on a Thursday evening.

We were given menus and experienced our only hiccup, being told there was no vegan wine on the list, very strange for a vegetarian and vegan restaurant, so ordered a Cobra lager instead (more about this later)

Our first choice was some street food of bhel, crispy bombay mix served with tender potatoes, onions, puffed rice, sev and an assortment of chutneys.   I have never had anything like it and loved its presentation.

It was a good sized portion and I thought it was going to be heavy and filling, but the complete opposite, it was light, crispy with loads of textures.   The chutneys consisted of tomato, mango, green coconut and onion, it was pointed out the yogurt was not vegan, so Steven ate it.   The bhel was a delightful start to the meal.

Our first starter was patra, little cakes made of steamed colocasia leaf rolls, stuffed with masala mixture and sprinkled with sesame seeds, grated coconut and coriander leaves.

Another totally new dish, the cakes were light and tasty, with the crunch of sesame and flavours of coconut.

Our second starter was tandoori mushroom amritsari, the mushrooms being marinated in gram flour, with herbs spices and carom seeds.   I love mushrooms and this was a fabulous dish, succulent and went so well with the chutneys.

Onto our main courses of channa palak, made of chickpeas and spinach cooked in aubergine gravy and spices and lasaniya bateta, a garlic flavoured baby potato dish, sauteed in spices, with boiled rice and extra green chillies for me.

The two dishes were fantastic, it is not your usual Indian restaurant fare, this is traditional, authentic cooking, from various regions of Indian, it is light but packed with flavour, not heavy with oil and the vegetables were perfectly cooked.

Steven managed some Swedish Glace chocolate ice-cream for dessert and then we both had mint tea to finish.

My only small gripe are the toilets, which need some refurbishment, but the place is a work in progress I guess, as they only opened six months ago and being a family business, Rome was not built in a day.   In any case I was not here for the decor, but the food and that was certainly a taste sensation, we both loved it.

I had a brief chat with Jay at the end of the evening, who apologised for the confusion about the wine, the Manager was new and had given me the wrong information.   Jay asked me if there was anything they could do to improve my vegan experience, so I suggested labelling vegan wines on the list, would be a great help.

If you like Indian food, with a huge choice for vegans, you really need to head off to Sanskruti in Liverpool or Manchester.