The Assheton Arms Downham Clitheroe - 12th November 2015

Its over a year since my last visit to The Assheton Arms, which is part of The Seafood Pub Company in the beautiful village of Downham in the Ribble Valley, with stunning views on summer nights.   I always contact Manager Tom prior to visiting, as regards my vegan diet and he liases with chef.   On this occasion I checked out their current menu, made a couple of suggestions for dishes and Tom confirmed chef was more than happy to make any of them.

We arrived on a grim, windy and wet Thursday evening and one thing The Assheton Arms is, is cosy and we got a warm welcome from Tom and the team.

I ordered a starter mezze platter, a delicious array of olives, houmous, olive oil and balsamic, padron peppers, plenty of flatbread and as you can see I did not go hungry.

Mains was either a vegan take on fish and chips, with tempura vegetables instead of fish or a main course portion of the chicken lettuce rolls starter, replacing the chicken with wok fried vegetables served with Sriracha, a spicy chilli sauce.   I chose the lettuce rolls and it was delicious and the Sriracha sauce I really must hunt down and buy, it was as delicious as Tom said it was.

I will have to have the tempura and chips, the next time we visit, which I am sure is equally as good.   I really enjoyed the food and the service throughout the evening was friendly and efficient.   The attitude towards people with dietary requirements is excellent, unlike another local establishment not far away, who point blank refused to even consider vegan options, which I find most surprising.   So The Assheton Arms will see me again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Crispy Cauliflower Pasta

I was given this recipe by my friend Joe, who had seen it in the Sunday Times magazine, so thanks Joe its fantastic!

700 g cauliflower chopped
80 g pine nuts
60 ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp chilli  flakes
400 g any kind of pasta I used fusilli
Salt and pepper

Serves 4

Put the cauliflower and pine nuts into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.

Put the olive oil in a pan, add the cauliflower, lemon  zest, oregano, garlic and chilli flakes, season with plenty salt and pepper and cook until the cauliflower is golden brown.

Whilst the cauliflower is cooking, cook the pasta until al dente, drain and toss with the cauliflower mixture.

I served the pasta dish with some lightly fried broccoli, which worked really well, but you could serve it with some lightly fried greens or kale.   I love this recipe and the humble cauliflower really makes it, so I will definitely be making it again and again.

Forum Bar King Street Whalley - 3rd November 2015

Forum has only been open two weeks and is the sister restaurant to their Preston venue.   I was meeting up with a friend for lunch, so we chose Forum as Whalley is a half way meeting point for us both.   I contacted Forum via their website, to ask about vegan options and had a very positive response from Marvin the owner.

Forum is set over two floors and is really nicely done inside, modern but not minimalist and once I explained to our waitress about my vegan diet and my correspondence with Marvin, she also brought me their allergen list just in case.

There was a halloumi wrap with black olives, beef tomato, lettuce and yogurt dressing, so they replaced the dairy with houmous.   The wrap was served with chilli aubergine and tomato and a good portion of fries.  

The food was nicely presented and delicious, I love houmous and aubergine and as for the fries, well there were none left by the time I had finished.   The service was friendly and very helpful and with such delicious food, I will definitely be making a return visit.   It is also open at night with a good range of cocktails, beers and wines so I imagine the place will be very busy evenings and weekends.

Soup Kitchen Spear Street Manchester - 26th October 2015

I have been meaning to pop into Soup Kitchen for ages and wish I had done sooner, as I loved it on my first visit.   It is a really relaxed kind of place, with long bench type communal tables, loads of people coming and going, with blackboards explaining what dishes were available and plenty of vegan options.

You order food at the counter, so I opted for a roasted vegetable and houmous sandwich, with a mug of roasted butternut squash and sage soup, which at £6.50 was a bargain.   The lunch was delicious with loads of filling in the sandwich, which was probably one of the best sandwiches I have eaten recently.

I could not manage any cake for afters, but there were vegan peanut butter brownies and veggie fritterz available.

I will certainly be revisiting Soup Kitchen and will make sure I have room for whatever vegan cakes are on that day.

Wahaca Corn Exchange Manchester - 26th October 2015

I have wanted to try Wahaca, since it opened in the Corn Exchange and so visited with my husband on what was a busy Monday night.

I actually did not like the interior of the place at all and where we sat was so dark, you could hardly read the menus.   Our waitress Maddie was really helpful though, when I asked about vegan options and went through the menu with me, as to which dishes were suitable, so top marks on the service front, the same cannot be said for the food.

I ordered nibbles of guacamole and tomato salsa, both served with corn chips to share, which were quickly brought (the photos throughout this review are a little hazy, as the lighting was so low).   However before we had time to enjoy our nibbles with a nice glass of wine, our main courses arrived, which I found a little annoying.

Mains was supercharged salad which included roasted cauliflower, avocado, spelt and pumpkin seeds, served in a huge inedible deep-fried tortilla bowl, which was such a waste, as it was that hard, it would have been impossible to eat it, even if I wanted to.   It does say on the menu that for a lighter option you can ask for it without the tortilla bowl, why not just serve it like that all the time.   I also ordered sweet potato chunks as a side order.

I was so disappointed with the food, it was under-seasoned and bland, bland, bland even when I added some of the vegan friendly chipotle sauce.

Would I go back, I'm afraid not as it certainly did not meet my expectations.

Mowgli Corn Exchange Manchester - 29th October 2015

I have been dying to visit Mowgli Manchester, in the recently revamped Corn Exchange for ages and tonight was the night.   We were shown to a nice table for two and the menu explained, as this is not your normal Indian, it is street food served in small portions and tiffin boxes.

They have a dedicated vegan menu, with loads of choices, which made it difficult to choose.

Starters to share were Bombay chip butty and fenugreek kissed fries, I went a bit overboard on the potato front but they were both delicious, good sized portions and the chopped red chillies on the top were right up my street!

Mains was Mowgli slaw, tea steeped chickpeas and yet another potato dish (completely different to the first two) picnic potato curry, all served with rice.

I loved every single morsel and it was one of the best Indian meals I have eaten in a long while.   I loved the place, its decor, the music and the service from Nyeleni, who took our order and explained the menus and Elissia, who was also a vegan like myself, was excellent, really friendly and welcoming.   Will I go back to Mowgli....too right...I can't wait.

The Koffee Pot Oldham Street Manchester - 18th October 2015

I had heard about The Koffee Pot from Manchester Confidential so headed on down for Sunday breakfast.   It has an American diner vibe, in fact the place was buzzing with a diverse mix of customers, families, couples, groups of girls and boys, I loved soaking up the atmosphere.

I was starving after a night out in Manchester the previous evening and a full vegan breakfast was badly needed and a bargain at £6.50.

It did not disappoint and came with two rounds of toast and excellent coffee which was so good I had to have another for the caffeine fix!

This is a great place, service was friendly and spot on and being a Sunday morning, people were waiting to get a table, definitely one to revisit when next in need of a hangover cure!