Restaurant review: Tyepyedong, noodle bar, Exeter [Vegan options]

Where: Tyepyedong, Sidwell st, Exeter

Between Healthy Pulses (great shop!) & Timpsons.

Style:

Small independently owned noodle bar (Chinese/Asian fusion in style) tucked inbetween the shops of Exeter’s main thoroughfare – quite easy to miss if you don’t know it!

Service:

Always polite, friendly and efficient – a young service team & the owner on duty keeping an eye on things.

Clean simple seating inside.

Food choices:

So easy for Vegans as all Vegan options are labeled V+ (vegetarian are V). Chose from starters, filling noodle soups, strifries with rice and stirfries with noodles. They are also happy to accommodate preferences if you need to change a dish slightly.

Crispy vegetable tempura with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Nom factor:

I love this style of food and I’ve yet to have a dish here that wasn’t good. They don’t use MSG, everything is cooked fresh to order and it arrives steaming to the table in the order it’s cooked. The tempura are crisp, the Hungry monk (garlic/black bean sauce) is very tasty, I love the Yasai Yakisoba noodles and the Sweet and sour is a sticky sweet indulgence. Rice and noodle dishes alike are always perfect and the veg crisp and fresh. I even like their soups which are far better and contain far more ingredients than those served at Wagamamas (for example). [ nb the soups are a very healthy filling option if you’re watching kcals – or want to have tempura as well;) ]

Delicious veg noodle tofu soup.

How much:

The lunchtime special is fabulous value at just £6 for a very filling main stirfry dish and a drink (I always have sparkling water).

Miso soup £1.70

Tempura £4.10

Edamame (soya) beans £4.20

Main dishes and large noodle soups approx £7

Other stuff:

The tiny kitchen is open so you can see in – which is always reassuring. They are open to creating dishes to your specific requirements and have a great understanding of Veganism. Seating is bench style and some small tables for 2 in the window. They will always endeavour to seat you away from other people unless they are very busy, which is lovely. It’s clean, tables always cleared and wiped down quickly and there is one toilet which is clean and spacious.

Other comments:

This is fast becoming my favourite pitstop in Exeter because it’s such good value and consistently good. It can get extremely busy 12-2, but lunch goes on til 3 which is great and the turnover of people having a quick working lunch means that you never need to wait long for a table. You can reserve a table if you need to and people often do. Many Chinese people eat there which is always a good sign in my opinion.

Handy if you’re going to a matinee at the Vue Cinema nearby – for a meal before or a bite to eat after.

Tyepyedong means ‘a place to eat without the fuss’ – and that’s exactly what this fabulous little place offers Vegans!

If you visit Tyepyedong - please let me know what you think!

Much love

Chantal xx

Restaurant review: Jasmine Thai, Exeter - with Vegan options.

Where: JamineThai, 153 Fore st, Exeter

Style:

Probably best described as a traditional/yet contemporary Thai dining experience in the heart of the city (they describe it as Thai-style fine dining). The front of the restaurant is more brightly lit and the upper floor at the back is more dimly lit. It’s a large space and the floor is tiled with a central walkway offering quite good access.

Service:

The usual lovely smiley attentiveness you would expect of any Thai restaurant – although we hardly saw the same member of the team twice – which meant a little confusion on and double checking of our order.

starter sharing platter

Food choices:

A vast menu of varied non-Vegan dishes – but Vegan options are all marked Vg so you can hop straight to them – which is great! And there is more than enough to create a little feast from. 

We started with a mixed shared Vegan platter, followed by a Red curry (cooked with Tofu and Vegetables in a curry base containing Thai Red curry paste, coconut milk, bamboo shoots and fresh herbs), stirfry Mixed Vegetables (stir fried with garlic, cashew nuts, mushroom and peppers in soya sauce), Phad Thai noodles and 2 rice dishes (fragrant jasmine & coconut), ending with two Vegan desserts (they offer Vegan ice cream, which is unusual!).

Nom factor:

I adore Thai food and the freshness and aromatics of the flavours. I think the starters were some of the best I’ve had in a Thai restaurant – rubbery fish cakes with too much lemon grass can often be quite grim. But these little samosas, spring rolls, tempura and sweetcorn fritters were all beautifully crisp and complimented well with a trio of spicy, fruity and sweet chilli dips. High 5 on the #nom.

thai red curry with tofu

The main courses were tasty and unwittingly we created a good mix of flavours. However, for me the food was over-seasoned. (This may be due to the fact that when making a Thai curry at home now I never use salt?) I also didn’t like the tofu used in the curry – it was quite chewy and reminded me more of the tinned braised gluten you can cook with. Dave liked it but I would have preferred more vegetables instead had I known.

 

Phad Thai with rice noodles

The Phad Thai rice noodles were quite chewy too, but sticky and sweet and quite enjoyable none-the-less, but the rice, though fragrant with jasmine and coconut was over-cooked I thought and past its best.

vegetable stirfry with soy sauce, garlic & cashews

The vegetable stirfry wasnt exactly as described - mushrooms but no peppers and repetition with broccoli and cauliflower (as per the curry).

pineapple fritters with Vegan ice cream

I rarely eat desserts in Asian restaurants, really because I’m an English pud kinda gal – but on this first visit, and on a special occasion, I thought… why not?! I had Pineapple fritters with Vegan icecream. OKish, but the pineapple was non-descript and I’m sure the batter was tainted by having been cooked in the general purpose fryer. Something to be aware of if, as a Vegan, you prefer to have food cooked separately – because I’m worried this doesn’t happen here. 

Dave opted for Banana in hot coconut milk – which was….well… banana in hot coconut milk! Not something worth paying for in a restaurant, as I could have knocked it up for him when we’d got home if he’d been really desperate!

How much?:

An eye watering £83 including 4 drinks (2 Badgers Ale and 2 Becks Blue). Although admittedly we had 3 courses (not forgetting Vegan mints at the end), I couldn't help feeling that although I did enjoy it – I would have enjoyed a 3 course meal at my local just as much for half the price and with twice the atmosphere – which was disappointing really.

NB a single portion of rice will set you back £4.25! [sharing platter £14.90, main dishes approx £10.95, desserts approx £5.95]

Other stuff:

The toilets are spotless, with cubicles that you can actually get into without clambering sideways over the loo. Always a bonus.

As I booked last minute we could only get in at 6pm and were seated at the front of the restaurant only to have a family with 2 young boys put literally right next to us. As they began screaming over where to sit and pulled out their electronic game consols my face must have said it all and a waitress did rush over to us and ask if we would like to be moved. This wouldn’t have made for a lovely quiet 'meal a-deux'! If I owned a restaurant I have to say I wouldn’t have sat us/them there in the first place and also would probably not allow parents like these in… but what do I know – I spent most of the time taking pictures of the food – which I know restaurateurs just love! ;)

*danger note* they flambe some dishes at the table and to do this pretty much run from the kitchen to the table with a ladle full of flaming oil! As one customer had to quickly dodge a waitress and another such high flame melted some of the hanging ceiling decorations above a table I couldn't help but wonder whether Health & Safety officers have ever visited!!!

Comments:

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but Jasmine Thai just didn’t do it for me. 
I really really wanted to love it because I knew beforehand that the owner is in fact Vegan! They certainly do have a good understanding of and variety of suitable food. But something is missing. Maybe it’s the atmosphere? I found it a bit 'office party / large family dining' for me, and as they label themselves 'fine dining' (with prices to match) I guess I just expected something a little bit more special.

Still, I woofed the food merrily and felt perfectly satisfied – if a little thirsty on the way home…

Would I go again? 
Hmmm I’d rather try somewhere else new first…. And perhaps not be tempted into a place on the sheer ‘merit’ that they do some Vegan food…

Still much foodie love though... Chantal xx

Vegan recipe: Mexican Mushrooms - hola!

My love of Mexican-inspired food is well known by now and it's just so easy to Veganise that it's a win-win situation.

This is a simple dish, quick to prepare, yet has real depth of flavour and is one the non-Vegans in your life will want the recipe for ;)

Enjoy!

Chantal xx

Proving that Vegan food is delicious - one dish at a time.

Mexican Mushrooms

[serves 2-4 (!), takes approx 30 mins] 

Perfect for lunch or supper!

Gather:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 brown onions - chopped

2 green chillis - finely chopped (keep seeds in if you're a heat freak, like me)

2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

750g mushrooms washed (or peeled) and sliced [a mix of white and chestnut is good]

500 ml tomato passata

250 ml vegetable stock [I use Swiss Marigold Vegan Bouillion powder]

2 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp celery salt [or 1 tbsp finely chopped celery leaves, if you have some] 

Sample ingredients (adjusted for a smaller portion).

Create:

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan or wok on a medium heat and sautee the onions for 2 minutes.

2. Add the chilli and garlic and continue to gently fry for a further 3 minutes or until all are softened.

3. Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat a little and fry for a further 5 minutes.

4. Add the passata, stock and stir well to combine.

5. Add all of the other seasoning ingredients and simmer gently until the sauce thickens (approx 15-20 minutes).

6. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference with pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

As well as being as spicy as you like, this dish is incredibly aromatic!

Enjoy:

This is great served in warm bowls with some corn tortillas on the side for scooping and mopping up juice - as well as some crispy lettuce and Vegan sour cream if you fancy something cooling. Nachos and taco shells would also work well! [Old el Paso brand is Vegan]

Messy to eat, but delicious, so who cares?!!

 

#Toptip: For extra nutrition you can throw some baby spinach leaves in at the end and use hemp oil instead of vegetable oil for omegas.

Super Vegan SUPPERS - ideas for Vegan-uary and beyond!

Never has there been a better time to learn about and experience a plant-based lifestyle.

A lifestyle that's kind to you, to animals and to our beautiful planet.

Whatever you've either heard about Veganism or think about Veganism - perhaps: how hard it is, how boring it might be, how bland the food must be - FORGET IT!!!

Negative perceptions - are just that - PERCEPTIONS - because a lot of industries want you to doubt how good a life Vegans have.

But I'm here to let you in on the world's best kept secret - being VEGAN is WONDERFUL!!!

Of course Veganism is a whole lifestyle, but starting with changes to your diet is the most fun way to begin. So let me show you that it's never about deprivation - more about liberation! Through scrumptious breakfasts, brunches, lunches, suppers and treats.

[All the meals you see here have been made by me, from scratch, in my kitchen at home. I take my inspiration from everywhere and love to be creative too. No time to add all the recipes, so please contact me if something takes your fancy and I'll send you your very own recipe sheet.] 

Much love - Chantal xxx

 

Easy flatbread pizza topped with tomato salsa, griddled veg, olives & pinenuts. Great for a Monday night after work!

Roast pumpkin linguine with sundried tomatoes, chilli basil pesto & croutons. Easy to make, then assemble!

Crispy smoked sesame tofu strips with a sweet and sour vegetable stirfy. Always easy midweek.

Lentil & nut roast (from Fair Foods of Exeter) with paprika parmentier potatoes & a fresh 'rainbow' salad.

A hearty vegan sausage & cider casserole with olive oil mash, romanescu and braised red cabbage. Perfect for Autumn/Winter!

There are hundreds of vegan burgers to be enjoyed! This one is a millet burger with onion relish.

Saturday night can still be curry night! This is a red Thai curry using cucumber, romanescu, courgette & extra chillis cos I like it hot!

And on Sundays something like this mushroom in ale pot pie hits the spot! With roast baby potatoes & steamed seasonal veg. The pastry is Jus-Roll vegan puff.

Spicy courgette rigatone with homemade coleslaw & vegan mayo.

Buddhas delight - a light and healthy vegetable tofu stirfry with steamed basmatti rice.

Stuffed fennel baked in white wine with a piquant tomato sauce.

Tofu and mushroom kebabs in a BBQ marinade with couscous & steamed broccoli.

Smokey mushroom burger with avocado and raw red seeded slaw.

Punjabi style potato curry with green salad, vegan raiita, papadums & mango chutney!

Nut Cutlet (Tesco) with steamed seasonal veg & roast new potatoes.

Mediterranean vegetable linguine with chill basil cashew pesto.

Thai spiced tofu cakes with chilli soy dipping sauce.

Vegetable chilli chimichangas with creamy coleslaw & sweetcorn relish.

Broccoli and peanut bake with seasonal steamed vegetables.

Mock BBQ'd pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and fresh salad.

Aduki bean curry with a trio of vegan naan breads - coriander, kalonji & peshwari.

Mixed but and lentil loaf with steamed green vegetables.

GF Fusilli with kale and griddled artichokes.

Rich vegetable ratatouille with quinoa & bulgar wheat.

Terriyaki tofu with stir-fried vegetables and noodles.

Savoury root veg oat crumble with steamed vegetables.

Beetroot & beanburger with courgette frittes & rainbow salad.

Sundried tomato and artichoke pithivier with steamed greens.

Spicy root veg and red lentil casserole, topped with soya 'cream'  & served with fresh veg.

Full on vegan fry-up!! (with tofu scramble) Why not?!

And there we have it for Vegan-uary! A month's worth of delicious Vegan supper ideas!

Next up I'll be sharing some incredible new recipes of my own and also cooking from and reviewing tibits new cook book and Vegan Zombie's new cookbook!! Cannot wait!

Enjoy!

Much love, Chantal x x