Vegan Eating in Europe - for anyone who loves food as much as I do

I have recently enjoyed a lovely week off work travelling by train to London, Paris, Brussels and Bruges with my partner, Glenn.  
We were eager to eat in vegan restaurants and eateries throughout our travels, and the choice was immense!  The movement really has come a long way in a relatively short time.  So here's a little look at where we ate and what we ate.  We used the HappyCow App and Google to search for great places and booked ahead of time so that we could ensure we got what we wanted.

London

Our first food stop was the temple of Seitan in Camden (43 Parkway).  We'd taken a lovely walk through Regents Park from our hotel and we were super hungry by the time we got there!

I really enjoyed my doner snack pack of fries loaded with chicken, bbq sauce and mayo and my side of mac n cheese.  Glenn had a classic 2 piece chicken and fries with mayo and cheese sauce.  It was quick, easy and delicious and reasonably priced for the amount you got!

Our evening stop was Plants of Roselyn (102 Tooley Street).  This is a vegan Thai restaurant and was really busy the evening we went so we were really pleased we had booked a table.  The restaurant is over two floors and we had a table downstairs.

For starters we had smoked sweetcorn cakes (which I had really been missing since going vegan) and banyan spring rolls.  The sweetcorn cakes were amazing!  Just how I remember them.  There were three in a portion and six of the spring rolls, which were also very good.  For main course I had the peanut satay tofu and Glenn had smoked tofu chow mein.  These main dishes were nice, but didn't blow me away with flavour.  The menu had so much choice though, I'd happily go back and try something else.

Unfortunately, we were so stuffed from our Temple of Seitan for lunch that we couldn't eat a dessert!

Paris

As we arrived in Paris in the afternoon our first meal here was in the evening at Le Potager de Charlotte (21 rue  Rennequin 75017).  It is a lovely, casual restaurant.  Not too busy on the night we went, but I can imagine the weekends would be busier.

For starters we had an avocado as a mock boiled egg.  It tasted very similar to a hard boiled egg and was very fresh.  We also had houmous with sundried tomato and plenty of bread (the best thing about French restaurants!)

For main we had rigatoni pasta with a basil cream and  a potato dish with white asparagus and mushrooms.  Like our mains at Plants of Roselyn they did not blow us away but were tasty and healthy.

For dessert we thoroughly enjoyed a chocolate mousse and nutella pancakes.  These were really good!  We had a bottle of white wine with the meal.  

The next morning we had a reservation for brunch at Sweet Rawmance in Montmartre (17 Place Saint-Pierre).  We were booked in at 11, which is when it opened so we were one of the first customers.  Amazing service here.  Super friendly and one of our favourite spots.

The whole menu looked amazing and we will definitely go back here for lunch when we're next in Paris but today we focussed on the breakfast items.  We had French toast and avocado, scrambled tofu and bacon on sourdough toast.  We also had a coffee each with oat milk and freshly squeezed orange juice.  It was delicious!!

We strolled over to VG patisserie (123 Boulevard Voltaire 75011) to enjoy the offerings of just one of the vegan boulangeries in Paris.  I had a pain au chocolate which was so buttery you'd never guess it was vegan.  We also bought a pistachio macaron and a fraisier for later (Eaten while we queued for the musee D'Orsay).

Our evening meal was spent at Faubourg Daimant (20 Rue Faubourg poissonniere 75010).  We thought this place was amazing!  Great vibe, attentive service and amazing food!  It was really busy and a must to make a reservation.  We would definitely visit again.

We ate like kings!  The broccoli guacamole was surprisingly delicious, so light.  The garlic bread was amazing.  Glenn said it was the best garlic bread he's ever eaten.  Light and fluffy like a brioche bread.  The bean cassoulet was my absolute favourite dish.  It was so flavourful and moreish!  The croquettes were a winner too, so good in fact were the dishes that we added the mushrooms to our order, which ironically were the thing we enjoyed the least.  My snickers dessert was to die for!  Brownie like chocolate sponge with peanuts, cream and caramel.  Glenn's chocolate pudding was a bit strange.  Delicious but was presented spread thinly on the plate. It was the most expensive of our meals but, boy was it worth it!

Glenn volunteered to do a Land and Monkeys run for pastries and lunch for the train journey to Brussels while I chilled in the hotel.  There are a number of Land and Monkeys bakeries in Paris, we went to their store at 86 Boulevard Beaumarchais 75011.  Another pain au chocolat (not as good as VG Patisserie) and a pain au raisin.  For the train journey we had a ham baguette, a miso tofu sandwich, a lemon macaron and a tarte au citron - the most amazing thing I have ever put in my mouth!!!

Brussels

After arriving in Brussels and relaxing in our hotel we made our way out to Verdo (Chaussee de Vleurgat 146) in the Louise district of Brussels where our hotel was also located.  No menus here, you log online via a QR code to see the menu.

To start we had asparagus croquettes with truffle and parmesan sauce and a small cake with lardoons, cheese and onions, a herb salad and wild garlic.  The croquettes were really good.  The cake was a little dry but tasty.

For mains we ordered a Fricassee of textured soy and spring vegetables in a puff pastry crust and Seitan tournedos, wine merchant butter, white asparagus with split pea cream and potato cake.  The pie was not what I was expecting at all.  The spring vegetables, which I expected to come on the side were actually in the pie with the soy.  It was delicious though and lots of it.  I preferred Glenn's seitan with asparagus and potato.

For dessert Glenn chose the waffle - he was in Belgium, after all - and I chose the chocolate 'snickers' cake as the one I had in Paris was so good.  This one was really tasty and I really enjoyed it, but I think the Faubourg Daimant comes out on top.

Bruges

The next day we took a train to spend the day in Bruges.  What a beautiful place.  Here we were booked in to eat at Atelier Flori.  A beautiful interior and great service.  They are very well known for their savoury tiered stands.  Glenn and I didn't order this, though.  We enjoyed a few dishes from the menu.

At Atelier Flori we enjoyed focaccia, arancini balls, pizza a la nonna and nachos with warm dip.  The focaccia was amazing with a houmous dip and a cheese spread.  The arancini were out of this world good.  The pizza and nachos, for me, were the least successful but we ate the lot anyway. 

For dessert we went for the specials of chocolate pie and lemon pie.  I was a bit disappointed when two slices of sponge cake came to the table.  But, again, they were really good and we enjoyed them with an oat milk coffee.​

Brussels

We spent the next day in Brussels seeing the sights and eating the food!  We started with a donut stop for breakfast.  Not 100% vegan but Coco Donuts (Rue Joseph Stevens, 30) had a great selection of vegan donuts.  I chose the peanut butter and jelly donut and enjoyed it with an oat latte.

We then had a lunch stop for frites being in Belgium and all.  You have to be careful when buying the famous frites in Brussels.  Often they are cooked in beef fat.  This is where HappyCow came in handy.  We went to Frites Atelier who use vegetable oil.  The vegan dips were ketchup and piccalilli!   Not cheap at 6 euros but good fries.

Our final pitstop was for vegan waffles at Veganwaf' (Rue Marchee aux Herbes, 105) just off the main square.

I had a waffle with caramel sauce, strawberries and chantilly cream.  It was a lot...but I finished it, and it was really indulgent!

For our last half day in Brussels we started early with breakfast at L'Alchimiste (Rue de Savoie, 59).  Empty when we arrived but a few patrons came in while we were there.

We really wanted the Breakfast Bowl but that was no longer available so we went for the Toast of the Day which was sourdough toast topped with houmous, vegan feta, roasted veg and salad.  I also went for an oat milk pink latte with pitaya powder.  It was all delicious and healthy and set us up for the day.  We also took away a pain au chocolat each too, you know, in case we got peckish!

London

We were in a mad rush when we got to London to drop our cases off at our hotel and make it out again for our early, pre theatre reservation at Mallow (1 Cathedral Street, Borough Market).

The menu had some great choices and we decided on the makhani mille feuille and the shiitake and chestnut mushroom croquettes to start.  The mille feuille were potato cubes in a delicious curry sauce and the croquettes were a really ggood texture with a crispy coating.  For main I went for the lasagne - beautifully presented and Glenn went for the house burger.

We had a side of lemon pepper fries with both and really enjoyed these with a carafe of red wine.  For dessert we ordered chikki sticky toffee, pistachio raspberry tart and two decaf oat coffees.  The desserts were good with the tart being the better of the two.  The sticky toffee pudding was a little dry.

It really was a foodie holiday and we both certainly gained a few pounds but there were highlights that made it very much worth the tighter clothing.  I have to say it's wonderful that there are so many vegan places now.  Doing a city break made it very easy to have lots of options.  It was difficult to have a drink somewhere, though.  Many places just didn't know what I meant when I asked if they had a vegan beer, so it was great to be able to go to these vegan restaurants and order whatever I wanted without worrying about it.  

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog as much as Glenn and I enjoyed our train journey through a tiny corner of Europe.  We will certainly be doing it again and think Berlin will be on the list.