Veggie World Revisited (Bletchley)

Since my first visit and short review 2 years ago (complete with camera phone pics), I've returned to Veggie World many, many times.

It's odd location halfway between London and Birmingham has led to several days out that 'just happen to be nearby' so we can 'drop by in the evening afterwards'. Bletchley Park twice (well worth visit), Stowe Landscape Gardens, Waddesdon Manor, Clivedon, Claydon House, Upton House, Wrest Park etc. We're running out of National Trust properties within 40 miles now and are considering English Heritage membership next year instead.

Therefore, I figured it was worth an update, with better pictures and recommendations. The menu choice is extreme and value for money varies considerably. We've tried a large selection of it now and some things we keep going back to as they're so good.

Decor's improved slightly in the past couple of years, with better lighting. It's still a takeaway with a few tables though - you'd only ever visit because the food is amazing. They only seem to have one CD, that is played constantly in a loop.

We generally go for 3 savoury courses and skip dessert. We also purposely over-order, so we've a bigger choice and left overs to eat the following day! :)

Starter

"01 Appertiser Combination" is great on your first visit for trying a few things at once. We occasionally still order it, but tend to go with "27 - Crispy Aromatic Veggie Duck" to share, as it's both delicious and excellent value for money:

Other options include:

02 - Crispy Won Ton: Very good - included in appetiser combination
04 - Veggie Ji Skewers: Simply the best satay sauce I've tried:

07 - Crispy Seaweed: Comes with appetiser combination, wouldn't ever think to order alone

08 - Veggie Prawn Toast: Not a personal favourite, but the best I've tasted
10 - Veggie Peking Ribs: Part of the appetiser combination. They're OK, little strange
12 - Grill Veggie Dumplings: We sometimes order these as a side dish with mains
14 - Crispy Spring Rolls: They're OK, have had better.
18 - House Special Rolls: Or 'horse rolls' as we call them - neither of us liked them

Soup

Their soup tastes great and is cheap. "20 - Veggie Sweet Corn Soup" is my favourite, followed by "24 - Veggie Dumpling Soup".

I tried taking a picture, but it looks too gross to post ;)

Main Courses

The menu doesn't make it immediately obvious what is a good combination of dishes to order for mains. Some are just fake meat with sauce, whereas others come with lots of vegetables. Value for money varies considerably.

A few that I remember trying:

32 - Salt & Pepper To-Fu: Not to my taste - a little bland for my liking
34 - Crispy Sesame Veggie Ji: Delicious, but lacks veg - it's fake meat on a plate
35 - Stir Fried 3 Delicious: Unmemorable
36 - Veggie Chicken Macau: Or Parrot Curry, as we call it. This is one of our firm favourites:

37 - Lo Han Chai
39 - Golden Veggie Steak
47 - Crispy Veggie Ji Pineapple: Lovely, but lacks veg - fake meat on a plate
50 - Roasted Char Siu: Good, but lacks veg
61 - Sweet & Sour Veggie Chicken - Great sauce, but the ribs are better and have more texture
63 - Sweet & Sour Veggie Ribs:

65 - Veggie Chicken Balls
66 - Veggie Pork Balls

Their balls aren't so great. As one of my favourite things in non-vegetarian days I've perfected making them at home now - Veggie World's are unfortunately disappointing.

Sundries

I don't swear often on this blog, but Veggie World's chow mein is fucking amazing - there's simply no finer way of putting it than that.

The noodles are 100% identical to those I got from takeaways in my non-vegetarian days and have since failed to find in a supermarket (english or chinese). We generally go for 'duck' chow mein, normally because we've already got 'chicken' and 'pork' dishes.

There's lots of types of rice available, but we tend to order plain steamed rice - cheap and better at soaking up sauces etc.

The formula we work to is: duck for starter followed by a soup course, then 3 main dishes with chow mein and rice. We sometimes order items from the starter menu as side dishes to the main course (satay skewers, dumplings etc). If you order the right things then you can get very full and satisfied for £15-£20 a head

We've tried the set menus a couple of times when we've visited with friends, but tend to order from the normal menu when alone as neither of us like the fake fish dishes. I've tried a few of their desserts, but am usually uncomfortably full by that point.

Veggie World have gotten service down to a fine art - waiting times are extremely reasonable. I believe that they manufacture their own fake meat - I've not tried it elsewhere in the UK (I heard that Peking Palace used to buy from them, before coming a Loving Hut). You can order any meat with any sauce, increasing the choice even further.

Overall, I'll go as far as saying that Veggie World is the best vegan chinese I've tried in the UK/US. It's a good job it's not close enough to get takeaway from!