The Waiting Room (Stockton-on-Tees)

I'm never quite sure what to expect when I find a random v*gan restaurant on the interweb, then get in the car and go. After a grueling 5.5 hour journey up the M1 from London I'm pleased to say that on this occasion at least I was pleasantly surprised.

Houmous

Like most UK vegans, houmous has figured heavily in my diet over the years. Mostly through desperation/lack of choice from supermarkets when I've forgotten to make lunch, but occasionally for pleasure too.

Screaming Carrot Bakery (Nottingham)

If first impressions count, the Screaming Carrot Bakery's not off to a good start.

Metal grills over a shop's windows are never a good sign. The area didn't look overly nice when we drove up - I wasn't confident my car would still have hub caps when I returned.

222 (London)

222 Veggie Vegan is (confusingly) a vegan restaurant, on a random street in West London. I'm probably one of the last vegans I know to visit, but it wasn't until I was at Earls Court recently that I've ever been in walking distance.

The decor's clean & pleasant with a reasonable number of tables. Service was polite / friendly / efficient.

I visited on a weekday lunchtime and didn't have long, so went with the all you can eat buffet option.

The Rainbow Cafe (Cambridge)

Tucked away in a basement at the end of an alley, The Rainbow Cafe is a slightly misleading name for a premises free of natural light!

With an hour to kill in Cambridge this lunchtime I was pleased to find the place packed out (always a good sign). Luckily there was one table free, even if it was a bit of a squeeze to fit in.

Alley Cafe (Nottingham)

Apologies for the lack of posts recently - Mofo's definitely off the cards this year! Lots of good things have been happening recently and blogging's just been a bit too far down my to-do list. It's safe to say that being 30 is not as bad as I thought it'd be - so far it's just been one good thing after another.

We were in Nottingham this afternoon, a bit peckish (starving) and completely by chance a couple of hundred yards from the Alley Cafe.