Boston Tea Party (Birmingham)

The general rule is that I don't (willingly) do non-vegetarian places that don't already have vegan items marked on their menus. Whilst I've had some fantastic food in omni places that don't, more often than not it's disappointing.

I've known about BTP for some time, but was put off by conversions with people who've worked in other chains such as Wetherspoons, who've told me categorically not to eat there. Veganisable in theory or not, just don't even try.

I was pleasantly surprised by BTP's efforts to cater for vegans however - not only do they have things marked as vegan on their menu but seem to be options in their own right (i.e. not a vegetarian dish with ingredients removed). They've redwoods rashers & sausages for their breakfasts and have soya spread available for toast. The staff seem clued up and as Birmingham's not exactly brimming with vegan choice, the more the merrier really.

Decor's impressive and unique. Some of it's a bit odd, but on the whole they've done a decent job of creating a brand.

Our burgers were homemade and tasty, fries also good (we're told cooked separately). I'm not a total fan of their beetroot burger, but it's good to try something unique. They do veganisable kids options too and there were plenty of families around.

Spectacularly we managed to miss the fact that they've a vegan cake option - not sure what happened there!

Overall I was impressed - I've eaten far worse vegan food in vegetarian places; it's good to see mainstream places taking veganism seriously and doing a good job. Would definitely recommend it and will revisit when the opportunity arises.

Stereo (Glasgow)

I'm still not convinced that Glasgow is the most vegan friendly city in the UK. It doesn't take a statistician to realize that London has more v*gan cafes and restaurants than Glasgow, or for that matter Brighton too. Peta aren't known for being right about many things - perhaps they got it wrong this time too?

What I do like about Glasgow is several all vegan places*, as opposed to mostly vegetarian with vegan options (which may or may not bare any resemblance to the description). Edinburgh definitely fits more in this bracket.

Stereo's a good looking bar in the centre of Glasgow with an all vegan food menu, vegan drinks (Sam Smiths etc) and *the standard non-vegetarian ones (Guinness etc).

Service was friendly but chaotic - it wasn't clear whether it was table service or not. Still, it was good to see an all vegan eatery mostly full on a week night - other cities could do with something similar.

The food itself was alright but could have been better. The menu is focused more around tapas than the usual starter / main course, which is understandable given the type of venue. I chose a couple of tapas items to start then went for a pizza for main:

Vegetable Tempura - crispy battered seasonal veg with ponzu dip - £3.75
Garlic Bread - 2 pieces freshly made with our Stereo baked bread - £2.60
Haggis Pizza - with muhammara (spiced red pepper and walnut), tomato sauce & olives - £8.00

I took the liberty asking for vegan cheese on my pizza - a snip at 60p extra.

The tempura was rustic. A slice of sweet potato, mushroom, red pepper and half a carrot - deep fried in chip shop batter. The carrot was still quite crunchy and it wasn't that great. Rind in the ponzu gave an overpowering, slightly unpleasant aroma and taste. I wouldn't order this again.

The garlic bread's bread was lovely. You could tell it'd been made with love rather than by a machine. That said though it was basically toast with vegan margarine and the very slightest hint of garlic. It could easily be improved with a bit more garlic and seasoning - it's possible I just got unlucky.

I've got to be honest - the pizza could have looked more appetizing. Their pizzas are served 'flat bread' style - i.e. not traditional dough but tasty all the same. The real star of the pizza though was the muhammara, which was simply stunning. Really good flavour with a sensible amount of spice.

It could be improved however (both aesthetically and in terms of flavour) by adding cheese, which ironically I had ordered and paid for but didn't get. If I order this again I'll make sure it comes with cheese.

There was a choice of 3 desserts - 2 cheesecakes and a sticky toffee pudding. I went with a chocolate raspberry cheesecake & icecream for £3.50:

This I also liked. It wasn't on the same level as cheesecake from Dandelion & Burdock, but then vegan cheesecake generally isn't. Personally I'd happily pay a pound extra for a taller slice.

I like Stereo as a venue but wasn't blown away by its food. I may have caught them on a bad day, as it it could be pretty good with not a lot of tweaking. Next time I'm up in Glasgow I'll try someplace different, but would give Stereo another go if staying nearby.