The Gallery Cafe (Bethnal Green, London)

A couple of central line stops further than I normally go, The Gallery Cafe's both not that far from The City and perfectly located for visiting along with the V&A Museum of Childhood (which is free and highly recommended).

I've been a couple of times in the past year - food, price, waiting time and service all reasonable.

As the name suggests the food and set up is cafe style. Everything's vegetarian and mostly vegan. They've a mixture of communal and individual tables, with a small outside space. On our most recent visit we had a couple of vegan pizzas, which including drinks came to about £20:

Liberal serving of Cheezley and sensible amount of toppings. Fresh dough and crispy base - not stunning but above average.

I'll both return and happily recommend it - whether you're in the area already or fancy a change from the usual Z1 dross.

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.

Basilico (Limehouse, London)

18" wood fired vegan pizza? Yes please!

Basilico's a chain of non-vegetarian pizza delivery shops across London. They've 2 vegan options marked on their menu - a margarita and a roasted vegetable pizza (we opted for the latter).

Forty five minutes after ordering we had an 18" with 2 drinks delivered to The Isle of Dogs for under £20 - enough for two hungry adults and one hungry toddler (with a slice left for breakfast!).

The base was fantastic; actual glutenous Italian bread with great flavour. The toppings were fairly generous, though not as generous (or adventurous) as Mr Singh's. It was good to see the cheese go right the way to the edge of the crust (as oposed to within several inches of it like Pizza Face). The brand they use (Violife) is alright warm, but tasted fantastic cold the following morning.

Overall we were really impressed. We'll definitely order from them again and recommend that Londeners give them a go. Despite the lack of options it's my favourite takeaway vegan pizza in the UK so far. Basilico takes Pizza Face, bends it over and gives it a good spanking!

Amico Bio (Holborn, London)

As if one mediocre Italian restaurant wasn't enough, last year a 2nd branch of Amico Bio popped up on New Oxford Street (half way between Holborn and Tottenham Court Road tubes).

I visited shortly after it opened in May and liked it even less than the Cloth Fair branch. Oppressive decor, loud electrical buzzing throughout the meal and a clueless waiter who explained to everyone that it was his first day. The starter was disgusting:

What was supposed to be "Potato gnocchi with aubergines and rice milk mozzarella" was like eating glue. It had next to no flavour, other than the harsh taste of herbs.

Second course tasted alright:

But bore little resemblance to its description of "Mixed vegetables & seitan kebab, yoghurt & cucumber dip".

The veg had been chopped too finely to have been cooked as a kebab; tasting more like an underseasoned fajita as a result. The yoghurt & cucumber dip was nowhere to be seen - for a restaurant with vegan meat, cheese and cream I'm unsure as to why they don't have soya yoghurt.

When I returned in July things had improved slightly. I decided to keep things simple and go with their "Pizza with tomato and mozzarella" which actually looked pretty good:

I know that some vegans like the mozzarella they use, but for me it's just a bit too yucky.

Dessert of "Peach with red wine, limoncello liqueor and carrot cake" however I actually enjoyed:

The carrot cake is the best thing I've ever tasted at Amico Bio - it was really nice! If only the portion wasn't tiny, I could have happily eaten a man sized portion. The peaches in wine was a little weird, but tasted alright and I'm led to believe is traditional.

I love Italian food and I can see what Amico are trying to achieve. London needs a good vegan Italian restaurant - there's no reason why Amico couldn't be it. In two visits to each branch so far however it's been underwhelming to say the least.

I hope the situation improves and will pop back sometime in the next few months. I'll blog an update if things are better.

Blazing Salads (Dublin, Ireland)

Blazing Salads is a cross between deli and well stocked health food shop. Within a minute's walk of Cornucopia it's a good option if you're pushed for time or want takeaway.

I picked up a slice of pizza and piece of apple pie from there the last time I was in Dublin. Both survived 9 hours in a laptop bag admirably - the pics below were taken just before shoveling them into my gob and going through security at the airport.

The pizza was great, but much more quiche like than pizza. How it didn't get mashed to pieces in my bag I'll never know, but it's a testament to it's suitability as excellent picnic food.

The apple pie didn't look so great (which I'll put down to my handling rather than Blazing Salads' prep), but also tasted good.

I'll definitely give them another go when staying in Dublin next - I may even push my luck further and buy the day before for breakfast at my hotel.

Pizza Face (Brighton)

Whilst on a pizza posting spree, it's only fair to mention Brighton's vegan friendly takeaway also.

Pizza Face is an omni pizza chain with branches in Kemp Town (Brighton) and Hove. They stock Redwoods vegan cheese, which can be substituted for normal for £1 extra. They've a separate vegan menu available on Mondays & Tuesdays (with fake meats as well as cheese) - it's too bad they don't do this on a weekend.

We visited at 10.45pm on a Saturday evening in November, towards closing time of 11pm. We ordered a couple of pizzas, garlic bread and tub of Boho Gelato sorbet to eat at our hotel nearby. We've heard rumours that they can deliver directly to the beach, but it was a bit chilly for that!

I'm not entirely sure why the garlic bread came with rosemary and it needed about 10x the amount of garlic on for my taste, but the bread itself was really good:

The pizzas however we're so good. With all the rave reviews about Pizza Face from people we know, hopefully we just got unlucky. Either way, the amount of toppings on both our pizzas was pitiful:

Having paid extra for vegan cheese there was hardly any on there, with a good few inches around the edge completely bare. Even the amount of tomato sauce was stingy. Compare this to somewhere like Mr Singh's where you get toppings right to the edge (not to mention two 12" for £13.49) and you'll understand why we felt a bit short changed.

We left half our pizzas each to move onto dessert. We often do this and eat the other half the following morning (pizza improves with age!).

I love Mojitos - they're easily my favourite cocktail. For a drink with so few ingredients it's impressive how badly people manage to screw them up however - they typically range in bars from mediocre to undrinkable (with exceptions - I found a stunningly good mojito bar in Leith last year). Sadly Boho Gelato's mojito sorbet falls into the inedible camp - we managed about of third of the tub between us before admitting defeat and leaving it to defrost. I don't know if the ingredients had been mixed wrong or what, but it tasted disgusting.

I want to love Pizza Face, but it's all a bit to 'meh' for me - the halves we kept went in the bin. I hate giving places a bad review and it's possible that towards the end of the shift we got unlucky. I'll try and give it a go on a Monday / Tuesday night some time - hopefully on vegan night things will be a lot better.

Mr Singh's (Handsworth Wood, West Midlands)

The Handsworth Wood branch of Mr Singh's shares the same menu as West Bromwich (formally Oldbury - click here for review), but is larger and has a proper seating area.

It's awesome to see a vegan friendly pizza restaurant, especially one that's full of customers - even mid afternoon on a Saturday. Pizzas are served in black pans similar to Pizza Hut's - they've really gone all out for that authentic experience.

We've had takeaway from there a few times now (there's free onstreet parking round the side), but haven't dined in yet. The quality's been consistently good and I'd definitely recommend it:

(this time you get not only the steering wheel but my fat belly and leg too!)

If I'm being totally honest though (which I always am!), we have been slightly put off returning recently, due to an unfortunate ordering mix up. I *always* say vegan (several times) when ordering - often to the point of looking like a bit of a freak. Mix ups are rare and do happen - I'm also good at spotting non-vegan things before eating them and politely questioning whether they're sure. In the case of Mr Singh's they've claimed several times (at both branches) that the garlic bread can be made vegan using vegan cheese, which we've ordered several times as a result:

Last time however the cheese on it clearly wasn't vegan and when questioned was told it was vegan (several times), then that it wasn't but it was my fault because I hadn't specified vegan when ordering (I had, and the pizzas I ordered at the same time were made correctly). Whilst they reluctantly agreed to remake another member of staff (the owner?) was tutting and the whole situation was rather awkward. I'd like to say that they've not lost us as customers, but equally I'm not sure how quickly we'll be returning.

Mr Singh's (Oldbury, West Midlands)

You know you're terrible blogger when places close down before you write the post.... Luckily in this case it's because they're gone up in the world (well, The Midlands anyway) to a new, smarter looking branch in West Bromwich. Whilst Oldbury is more convenient to get to (a mile from M5 J2) and had easy onstreet parking, the branch there was more than a bit shabby looking (see above!).

Mr Singh's is a vegetarian pizza chain with an unmistakable Indian twist - dhania pizza anyone? More exotic menu items (Tandoori Paneer etc) aren't suitable, but they've 8 vegan pizza options include Vegetarian Supreme, Pepperoni, Coriander and Sausage. Prices are reasonable, waiting time around 10 minutes and service friendly.

Dips are free and there's a slight discount if you order 2 pizzas the same size and remember to ask for it - they won't prompt you if you forget!

(yep, that's a steering wheel - classy I know)

The cheese and pepperoni they use appears to Redwoods - if I had to guess the sausage I'd go with Linda McCartney. Several other items on the menu are marked vegan, including hotdogs, nuggets and burgers (I assume Fry's given the description, but haven't tried them). The rest of the menu is vast - it's too bad some of the other choices aren't marked as vegan too.

I turned vegan before I had the chance to eat much takeaway pizza, but @cherrivalentine assures me that their bases are pretty much the same as you'd get from any takeaway - more spongy than glutenous, almost like they're raised with bicarb rather than yeast. If it were my choice they'd use a more Italian bread like recipe.

Like all good pizzas the flavour of their's improves with age (i.e. it's perfectly reasonable to eat the leftovers for breakfast!). The pizzas look the part (even the box they come in gives that true takeaway experience), but the toppings could be more varied - most of the options are variations on the same theme / set of ingredients. I recommend starting with something like their pepperoni and adding extra toppings (pineapple etc). They also don't mind if you ask for less chilli (the default is HOT).

I would recommend the Oldbury branch, but it's too late now ;-)

Stuffed Crust Pizza / Stuffed Doughballs

This a super easy bread machine recipe that I don't make often enough. Since discovering good frozen vegan pizza bases a couple of years back I've been super lazy. I'm totally going to make this again though soon as it is better to eat fresh than from frozen.

The pictures are from 4 years ago in my little flat, when I didn't really understand good lighting or use of depth of field (large aperture does not guarantee a good photo).

Ingredients for 1 pizza or 12 doughballs:

• 225g White Bread Flour
• 3.5g Dried Yeast
• A Pinch of Salt
• 150ml Water
• 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place all ingredients in your bread machine in the order you normally use. Select the italian dough setting (45 min on my Panasonic). Remove when complete (with the help of some extra flour if too sticky) and knead for a few minutes on a floured surface.

Pizza

Roll out to a diameter a few centimetres larger than you need. Cut meltable vegan cheese (or anything else you want to stuff it with) into strips and place in a circle 1cm from the edge. Work your way round the pizza, rolling the dough over the cheese and tucking it under, pressing down slightly to make a seal.

Blind bake for a few minutes on a heavy pan or pizza stone at 220^oc. If you don't have a pizza stone yet, buy one. They cost a tenner and are great for all types of bread. Remove from oven, pierce any bubbles of air in the centre of the pizza and top as you please. Cook until done (10-15mins).

If you don't blind bake you run the risk of the topping sinking into the dough and making it soggy.

Favourite toppings: sundried tomato paste, pesto, grilled artichokes, roasted peppers, olives, vegan cheese (several types), capers, tomatoes (remove excess juice/seeds), garlic, mushrooms, olive oil, herbs.

Less is often more - tomatoes, garlic, oregano and olive oil is a simple yet winning combination:


Doughballs

Doughballs are great eaten with soup or just on their own. Divide the above dough into 12, roughly roll out each into a circle (smaller than the size of your palm) using your fingers, place a small amount of filling in the centre and fold over the sides and pinch, making a tight seal. Roll around in the hands to ensure there are no cracks. Place on the tray you're baking them on upside down, so that the seal is at the bottom.

Don't be tempted to overstuff them or they could explode, which is less exciting than it sounds.

Meltable cheese and sundried tomato is my favourite filling, but garlic & herb margarine works too. I can't remember how long they need cooking for, but it's probably around 10 minutes at 220^oc.