Vegan Manchester

[gertvegan]

From the Viva! website.

Vegan Banquet & Theatre Show

Bridge - 5 Mills, Manchester, Easter Saturday 26th March 2005 7.30 pm

A sumptous banquet of recipes inspired by famous 19th century vegetarians like Shelly, Shaw, and Tolstoy. Followed by Oscar Wilde's comedy " The Importance Of Being Earnest ". Dress as you favourite 19th century character if you like.

Its also the same day as the Viva! Incredible Veggie Roadshow visit.

Tickets £45, £35 conc

Box office tel: 01612279030. Email: wildshowsandfeasts@yahoo.com

PDF file. (http://www.viva.org.uk/businesses/advertimages/wild.pdf)

[Kevster]

Sounds good, i'll give it a little thought...

[Gorilla]

why aren't they doing anything like that in Brighton when they bring the Veggie Roadshow here?!! i'd almost definitely go to that if it was here. sounds like good fun though.

[Kevster]

Heard about this....it has a vegan cafe bit.....

New alternative political bookshop opening in
Manchester's Northern Quarter...

The Basement, 24 Lever St. is proud to announce the
opening of a new alternative political bookshop in the
Northern Quarter. Following in the footsteps of
Frontline Books, the Basement will stock a diverse
range of books and merchandise dealing with
contemporary political and social issues and
celebrating grassroots culture.

Within the bookshop will be...

A cheap vegan, fair trade and organic cafe
Free Internet access
A mini-library for customers to browse some of the
many titles on sale.
An information space
An exhibition space

Manchester has a proud tradition of grass roots
community action and a diverse culture. Continuing in
this tradition, the Basement is not-for-profit and
run by volunteers who were bought together by the
anti-war movement with a shared vision to bring
alternative politics and a little colour to
Manchester's increasingly corporate-owned city centre.

The Basement is located in the Northern Quarter,
alongside Manchester's last independent shops and
cafes . As one of the volunteers explains:
"The reputation of Manchester's Norther Quarter is of
being a vibrant, happening community but a lot of the
new additions have been shops with trendy branding.
We feel we can widen the spectrum a bit. We want
somewhere to represent the energy and ideas of people
who think there is more to life than just shopping.
There are loads of interesting things going on in
Manchester. There always have been. We want to make it
easy for people to find them and get involved. Were
not just a shop, but a gateway to another world."

If you are a Christmas shopper in need of a few
interesting gifts but weary with consumerism and in
serious need of a brew, a place to put your feet up,
check your email and chat about the state of the
world, than this is the place for you.

Opportunities for photographs of the space will be
available on the
Opening Day - 12th December from 11am - 6pm
Anyone is invited to come along for fun, food, an
introduction to the space, the odd film, general
day-time schmoozing and more besides.

Initial opening times will be 12noon - 6pm Tuesday
-Saturday.

The Basement, 24 Lever St (just off Piccadilly
Gardens) M1. Opposite Fred Aldous, next to Alpha
Bootis Books.

[gertvegan]

Has anyone else thought bout going ?

[SilverBird]

Our son goes out and about with his friends (and his beloved fiancee) in the Greater Manchester area and tells me that Fu's Cantonese Restaurant in Mossley will adapt/veganise dishes if you ask.

I am told the Salt & Pepper Tofu served on a bed of finely cut chillies is worth including as part of the meal.

Fu's Cantonese Restaurant
27 Manchester Road, Mossley, OL5 9QW
01457 839 638

Fu's also offer a takeaway service and will deliver within a 5 mile radius if the order is over £15. The prices aren't over the top either!

Over the Christmas holidays he went to a couple of new restaurants where they made him a nice vegan meal ... I'll ask him for the addresses and post the details later.

Update: 19 Jan 2005

Here are the restaurants as mentioned above.

Neither restaurant is vegan, or even vegetarian, but they both prepared my son a nice vegan meal. Whilst some of his friends are vegetarian he's the only vegan (so far) and they look for restaurants that can cater for them all.

Blue Tiffin (http://www.bluetiffin.co.uk) is in Oldham.

New China Palace Restaurant (they don't appear to have a website)
3 The Gale, Todmorden Road, Littleborough, OL15 9EW
Tel: 01706 377664 Fax: 01706 838887.

Both offer a take-away service.

He tells me that both restaurants were busy yet still took the time to discuss just what he could eat with him and the meals in both places were enjoyable.

[SilverBird]

I'll probably be going to the road show but already have something arranged for the evening.

Anyone else planning on going to the road show?

[Pob]

Tuesday 1st November - World Vegan Day
An evening of speakers & free vegan buffet
Tony Vernelli from VIVA! talking about the impact of dairy farming on cows,their calves and human health.
Amanda Woodvine BSc (nutritionist from the Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation) talking about why animal products are bad for our health.
Mary Brady from Real food talking about the practicalities of adopting a vegan diet.

Arrive 6pm for free vegan food.

Speakers will start promptly at 7pm all at The Basement, 24 Lever Street,Manchester.

[Kevster]

Ate lunch at The Basement, the social centre in Manchester that sells exclusively vegan food, with local, organic and fair trade ingredients where possible. Had the excellent Thai curry, followed by chocolate cake, very reasonable prices. I think it's run on a volunteer basis and there's a tips dish to chuck some money in.

[Kevster]

OK, this is vaguely to do with vegan food.... went to Manchestar today and visited the Benjamin Zephaniah photo exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery, very good it was, then (after a lot of faffing by housemate) made it to the Basement for a snack (too late for proper food) hmmmm, but managed a Christmas cake and chocolate pudding, and a Pitfields beer from the shop out front, it's the only place i've seen Pitfields up North. Then onto Knotts... www.marblebeers.co.uk
and tried their Ginger ale, interesting, but i don't get on with too much ginger or garlic for that matter, but their organic Manchester bitter was pretty good, if quite bitter, nice.

[Kevster]

Ate out at The Basement in Manchester yesterday, and had some excellent and very reasonably priced food, i believe it is now open more days in the week, and i can highly recommend it, they have an excellent library and book space and free internet access too.

http://manchester.openguides.org/?The_Basement

Afterward i popped into a Marble Brewery pub (Marble Arch) for beers and the England match, decent vegan and organic ales, i had many....

[Christie]

Has anybody been to the 8th day co op cafe and shop in manchester? Im going soon and wanted peoples opinions. Its a vegetarian/vegan cafe with a health foods etc shop. :p

[Marrers]

I went a couple of weeks back, they had good vegan daily specials in the basement cafe - I had a mushroom pie but also had a mouthful of the carribean casserole, both were very tasty. The vegan choclate cake in the cafe looked very good but I didn't have room to try any. I think they close at 6ish.

Upstairs there is an impressive selection of food in grocery aisles and fridge section, plus cosmetics and supplements.
And there is a deli counter selling a large range of pasties etc to take away.

I thought it was a great place and I'd be in there often if I lived in the area!

[Christie]

Thanks. I can't wait to go. Someone said is like a half hour walk from the centre. But you make it seem likes its worth it :D

[Marrers]

It's quite near Oxford Road train station - well about a 5 minute walk. I'm not sure how far that is from where you will be.
Are you just there for the day or for longer? I know of a few other places if you need further options.

[Christie]

Well im going shopping, will be getting off the bus at deansgate then going shopping for the day then going there for tea. Then home. So it will take aout 20 mins to get to oxford street then i add at least 10 mins for finding it as im pretty useless lol! I know theres the basement, but I dont know of any others in manchester...

[Christie]

I went to the 8th day cafe like I said I would. It was AMAZING. I had a vegan pizza, it was great. Then went to shop in the supermarket place on top which was also great.

[lozza]

OMG! is that in manchester??

aaahh eee, i just discovered that place too! :)

my boyfriend comes from manchester but we live in glasgow. we went back last weekend for a friend's wedding. and en route to the church, we found the 8th day cafe/shop. its amaaaazing! :D

reminds me of my little health shop back home 'grassroots'.
eeee!

i wanna go back there again. the cafe was great! i had chocolate cake, lol :|

[Christie]

OMG! is that in manchester??

i wanna go back there again. the cafe was great! i had chocolate cake, lol :|

Yep in manchester! I wanna go back there to so I can have that chocolate cake! I didnt have a desert when i was there :(

[lozza]

aahh amazing! i cant wait to go back there again. we just discovered it by accident. i was all "eeeee!" in the shop, bounding around like a puppy. i got so excited at all the things they had. did you have a look in the shop? dont you think they have soo much variety in their product range? i do :)

[moonshadow]

we enjoyed 8th day when we went there a couple years ago (can't believe it's been that long!) and really enjoyed it. there was another vegan friendly restaurant in manchester that we liked, underneath a buddhist centre, but we can't remember what it was called.

yum yum

[psychocandy]

Earth Cafe is the place you are thinking of Moonshadow. It's my fave in Manchester. If i'm in Manc with friends we always go there. I had strawberrry cake last time it was delicious! the juices they make are very nice too :D Everything they sell is vegan although they have cow's milk as an option for hot drinks. Even if im with non vegan friends they get soya milk to try.

[Christie]

I went to 8th day cafe again looking forward to one of their pizzas with the amazing cheese subsitute on them. So I ordered a pizza, told them I wanted it vegan and it came and had no cheese on it! Then it dawned on me that they must have taken down my order wrong last time, and it was actually cheese and was chowing down on last time and thats why it tasted so similiar. I felt extremely sick!!!

I also feel so stupid, I made it very clear I wanted it vegan and had seen on their website they mentioned they used cheese substitutes in their meals if the vegan option was needed. I assumed this was one of the things they used it on! Should I complain or is this my fault?

[fiamma]

Maybe they forgot the cheese substitute this time, or they'd run out, or assumed you didn't want it... there are several possible explanations. If I were you I'd ask for a vegan pizza with cheese substitute next time, and when it comes ask for confirmation. That's what I'd do, I think it's the only way to find out the truth!

[lozza]

I went to 8th day cafe again looking forward to one of their pizzas with the amazing cheese subsitute on them. So I ordered a pizza, told them I wanted it vegan and it came and had no cheese on it! Then it dawned on me that they must have taken down my order wrong last time, and it was actually cheese and was chowing down on last time and thats why it tasted so similiar. I felt extremely sick!!!

I also feel so stupid, I made it very clear I wanted it vegan and had seen on their website they mentioned they used cheese substitutes in their meals if the vegan option was needed. I assumed this was one of the things they used it on! Should I complain or is this my fault?

eeek! :/ no i wouldnt say it was your fault at all. if you asked for vegan the first time round, i doubt they would have given you real cheese. unless they did make a mistake. if so, that'd be a very big one :/

i'd definitely say something about it. maybe not complain but just ask. i'm too scared to get pizza from there now :P

ooh i wanna go back there so much. but alas, manchester is so far away.