Chichester anyone?

[Melanie]

Hullo all :)
I'm due to be moving to Chichester in september for three years (oh the joy of university) and was wondering if anyone lives there/knows of anyone that lives there that is vegan and how the vegan 'scene' is down there. :rolleyes:
Ie. If I ask for tofu in a shop will they think i've gone a bit mad..? :D

Thankies in advance =]

Lots and lots of love,
Melanie
~xx

[Mr Flibble]

I've been there quite a few times in the past few years for various reasons and not had a particular problem. It's like anywhere really. Nice area in general.

[Willowherb]

I don't live in Chichester but do visit occassionally so I don't really know about a vegan scene as such but I can tell you it's a very nice town. There is one Vegetarian cafe called Cafe Paradiso and there are veggie friendly places as well http://www.veggieplaces.co.uk/search_results.php?s_loc=Chichester&s_code=PO18 I was in Cafe Paradiso a few weeks ago and the only vegan things on the menu were salad and chips, obviously that was disappointing, but perhaps they have more vegan options sometimes.

There used to be the Bognor & Chichester Action for Animals Group who organised campaigns and had social events but I don't know whether they still exist. There is a Holland & Barrett (so you'll be ok for tofu :D), but I don't know if there are any independent health food shops, there's also Lush for vegan cosmetics and Montezuma's chocolates where you can get vegan chocs.

[Melanie]

Sorry my response is so very late but I haven't been able to get online! :)

Thank-you both very much for your replies, i've been in Chichester almost a month now and it's quite nice, I can get stuff from Tesco and such. There's also always Holland and Barrett for my alphalfa(sp?) sprouts (YUMMY).

Thankies again you two lovely people :)


Love Melanie
~xx

[Risker]

We went to Chichester yesterday, ate at Cafe Paradiso first. The vegan options were chilli & potato wedges or soup. We went for the chilli.

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3351/img3369vga.jpg

I was a bit disappointed, the bulk of the chilli was soya mince (which I consider lazy cooking) and the potato wedges were very dark and chewy, I think they'd been reheated more than once.

Total cost for 2 bowls of chilli and a can of coke was £15.55 so not terribly cheap either.

Next we went to St Martins Tearooms and got Apricot cake and fruit sorbet with a pot of Roobois tea and oat milk.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/5087/img3373vga.jpg

The place doesn't look very welcoming from the outside but is ok inside and has a lovely garden. For the food and tea (enough for 3-4 cups) was £7.25. I didn't really try the cake myself but the sorbet was lovely and 100% pure fruit.

[Mr Flibble]

I was a bit disappointed, the bulk of the chilli was soya mince (which I consider lazy cooking) and the potato wedges were very dark and chewy, I think they'd been reheated more than once.

Total cost for 2 bowls of chilli and a can of coke was £15.55 so not terribly cheap either.

Karma for buying Coca-Cola? ;)

I jest. Sounds crap though. Do they have other vegan things?

[Risker]

It wasn't great, I think we could have had some salad but it wasn't suggested when I asked what was vegan.

[cxmnz]

I used to live in Chichester up until about six years ago, occasionally go back there but tend to give the place a wide berth if I can. I always found it quite a close-minded town and to this day get still funny looks without fail when I walk around. It's been years since I was there for a night out though, so alternative types might be a little more acceptable these days.

I've never had much luck eating out down there, so you've done a lot better than me, even if it was a bit soya heavy. On the bright side, you can get to Brighton in about 45 minutes, where there's plenty of vegan options for a day out, or if you need to stock up on supplies from Infinity.

Are you at the university or the college there?

[Risker]

We just visited for the day to explore the town. I can't say I was particularly endeared to the local population but that could be partly because we were staying in a hotel in the leisure park at the south end of town where it's not so nice.

[harpy]

We went there recently and also last year (both times following trips to Fishbourne Roman palace, which I highly recommend to anyone that's at all interested in that kind of thing).

Last year I think we may have eaten in the Cathedral cafe (probably a baked potato) This year we went to the Weatherspoon's pub on the main street, whatever it's called - was hoping to try the curry that's marked vegan on the menu but they had run out so had, guess what, a baked spud. Any port in a storm.

Will note Risker's tearoom tip for next time, ta.

[Heres Johnny!]

I'm from very near Chichester! I agree about it being close-minded, but I have everything I need. This thread was suggested to me after my first post so I thought I would say hello :)