Vegan London, part 2

[robb]

*cough*

[Marrers]

I've just seen the Vegan Routes (routemaster double decker) bus parked in front of the Brewer Street car park (by Lexington Street) with a big 'opening soon' banner on it. It was all dark so hard to tell if there is seating on the top deck but I assume there is. There are two wooden picnic tables by it too.

(Good news about Archway tube!)

[clare155]

^ I saw that too Marrers when Alisont was down, its very exciting!! But not very clear on the opening details - keep your eyes peeled people

[bradders]

there is seating upstairs and is due to open this month, they have a mailing list for more specific info an there website is here: http://www.veganroutes.com/

[Marrers]

So you all know about it already? Well thanks for sharing guys . . .

[bradders]

memory issues

I remember talk of this months possibly a year ago and plans to site it around liecester square, it was only when I saw the bus in the carpark a week ago that I was prompted to investigate again and forgot to post, woops

[helen105281]

We saw it a few weeks back too. Took a picture and everything

[beanstew]

Red Veg news. I was in last night eating mushroom veg burger and fries (nom, etc.) and they said that they should be moving to a new location but not until the new year.

[helen105281]

Thats good news

[Marrers]

According to their website Vegan Routes is opening on Monday 23rd November 2009. No details on opening hours or menu yet, or at least not as far as I could see.

[Gwydion]

Thanks Marrers. Looking forward to experiencing another bus eatery! And so close to the that is GHS.

[Marrers]

I'm hearing that Eat & Two Veg might be closing / is closing / has already closed. Anyone know anything for sure?

[aubergine]

Oh no! I've wanted to go there for ages, but it's always a bit out of the way.

[bradders]

not hear about this but when i was there they were quite quiet, but it was really good though.
The fact that it's as far from a station as you can get and still be in central london is a bit off-putting for some though, as are the prices.

[gutts]

Was there in September. Food was good, prices seemed fair. Would be a shame if they closed.

gutts

[Sunkist]

I'm hearing that Eat & Two Veg might be closing / is closing / has already closed. Anyone know anything for sure?

I've also heard that it may be closing. I used to go there quite regularly and I was speaking with one of the managers about 1 year ago and he said that the rents for their location was very high and they were finding it hard to break even- Even though they were busy most nights Whenever i went there it was always busy and I didn't find the prices too high. Lets hope maybe they relocate to somewhere else,

[robb]

I hear it has closed and is in liquidation...

[bradders]

I think the location may have been one of their biggest mistakes, it costs a lot and is a good distance from a station. Not sure that I'd call the prices fair though to be honest when their cheapest burger is £10 and the cheapest drinkable wine starts at a fiver for a small glass, If you have a starter a main and two drinks that's £25 a head plus tip and there aren't any vegan deserts so it's a lot to spend on a two course meal that doesn't include desert. That's as much money as I have to make last me a month for all my food and drink. And I have found service to be lacking, to have got a funny look for saying vegan and there are no disabled loos for those who may need them. It's sad if it has closed but it's not a huge surprise. If they re-open somewhere they need to get a location near a tube, with proper access, make sure the staff are nicer and a bit less stuck up, they need vegan deserts and they need to drop the prices. They're not offering a product in the range of Saf so the prices need to reflect that they are a burger bar not a fine dining restaurant.
Rant over.

[Marrers]

I was never that impressed with the vegan choices - only ate there once and that was because my o/h had an appointment practically next door.

(I read somewhere that they'd recently opened and closed a second branch so maybe the cost of that is what pushed the business over the edge?)

[helen105281]

It's a shame it's closing, only went there a couple of times but liked it though the vegan choices weren't always great. Didn't think it was too far from a tube Bradders. I always found it ok if BB pointed me in the right direction.

[bradders]

well it's a only a ten minute walk I guess but it's difficult to be much more than that from a station in central to be fair unless your down all the stuccoed terraces a bit closer to oxford street

[helen105281]

Oh ok, am used to walking ages to get to the station in Letchworth so I suppose it didn't seem that far to me. Get your point though.

[bradders]

I brought my parents there and they were burnt by the prices a little and the walk with cases was less than welcome shall we say. I think that's also one of the things it's fairly close to tourist things like regents park madame tussauds etc but just far enough away to be out of the way to get to. It's also closish to the main termini to the north and west but not close enough to any of them to really be useful, such that it was actually rather a pain. I think that the setting was nice and everything and the food (the few vegan options) were fairly good but they just missed it where it matters, lack of desert, facilities, just out of the way, rents just too high, prices just too much, they were so near but those few flaws were their undoing. It's always a shame to lose a vegetarian/ vegan place but there are new places opening up that hopefully will be more of what we want at a better price more conveniently.

[mariana]

I was never that impressed with the food there. I found it a bit bland. But I didn't think it was that far from the tube station. I thought the ambiance was fairly nice. I took my dad there and he liked it.

I If you have a starter a main and two drinks that's £25 a head

Maybe don't get a starter, a main, and two drinks then. I think when my dad and I went it was under £25 for the two of us, but we didn't get anything to drink (I find drinks are almost always overpriced at restaurants, not just there).

I'm pretty sure they did have vegan desserts.... Yep, just looked it up and they had vegan options available for fruit salad (boring!), apple and rhubarb crumble, and ice cream and sorbet.

Even though I wasn't that impressed with the food, I'm still sad to see a veggie restaurant go.

[bradders]

the vegan options weren't on the menu when I was there but I retract it (though 5.25 for fruit salad is obscene) If you're going to a place like that you're going to want the full lot really otherwise it's not worth it really. When in so many restaurants a person can get a starter, two drinks, a main and a desert for under £15 a head (this works out as about £30+ tip) it is pretty steep for mediocre (not bad) food.
I realize it now sounds like I'm attacking the place, which I don't mean to but it has never for me been a great experience. For the price you'd expect so much more.

[harpy]

Hmm, I didn't think the prices were that unreasonable considering it was in (what had become) a rather trendy part of town, wasn't it? The place seemed to appeal to omnivores as well, which was good. My main reservation was that the menu rather overemphasised fake meat, but they did usually have some other vegan stuff too IIRC?

I hope they will manage to resurrect themselves in some form but I can't claim to have given them much support as I hadn't been for a couple of years

[Gorilla]

When in so many restaurants a person can get a starter, two drinks, a main and a desert for under £15 a head

which restaurants are these?! there are very few places i know of where you can get that kind of value for money.

i've never been to Eat & 2 Veg but it's always sad to hear of veggie places closing.

[Marrers]

I always found that area a bit too much of a walk from Bond Street tube station but often made the effort (not to go to Eat & Two Veg though, to go to Rococo! )

[mariana]

I always found that area a bit too much of a walk from Bond Street tube station but made often the effort (not to go to Eat & Two Veg though, to go to Rococo! )

Haha, that's what I was thinking when I said I didn't think it was too far from the tube! I think I only went to Eat & Two Veg twice, but I've been to Rococo far too many times. I usually walked from Baker Street tube (which is a bit closer I guess). And I guess the thought of chocolate made the walk seem short.

[Marrers]

This may be true but I'm often in Soho but hardly ever in the Baker Street area! And there is always the branch on Kings Road of course, if I'm up that way.

[bradders]

which restaurants are these?! there are very few places i know of where you can get that kind of value for money.

a huge number of Indian restaurants plus a couple of Chinese ones too, a number of omni places that cater for vegans even mildreds works out at about 25 per head for three courses and two drinks, and that's handier for the tube, for pubs to drink in etc while rootmaster also works out starting at 25 for three courses and two drinks (dinner menu) it has the novelty factor to go with it and a lunch menu that works out about £20 for three courses and two drinks, 222 in the eveing works out as less than £20 (but is a major treck) but for lunch is about 12-15 using the buffet, peking palace for spring rolls, chow mein, desert and two bottles of alcohol free beer is less than £15 and again much cheaper at lunch with the buffet. These are just showing what they're competing with in terms of price, realistically eat & two veg would need to cut their prices down so that it works out at £20 to be good competition (and scrap the premium on vegan options) even if it were the case that they just had a couple of cheap options on everything that would be a huge improvement for groups and such.

But as I say it is sad to lose a vegan friendly eatery

[robb]

Just wondering whether people with gripes (or suggestions for improvement) let the restaurants know before they close down...

[bradders]

I did, I made my feelings well known to them.

[Marrers]

I do if I think they aren't busy and are in danger of closing down - but if they are busy, and aren't aiming mainly at the vegan market (which imo Eat & Two Veg was not) then I tend to keep my opinions to myself.

[robb]

Well, it's all your fault then.

[Marrers]

Places like E&2V and Red Veg aren't going to survive on my custom!! I would never choose to eat a burger over another vegan meal given the choice - there are plenty of other options nearby in London or Brighton which appeal more to me.

[bradders]

I'm the really annoying guy who seeks out cafés that don't do soya milk and ask for it and make a fuss, when a place does cater for vegans I let them know that I appreciate it but also where, in my opinion it could be improved upon. So I did let them know that I wasn't happy about the lack of vegan deserts and felt that the prices were not entirely justified and that if they lowered them and did more to attract custom they might actually make more money (rather than the two other tables that were in, one of whom was rather loud indeed) during what should have been a busy lunch period and that they should increase their efforts to comply with the DDA, especially in light of what was spent on the decor. I have suggested to root master that they make the bus rigid in some fashion or have the suspension stiffened to reduce the swaying that made some diners feel a little ill. I make the suggestions as part of constructive criticism to most places as I feel most would like to be as good as they can be and they need to know what improvements are desired in order to make them.

[BlackCats]

That is a shame about Eat & Two Veg. I have only been there once but I did like it and my husband actually ate the food there too!

[mariana]

This may be true but I'm often in Soho but hardly ever in the Baker Street area! And there is always the branch on Kings Road of course, if I'm up that way.

I'm rarely near Baker Street, Bond Street or Kings Road, but I used to take the tube from Liverpool St to Baker St last year.....just for chocolate! (Okay, I think that means I'm quite bad!)

[Buddha Belly]

I am currently in Vegan Routes on Brewer St, waiting for a shepherds pie to materialise.





Just got it.



Really nice. Nom nom nom

[Mr Flibble]

Keep us updated

[Gwydion]

Could you scan us a copy of the menu please Buddha Belly? Phones are capable of that these days right?

[Buddha Belly]

The

[Buddha Belly]

Could you scan us a copy of the menu please Buddha Belly? Phones are capable of that these days right?

You are one of my facebookers so I will take pics of menu and post on there. I am at work from 6 so if you want/ can pop it on for me. cheeky git ain't I?


The food is really nice, just finished it and re-evaluated my opinion.

[Gwydion]

^Sure thing, you've got under half an hour before I'm off to the pub though

[bradders]

i'll post if too late for gwydion

[gutts]

I am currently in Vegan Routes on Brewer St, waiting for a shepherds pie to materialise.

Just got it.

Really nice. Nom nom nom

I'm sitting one street away and had no idea Vegan Routes was so close! Definitely checking this out.

gutts

[Gwydion]

[gutts]

Cheers for this. Any booze over there?

gutts

[Buddha Belly]

You do work fast! Thanks for doing that.