Eating Out - The Wheelhouse

The Wheelhouse in Falkirk was probably one of my favourite restaurants when I lived through there, and I even went for a graduation meal all those years ago. I've not been back since going vegan, so I wasn't sure how many options would be available. I emailed the restaurant during the week, and got a nice email back outlining what they could offer me. When I arrived today, the waitress went through all the dishes which could be altered so they were vegan, and the kitchen even offered to make me tempura veg for a starter which wasn't on the menu.

I decided to go with the vegetable and black bean enchilada with tomato sauce, jambalaya rice and salad. The original dish comes with cheese on the top, but it's vegan if you order it without any.

So if you're looking for vegan food in Falkirk, then The Wheelhouse is a great place to go.

Two Munros And A Corbett

Last weekend, I went up to Pitlochry with Edinburgh Young Walkers for a weekend of climbing. It was first weekend away with the group, and I managed to climb two Munros and a Corbett.

Saturday

It was pouring with rain when we woke up on Saturday, and the forecast said it was due to rain for the entire day. We decided not to venture too far, so picked Ben Vrackie for our morning climb. The walk started off through woodland so we had some shelter from the rain, but for most of the climb it was raining really, really heavily. I managed to stay surprisingly dry under my clothes, but walking in rain that heavy is never much fun.

Since we were all wet and cold, we headed back to the hostel for a hot shower and lunch. Some of the group decided to do a river walk, but the rest of us headed to the pub for an afternoon of relaxation before more climbing on Sunday.

Sunday

Most of the group set off around 7am on Sunday to try and beat the rain forecast for the afternoon. We drove as close to Carn Liath as we could get, then it was a 4km walk to the base of the Munro. The climb itself was a lot harder than I had anticipated, as the ascent was really steep. Most of the group were a lot more experienced, so the pace was set faster than I would have set it if I'd been walking myself.

We reached the top faster than anyone of us expected so we had a bit of a rest before setting off to Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. It was a fairly flat ridge to the second Munro, but then the ascent was bigger than I was expecting. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't already been walking for a couple of hours, but I was pretty shattered as we made our way to the top.

By the time we reached the top, the cloud had cleared and we got pretty incredible views. It's also the first time it's been nice enough at the top of a Munro for me to be able to sit down and admire the scenery.

So that's 3 Munros down, and only 279 to go!!

Vegan Adventures - London Edition

Our first stop of the vegan food trail was Mildreds in Soho. The restaurant, which opened in 1988, serves some of the best vegetarian and vegan food in London. I opted for the smoked tofu, lentil and piquillo pepper burger with chips, and it was easily the tastiest vegan burger I've ever had. My mum picked the fennel and sun blushed tomato sausages which were also delicious.

You can't go to a vegan restaurant and not have a cake, so I picked for the Jamaican banana and date pudding with rum raisins, rum butter sauce and coconut whipped cream. I devoured the whole thing within about a minute because it was just incredible. Whoever said eating vegan food was boring has clearly never tasted cake like this.

On Saturday, we headed to Tibits for lunch. It's a vegetarian and vegan buffet style restaurant where you pay for the wait of your plate. They had a huge selection of foods, so I piled my plate with lots including sweet potato curry, falafel, rice, salad, noodles and spiced wedges. The lighting inside wasn't ideal, so these aren't exactly the best photos. They had a few desserts to pick from too, so I went for sticky toffee pudding with vegan cream, mango mousse and strawberries.

On Saturday night, we went to Cybercandy in Convent Garden. I've been going to this shop before all the American candy shops started appearing all over the place. There's not a huge amount of food I can eat here anymore, but I did find the most amazing Oreos EVER!!

We also found Yorica! on Saturday night. It's a new completely vegan ice cream and frozen yoghurt shop. I picked the biggest tub with cookies and cream, chocolate beetroot and butter ice cream with caramel sauce and sprinkles. The shop was fairly small but really busy, so I guess the word is spreading that vegan ice cream is the way to go.

On Sunday, we headed to spent the morning at the British Museum before going to Spitalfields where we discovered Rubys of London and bought some baked donuts. They were delicious, so I'd definitely recommend visiting Ruby's stall if you're in the area. The stall also had a selection of cupcakes, cookies and bigger cakes that all look really tasty.

On Sunday afternoon, we did the tourist thing before heading back to Tibits for dinner. I had another great plate of food including a spicy sausage casserole and raspberry cheesecake.

So that was pretty much all the vegan food I ate in London.

Over and Out!

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 18

I'm hoping in the next two weeks that these posts will also have a video with them. I'm just playing about with some editing software at the moment, and waiting on a camera tripod arriving.

I finally got another jar of coconut and almond butter, so I've been having it on oats every morning for breakfast. If you've never tried Pip & Nut butter, then you really need to. It's the best nut butter I've ever tasted, and I probably go through at least two jars a month.

For lunch I had a wholemeal bagel with a paprika spread, avocado an garlic salt! I got the paprika spread in my vegan swap box from The Netherlands, and it's one of the nicest things I've ever eaten. I also had some fruit, protein balls and date syrup after it.

For dinner I made this North African Chickpea Stew which from a veg cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. It's made from butternut squash, chickpeas, lentils, tomatoes, onions and lots of spices. It's one of those great dishes that you can make a huge batch of, and then just eat it all week.

One Spa - Vegan Bento Box

Last weekend, I got to spend a whole day at One Spa in Edinburgh. If you've never been before, then you need to try and get along at some point. It was the most relaxing day I've had this year, and I really hope I get the chance to go back again soon.

I started the day with a short gym session before going into the rooftop hydropool. I can't even put into words how amazing this pool is. We headed down for lunch about 1pm where I got this delicious vegan bento box. I had emailed about vegan options and was shown the menu which has none on it, but when I arrived on Sunday the staff talked me through what they could do. They just altered the vegetarian box so everything was vegan, and it was really, really tasty. I also got a yoghurt free smoothie to go along with it.

Once I finished lunch, it was back to the hydropool for a relaxing afternoon. I also went round all the different saunas in the thermal suite, including the ones you go in after rubbing ice on yourself.

If you ever get the chance to go to One Spa, then I couldn't recommend it more. Even if you don't get any of the treatments on offer, you can still have the most relaxing day in Edinburgh.