Tag: burger

Got No Beef in Cardiff City Centre [3]

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Since the COVID19 lockdown and social distancing rules came into place, I have locked myself away and tried to minimise my contact with the outside world. Fortunately, I’ve been able to work from home so my contact with the outside world has been minimal.

However, when I saw that Got No Beef had re-opened in line with government guidelines and were also participating in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, I couldn’t say no!

So last week, I ventured out into the big wide world with my brother and sister to get myself some dinner and boy, oh boy… it did not disappoint!

The MVP burger with poutine tots

The restaurant has reduced the number of tables in line with the government 2 metre distance rule so capacity is restricted which is understandable. They’ve put up perspex screens and plastic barriers between tables which is great, as well as a sanitisation station at the front of the restaurant.

The menu has been revamped and there are SO MANY new options! You can tell that they have put a lot of thought and effort into what they’ve put together. It was near impossible to choose!

I went for The MVP burger and a side of Buffalo Hot CHKN wings. Descriptions can be found on the menu itself so I highly recommend taking a look at their website to read through it all.

The MVP burger (inside)

Pictured above is the inside of The MVP. With the ‘mozzarella’ disc inside on top of the burger patty, when cut in half displayed the most appetising melted ‘cheese’ ever. The burger had a drizzle of pesto across the top and marinara sauce on the base. It tasted incredible.

The poutine tots were even better and are possibly my favourite side on the menu. I will most definitely be ordering them with every meal I have there! The gravy is so flavourful and the ‘cheese’ on top just puts it over the edge.

The Buffalo Hot CHKN wings speak for themselves. The ranch sauce drizzled on top and on the side add to the dish perfectly. I personally prefer a hotter taste, but they were delicious and are perfect for those who just want a good kick on the tongue.

We made sure we left room for dessert so to finish off, we treated ourselves to Soft Serve Sundaes!

From L to R: Rocky Road, Super Strawberry and Cookie Dough

We each treated ourselves to one which you can see above and Oh. My. God… they were unreal! There were 2 flavours on tap when we went, vanilla and biscoff. We were given the option of picking a flavour or a mix of the 2… and we all went for the mixed option!

I didn’t get any pictures that showed off the 50/50 split in flavour but it ran right through the middle and it was lovely. We tried a bit of each others and I have to say that Super Strawberry was my favourite and the biscoff flavour soft serve was my favourite of the 2!

I was so full from our mains and sides that I didn’t even manage to finish my sundae but everything was fantastic and totally exceeded my expectations.

Got No Beef are a small family run business and you can see how incredibly hard they have worked to where they have gotten. From day 1, when they travelled up and down the country showcasing at vegan fairs, to present day, working their socks off to bring us amazing vegan food in Cardiff at their restaurant.

I can’t say enough good things about them, but you guys will have to taste it for yourselves! Make sure you follow them on all their social media accounts at @GotNoBeefUK to keep updated, but more importantly, pop down to the restaurant and sample their wares. You will not be disppointed!

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The Lazy Leek in Pontcanna, Cardiff

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Tucked away in the nook of Cardiff in Pontcanna is The Lazy Leek. We needed to come into Cardiff to run some errands on a Saturday evening and thought we’d pop down for some dinner.

We drove down and spent a fair while looking for parking. A lot of the area is permit parking only so be wary if you’re driving. We finally found somewhere to park and walked over to King’s Road Yard where a little street food area had been set up.

The Lazy Leek is on your right and you walk down the lane and is very clearly sign posted. Their menus are emblazoned on the wall on their chalk boards with various burgers and sides.

I’ve included images of the menus below for your perusal! I’m sure they’re available on their website as well. There are drinks available too! Don’t forget that everything here is vegan so you don’t need to worry about whether your food is cruelty free, because it will be!

I ordered a portion of Cauli Wings and Dirty Fries. My sister and brother both ordered a King Katsu burger each.

  • Loaded Fries
  • Cauli Wings

The portion size of the loaded fries was more than I expected. At £6, I thought it was very reasonably priced. The Cauli Wings came in at £4.50 which is quite pricey, especially with only 6 pieces, but there were delicious too.

The King Katsu Burger

Apologies for the average picture of the King Katsu burger! I can’t comment on it personally but my brother and sister enjoyed their burgers and it did look very appetising. At £8 a pop, they’re a little bit on the expensive side for take out burger but with the options and the size, it’s worth a try.

I highly recommend a visit to The Lazy Leek for those of your who haven’t already been. It’s all worth a try and I really enjoyed my loaded fries and cauli wings. I may not be making another visit straight away, but I’ll definitely be headed back in the near future!

Gurou Street Food in La Rochelle, France

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When planning our trip to visit La Rochelle, Happy Cow is our biggest friend. Happy Cow will give you a list of the vegan friendly restaurants and shops in a given area that you search. Not only this, they also provide a list of places to avoid to! I highly recommend using it, especially in places where you’re unfamiliar.

Anyway, Tom found Gurou Street Food which was an all vegan restaurant. It opened at 12pm, so we got there just in time for opening. It’s a small restaurant down a quiet side street in La Rochelle, a short walk from the main street in La Rochelle.

We put our belongings down on a table outside under the shaded umbrella and walked inside. The waitress started speak to us in French and I immediately looked dumb-founded and responded with “Parlez-vous anglais?”. She then switched to fluent English and very helpfully started translating the menu for us and making recommendations.

I ordered the ‘Double Cheezy’ burger and Tom ordered the ‘Ultra’ burger. We also ordered a side of cauliflower wings and fries.

The double cheezy was a deep fried seitan patty with 2 slices of vegan cheese, BBQ sauce, salad and onions. It was incredibly large and very filling! The cauliflower wings were amazing and the fries were great. Tom’s Ultra burger was a veggie patty that he thoroughly enjoyed.

After our meal, we were so full that we almost forgot about dessert!

The window sill was lined with delicious goodies, which included: Chocolate and banana cupcakes, Carrot cake and Chocolate brownies. We took a box home with us and decided on the brownie and the cupcake.

The brownie was lovely. It was light and fluffy, not at all dense and filled with pockets of coconut. The cupcake was on another level. There was a pocket of melted chocolate inside and the top of the cupcake was nice and crisp, but the inside was soft and gooey. It was fantastic.

I can’t remember the specific prices for each item, but in total I spent around £42 for mains, sides, dessert and drinks for 2 people, so not at all unreasonable.

All-in-all, for those of you looking for a vegan stop-off in La Rochelle, Gurou Street Food is where you should be. The food is amazing and the staff were so helpful and friendly.

Amsterdam: Vegan Junk Food Bar

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In the city centre of Amsterdam is the Vegan Junk Food Bar, and as their name suggests, they are the epitome of all that’s amazing about junk food. As you may be aware from my previous blog post, we went to Amsterdam last month and sampled their wares, twice!

We visited the Downtown restaurant as it was the one closest to our hotel, and also the one within the city centre. The restaurant has stylish graffittied walls and the classic neon sign that all cool and hip restaurants have these days.

To be completely honest with you guys, I can’t even remember what we ordered exactly, but the food was amazing and the menu was so extensive. I was most excited about the fish options as they’re so uncommon and to be completely honest with you, I miss salmon.

  • Burger, Scallop balls and Shrimp
  • Salmon Sashimi

As you can see from the images above, the food comes out looking great. The scallop balls were exactly what I was expecting them to be and were so nostalgic to me. They had the exact same texture as the ‘fish balls’ that we have within the asian community. The burger was delicious and smoky, and the lemon shrimp were lovely and crispy. The sashimi was on another level, like life changing level. It was so much like real salmon and the fact such a vegan replacement exists made me want to cry. We finished our meals with pudding and a refreshing mint tea.

The food was quite expensive, but not particularly unusual for vegan restaurants these days. But not only was the food fantastic, the service was great too. The staff were friendly, spoke perfect English and were attentive.

I highly recommend a visit to the Vegan Junk Food Bar. I’m sure the other branches are just as good as the one we visited but the food is so good that you just can’t pass it up. Whether you’re vegan or not, you will love the food there so for those of you who are in the area, just take a walk by and grab yourself some loaded fries. It’ll be worth it