Also, planning on heading up to Bath for a few days.


Oh boy, don't I look like quite the yank!

I do understand that Bath is not "up" from London. It's these damn American colloquialisms (we often say up whether we're heading North, South, East, or West -- not too good at geography, most of us). :o

Last nights was enough to make me shed a few tears i have to admit. Those poor eels :sick:

The View from River Cottage, with Hugh Fearnley, made me sick last week. He castrated a calf, then fried up and ate it's bits.... :sick:... unfortunately i was eating at the time. Also, it showed him and this guy making black pudding..... omg.... it was like a horror film! I actually quite like this guys attitude to eating meat though. He doesn't hide from what meat actually is, and is always concerned about the welfare of the animals. It's on at 8pm on channel 4 tonight btw.

Eurgh, I know. He was harping on about getting them back on Britains plates and all I could think was...no thanks :wall:

I think I saw that River Cottage thing, it was pretty sickening. Gordon has the somewhat same attitude to meat, I think he said to Jonathan Ross who was being funny about watching an eel get killed "How can you eat it if you don't know where it's from?"

I also have to retract my statement where I said that the japanese chain resturant "Wagamamas" was good for vegans, although hopefully this is a one off. I went yesterday (to the one in Covent Garden) and ordered a rice dish, and asked them to take the egg out (this was after waiting twenty minutes to get served...and it wasn't that busy), and the waiter said that was fine. The dish arrived, and indeed it didn't have any egg in. But it did have prawns in, for some unknowable reason. I shot my hand up to call a waiter over (who did an "amusing" impression of me doing that) told him what was wrong, and he just snatched the dish without saying anything. They took it, and I eventually got another one, which was put in front of me without a word. I was worried about what was getting stuck in my meal by this time, so I caled him back and told him I was vegan and wanted to know if there was any animal products in it because they seemed to have them flying all over the place. This all annoyed me so much I told them to take the service charge out of the bill :lol: I might start doing that more often, sometimes they really don't diserve it.

compassionate1 - Don't worry, that mistake went straight past me :lol:

Gordon has the somewhat same attitude to meat, I think he said to Jonathan Ross who was being funny about watching an eel get killed "How can you eat it if you don't know where it's from?"

The thing is with Gordon, he constantly takes the p*** out of us veggies, but Hugh doesn't. In fact he made a vegan meal for a couple tonight to thank them for helping him get rid of some pests humanely. He was also on The "F" Word a few weeks ago, advising Gordon on how to deal with the slaughter of his pigs, and admitting that the first time he did it, it was quite upsetting.

I'm definitely putting "wagamamas" on the "no" list for my trip across the pond. I thought people were only that rude when I go to restaurants..... :)

compassionate1 - Don't worry, that mistake went straight past me :lol:

I'm just glad I caught it before I could be exposed for the brit wannabe that I am.......

The thing is with Gordon, he constantly takes the p*** out of us veggies, but Hugh doesn't. In fact he made a vegan meal for a couple tonight to thank them for helping him get rid of some pests humanely. He was also on The "F" Word a few weeks ago, advising Gordon on how to deal with the slaughter of his pigs, and admitting that the first time he did it, it was quite upsetting.

I agree, Gordon can be really nasty when it comes to veggies. I think one of his most memorable quotes is when he was talking to Cliff Richard about a really bad, cheap wine - Cliff said he'd only give it to a group of people he didn't like, and Gordon said "A group of vegetarians." Hopefully now he's seen that video though, he might tone it down a bit, because I think he at least has an idea of where we're coming from.

I agree, Gordon can be really nasty when it comes to veggies. I think one of his most memorable quotes is when he was talking to Cliff Richard about a really bad, cheap wine - Cliff said he'd only give it to a group of people he didn't like, and Gordon said "A group of vegetarians." Hopefully now he's seen that video though, he might tone it down a bit, because I think he at least has an idea of where we're coming from.

Yeh, i remember that one... when Cliff was doing the taste tests. I can't see him changing though. He probably forgot he said that the next day! I don't get why it took that video to get him to realise (even if it was just for one minute) why we do it? Does he think we're just being awkward, or attention seekers.. or extremists??...

:chef: :gun:

Did anyone see the Newsnight thing last night? I was pleasantly surprised. :yes:

I am sorry about your Wagamama experience--I have NEVER had a problem. I usually order the amai udon which is udon noodles teppan-fried with egg, fried tofu, prawns, red onions, leeks and beansprouts. topped with crushed roasted peanuts and a wedge of lime.
and ask for no eggs and no prawns and I NEVER have had any problem. I mostly eat at the Wagamama by the British Museum but have eaten at ones in other places. One by the National Theatre and one Leicester Square are also ones I have visited. Waitstaff have always been polite and unlike other restaurants I have NEVER had to send any food back.

I'm really sorry you had a bad experience. It is the one chain that i feel I can trust because they are good about special orders and the food is always prompt. I've never been to the one in Covent Garden.

Oh and once after a play we went to a Wagamama and they were closed due to a power outage and they gave us 2 free meal/drink vouchers since we had planned to eat there. All we paid for was starters ther next time we went.

*Star*Lass* - I think he said he made fun of us because we were missing out on the 'fantastic' flavour of meat...but personally I think he's missing out of the flavour of vegetables, I saw him cook some for two hours once, no wonder he needs meat to get some flavour :lol:

Spidergrrl, I hope it was only that resturant messing me around, I have another one closer to me in Milton Keynes and they've always been more polite anyway, so I think I'm going to give the Covent Garden one only a miss from now on.

I watched Newsnight, and they did a pretty good job of representing both sides. The only thing that annoyed me was the presenter, he keep being really rude to the anti-vivi side :whip:

Hello from the States!

I am planning a trip to England and would love to get tips on great places to eat in London. Also, planning on heading up to Bath for a few days.

I'm incredibly excited and have been virtually obsessed with going to Britain for some time now. :D
well as for Bath...
there is Demuths...YUMMY food in there, bit expensive but at least it's veggie, it's really the only totally veggie place in Bath. it's right in the centre, near the Abbey etc. http://www.demuths.co.uk/
i'm sure people who actually live in London already will have more suggestions...i like the World Cafe in Neals Yard in Covent Garden personally though...:)

Sorry to double post. I'm wondering if anyone's planning on attending this event:
http://www.londonveganfestival.org.uk/

How cool!
That sounds really good actually!!! it would be ok to go if you're not actually totally vegan but considering it and want to learn more, wouldn't it? or basically anyone who's open-minded could go along, surely? :)

I'm sure it would be fine to go and learn more. When I went to Vivas Veggie Roadshow it was all about learning more. Even though we were veg*n at the time I still learned some new things and tried new foods. But it was CROWDED.

well as for Bath...
there is Demuths...YUMMY food in there, bit expensive but at least it's veggie, it's really the only totally veggie place in Bath.Not entirely true! Bath also has a totally veggie pub, The Porter:

http://www.moles.co.uk/porter/food.ihtml

There's also the Metropolitan Cafe which is totally veggie:

http://www.bloomsburystore.com/cafe/menu.htm

Also worth a look is The Walrus and Carpenter, which has a decent range of veggie options:

http://www.thewallybath.co.uk/menu.html

It's also worth swinging by Bristol just to visit Cafe Maitreya, which does spectacular veggie food:

http://www.cafemaitreya.co.uk/

And a couple of others for Bath can be found on www.veganbristol.makessense.co.uk (http://www.veganbristol.makessense.co.uk) along with many for Bristol. If you do make it to Bristol (only £5.40 return from Bath on the train), check out the new Cafe Kino. (http://www.cafe-kino.com) :D

And if you're looking for somewhere to stay in Bath, have a look at the veggie Marlborough House, or in Bristol, Arches Hotel, both on the website.

And if you're looking for somewhere to stay in Bath, have a look at the veggie Marlborough House,I've stayed there and would highly recommend it.

I thought Gordon Ramsey was just an arse. But when he was talking about his pigs and how he wasn't sure if he would end up killing them or not, and how he would want to keep them if only his wife would let him, I thought he was alright.

I still wouldn't trust him to prepare food for me. I wouldn't even really want to meet him. But he's not EVIL.

If I did meet Gordon Ramsey I'd probably end up throwing something hard at his head, and that's even without him knowing I'm a vegan, so...no thanks :stinkeye: I think he's one of those people who was sticking his fingers in his ears and humming loudly (or maybe yelling "The flavour! THE FLAVOUR!") when people mention the ethics of eating animals, but he's had to face up to it a bit now. Hell will freeze over before he goes veggie, but he's lightened up a bit.

My brother's a chef & has met Gordon Ramsey, he says he's quite a nice guy in real life...he deffinately seems to show a bit more compassion than he did before :)

Sorry to double post. I'm wondering if anyone's planning on attending this event:
http://www.londonveganfestival.org.uk/

How cool!

I was given a leaflet on it yesterday in London. I would love to attend as I have done so in the past but I will be in Italy. I'm gutted.

I thought I read somewhere that Gordon Ramsay doesn't serve vegetarian food.

Sorry to double post. I'm wondering if anyone's planning on attending this event:
http://www.londonveganfestival.org.uk/

How cool!

Yep if i make it back into the country for the 9th isnt it? I shall be coming as usual. And possibly dragging someone else along with me.

Any one else going?

I'm not entirely sure, but there's a program on channel 4 in half an hour (4.30pm) called 'Come Dine With Me', and i think the chef has to prepare a vegan meal for his guests.

^^^^hi person from Manchester^^^^ :hi:


Hi there please to meet you:wayne:


Satin

The come die with me series has replaced deal or no deal, which is a shame, but they have the vegan all week, and one of the days, she'll be cooking a meal for everyone. It also seems to be a more positive portrayal of veganism as well.