Birmingham: Brum Yum Yum Vegetarian Places and The Oasis

On a recent trip to the city of Birmingham for a short break, not only did we go sight seeing, checking out graffiti art, we also ate out which for me is a bit of a treat as we rarely eat out.

I have to say I thought there would be more exclusively vegetarian/and or vegan eateries in a city like Birmingham, but there were not as many in the city centre.  In fact I think Cardiff may be able to rival Birmingham with its vegetarian offerings, regardless it did not disappoint. 

I had booked a table at The Warehouse Cafe.  I n a previous life (work related) I had visited The Warehouse as it was and still is the home to Friends of the Earth and Black Environment Network.  

We both knew exactly what we wanted from the Warehouse Cafe menu.  We actually both chose exactly the same starter and the same main.

For starters we had broccoli balls in a vegan hollaindaise sauce served with salad.  

And for main we had Halloumi 'Fish' and chips.  The halloumi 'fish' were  in a mild wasabi breadcrumb batter.  It was served with some pickled gherkins, piccalilli and ketchup.  It was good and we were proper stuffed, that we had no room for dessert. 

After eating, my heart warmed as I reminisce about my own past vegetarian adventures and feeling proud of what I had achieved.  D touched my hand and I knew he was proud of me too. On days I do miss cooking fancy grub for crowds. 

Brighton The Vegetarian and Vegan Capital of UK

I don't need to tell British vegetarian and vegans that Brighton was the vegetarian capital of the UK for many, many years.  An accolade it still deserves, even though other cities may come and try to steal the limelight - Brighton will always be the first to offer imaginative, original and  creative vegetarian and vegan cuisine to the masses. 

So you can imagine on my first trip to Brighton I was spoiled for choice of places to eat: The Loving Hut, V Bites, Beelzebab, The Cowley Club, The Green Kitchen and Hail Seitan to name a few .  There were so many that I wanted to eat at, but with the limited time we were there we chose to be selective in the evening and go to random eats during the day.  

The two places I really, really wanted to eat at were Terre a Terre and Food For Friends, Brighton's first vegetarian restaurant which opened its doors to diners in 1981.

So Why?! did I want to eat at these two places.  Simply because | was bestowed the cookbooks many years ago by my husband for my birthday. I have oggled and cooked some of the recipes  from them, but it was the two places I really wanted to eat at.  Its nice to have someone cook for me for a change.   I also chose these two places as they were not cafeteria and  canteen style food, nothing wrong with that, but its nice to be treated to proper restaurant style food made of lots of little fancy components, something that I do very rarely at home  - the food here would be more fine dining and this was after all a holiday. 

I don't do food reviews, so I will not be doing that, instead I will share with you share what we ate. The first night we went to Terre a Terre.

Apologies in advance for some of the food photographs, evening lighting in restaurants is not always conducive for food photography.

Vegetarian & Vegan Bohemian Pub: The Railway Hotel, Southend-On-Sea

So its been a long weekend and I am thankful for it.

We went to Essex to see my mother in law.  

Over the Easter weekend, we went to  Southend-On-Sea.  We have been there many times. See here for pictures from the archives.  This time though, I had an ulterior motive for going into the town. First we walked along the seafront and spent some £ in the amusement arcades.  I kept putting in 2p into the slot to win a Mamushka/Babushka Russian Doll key ring, but failed. As I was walking away a little disappointed like a sulking child, a woman ran up behind me calling me.  I turned around I thought I had dropped something.  Her son was on the machine next to us, he wanted a eraser aka rubber, but got a Russian Doll keyring (she obviously had overheard me talking to D about me trying to get this keyring).  I was totally blown away by her and her son's sweet kindness.  We were actually able to swap as my sister in law had got an Minion eraser that she did not want. We were both happy. We then went into the town centre for a wander before arriving at our destination.

I have been wanting to try out a vegetarian pub known as The Railway Hotel in Southend-On-Sea a few years ago, but every time we went to see my MIL time ran out and we had to head back home.  

This time though we made time. 

Sun-BATHed

A photograph heavy post of our day in Bath, England.  It took us just over an hour to get there from South Wales.

Its probably one of our most expensive days out in a long while, namely because D decided he wanted to check out the Roman Baths.  

 Now back onto the streets of Bath.

Public art - a running man, maybe even a flying man.

Some street theatre.

 Click on the images to learn more about the traditional Bath Bun. 

I liked this particular shop 'Kiss The Frog Again', lots of recycled furniture and original art work.  For me it was eye candy.

We rarely eat out,  let alone at an exclusively vegetarian eatery, so another treat for me was to have lunch at Demuth's Restaurant.

Cranks Homity pies make a come-back

Cranks was one of the first vegetarian restaurants that appeared in Britain. It opened its first restaurant in 1961 in the famous Carnaby Street and soon earned its reputation as the place to eat for vegetarians. But by the 1980s and 90s, the stereotypical image of the vegetarian as sandal-wearing-lentil-loving-hippy was apparently holding the restaurant back, so the chain had to transform the way people saw vegetarian cuisine and 'vegetarians'. The chain also faced competition with the increasing availability of vegetarian food, not just by other vegetarian outlets, but by mainstream supermarkets too.

I have never eaten at Cranks (as all the restaurants were located in England), but have most - if not all of the cookbooks. I liked the Cranks traditional image of hand-thrown pottery and heavy wooden chairs presented beautifully through some of their books, something that modern day restaurants try to accomplish with new furniture and decor. But unfortunately, after years of serving wholesome, flavourful and hearty dishes, Cranks closed all its outlets in January 2001. I think there is now only one restaurant, in Dartington, Devon. If I should ever venture that way, I will be paying them a visit as it is a vegetarian culinary British institution.

Anyway, after that history lesson on Cranks I guess I should let you know what a Homity pie is?! Homity pies were one of the most popular dishes served at Cranks. I would describe homity pies as an open shell pastry with a potato filling. I have read two different stories about the origins of the homity pie. One states it was an old English economy meal recipe from the Second World War, the other says it was a Romany speciality. To keep up with the changing times, the homity pie had also gone through a number of transformations at Cranks: the potatoes were mashed and made without the pastry case; or flavoured with Tamari and Tabasco.

Well yesterday afternoon I had decided to make some Cranks style homity pies. It is a little time consuming as you have to make the wholemeal pastry, rest it in the fridge, blind bake it and then it’s onto the potato filling - that is why I decided to make it the day before.
My recipe is based on Nadine Abensur's 'traditional' Cranks recipe that was brought into the 1990s, but I have added a small pinch of spice to take it a little bit further. My sincere apologies to those who adore the 'real traditional Cranks pie', but do give this a go - you may just like it.

Cranks Homity pies – the spiced way
Makes 6
Ingredients
For the pastry
175g wholemeal flour, plus extra for dusting
Salt
100g butter, plus extra for greasing
2 tablespoon iced water
For the filling
600g potatoes, chopped into cubes
1 clove of garlic, minced
40ml olive oil
375g onions, finely sliced
125g chestnut mushrooms
½ teaspoon of chilli or cayenne powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala
100ml double cream
125g mild cheddar cheese, grated
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional sprinkling of cayenne powder
Method
To make the pastry
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, folding the bran back in. Rub the butter into it and add the water. Once you have brought the dough into a ball, wrap it loosely in cling film and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To make the filling
Boil the potatoes until tender then drain and set aside. Fry the onions and garlic until tender and translucent. Add the mushrooms, chilli or cayenne pepper and cook for five minutes, then add the potatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally add the double cream, then remove from the heat and add half the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and cayenne pepper if using, add the coriander and allow to cool before spooning generously into pastry cases. Scatter the remaining cheese generously all over and bake for about 20 minutes in the oven. These can be eaten warm or at room temperature. Adapted from the Cranks Bible.

Finally, to end, this morning I learned that the homity pies are making a comeback and are now being sold at selected Waitrose stores, but why would you want to buy them when you can so easily make them at home, ah I guess there are times when you don’t get round to making your own.