I popped into town this afternoon to run a few errands - I am going to a festival in a few weeks, my annual music Pilgrimage, and needed to invest in a new waterproof jacket to take with me. At the moment the weather forecast for that weekend looks good, sunny and around 20-23 degrees which will be amazing, but it will be sod's law that if I don't take a waterproof with me, it will rain.
Unfortunately I didn't come home with a waterproof today - but the one I want has been ordered online after trying a few on in-store (much cheaper online than in the store!)
However, the jacket wasn't my only reason for going into town....
A couple of my friends have recently begun a very new and exciting venture, they have opened up their very own Vegan Café in the middle of Preston Circus.
Although I am not a vegan myself - far from it in fact, I am really impressed with their ideas for the café and thought today would be a good time to pop my head round the door and sample some of the fare.
Green Kitchen in Brighton is located in Preston Road, about a minute's walk from the Preston Circus Fire Station, and the Duke of York's Cinema. It's run by the lovely Katie and Catherine and has only been open for around a week.
I must admit, the thought of trying to maintain a vegan diet is something that I find absolutely overwhelming - I just wouldn't know where to start! A meat-eater to the core, I think I could probably cope with being a plain ol' veggie, but I could never cut out dairy, eggs, etc for an extended period. I would really struggle to cook a vegan meal. In fact, thanks to Green Kitchen, today was my first ever experience of Vegan Cooking.
I have to say, I am really impressed with the menu!
Today, they were serving from the breakfast menu only, but usually there is a larger menu that includes soups, sandwiches, and burgers that all sound delicious, and a real variety of different flavours.
The breakfast menu is extensive too, includes a full English, French toast, muesli and yogurt to name a few....
And did I mention that everything on the menu is 100 % vegan?! I'm impressed by that alone....
So after a quick look at the menu, I decided on a light Brunch of the Roasted field mushroom, which was served with crème fraiche and artisan bacon. (again, 100% vegan)
When it arrived in front of me, the dish looked really appetising and fresh - a good start, Girls!
I must say I was intrigued with trying the artisan bacon. One of the things that has always puzzled me about imitation meats, is not the taste necessarily - there is nothing wrong with the taste of things like Quorn or vegetarian sausages etc, but when I have tried them in the past, the aspect that has put me off the most is the texture. Quorn tends to have a bit more of a rubbery, spongy texture compared with actual meat - which I don't find particularly appetising.
I was pleasantly surprised with the artisan bacon - the texture was spot on! The taste, although not like eating real bacon - reminded me of smokey bacon flavour crisps!! It was definitely an artificial sort of taste, but certainly gave enough of a meaty flavour and bacony-saltiness to please even hardened meat-eaters like myself!
The mushroom was cooked perfectly, juicy and warm and well seasoned, which worked well with the lovely rich and creamy crème fraiche that accompanied it.
So, my first vegan experience - Absolutely Fantastic!
I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did!
In fact, I was so busy enjoying it, that I completely forgot to get a photo of my lunch, but here is the empty plate, practically licked clean! If that's not high praise then I don't know what is!!! :)
I really enjoyed it and am really looking forward to visiting again in the future.
A few people in the café were having the full English breakfast when I was there, and it looked really delicious - I think I may have to try that next time!
I have a feeling that this little café is going to be a very popular spot for vegans and meat-eaters alike!
Oh, and I very nearly forgot - Green Kitchen is also Dog-Friendly! I didn't have Prince with me today because of my errands in town, but I think he may end up being a regular visitor to the café too!
To view the full menu, opening times and contact details, visit www.greenkitchenbrighton.com
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