Tamarind Thai Cafe, Rickmansworth

No Frills but tasty and reliable


A firm lunch time favourite with Vegan in the Green Belt's lunching colleagues. Quick service and reliable and unchanging menu.

Like most Thai food, there's very little that's got any dairy content and those dishes with egg noodles can be swapped for rice noodles. Similarly, if there is to be egg on the top of or in a dish, it will say on the menu and can be omitted from the ingredients.

The friendly and welcoming staff are themselves Thai and as such, explaining veganism is pretty difficult.

Having researched, dear blog reader, so that you don't have to, I've ascertained that fish sauce is added to most of the curry sauces so these are not vegan. The free Prawn Crackers on the table are obviously not vegan either so politely decline them.

Happily, a number of the vegetarian dishes are vegan, including the delicious Vegetable Lardnar, which is always presented with crisp broccoli, mushrooms and a chilli sauce. This, and other 'vegetable' dishes are served with deep fried tofu which is a surprising treatment of tofu but ultimately one I can live with in these really reliably tasty concoctions, otherwise not generally being tofu's greatest fan.

In the evening, the menu widens to include a variety of other options but again, steer clear of the curries as they all have fish sauce in. If you want to check yourself, fish sauce is 'Nam pa' in Thai. (Never say pursuing veganism wasn't an educating experience).


Vegan Food: Not always immediately obvious, but available
Ambience: No frills, appears to have been decorated in the belief that it was going to be a pie and mash shop but adored by locals.
Customer Service: Super friendly and quick.

Woodys Cafe, Apsley Marina, Near Hemel Hempstead

http://www.woodyscafe.co.uk/

A relaxed vegetarian cafe style eatery


Does what is says on the ethically sourced tin and a must for all vegans and vegetarians in the South Hertfordshire area. The cafe occupies a unit within the Apsley Lock development, right on the Grand Union Canal. It's reached by foot (or narrowboat!) across a modern footbridge from the Apsley side.

The food and service are cafe style with the menu a little bemusing for first time visitors. The main menu includes savoury crepes (available as vegan rice flour versions) with a mixture of fillings, you may have to ask which ones are vegan but there will be a few. There are pizzas (three are specifically vegan but without cheese, the rest would be too) and a partly changing specials board on the wall inside the cafe which has a number of vegan options.

Mixed salads with various changing components are available  although you're likely to be limited to a certain number of changing  salad components.

Refreshingly, there are usually a number of vegan cakes and desserts.

There are no meat options and the cafe has quite an ethically progressive, vegan and vegetarian 'feel' to it, so it may not be the place to take your sceptical dad if you want to gently introduce him to the concept that not all vegans are hippies (well alright, we're all a BIT hippy but we don't all meditate at the dining table). On the other hand, if you want to relax amongst veggie and vegan friends, and not have to justify your leather free outfit, this is the place to do it.

I've tried a number of dishes here. I have to say that the burgers leave me underwhelmed but they're tasty enough. It's the rather dense consistency that I find a little abrasive. I'm similarly unmoved by the crepes, which have been a little bland for my taste. The specials and soups are usually a really good bet and are always varied. Similarly, the cakes are delicious. A mixed salad, where you get a selection of things to eat such as a vegan coleslaw or a couscous mix, can also produce some interesting combinations, most recently a shredded red cabbage and caraway mix that I would never have put together myself but was  really vibrant and unusual. A taste combination I may try and recreate myself.

Not least of Woody's virtues is the child friendly cafe atmosphere which doesn't mean the place is so overrun as to put other diners off. A selection of books, colouring pencils and paper have kept my own Little Cherub amused whilst she waited for her Penne in a Tomato and Herb Sauce or a Rose Ice-Cream (Little Cherub isn't vegan) . Plain and simple food but nicely done. Special mention to the apple and Rhubarb Juice. It's just heaven.

It would be perfect if the staff were a tiny bit more friendly perhaps. Not that they've been unfriendly but I've twice had the impression that asking for the vegan options was interrupting the waitress' busy workload. A little odd for a vegetarian cafe.

Vegan Food: Plenty of choice
Ambience: Relaxed Cafe
Customer Service: Efficient if a little impatient

Bricklayers Arms, Hogpits Bottom, Flaunden

Gourmet dining in the picture perfect village of Flaunden.

http://www.bricklayersarms.com/

This is a restaurant for serious food lovers. I've been a few times including with Sophisticated Acquaintance, who is a critical foodie and an unabashed epicure. The menu is unexpectedly high brow for the pub setting.

The menu  is however, daunting for a vegetarian let alone a vegan. It's equally daunting for those not familiar with food presented in the French style, so if you don't know your  foie gras mi cuit from your mirepoix, I'd suggest you refresh your knowledge before taking anyone you want to impress.

That being said, as I happened to be timorously enquiring at the bar area about the ingredients of a risotto when the very stereotype of a French Chef emerged, overhearing me. He swept the waiter aside and said that if I did not mind a little wait, he would cook something from scratch for me. It would be vegan yes, magnifique.

And lo, as Sophisticated Acquaintance nodded approvingly at the presentation of his meal, the chirpy waiter brought out the chef's very own vegan risotto and artfully arranged vegetables with minimum fuss and at the end, no extra charge.

The menu may not be vegan friendly but the chef deserves particular mention for not only providing excellent customer service but a beautiful meal.

I have been subsequently and managed to make a meal from available side orders and starters. Not perfect but I get the impression that whilst they may not always be able to accommodate a vegan, they might well be able to with a bit of advanced warning.

Vegan Food : Bespoke on a good day but otherwise difficult.
Ambience: Pleasant Gourmet  Gastro Pub
Customer Service: Couldn't be faulted.