My Vegan Highlights of 2017

As you can see from my most liked images of 2017, this year has been a foodtastic year! This is why I decided to list some of my highlights of the year because there has been quite a few! Most are based in Birmingham, there are a few in London and some are in Berlin.

Tamatanga: First Impressions of the Vegan Menu

When a new place opens in Birmingham, my curiosity ensures I try it out ASAP. This is how I felt when Tamatanga opened up a few weeks ago and I have been able to try it twice already. On the two occasions, I tried different dishes off the vegan menu. Each occasion was vastly different. Both are shown in images and descriptions below. Of course, when a place is new there will be kinks they will need to sort out. So I am taking that into account and plan to revisit the eatery in a couple of months.

Thrive Festival 2017: The Best Bits

Food festivals are my favourite thing. Lots of different high-quality vendors that love food as much as I do, what is there not to love?! So with this in mind, off I went to Birmingham's first healthy festival aka Thrive Festival 2017 at The Bond in Digbeth. The last time I went to this venue I was there for the Independent Birmingham Festival last year. That event had barely any vegan/dairy-free options for me but that wasn't the case this time. Thank God! Below are my top picks at the event. Some of the vendors were new to me but a number were some of my favourites on the Birmingham foodie scene.

I Only Have Pies For You

Pies are life. And someone who cannot have dairy and prefers vegan options, pies are not in my life anymore. So, when I heard about Pieminister arriving in Birmingham, I knew I had to try it out. So I got in touch with the folks over at Pieminister to talk to them about their vegan options and at the potential of doing a review. They offered to let me do a complimentary review but let me know that they only had one vegan option, with more coming in January, which I am excited to taste!

Miss Saigon Summer Menu Launch

A week ago, I was lucky enough to be able to watch Miss Saigon and sample the summer menu at Birmingham's Hippodrome. It was a great night that really made me thankful to be a member of the Brum Bloggers and that I had created this blog in the first place. So enough of the mushiness, read on to find out the vegan options that are available at the Hippodrome. Please note that this was a taster of the menu, so the portions were smaller than they would actually be.

Umami or Unagi?

My mother and I are on the hunt for a place to have a good curry. Something that is a little different to what she makes at home but is still tasty, innovative and authentic to a certain area in India/Pakistan. This is why we were both excited to have the opportunity to try out Umami in Harbourne. Lots of my fellow blogger friends have raved about this place, so I was eagerly awaiting the meal with a fork (or piece of roti) to try out what Umami had to offer.

We are Siamais, if you please

It's not every day that you get to go on a Brummie blogger double date, but that's exactly what happened when I visited Siamais last month. That double date was with these lovely ladies, aka Helen from Positive Fridays, Laura from Bite Your Brum and George from Caramel Latte Kiss.

Siamais has recently opened and is located in the Brindley Place area of Birmingham, which is central yet still away from the hustle and bustle of Broad St and the Bullring.

It's Tapas Time Again!

 I didn't realise it has been nearly two years since my last review of Tapas Revolution. Since then, I have visited Tapas Revolution on a number of occasions. However, the location of Grand Central is something that always bugs me. As it doesn't feel private enough, warm enough or quiet enough. This is why I haven't visited the place as much as possible. Especially with great tapas places like El Borracho de Oro in existence in Birmingham. So how would Tapas Revolution fare 2 years later? With the added competition and novelty of Grand Central gone? Read on to find out.

Nutella Travels: Madrid

For my birthday this year, my mother and I decided to spend a week in Madrid. We love Barcelona so we thought a good alternative would be Madrid. The beautiful European city is all about black coffee and pork and it wasn't quite what we expected but we were able to find some awesome vegan places that are making us want to go back. Below I have listed those favourite vegan foodie places that we found, that I highly recommend you visit if you are going to Madrid. Hope you've eaten!

Nutella Travels: Berlin

Back in February, I went on a girlie holiday with a handful of friends to the alleged vegan capital of Europe, Berlin. Whilst I was there, I encountered some amazing vegan food. Although the city wasn't quite what I expected, the food was good and the vegan options were plentiful. So I thought I would list some of the best places I found whilst in Berlin. Because I don't know about you but I love discovering new food whilst travelling, especially good food.

Bodega: New Menu

When one of your favourite places invites you to try out their new menu, you say yes, times infinity. That's exactly what happened when I received the invite to try out the new menu at Bodega. It's funny how it panned out that week, I ended up going to the eatery three times. Once for the blogger event and twice with two different set of friends. Every time, I had something from the new menu but there was one particular dish that turned me on the right way. Read on for all the new fish and vegan options on the menu (three in total) and my opinion on them.

Yo Sushi

There are so many good places to eat in Birmingham that some places go to the back of your mind. One of those is Yo Sushi for me, which I recently revisited because of the recent buzz about their vegan dishes.

Indico

Whenever I get invited to try out a Indian restaurant, I pray to God that it will be good. Because, as you know by now, it takes alot for me to like Indian cuisine that isn't prepared by my mother. So, when I got invited to try out Indico, all of these thoughts were racking through my brain. I have wanted to try out Indico ever since it opened and had heard alot of buzz about the place. The restaurant is based in Shirley and it specialises in Indian street food. I wondered what their vegan options would be like, how authentic it would be and whether it would be a place that I would want to visit again.

Chung Ying Central Blogger Bites

Hi all, what a year 2016 was for food and it seems 2017 will be just as good. Well, if my first blogger event is anything to go by, it will be better! The event in question was the Blogger Bites event at Chung Ying Central, which was to showcase the winter specials on the menu. For those that don't know the restaurant that well, it is part of a trio of restaurants in Birmingham and is a name that has been in Birmingham for over 30 years. I have been to Chung Ying Central a couple times before but it has been a while since my last visit, I am not sure why as I always love the food.