The Minories Garden Cafe

The Minories Garden Cafe

74 High St, Colchester, Essex CO1 1UE

01206 712437

Trip Advisor Reviews

The Minories Garden Cafe is situated at the end of the High Street/ top of East Hill, and is a stone's throw away from Colchester castle.  It is joined to the Minories Art Gallery, and boasts a pleasant outdoor seating area (complete with Victorian folly!)

The Chef has helpfully been veganising a lot of the vegetarian options.
Their current vegan options are:

• Vegetable curry served with pilau rice and lime pickle, or jacket potato. (request no naan)

• Five bean chilli with jacket potato and salad OR rice and salad. (If ordering with rice request no cheese, no sour cream. If ordering with jacket potato request no coleslaw)

• Jacket potato with baked beans and salad. (request no coleslaw)

• Roast vegetable and houmus sandwich served with Fairfield crips (Note: on the menu this is a sandwich, but the loaves of bread may contain whey powder, so request a baguette or roll instead. Also request no coleslaw)

• Chefs’ Sharing Platter – fresh vegetable crudités with pitta bread and houmous

• Homemade potato wedges, served with sweet chilli dip (request no mayonaisse)

• Chefs’ Homemade Soup of the Day - always veggie and often vegan (served with a roll – ask for no butter; vegan spread unavailable at time of post).

•  Drinks: a variety of herbal teas and pressed juices. Soya milk is available for tea or coffee.

Embassy Suit all-you-can eat Oriental Buffet

2 Balkerne Hill, Colchester, Essex,CO3 3AA

Tel:  01206 572266

Read reviews here.

I recently went to the Embassy Suit all-you-can eat Oriental Buffet for a family meal (on a Sunday lunch time).

I managed to make up a plate of stir fried vegetables, spring rolls, tofu in a chili sauce, plus boiled rice. (I had to ask for the plain rice because they only had egg fried rice on display on the buffet). 

For dessert I had a bowl of tinned peaches and pineapple! (not overly exciting, but better than nothing!)

The Embasy Suit is big, noisy and crowded, but the food was cheap, (£4.95 for the lunch time buffet) and quite tasty.

Not a place to go for an intimate meal, but a good place to go to fill up without spending much money!

The White Hart Stanway (Toby Carvery)

342 London Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8LT

Tel: 01206 213411http://www.tobycarvery.co.uk/thewhitehartcolchester/carvery/
Read reviews on Trip Advisor

A carvery may not seem an obvious choice for a vegan meal, but I recently learnt via Facebook that they actually have two vegan options! (and they are labelled as such on the menu).

I went there recently to try it, and although I wasn't very fond of the place itself (or the service), the food was actually quite good! (and very good value).

I have heard that they may not always have both vegan options available (or in fact any!), so it is probably worth phoning ahead.
(When I visited I phoned ahead to see if they had the Shepherds pie.  They said they did. However when I arrived they said it had been sold! (they'd only had one!) Luckily they had the Wellington available instead, which was actually really delicious!)

When you order your meal you need to request that your veg is prepared separately without butter (as opposed to taking vegetables from the main "help-your-self" area). 
 I have it on good authority that the roast potatoes and veggie gravy are vegan friendly (although it may be worth double checking in case that ever changes).


These are the two vegan options:

Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie £6.29
Roasted root vegetables and lentils
topped with bubble & squeak potato cakes.

Nut Roast Wellington £6.59
Sweet potatoes, grated carrots and parsnips
spiced with paprika and sage, then mixed
with crushed walnuts, cashew nuts and butter
beans and wrapped in puff pastry jacket.


If the thought of being in a meat filled carvery freaks you out then this probably isn't the place for you! However if you ever need to go for a (cheap!) Sunday roast with non-vegan family or friends, this place could save the day!

This was my meal:

Nut roast wellington, with cauliflower, carrot, peas, leek, roast potatoes and gravy.

Prezzo

1 Culver St East

 Colchester 

CO1 1LD
 

 I emailed Prezzo to enquire whether their pizza dough and pizza sauce are vegan.

They replied to say they are not! Both apparently contain egg and milk, which seems quite unusual!

They did however confirm that their Penne Arrabbiatia is vegan if ordered without cheese.

If you would like to email Prezzo to let them know how disappointed you are that they use egg and milk in their dough and sauce then they have a contact  form here: http://www.prezzorestaurants.co.uk/contact

In the meantime why not visit Pizza Express , Strada or Zizzi!

As ever, all information on this site is intended as a guide. Menus and ingredients may change, so always mention that you are vegan at time of ordering.

If you spot any out of date information/broken links on this site, please email me to let me know!

COMPETITION CLOSED!

Thinking of trying veganism but not sure where to start? Then enter this giveaway competition (run by "ps...it's vegan!" www.facebook.com/psitsvegan) to win a "Vegan Starter Kit", packed with useful things for first time vegans!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The prize consists of:

• The Animal Free Shopper: Lists vegan products from many companies and supermarkets. Also has a handy glossary in the back of vegan/non vegan ingredients to look out for. Printed by The Vegan Society. Available from their online shop here for the bargain price of £1!
•  The L plate vegan: Really amazing little guide from Viva! (vegetarians international voice for animals). Contains lots of useful advice for new vegans, including vegan options from different supermarkets, meal ideas and online resources. Available from Viva! here for £1.90, or you can download the PDF for free! (Thank you to Viva for the complementary copies for this giveaway!) 
• For peace of mind...Veg 1: vitamins from The vegan society. Especially formulated to make sure you don't miss out on any vital vitamins and minerals! Available from the Vegan Society shop for £4.99 
• For peace of mind.. Iron and Vitamin C tablets from Holland and Barrett (Available from Holland and Barrett for £2.55) 
• To prove you don't have to go without..Oreos! Vegan oreos are now available in the Uk! (watch out for any old packs in circulation contains whey powder. New packs carry the warning "may contain milk" but this is just a precaution in case of cross contamination. Milk is not used in the recipe (neither is bone filtered sugar which they use in America!), so they are classed as vegan (although unfortunately they have yet to update their website to say this!)
• As a treat: White chocolate buttons! Available from Tesco and Asda.
• As a snack: Caramailsed onion oaty bakes by Nairns! They also make tasty vegan oat biscuits :) Available from most supermarkets. (along with many other vegan snacks/crisps from other brands!) 
• As a pick me up: Nak'd bars! Yummy raw bars made with dates and nuts. Available from Holland and Barrett and most supermarkets. Recipe contains no wheat or sugar! 
• For pudding: Alpro Soya cream! Pour over fruit or use for cooking! Available from the "Free from" section in most supermarkets. Alpro also make vegan custard,chocolate pudding and caramel desserts! Plus yogurts! (in the chilled aisle with the dairy yogurts).
•  (Don't be put off by the name..) Nutritional yeast flakes! (Americans sometimes call it "Nooch") Use it in cooking to add a cheesy flavour/make cheeses sauces! (More tasty than it sounds!) 
• FYI.... a selection of informative leaflets. Helpful for answering your family when ask "but what's wrong with eggs??"
•  FYI.. a selection of helpful leaflets covering nutrition, recipes and more!

Plus there are 2 runner up prizes of "mini starter kits" containing "The Animal Free Shopper", "The L plate Vegan", a pack of Oreos, a pack of oaty bites, a nak'd bar and info leaflets!

Good Luck!

*A polite note to experienced vegans! Please don't enter unless you plan to give the prize to a new or aspiring vegan! Let's increase the vegan population! Thank you!)



Open to UK residents only. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability. Winner(s) will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send us an email!

ps...it's vegan! (vegan bakery)

"p.s...it's vegan!" 

www.psitsvegan.co.uk

"P.s...it's vegan!" is a Colchester based cake making business that specialises in cakes that are 100% plant based, free from all animal products, including eggs, milk and honey. 

Run by vegan baker Jennifer Dunn "ps...it's vegan!" provide a delicious array of cupcakes and celebration cakes, made especially to order.

"P.s...it's vegan!" have twice been voted into 3rd place in the category of "Best vegan cakes" at the UK vegan awards. Cupcake flavours include classics like chocolate and vanilla, and also new favourites like cherry bakewell.

To order simply visit their website to peruse the cakes on offer and email through your order. Unfortunately they don't deliver, but all orders can easily be collected from their private address just outside of Colchester town centre. 

For more info, price lists and photos visit www.psitsvegan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/psitsvegan
Email: psitsvegancake@gmail.com

The Kings Arms Pub

61-63 Crouch Street

Colchester

CO3 3EY

01206 572 886

I emailed the Greene King chain regarding some of their vegetarian options that looked as though they may be vegan. The results were:

VEGAN: Vitality Salad- Broccoli, rocket & seasonal leaves, edamame beans, roasted butternut squash, peas, pico de gallo, lemon-infused oil £6.45-

-The Vitality Salad is a vegan dish, but prepared on site in a kitchen where animal products are present, but there are strict guidelines on preparing vegetarian dishes and so there should be no risk of cross contamination.

NOT VEGAN:Bulgar wheat, Quinoa & Pistachio Salad -

Bulgar wheat and Quinoa salad contains honey.

NOT VEGAN: Crushed Pea & Broad Bean Risotto 

Pan-fried courgettes, edamame beans, peas, lemon oil £8.45-

The Crushed pea and broad bean risotto contains butter.

NO RESPONSE: Rocket leaves, olives, fine beans, chickpeas, sun-blushed baby tomatoes, toasted flatbread £6.95-looks like it may be suitable! Check with staff!

Please note that unfortunately we cannot verify the accuracy of any findings provided by the eateries surveyed.