Vegan – Learning From The Mistakes Restaurants And Coffee Shops Make

I rarely eat out. In fact, I make a point not to. In part because I have allergies, in part due to the extremely high costs, but mostly because you have no idea where the food came from or how it was prepared. There are vegan options if you want to eat out, and every year more options are made available. For that I am glad. But nothing beats homemade.

About once a year, I do make a point of trying some foods from local restaurants or coffee shops to see how their vegan options have improved. Today was the day.

The delivery was handled very well. The food was delivered before it was scheduled to, which is rare. I ordered a vegan sushi, a vegan drink from a coffee house and some bread and a cardamum bun from a local bakery. It was very educational for me.

The sushi

Did you know that “sushi” refers to the rice that has been mixed with rice wine vinegar, mirin and sugar? Sushi didn’t include raw fish and shellfish originally. It was sushi rice with nori seaweed and pickled vegetables. So if you hear someone saying you can’t have vegan sushi, now you know just how wrong they are. Sushi used to be naturally vegan.

The sushi and the arrangement were beautiful, and what little I was able to taste before SHTF, was excellent. They used chives on top and lemon wedges which had really perfected the rice. It was so fluffy and fresh. That was the plus.

The major minus however… I am allergic to sesame seeds. So, I chose this particular restaurant because they weren’t supposed to serve anything with sesame seeds. I also made sure to give them clear instructions not to add sesame seeds.

Unfortunately, they added a side dish underneath the pickled ginger and it was full of sesame seeds. I didn’t see it at first, so I got some of the seeds in my mouth. After that, things went downhill very quickly.

My face and tongue swelled, I got a purple, reddish rash on my face, had trouble breathing, my skin was super itchy and red – it was not fun. Fortunately, I am an old hand at this. I managed to remove the ingested food from my body and then I meticulously rinsed my mouth, my hands and my face. I took my emergency medication and slathered tea tree oil lotion on my face, hands and wrists. It took quite a bit of medication to get things under control. But because I know my body so well, I managed to calm things down in about an hour and a half.

End result

I did get my money back, and the delivery/takeout company apologised several times. They promised they’d speak to the restaurant, figure out what happened and see what they can change to prevent it from happening again.

Now, back to the food itself. I am extra bummed that things ended this way because the pieces of sushi that I did taste were excellent. And the side dish with steamed edamame beans sprinkled with sea salt was great. Had they not messed up in such a dangerous way, it could have easily been the best sushi I’ve eaten.

I really hope they change the way they handle orders and allergies so that I will be able to enjoy their sushi safely at some point in the far away future.

What I learned

I will definitely try making sushi with chives and green onions on top next time, and I will also use lemon wedges and herbs.

I learned that even if you go to great lengths to get allergy friendly food, most people don’t understand how serious allergies can be. And because they don’t, they aren’t as thorough as they should be when preparing the food.

The coffee shop

I got a frappino made with dragon fruit and coconut milk. It had some soy cream on top supposedly, but it had melted. It had a very nice flavour, but it was too much money for me to want to order it a second time. Inflation had really upped the prices.

What I learned

I am rather good at figuring out the ingredients in a dish mostly through my sense of smell. I have now created a recipe for myself so that I can recreate this drink at home. I always keep coconut milk at home, and sometimes when it is heavily discounted, I buy dragonfruit juice. Making my own version should therefore be fairly simple.

The Bakery

I bought a few sourdough breads with poppy seeds on them, and they were nice and fresh. I’ll likely freeze them and use them over the next few days. I also bought a vegan cardamom bun.

Now, I have eaten this bun many times before, so I know how it normally looks and what it should taste like. It was good, but not as good as it used to be.

I realised it was smaller and significantly lighter than it used to be, but the price had increased. So I got less for more. The cardamom flavour was too strong and bordering on bitter. That has never been the case before.

Conclusion

I prefer the treats and breads that I bake, but it was fun to give these takeout options a go.

What I learned

They didn’t use fine cardamom powder. It looked more like small pieces of cardamom seeds. I imagine that was what made the flavour so strong. So, by using coarse cardamom, I can make my own version of those cardamom buns. To avoid their mistake, I would rely more on the scent to decide the amount of cardamom. That would be the safest way to make sure the flavour turns out just right.

I could easily make a full batch that would last me months for the same amount that I paid for one of theirs.

Final conclusion:

I am happy to see that the vegan options have nearly tripled. While there are many vegan options that I can’t have due to allergies, it’s nice to see restaurants and coffee houses slowly realising that plant-based food is the future. I found out that even KFC – which I didn’t know we had in Sweden – have vegan options and they are working hard to make a significant part of their menu vegan. I love that.

Through all of this, I also found out that there are now a few local burger restaurants that serve vegan options that I may be able to eat. You could also opt for salad instead of bread, which is something I like to do. As I eat gluten-free most of the time, and cannot eat the gluten-free options (they usually contain allergens), being able to choose salad instead of bread is the best solution.

All and all, this could have ended much worse than it did, so thank the angels that it did not. I didn’t lose any money either, which I’m grateful for. And I was able to get inspiration for a lot of new recipes, which will serve me well. I now have recipes for all of the regular and more unique takeout options, including baked treats and bread. I’ve gathered detailed notes and those notes will help me improve my own creations. Furthermore, I’l be able to make those recipes with ingredients I keep in my pantry, and it’ll cost me next to nothing.

My homesteading future

It always makes me happy when I am shown yet again the best way really is the frugal way. Knowing there is no reason to pay for something and that you’ll likely be worse off if you do, is an excellent motivator for doing things yourself.

I can cover most of my basic needs, and I improve my self-sufficiency game every year. Before I turn 33, I will be as self-sufficient as one can be in a single-person household. I already know how to grow and prepare about 95 percent of the food I eat and the herbal medicine I use. After my move, I will be able to set things up in a way that enables me to grow all of that and more.

I have made a complete plan for a vegan homestead that includes a food garden, a set up with rain barrels, biogas and a wood-burning stove for heat. It won’t cost me much to set things up according to the plan I’ve made and that’s good. The main obstacle at present is that I don’t know where I want to live.

I am open to most places that I haven’t lived before. Life is too short to repeat experiences. I need to be able to ship my garden over there, it has to be close to water – a lake or the ocean – and a forest, and I must be able to live there without a car.

Honestly, that still leaves my options wide open. So, I’ve decided to turn my plan into a set of affirmations and attract the housing opportunity that I am looking for. I hope I will be able to move before fall.

I store my possessions in a way that will enable me to leave the same day I find something, if need be. I can gather my things in an hour or two and be off. I love that.

What are the vegan options like where you are?