My dear friend Pavla told me about 26 Grains. As she is a huge porridge fan, she always wanted to go there and we said to each other we would go together. But it never happened and now she is on an amazing holiday for 3 months(Dubai, Bali and Sri Lanka.. Let’s pretend I’m not jealous). Anyway, I decided to go alone as I wanted to see what it was like so I could share it with you. 26 Grains is all about.. I think you can guess.. Grains! They find inspiration from Scandinavian cooking traditions and spices. Their bowls of Hygge (Scandinavian, and with no direct English translation. But it means something like ‘coziness’, ‘relaxing with friends and loved ones’. What I think sounds so sweet and lovely that I don’t understand that there is not a word for this in every language.) are made out of healthy and fresh ingredients. Using grains as a base they then add Scandinavian spices and toppings in the end.
26 Grains is, like the WildFoodCafe I wrote about earlier, in Neal’s Yard. Inside and out it looks simple and pure, the kind of atmosphere what I expected it to be. I like their black sign, the plants on the green wooden doors and the cactuses and little paintings of veggies inside, but the only thing is that it’s very small. Inside there is only space for I think about 12 people. And I think even with only 12 people it will be a bit crazy. They do have some seats outside, which is lovely on a nice sunny day of course. One of the things I didn’t like too much were the seats, which are quite small(or maybe my bum is just too big) wooden blocks. They look nice, but it’s far from comfortable.
Not everything on their menu is vegan, so make sure to mention you are vegan when you are. I ordered the Hazelnut and Butter porridge + a green smoothie and as it was a bit busy I sat down near the wall where they created a wooden bar to create more seats. I looked around to see what other people ordered(so curious, but I know you all do it..) and I must say everything looks super nice, complete with yummy toppings and even flowers. I was very excited for them to serve mine. Even though they have a tiny kitchen I didn’t have to wait very long before a beautiful looking and smelling bowl was in front of me. It was delicious! Very filling and just the right amount and consistency. The green smoothie was btw also very good, simple, but tasty and a perfect combination with my porridge. I liked the refreshing taste of the smoothie with the rich nutty flavours in my porridge.
I think 26 Grains is a perfect place to have a late breakfast together with a friend, family member or your lover. It’s a great start of a day walking around in Covent Garden. Or why not go for lunch before seeing a musical in one of the nearby theatres?!
If you check their website, you can see they/re not only a lovely little restaurant, but they also do catering. So in case you need an original catering company with spicy options, check them out!
Do you know 26 Grains or are you going to check them out after reading this? I would love to hear when you did! Please let me know in a comment or share a beautiful picture of your bowl of hygge using #PlanetManel on Instagram. Thank you! X
Did you eat world’s best pizza before? Unless you went to Pizza East and ate one over there, I can tel you.. you didn’t! You don’t have to go to Rome or Naples. You only have to go to Portobello Road, a lovely location, just on the junction with Chesterton Road. You can’t miss the building as it’s right on the corner between 2 roads. It’s always quite busy, so especially on popular evenings and afternoons, make sure you make a reservation.
So that first time I wasn’t expecting anything yet and I was very pleased to see my pizza looked delicious. And then it happened.. I took a bite. OMG! I was just about to hold myself from jumping up to tell everybody how delicious my pizza was. This was amazing, really! I love pizza, it’s one of my favourite foods (I know.. so childish, haha!) and I was convinced that I never had such a good pizza before in my life. The taste of the crust is so perfect. you can really taste it was made in a good and proper pizza oven. Also it’s super thin, but still crispy enough in the middle. The sauce is simple, but full of taste and the vegetables still have a bite. I understand if you have to finish reading this post later because you’re running to Pizza East now. No worries, the post will still be here when you come back!
Now everybody who visits me I like to take to Pizza East, because I want everybody to experience this. When I’m with somebody else I like to order some delicious olives and almonds as a starter (I really recommend those). I always drink water, just because I want to make sure I can finish the pizza, because no way I’m having leftovers.
Something else I really appreciate at Pizza East is the interior. I love it. It’s all natural materials and basic colours combined with blue. You can also sit up stairs. I like sitting there best, especially on a hot day as you can sit next to an open window. And if you’re up stairs, make sure to check the ceiling. I really like it. Really adds something to the whole atmosphere. The only downside I would say is that it can be quite noisy. That’s why it’s nice to go on a more quiet evening.
In London are a lot of coffee shops, almost on every corner of every street you can get a cup of coffee or tea. Now I don’t drink coffee myself, but I love tea. Out of all these coffee shops there are actually 4 really big ones. Named in order of my personal preference: Starbucks, Costa, Pret a Manger and Cafe Nero.
STARBUCKS
My favourite Starbucks is the one in Portobello Road. I go here about 2-3 times a week. It’s not big and on Saturdays it’s crazy busy, but it has big windows and you can watch all the interesting Portobello Road people passing by. When the weather is nice the windows can open all the way, which I really love. Oh and for all the tourists, next to this Starbucks is the famous ‘Blue Door’ from the movie ‘Notting Hill’.
COSTA
The Costa in Hammersmith is one of my favourites, as I love the interior there and you have a big seating area up stairs. They used very nice basic colours and I love the big red lamp up stairs. Great eye catcher! They have sofa’s with cushions, which are lovely to have a nice afternoon chat with friends or to watch the people passing by. There is also a lot of work tables, what makes it perfect to bring your laptop over and work there for a few hours. I think it’s a good mix of seats. And very handy.. they have toilets!
PRET A MANGER
Also Pret a Manger marked all their food. So you can easily see if something is vegan or not. I love it!
CAFE NERO
For this article I went to the one opposite of Ladbroke Grove station, which is quite a nice one with the big windows(light.. ) and the quiet seats in the back. I like that they sell ‘Yoyo Bears’ here, but apart from that there are not a lot of vegan snacks. Just a bag of crisps and a little bar of dark chocolate and that’s kind of it.
I have always wanted to go to the WildFoodCafe! The only thing is that it’s not really on the route of places I normally go to, so I never went. Until now.. and I liked it! Even just standing outside the cafe is nice as Neal’sYard is such a fun and colourful place. It was a very rainy day, but when I arrived the sun started to shine and the colours looked even brighter. Beautiful! The cafe itself is on the first floor, which you van reach by stairs. It was quite busy, but it’s always handy to be all by yourself as they can always find some space to squeeze you in. They gave me a seat on the other side of the table from a very cool looking girl, who was working on her laptop.
I really like the menu. It’s not huge, but that is actually very helpful to make a choice. I was doubting to get the burger, (it’s just when I see ‘burger’ on a menu I think I should get it, I love it) but as I had the burger at ‘
Since I can remember I like to go to supermarkets. If my mum went groceries shopping, I always liked to go with her. I still like to be in the supermarket, maybe even more since I’m vegan. I can easily be in a big supermarket for 2 hours. Yes. Just to look at all the products, read ingredients and make recipes in my head. It really inspires me, sometimes I don’t even buy anything. Here in the UK you have really big supermarkets and gosh I love them,, BUT.. there is nothing like the WholeFoodsMarket! This is definitely my favourite supermarket at all times.
The WholeFoodsMarket is an American supermarket chain which opened it first store, with a staff of 19 people, in 1980 in Austin, Texas. Since then they have grown a lot. Today there are at least 431 stores within the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In 2007 the first WholeFoodsMarket opened in the UK(Thank God!), on High Street Kensington, West London. That also happens to be my favourite one. I almost feel magical walking inside. I get so excited walking around and finding new and healthy products. I enjoy the colourful vegetables which are all put down with care, the ‘organic’ signs and tags, the herbs and spices you just want to buy all, because they smell so fantastic. The self service area where you can fill bags with oats, beans, dried fruit and all sorts of dry stuff.. The nut butter machine! There is too much to mention.
There is a whole fridge section with vegan foods: tofu, cheese, yogurts, burgers, etc. I can easily stand there for ages. I like to slowly walk all the aisles, even if I just needed to get 2 things. I almost always see something new. They have lovely, good quality, kitchen accessories as well and a lot of cook books. Though they do have a few, I would love to see some more vegan ones. Also they have a big area with all sorts of supplements, beauty products, make up, baby and kids stuff(very nice things, I like to look there for presents) sport accessories(yoga) and even a massage chair. It’s a joy to look around and to learn all sorts of things.
The High Street Kensington store has 3 levels. The basement has the most products and that is mainly where you shop. On the ground floor there is a bakery, a take away food buffet, a juice bar, a flower corner and a cheese section(non vegan). I don’t drink myself, but if you enjoy a good glass of wine, you can also find quite a big wine area on the ground floor. The top floor is not for shopping, but for eating. You can enjoy the food you just bought, get a tea, smoothie and snack or enjoy a meal in one of the little restaurants.
The WholeFoodsMarket stands for good quality products, free of artificial preservatives, colours, flavours, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats. What unfortunately means they also sell meat and all other animal products. I always try to ignore it and focus on all the amazing products. Most of the time there are promotions and you can taste or try new products, which might be fun and handy, as the person promoting it can tell a lot about it.I also like that there is quite a lot of staff, so there is always somebody you can ask in case you’re looking for something.
I would really love to get all my groceries there, but it’s quite expensive and for me it’ll not be possible. That’s why I go about 2 times a month. I would like to go every week, but I know myself and I will spend all my money. So I don’t, haha! Another good reason to only go twice a month is that I never leave the store without buying a Vego chocolate bar!
One of my favourite places in London is NottingHill.. and then especially Portobello Road. Lucky me I only live a 20 min walk away. And even though I’m there several times a week, I never knew there was this amazing place on Talbot Road until my employer mentioned it to me. She told me that when she was there she asked for scrambled eggs, which I still think is hilarious, knowing it’s a raw vegan restaurant(she didn’t know). Anyway, she told me about it and I’m still very grateful she did.
The salads are very filling, but I wanted to try their kale crisps, so I ordered that as a side. And wohw.. I dare to say that they have the best kale crisps everrrr! It’s quite a big portion, so it will be ok for sharing. Especially when you order a salad and a drink(I was ok with just a water this time, because I would be too full otherwise) you definitely need somebody to share it with.
And if this isn’t enough they do.. wait for it.. raw vegan cakes! You can order cakes for example your birthday or any special occasion. They look absolutely amazing and they are wheat, dairy, gluten, soy, grain and processed sugar free. You can have them delivered or you can pick them up yourself, you just have to make sure you order them on time(at least 3 days before the pick up date). And yes, they are not very cheap, but they look very very good, plus there are not a lot of companies who offer the same. Have a look on their 
Shall we just go to Wagamama? A sentence I’ve said many times. And not meant like ‘it’s ordinary food’, but meant like ‘the food is always so good’! Since I’m vegan I always order the same. What means I probably had the ‘Yasai Itame’ over 50 times. So you could say I’m quite an expert when it comes to this delicious dish.
To drink I always order the green tea. For 3 reasons. It’s free and I’m Dutch, haha.. Because it’s not so big. The ‘Yasai Itame’ is very filling, but I still like to sip on something. Also it’s very good for your digestive system to drink green tea after you ate something. So the green tea is perfect. Very sometimes I order a lovely juice. This is only when I’m very hungry and I’ve got a lot of time. The juices are amazing btw!
Now one of my favourite Wagamama’s is the one in Hammersmith, for nothing more than the building itself. It’s an old fire station! And I love the way they’ve done it. The building from the outside is high and has a lot of character, but it’ when you go inside.. because they left as much as possible intact. The huge red doors(!) and the tiled walls, I just absolutely love it! They also have quite a big bar, what is quite unique as I don’t know another Wagamama who has this. So if you’re in the neighbourhood and you fancy a warming ‘Yasai Itame’ for lunch? Don’t hesitate to get it here!
Did you go to this Wagamama before? Or do you have another favourite? Are you going to try the amazing ‘Yasai Itame'(nmbr 38) after reading this? Please let me know! You can also share this on Instagram and use #PlanetManel so I can see it. Thank you!
And if this all isn’t enough, ‘The Detox Kitchen’ also has a cookbook: 
I like that the concept is very easy. You can choose a size and then choose anything you like from all the beautiful, colourful (mostly vegan) dishes right in front of you. Then if you want you can add something on top if you like. This is unfortunately mostly non vegan, but there is a delicious aubergine option. Anyway, this isn’t necessary as the dishes where you can choose from are filling and nutritious enough.
And if there is still room for dessert, then there is a very tasty chocolate, coconut brownie with goji berries you have to try!
They give you the possibility to have take away, but you can also choose to have your meal over there, what then leaves you with 2 options. To fill up a container(they have 2 sizes) or to have it on a large plate. For the containers there are fixed prices and for the plates you pay the food by weight. It’s just what you prefer. You can choose whatever you want from the buffet, what is nice because then you can taste a bit of everything. But do you feel like having a more romantic dinner? From 17:30 there is also a very impressive menu a’ la carte available.
And after you enjoyed every bite and every sip, I’m sure you can’t resist to order one of the beautiful raw desserts. Chocolate cake, cheesecake, brownies.. to name a few! 
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