The Alto Lounge, Caversham

So I talked before about this ace fella that I've fallen for, well when we first met and he was trying to impress me, he found this little place, not too far from where he lives that does vegan food. In fact, it has a whole vegan menu.

I don't live in a particularly vegan friendly part of the UK and although the supermarkets / health food stores are making it easier and easier for us these days, cafes generally don't. This is the only place within about an hour or so's drive of my house that does a purposely vegan breakfast.

So yeah I was excited to discover the Alto Lounge.  It's a funky little place in Caversham, a village just outside of Reading in Berkshire.  It does fab coffee, has a nice atmosphere, super friendly staff and it's always busy.  And yeah, caters for vegans!  When you're in there, ask the staff for the vegan menu if you don't see one:

I haven't actually tried the breakfast yet but one day I'll get around to it. We've been 3 times now and it's become our fave little place for a Sunday brunch! The fella can get his meaty burger on and I can get something vegan and ace.

So here's what I've tried so far:

Hazelnut Latte 

Perfect! I really like the coffee here. I'm no connoisseur but the fella sort of is and he is a fan too!

 

Panini

Crispy panini with hummus, spinach and red pepper chutney in. I loved this and it came with fries, so that's an extra win!  The house slaw, vegan style is basically grated veg! 

Falafel Burger

Oh. Em. GEE!!  I LOOOVE this burger.  It's so effing tasty and the texture of it is just perfect. I've had it twice now, it's so good.  It has the same red pepper chutney and roasted peppers in.  I added extra jalapenos and some hummus the first time I had it.  We also ordered bread and it was FAR too much food.  So the next time I just went for it as it was.  I wish I'd remembered to add jalapenos though because that was an ace addition.

oh yeah and it comes with fries too. Yay!

So if you're anywhere near Reading, I'd definitely recommend checking this place out.

As we're in Reading in this post, I also tried out Tampopo with Jojo last weekend.  The vegan options are marked on the menu and I picked a curry, that's actually a fish curry! Weird, but I guess the sauce is fish-sauce less because there's a vegan option that has tofu and veggies in. And it is very lovely.

We also had pudding. We had the sticky coconut rice with fresh mango. I liked this a lot. It's not as claggy as rice pudding (although I LOVE rice pudding) and the mango goes well with it. I was too full to eat it all though.

 

So there you go, a couple of options for if you ever find yourself in Reading!

Laterz

xXx