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50 Queensway, London W2

Indian food is now so well established in Britain that it becomes an interesting experience to sample the food in a restaurant that, to judge from the variety of languages and range of accents of English spoken by the diners, mainly caters for visitors to the country. You can begin with vegetable samosas, of the small variety with flaky pastry, or a bowl of dahl in which the legumes have dissolved, topped with flecks of parsley and a slice of lemon you can squeeze with your spoon to release the juice. The main dishes include an aloo gobi which, despite being enlivened by pieces of tomato, I found a little bland and, most unusually when eating Indian food, wanted to add pepper to, and sag chana, a dish made more interesting by the stronger flavour of the spinach. Perhaps the food here is less spicy than usual in Britain…could this be because the British have become accustomed to the strong tastes of Indian food, so that a restaurant aiming at visitors will tone down the intensity? A meal here is a reminder of the infinite possibilities of Indian food!

100 Eu Tong St (#03/16 Pearl’s Centre) Singapore

Ignoring the opinion of the Greek philosopher who believed that you cannot step into the same river twice I decided to return to a restaurant where I had eaten very well in the past (posting of 5 Dec 2010). A dish of sweetened green chillies having been brought as an appetiser it seemed a good idea to order a meal based as much as possible on green foods. The first dish to arrive was spinach and mushrooms, the latter white and thinly sliced with a hint of ginger in the background. Next to come was bean curd with green chillies in a black bean sauce that gave it just the right amount of saltiness. In typical Chinese fashion the soup brought up the rear. It was based on green vegetables with a few additions, among them chunks of tomato (red, not green!) that complimented and washed down the other dishes perfectly. On this follow up visit I was impressed not only with the immense depth of the menu but also the way in which each dish has been thought out and prepared in a way to bring out the best in the ingredients. Perhaps this slightly different perspective supports the opinion of Heraklitos: the river may stay the same, but the person stepping into it may have changed. Be this as it may, I left the Happy Realm in a state of great contentment, not even being tempted by the whiff of durian from the stalls in Eu Tong Street. May this unusually long review encourage others to sample its wares.

The nearest SMRT station is Outram Park.

140 Serangoon Rd, Singapore

Among the various possibilities at this busy restaurant I recommend the set lunch. On a tray come rice and a small papadum, three serves of dry food (spinach with mung beans, potato and cauliflower curry, and a cold dish of greens and carrot accompanied by a dollop of chilli), three bowls of runny brown food (including a wonderful sambal, really no more than spicy water but very refreshing, and dahl) and two bowls of dairy based dishes, including a sago pudding. On the table are jugs of water and forks and spoons for those who need them; those who eat without such tools will need to wash their hands in the basins at the back of the restaurant. There’s quite a crowd here, which is not surprising given that lunch will set you back a mere $4.50, but they always seem able to fit more people in. Why not go with the flow?

The nearest SMRT station is Little India.

39 Temple St, Singapore

There’s an air of happy confusion at this laid-back place, but you won’t go wrong if you advance to the counter and point to a couple of the dishes behind the glass to have with rice. They include soft tofu with rehydrated mushroom, slightly chewy greens, and green beans in a spicy mix, a little less green than they sometimes are. Canned drinks come from a stall that seems separate from the main operation, among them two excellent ones from Thailand, young coconut juice with pulp and soursop juice. The food you carry to your table probably won’t be piping hot, and I’ve been to restaurants where the surroundings are more glamorous, but a meal with drink along the lines I’ve described will set you back $4…that’s Singaporean dollars, making this possibly the cheapest restaurant reviewed in these pages. For visitors to Singapore who want to fly under the tourist radar, a meal at this strictly vegetarian restaurant where the staff are full of good will offers interesting food and a lot of fun.

The nearest SMRT station is Chinatown.

For Vegan or Vegetarian Orthodox Christians based in Canberra (Australia), Vegans in the Nation’s Capital are finally following the example of their bigger capital city cousins and holding their own vegan festival. The first ever Canberra vegan festival – the ‘Living Green Festival’ – is being held on Sunday 16 October 2011 at the Albert Hall, a well-known heritage building right in the centre of Canberra. The Festival will focus on the relationship between climate change, the environment and animals. It will showcase ways people can reduce their carbon footprint and be more considerate of other animals we share this planet with. The theme of the Festival is ‘a kinder shade of green’.

The Living Green Festival will feature live entertainment, speakers, children’s and video zones plus many unique product and food stalls. It will be held on the last day of Canberra’s big flower festival – Floriade. The Festival venue is also close to nearby tourist attractions such as the National Museum, Questacon and the Parliament Houses. It is accessible by bus, bicycle and on foot.

More information about the Festival can be found at www.livinggreenfestival.org.au. If you’d like to participate in the Festival in any way you can get in touch with the organisers via the following email address contact@livinggreenfestival.org.au The Festival is being run with the assistance of ACT Government Climate Change Grants.

G316 Level 3, Wintergarden, Queen St Mall, Brisbane Qld

Japanese cuisine, in which fish can end up in just about anything, can be hard for vegetarians, and the format of taking likely-looking dishes from a moving sushi train is one that easily lends itself to mistakes…how could you have told that a dish of rice had finely chopped fish throughout it? Fortunately at the Hanaichi you can order the same dishes from a menu and ensure that they’re OK. We enjoyed three in particular: avocado rolls wrapped in seaweed, a seaweed salad, and vegetable tempura in which each of the individual parcels had a nice mix of taste and texture.  This is a popular restaurant, and while vegetarians may feel that they are eating side dishes rather than main meals, the freshness of the food and the stylishness of the Japanese aesthetic make it a great place for a light meal. The green Japanese tea is recommended!

The complex where this restaurant is located is being redeveloped; there’s a circuitous entrance via the mall.

124 Boundary St, West End, Qld

There’s a counter-cultural buzz and a youngish crowd at this informal  restaurant, where the menu is entirely vegan. They do a range of hot dishes that come with rice, of which we thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Thai yellow’ of carrots and other vegetables in a gentle sauce based on coconut milk and the potato and pea masala; not quite so pleasing was a slightly dull dahl, which we felt could have benefited from a few more shakes of the spice jar. There is also a range of salads, including a most attractive one of red cabbage, superior packaged and freshly squeezed juices, and cakes. Its inner suburban location makes the Forest handy to other places you might like to visit. A few steps towards the traffic lights is the Green Grocer; the Greek grocer, on the other hand, is a short stroll by the road running to the right at the lights.

198 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley Qld

What a pleasure to dine at an entirely vegetarian and substantially vegan Chinese restaurant! The wife of a friend read about it in an airline in-flight magazine, but I imagine that the people who find their way to the neighbourhood in which it’s located are more likely to be locals than visitors. We enjoyed bowls of miso tofu soup, mild and appetizing, and sour spicy soup, packed with mushrooms, sprouts, greens, strips of soft tofu and baby corn; this soup is a real winner. For main meals there are hearty dishes of fried dumplings that take the form of oddly shaped parcels and thick noodles.  Fans of imitation meat dishes are also catered for, making this an excellent place to take very timid non-vegetarian friends as well as a wonderful venue for committed veggies. The repertoire of Chinese cooks seems endless.

Today’s meeting was hosted by John.  We shared a lovely lunch of Winter Soup and some hearty dips with bread including home made hommus and carrot dip, followed by some fresh fruit.

1. Helen has successfully set up some new links with other vegetarian groups and will continue to look for more.

2. We talked about our current members Jacki andMelissa who are overseas and congratulate them on the good work they did while in Africa. We look forward to seeing them home again safely. We hope to hear about how Jacki and Melissa catered for their vegetarian diets both while on the ship and while travelling.

3. Tasks from previous meeting to be carried over includes updating WordPress, tidying up graphics and collating information about online traffic.

4. Next meeting will be the 1st of october 2011 at Vasilios and Helen’s house.

7/45 Cambridge Pde, Manly Qld

In the midst of so many styles of vegetarian food from different parts of the world, have you ever felt like eating something a bit more mainstream Anglo, or perhaps Celtic? This Corner has what you need! They do wonderful veggie burgers, in which the tasty patties come with bright and crunchy salad on Turkish or white bread. The burgers are enormous, and if your mouth doesn’t open wider than mine you’ll find one tricky to eat; you can use the knife and fork the management thoughtfully provide, or pull the sides apart and treat it as two open sandwiches. Either way, it’s a great burger. You can also order a dish of plump potato wedges that come with either aioli or a sweet chilli dip. If this is not enough, they pour a mean pint of Guinness that goes well with slightly oily food, and on the night we visited there was live Irish music! There’s a happy atmosphere at the Celtic Corner, which is thoroughly recommended to anyone who thinks of vegetarian food as something alien to the ethnic roots most of us have in the West.