Veganuary specials at Bill's Restaurant
Veganuary: a double-edged sword!
I absolutely love the success that Veganuary has had, in terms of raising awareness about the harm involved in animal products and putting veganism in the spotlight in the form of billboard posters, ads on public transport, sharing the message on TV, getting celebrities to talk about it and involving businesses to be bold and clear and make veganism even more accessible than it is already.
So why am I calling it a double-edged sword? Well…if you don’t know already, I’m a lover of food! So in January, with thanks to Veganuary, lots of restaurants introduce special vegan options. They have vegan options already, but they launch limited edition ones. Most restaurants offer them during January alone, which becomes a struggle because there’s only so many times a girl wants to eat out, in a short space of time! :)
If you can call that a negative, let’s put that aside and talk about Bill’s.
Bill’s Restaurant
Bill’s Restaurant has vegan items on their regular menu, which includes two starters, one main, two salads and one dessert. However, the specials that they’ve introduced goes beyond what they usually offer, in that there are two mains and the dessert isn’t a sorbet. They have, what I call, a proper dessert!
What we ate at Bill’s Restaurant
We ordered this for starters:
Wild Mushroom Soup with garlic croutons & chives
Miso Aubergine Fritters that’s served with a smoked chilli & soy dip & topped with mixed seeds
For our mains we ordered:
Mushroom and Tarragon Suet Pudding with a roasted mushroom, parsley & white bean cassoulet
Bill’s Beetroot Steak served with a portion of fiery tiger fries, béarnaise vegan mayo & pea shoots
Now the dessert! We ordered both specials.
Sticky Chocolate Pudding drizzled with syrup, icing sugar & hazelnut crumb, served with a scoop of coconut ice cream
Frozen Amaretto Parfait served with shortbread crumb, coconut flakes & raspberry sauce
What I thought of their specials
In terms of the effort that they’ve made, I think it’s great! They’ve added creations which will help people who are trying to eat less meat and show those who are trying to switch to a vegan diet, that it can be mega easy!
The starters
I loved the soup. I wasn’t really in the mood for deep-fried food so I didn’t have much of the aubergine but it was very nice, especially with the dip.
The mains
I didn’t like the look of the ‘steak’ but when I got beyond that, I liked the taste of it and enjoyed the meal. The suet pudding was nice but I wasn’t keen on the bean cassoulet.
The desserts
The desserts were great. They were the right size, looked good and tasted good too. We both found that the parfait was much nicer after it had been left to sit for a few minutes.
Returning to Bill’s
I’ve heard great things about their Wellington, which is on their regular menu, so I definitely want to return and try that!
Other chains that offer vegan options
All Bar One
ASK Italian
Bella Italia
by CHLOE
Carluccio's
Chiquito
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Franco Manca
Frankie & Benny’s
Harvester
Izgara
Las Iguanas
Le Pain Quotidien
Mildred’s
MOD Pizza
Mumbai Local
Ping Pong
Pizza Express
Redemption Bar
Slug and Lettuce
The Gate
The Stable
The White Brasserie Company
Slug and Lettuce
Veggie Pret
Wagamama
Wafflemeister
Wetherspoons
Zizzi
“Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet.”