Photo of
August 15, 2018
Scallops: king oyster 'shrooms with baba ghanoush and pickled cauliflower at Thrive. Pic: Facebook

Looking for new veggie and vegan restaurants in Edinburgh? Thrive opens its doors in Bruntsfield today.

The Bruntsfield Place offers burgers, bowls, craft beers and cocktails. Plus sweet things. Obviously.

We can't do without a Buddha bowl of fruit, seeds and yog.

Or indeed a chocolate mousse made with avocado chocolate, hazelnut praline and whipped coconut cream.

Of course, when we mention burgers, we don't mean anything that used to have a face.

At Thrive, the burger options include a Sloppy Joe made with shredded jackfruit and an aloo tikka spiced patty with a mint yoghurt dressing.

They also offer a seitan burger. Seitan being wheat gluten rather than the Prince of Darkness.

We particularly like the sound of a couple of the bowls.

Ramen ginger and soy broth with noodles, pak choi, bean sprouts, peppers and coriander presses a number of our buttons.

We would also like to investigate the mac 'n' peas which includes a cashew and cauli cheeze sauce, macaroni, chickpeas, spinach and BBQ beets sauce.

Veggie and vegan wings

And, if you need to take along a friend who has yet to be convinced by veggie and vegan restaurants, some dishes may appeal more than others.

The house wings are made from tempura-battered cauliflower with hot sauce.

Alternatively, the tofush burger is made with beer-battered tofu and comes with pea purée and  tartare sauce.

The 5pm Dining blog wishes Thrive every success.

Wrapchic opens on Princes Street

new veggie and vegan restaurants Wrapchic serves a fusion of Indian and Mexican food. Pic: Facebook.

Sticking with Edinburgh, Wrapchic has opened on Princes Street under the Costa Coffee by Primark.

Apparently it is 'the world’s very first eatery that wraps together all the exciting and vibrant flavours of Indian street food, into an easy to eat "grab and go" format'.

The menu is a Mexican Indian fusion. Think along the lines of burritos, bowls and wraps with fillings such as chicken methi and paneer masala.

While not selling itself as a veggie and vegan restaurant, Wrapchic has plenty of dishes to suit either diet.

There are already several Wrapchic outlets in England plus a couple in Dubai. Plans are afoot to open a second Edinburgh branch in Ocean Terminal with further Scottish branches in the pipeline.