The Yorkshire Coast

I've just been lucky enough to spend a relaxing week in Scarborough. See the little blue house just to the right of my finger, that's Lighthouse Cottage where we stayed. I would highly recommend it. Self catering is definitely the way to go if you're vegan as there's not a great many places to eat out easily and the few veggie places there are tend not to be open in the evening. Food shopping was fine though with a big M and S,  Holland and Barrett and a 24 Hour Tesco. We also got a lot of fresh fruit and veg from a great stall in the Market Hall.

There's some great walking in the area. One of the days we headed off past these beach huts and did an 8 mile coastal walk to the next town of Filey. I even managed to get sunburned!

Not much in here for vegans other than juice and coffee but this old ice cream parlour had wonderful decor and is right on the seafront.

We arrived just in time for the one Saturday of the year when Peasholm Park hosts a recreation of a naval gun battle. I didn't realise that there were actually people in the boats until they lifted the lids at the end. This is an annual event that has been happening for years. Matt used to go to it with his grandad when he was a kid. Check out this video to get an idea of it.

So, what did we eat? TLTs for the train - tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato. Wish you could buy these in Upper Crust or one of those train station places!

Full English Vegan - Tempeh bacon, tofu and mushroom scramble, beans, tomato and toast.

Lots of meals like this - salads, humus, bread, crackers, olives, chutney, Vegusto piquant cheese and spicy slices.

More Vegusto - this time the melty one with spicy slices and asparagus on mini pizzas followed by popcorn on a dvd night in. We did manage to get out to the theatre twice to see a Seaside Special Variety show and to the Stephen Joseph Theatre. The theatre has a long association with the playwright Alan Ayckbourn and whilst we there they were showing a revivial of one of his plays from the 70's - Absurd Person Singular. He also directed this production, 40 years after the original production and we went on press night so he was there in the audience. The play is set in the kitchens of 3 different couples at Christmas and we were lusting after all the vintage kitchenware!

We were at the seaside so it had to be done - fish, chips and mushy peas. Chips and peas were bought from a chip shop and the vegan fish fillets are the Redwood ones.

The week wouldn't have been complete without some sweet treats so we made sure we brought plenty with us. From left to right - Organica white chocolate, chocolate covered prunes (from the Vegusto website and highly recommended - amazing!), Moo Free hazelnut praline chocolate, Raw chocolate raisins and Prestat Madagascan big chocolate buttons.

There are two veggie cafes in Scarbourough. We didn't make it to Cafe Venus which looked good for breakfasts but we did get to the Nutmeg Cafe for lunch. I've put a link to the website for the address but the other information is old as it had literally changed hands two weeks before. The new owners are a married couple and the wife does front of house and the husband, an experienced baker does the food. I forgot to take a photo of my creamy mushrooms on toast but here's my dessert. This was a chocolate cake with chocolate sauce, raspberries and Swedish Glace. It turned out it was also Gluten free and I was really impressed with it. The pot of tea next to it contained the nicest herbal tea I have ever tasted! It was a loose leaf Ayuvedic blend of rooibos, almond, cardomon and coconut called Rainy Day Tea. I'm hoping I can track some down to buy.