Trying Out the Vegan Menu at Tuk Tuk
Today's post is long awaited and delayed, so for that I apologise! I have been preparing for the move to my new flat, new course at university, and being a busy bee at work, but I am so passionate about dedicating my time to this blog! I am super grateful for anyone that continues to support and engage with Urbanity as it continues to grow!
I divulge. Basically, this post is a delight to write because a couple of weeks back I was surprised with a wonderful invitation to try out the vegan menu at Tuk Tuk, an Indian Street Food style restaurant in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh. Lucie (from Tetris and Cheesecakes), Emma (from Edinbug) and I dined on a feast of meat/egg/dairy free dishes at Tuk Tuk, and here is my review! You can also read Emma's post here, accompanied by her wonderful food photography skills that sadly I don't possess!
On a cool summer's evening, we met at the delightfully decorated restaurant, colour schemed in orange and other earthy tones, splattered with authentic Indian curios and with an overall modern, contemporary feel. We explained to the staff about our vegan blogging experiment, and were disappointed to find out that their isn't actually a separate 'vegan menu', but instead the dishes are all on one menu, just labelled with different allergens/dietary requirements, so it took a bit more searching than expected. In addition, there were no vegan desserts (but we were pretty full anyway!) however overall the experience was really positive. We tried lots of new tastes and textures, chat with the lovely staff, got to know each other's vegan experiences and chatted about all things blogging. Pictured here is Lucie's yummy looking icy mint mocktail, too pretty not to take a snap! Emma had a bottle of Limca and I opted for chai tea, then we decided to order a selection of tapas style treats, including a delicious Chana Puri (chickpea and spicy pancake deliciousness!) and Aloo Bindi (Potato and Okra curry) along with a few other little dishes and some rice, poppadum and naan bread. Word of warning: Tuk Tuk are right to suggest a maximum of 3 dishes per person. More than this plus sides left us needing to be rolled home!
I enjoyed trying something a bit different to the usual curry takeaway experience, nothing was too greasy/oily and meat/fish/paneer was replaced with an abundance of veggies and legumes, sometimes the dishes lacked flavour/seasoning, but everything was pleasant. We also sampled some golgappa, which are pictures her. Hard to describe, but the Edinbug put it perfectly:
"The description of golgappa on the menu wasn’t hugely helpful (“you will have to taste it to experience it” is pretty much all it says) but seen as it was vegan we decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try. It ended up being cold crispy puffs, served with a small dollop of sticky rice inside and some spicy sauce on the side. I poured a little sauce into my puff and ate the thing whole in one bite – it was certainly an interesting experience and one worth trying!"
All in all, I am really thankful to Tuk Tuk for having us, and I hope they like our feedback so they can further develop their vegan options. It is great to see lots of both local and chain restaurants being more inventive for vegetarians and vegans, as it clearly no longer a niche market. At the moment, I am around half and half with vegetarianism and veganism, because I found personally that veganism became too restrictive and triggering for me, but I will certainly continue to eat yummy vegan food and use cruelty-free products as much as I can, and hope to return to the lifestyle soon.
