When: 2nd – 4th November 2019
Where: Taunton, Somerset, England
I went on a little jaunt to Taunton, a cute little town in Somerset in the South of England. It was the AGM of the Fungus Conservation Trust at Hestercombe Gardens and I was excited to meet the some other members. It also ended up being a ‘girly’ weekend with a great friend with lots of reminiscing and laughs. Beautiful. We had a great time in this whirlwind weekend seeing what Taunton had to offer.
Our accommodation was an Air BnB, a short walk from the centre. The host was a lovely lady called Chrissie, who happened to be a vegan and vegetarian caterer. She went out of her way to be accommodating, even asking what kind of plant milk we’d prefer and giving us recommendations for eateries.
Lotus Flower Thai Restaurant
89-91 Station Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1-1PB
The Lotus Flower is a small but beautiful restaurant close to the train station in Taunton. With a decent vegan selection on the menu we had lots to choose from. I went for Thai Jungle Curry and coconut rice, and lovely lady friend went for green vegetable curry with sticky rice. It immediately took me right back to being in Koh Phayam, having a delicious curry in the ‘Rasta Bar’ on Buffalo Bay. A bottle of Chang topped the memory off perfectly. The restaurant is run by a lovely welcoming Thai lady who came over to chat to us. The sticky rice came in this cute little straw pot. I highly recommend this place, it’s a great little treasure.
Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 8LG
We we were in this beautiful place for the aforementioned AGM. It couldn’t have been a nicer venue. Historic renovated buildings, with part manicured gardens and wilder parts too. Red and white grapes growing outside over water features, squirrels munching conkers amidst crunchy fallen leaves and the most majestic pergola with the stunning Blackdown Hills beyond.
We had lunch provided by the event organisers, but were pleased to see vegan options on the menu in the cafe and couldn’t resist a vegan cookie and drink, they had plant milk options and I had a nice warming hot chocolate, whilst m’lady had a hot spiced apple drink, we sat outside in the nippy, autumnal air. I love this time of year.
Hunts Court, Corporation Street, Taunton, TA1 4AJ
Our Air BnB host had mentioned Cosy Club and we loved the quirky decor and fantastic separate vegan menu which included starters, mains, tapas, mezze and desserts. I had the Byond Burger, for the first time. I’ve probably mentioned before that I’m not a big fan of plants that are made to taste and feel like meat, and I’m glad this one, to me, tasted plant-based and was great with the vegan coleslaw and generous portion of chips too.
Awesome friend went for something a little classier – the Roast Turmeric Cauliflower, garnished with greens and pomegranate, it was beautifully presented and was tasty too.
The funny thing, neither of us really drink, but somehow we ended up ordering cocktails. I prefer sweet drinks so I went for the Cherry Bakewell cocktail and she went for an English Rose, both were pretty and vegan friendly, mine with a glazed cherry and rose petals sprinkled on top of hers.
And of course we had to try the desserts, we sampled the baked vanilla cheesecake and the chocolate and orange torte. Both were lovely and rich, this might even be my most favourite vegan cheesecake I’ve had.
Breakfast @ Cosy Club
We were impressed with Cosy Club so we went back for breakfast the next day. I enjoyed the vegan breakfast, swapping out the falafel for tofu scramble. It consisted also of mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, peppers, spinach , toast, baked beans and potato rosti. It tasted really fresh and was a nice diverse dish but with items that perfectly complemented each other.
On the journey:
Leon, Birmingham New Street Station
It was a long journey on the train and ferry back to Dublin, but I had to change trains at Birmingham New Street which gave me enough time to pick up some lunch. This was Jackfruit Wings and the Brazilian Black Bean Stew with rice. It was very quickly prepared and packaged nicely in cardboard boxes, handy to eat on the train. Both were flavoursome and something a little different.
On board the Stena Ferry, I was pleased that they now have soya milk to add to black coffee, though food options on these particular journeys were thin on the ground.
All in all, I had a cracking time in Taunton and found some great places to eat, lovely people and incredibly beautiful countryside. I’d love to explore this part of England a little more soon. In particular in Taunton, I know there are a couple more vegan and veggie places, they just happened not to be open when we were around this time.
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