Grill'd Vegan Cheeseburger 2.0

I went to Grill'd today with a friend. I remember having a vegan cheeseburger at Grill'd previously, and it didn’t fill me up, so this time I had two vegan cheeseburgers. Grill'd has changed their vegan burgers (hence the 2.0).

The vegan patties they use in the 2.0 version burger is actually quite nice. I had two vegan burgers because I wanted to avoid the chips because I did’t know if they’re vegan.

When ordering the vegan cheeseburger, you will be asked what type of bun you want. Make sure you get the traditional, panini or gluten free bun because these are vegan. (The low-carb bun contains egg.) I also had a Pepsi Max, which is definitely vegan. 

Grill'd also have a vegetarian burger called Hemp Therapea. However, this contains tzatziki, which contains dairy and so is not vegan. According to the review below, removing the tzatziki makes the burger taste quite bad. Furthermore, when I order at restaurants, I don't like to change too much because it's too much hassle.

All in all, I am quite impressed with the Vegan Cheeseburger 2.0 and would definitely order more. I checked the ingredients used in the burger, and it is primarily pea protein, which is the same protein used in the Beyond Meat burger patties. As such, the Vegan Cheeseburger 2.0 is not only meat, dairy, and egg free but also soy free as well. Each vegan cheeseburger with traditional bun contains 30 grams of protein, so having two burgers gave me 60 grams of protein. The recommended minimum amount of protein to aim for each day is 50 grams.

Review: Mantra Lounge

Recently I had lunch at Mantra Lounge in Carlton. The place is near Melbourne University. It was a cold day, so I needed to eat something warm, and the food pictures on the internet for this place looked like they served warm food. In fact, even during the summer I prefer eating warm cooked food because I have sensitive teeth.

Mantra Lounge is 100% vegan, which is refreshing because it means I can order without worry and feel normal. I don't need to explain to anyone that I want no cheese, etc.

I ordered a "supreme" meal deal for about $18 and received a plate of lasagna with a salad (beans). I also had a chocolate "pleasecake" and a hot chocolate. The meal was extremely filling, and on a cold day it was very warm.

The location is also nice as it overlooks the old buildings of Melbourne University. There are giant old trees on the road. Leaves were falling from these old trees as I ate, which was very pleasant.

Review: Monk Bodhi Dharma Balaclava

Monk Bodhi Dharma is quite a small place. It’s important to look at the Monk Bodhi Dharma website as well as Google Maps first to see where it is. The website instructs you to park in a nearby Woolworths parking area, and from there it is a short walk to the cafe/deli. Thankfully you don’t need to pay anything at the Woolworths carpark. Driving and parking here is really easy.

Source: monkbodhidharma.com

When I arrived, it was a Sunday morning, so it was quite busy. A group of friends and I needed to wait fifteen minutes. Once inside, I noticed that the place is cramped and crowded. Everything on the menu is vegetarian and can be veganized. I ordered a veganized avocado on toast (called "The Avo"). This dish was recommended to me and I enjoyed it. The avocado was delicious because they mixed something into it (perhaps chilli) that enhanced the taste. I really liked it. If I had to give one criticism, it would be the bread, which was a little too hard for my liking. I also had a soy flat white with my meal. I was told that the coffee in this place is renowned all over Melbourne. I am not a coffee expert, so I cannot give my opinion. Most coffee for me is the same, so I end up judging a cafe by how extensive their vegan milk options are and how happy and nice the staff are.

All up I paid $19 for both the avocado on toast as well as the soy flat white. The place accepted Mastercard.


The Avo (Vegan) at Monk Bodhi Dharma Balaclava

Grill'd Vegan Burger - Veggie Vitality

It might seem weird for a grown man to watch Bonnyrebecca videos, but that's what I was doing last night. While most people like to binge on alcohol on a Saturday night, I like to binge on YouTube. To be honest, I have a crush on Bonny. She's a beautiful young vegan girl, so I love to follow (or perve) on her via YouTube.

In her latest video, she is in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the now controversy-marred 2016 Raw Till Four Bike Festival, and for some reason she has decided to try out a raw vegan diet. See the entire video below. During her vlog, she randomly mentions the Grill'd vegan burger at the 2:40 mark of the video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZiEIgh6dmw]

When I heard from Bonny that Grill'd suddenly had a vegan burger, I was shocked. I did some research on Facebook. Supposedly Grill'd had changed their menu to cater to different "tribes" such as those who want a gluten-free burger. As such, the burgers at Grill'd not only caters to vegans and vegetarians but also to people who are anti-gluten as well as those on a low-carb diet. The new vegan burger is called "veggie vitality." Not only is this burger vegan but it is also gluten free (not that I am anti-gluten).

[caption id="attachment_1432" align="alignnone" width="587"] Credit: Candice Nertney[/caption]

I admit I'm not a fan of the picture above. The veggie patty looks very bright red, which makes it look weird.

Reading further into various Facebook comments, it's clear that there are many vegans who, even though Grill'd has a vegan burger, do not want to support this business because they cater to meat eaters in addition to vegans, but I believe that Grill'd producing a menu that is 5% vegan is better than a menu that is 0% vegan, so they should be rewarded for this, and if they are rewarded enough, they will likely increase that percentage. The bottom line is that money must flow towards vegan products. Demand creates supply.

[caption id="attachment_1360" align="alignnone" width="537"] Credit: Candice Nertney[/caption]

As soon as I'd heard about this burger, I went to the local Grill'd with my father. My father is not a vegan, so he ordered a lamb burger. I told my father than I wanted the vegan burger. The menu stated clearly that the chips are all vegan, so I agreed to share sweet potato chips with him. He went to the counter and ordered the food. However, when the food came, I realized that I didn't think about the dipping sauce, which I suspect may not be vegan! Vegans are not omniscient. They should try their hardest, but if a mistake is made then learn from your mistake and move on.

[caption id="attachment_1399" align="alignnone" width="519"] Vegan sweet potato chips served with possibly non-vegan dipping sauce.[/caption]

When the waiter handed my father his food, he said, "Here's your lamb burger." He then handed me the vegan burger and blandly said, "Here's yours." There was no announcement that it was a vegan burger. I didn't know what to make of that, but nevermind. I digress.

[gallery ids="1408,1409" type="square" columns="2" orderby="rand"]

What I found interesting about the burger is that it didn't try to replace the meat with meat-like products such as soy protein or wheat protein. The patty is a true veggie patty made of beetroot, sweet potato, spinach, and quinoa. It tastes quite nice, full of flavour, and the beetroot gives it a very nice bright red colour. On the downside, like most veggie patties, it is not firm but quite soft. However, the softness of the patty is partially compensated for by the firmness of the bun.

[caption id="attachment_1414" align="alignnone" width="3264"] A close-up of the internals of the veggie patty clearly showing the red beetroot.[/caption]

What really redeems this vegan burger is the avocado, which goes well with everything else in the burger and gives it a nice creamy taste. I've been to Grill'd before when they had three vegetarian burgers but no vegan burgers. I veganized a vegetarian burger by ordering a falafel burger (called "Friends of Falafel") and, following advice from Peta, made it vegan by removing the tzatziki, which is a Greek cream that may have dairy or eggs in it. However, as a result of removing the tzatziki, the falafel burger was very dry, which turned me off Grill'd burger, and I have never been there since. Thankfully, the avocado in the new Grill'd vegan burger not only provides you with healthy fats but also gives the insides of the burger a creamy texture.

[caption id="attachment_1420" align="alignnone" width="2448"] Avocado is spread on the top and bottom, giving the burger a creamy texture.[/caption]

After the vegan burger, I went to San Churro and ordered a long black. An easy way to be vegan at a cafe is to order either a long black (coffee with water) or a soy latte (coffee with soy milk).

[caption id="attachment_1424" align="alignnone" width="2276"] Long black at San Churro.[/caption]

Nowadays I try to subtly encourage cafes to use almond milk by always asking them for a "latte with almond milk." Many cafes are starting to provide almond milk now, but about half the time they tell me that they don't have almond milk, just soy milk, so I go with soy milk instead, and I act as if I am really dissatisfied. Usually when I go back to the cafe in a month or two, all of a sudden they have almond milk! It's important to understand that the customer is king, and the vegan customer should use his or her purchasing power to influence businesses so that they provide more and more vegan products. Demand creates supply, as I said. If you make it a habit to pay assassins to kill people, businesses (and contractors) specializing in murder will be created. If you make it a habit to eat meat or other animal products, businesses specialising in the torture and slaughter of animals will be created and will grow in dominance. It's a battle between good and evil, and the best that vegans can do is to keep ensuring that money flows to vegan products as much as possible. Keep in mind the vegan flow of funds!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k9NnGyCUV8]

Review: Atman Kafe Ubud

I am holidaying in Ubud, Bali now. I found accommodation on one of the main roads (Jalan Hanoman or Hanoman Street) to make sure I could walk to important areas (cafes, restaurants, ATMs, and convenience stores) without catching a taxi. It is so much more convenient having everything within walking distance.

Along Hanoman Street there is a placed called Atman Kafe. This place seems to have two different areas, a big restaurant to the left and a smaller cafe to the right. I went into the cafe on the right because it seemed less crowded.



The place has air conditioning and free WiFi. It seemed clean and neat. There are tables, but rather than providing individual chairs they provide cushions and pillows where you can stretch your legs and more easily mingle with other people. I actually prefer this setup because it is more cosy.



While the ergonomics are not ideal, you could easy place a laptop on your lap and get some work done here.

If you're sitting at the back, there is an opportunity for you to talk to random strangers if you are a solo traveler, although no one was at the cafe when I entered, and many travelers in Ubud seem to be very shy.

Atman Kafe serves meat but had an extensive range of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free food.

I ordered the vegan hot chocolate with cashew milk and Stevia. The hot chocolate was served to me alongside a small cylindrical glass container that has brown powder. I asked the staff what this brown powder was and whether I should mix it in my hot chocolate. Their English was not great, but eventually someone told me that this brown powder was the Stevia. I mixed the Stevia into the hot chocolate and drank it. It was okay, but it wasn't that sweet. I was under the impression that Stevia was supposed to make the drink sweet.


Vegan hot chocolate

After the hot chocolate, I ordered a large vegan margherita pizza. I expected vegan cheese to be used but instead it was replaced with crumbled cashew nuts. It wasn't that bad, and I appreciated a vegan pizza option.


Vegan margherita pizza

Following the pizza, I ordered a coco oil latte, which is a latte that had coconut oil in it. It sounded odd, so I felt I needed to try it. I suspect it is capitalizing on Dave Asprey's Bulletproof coffee fad (coffee mixed with coconut oil and grass fed butter).


Coco oil latte

Consuming fat with your coffee supposedly increases your energy, but I certainly didn't feel energetic after my coconut oil latte. My fingers were greasy as well.

For all this, I paid 130K rupiah (about US$10).

This place accepts credit card but charges a 3% surcharge, so it's best to pay with cash. Make sure the cash you use has been converted using a fair exchange rate without commission or fees.

Forget About Incomplete Protein

There are many myths flying around that plant proteins are missing essential amino acids. This is not true. Just about all protein from food (with the exception of gelatin) contain all essential amino acids.

However, even though all plant protein has all essential amino acids, some plant protein has low amounts of some amino acids.

The number one rule I recommend to those experimenting with veganism is not to spend the whole day eating salads. Rather, replace meat with high-protein plant food.

The plant I rely on for protein is beans.

However, there is an important fact to remember about the amino acid profile of beans. Although protein in beans have all essential amino acids, beans tend to contain low amounts of the amino acid methionine.

However, for me, this is nothing to worry about since, like most people, beans do not comprise 100 percent of my diet. If you eat other food, there will be protein in other food, and protein from other plant food, e.g. tofu, seitan, and even bread, contain higher levels of methionine.

Furthermore, there is a significant amount of scientific evidence that shows that a low-methionine diet will reduce your risk of cancer and make you live longer. The problem most people have is that they eat too much methionine (due to high consumption of animal protein), which causes oxidative stress, which causes rapid ageing. Methionine may also feed some cancers.

The bottom line is to eat beans for protein. Beans are not only high in protein but are also extremely cheap (see Meat Eater Won't Turn Vegan? Give them Beans). Where I live, you can buy 500 grams of beans (containing 100 grams of protein) for only A$1.80 (US$1.30). Don't be afraid to get protein from other vegan sources as well, such as tofu, seitan, and even vegan meat and vegan protein powder.

Converting A Restaurant Vegan

I've been reading a BBC article about how many people in Israel are converting to veganism. This article describes how an owner of a pub that serves a significant amount of animal food decided to go vegan, and business has been really good:

Until a few years ago, Nanuchka was just a conventional Georgian pub serving traditional food like khachapuri, a cheesy bread, and khinkali, a meat-stuffed dumpling.

But then Nana Shrier, the flamboyant owner of the venue, where the walls are adorned with erotic art, became a strict vegan - in what is said to be the most vegan country in the world per capita.

She decided to convert her entire restaurant to a meatless and dairy-free establishment despite being advised against it by friends and business colleagues.

Israelis are flocking to it - and business is more successful than ever.

All this made me wonder whether it would be a lucrative business to buy existing restaurants and then veganize them.

Veganism is not only popular in Israel. Interest in the lifestyle seems to be rising in many countries. Google Trends shows that the search term "vegan" and especially "vegan protein" has been rising significantly.

Buying up a restaurant business (or starting one) and veganizing it would not be difficult. For any animal product, there is a vegan alternative. For example, if a restaurant served chicken, simply replace the chicken with vegan chicken. If there is a recipe that uses cheese, replace with vegan cheese. If there a recipe that uses dairy milk, replace it with almond milk.

Given the high quality of vegan meat and dairy alternatives nowadays, most meat eaters will not even notice any difference. Most meat eaters simply eat meat because that's what's available. Those meat eaters who really care that their meat comes from an animal and that it must be e.g. grass-fed, are few in number.

A vegan restaurant that sells mainstream food including vegan meat and dairy should not lose much business to meat eaters. However, the benefit of having a vegan restaurant is that vegans will actively search for your restaurant online.

When being a vegan, it is much easier to go to a dedicated vegan restaurant where you can order anything and know for sure that it is vegan. This saves having to tell the waiter to e.g. replace the chicken with tofu, remove all the cheese, remove all the egg, and usually after all this you end up looking weird and different.

If it is true that veganizing a restaurant will attract many vegans while scaring off few meat eaters, overall vegan restaurants should be a great business. I have always wanted to invest my money ethically, so it may be a good idea to borrow money from the bank to start a vegan restaurant or buy an existing restaurant and veganize it.

 

Supercharger Emporium

I was feeling hungry for lunch and so decided to try eating at Supercharger in the Emporium food court in Melbourne.

This was the first time I'd been to this place. The menu looked complicated. They presented two pieces of paper. One allowed you to make your own meal. Another piece of paper had four different set meals. However, the set menu was set up in a way that was very unclear. When it was all explained to me, I understood it. I actually thought that the menu was referring to many different meals when really they were just referring to different aspects of each meal (did that make sense?). Have a look at Supercharger's menu at Zomato to see for yourself.

Anyway, for newbies, I recommend you get a set meal. They have names like "immunity" or "strength" depending on what you want the food to do to you. I assume the "immunity" meal makes you immune to sickness.

You pay around $14 and you get a number. After waiting around a bit, you receive a tray usually with three bowls. There is usually a soup, some creamy mixture, and a big main bowl with salads, edamame, noodles, and all sorts of other things that I don't know the name of (luckily I took a photo).

All in all, it was very tasty and definitely very filling! I highly recommend it.