A place I will revisit – if only for the Artisan Gelato. I don’t like to anticipate, but the matcha and pistachio ice cream my friend and I took as a dessert were amazingly creamy and full of taste. And vegan.
Veg & Veg is situated in Paceville on Dobbie Street and very easy to find once you know the way. Follow St. Gorg Street to the club area, but turn right before into little Gort Street. Second street left (Paceville Street) and next one right is your destination of vegan deliciousness.
Although Veg & Veg is directly located on the street, don’t be afraid of being disturbed by noise. Dobbie Street is quite untrafficky . The little outside area has 2 tables with 2 chairs each. So we got lucky as both were free when we arrived at lunchtime, since we wanted to enjoy the light summer breeze that day. The inside area still had enough available tables, and everything looked clean and fresh.
Inside and outside were boards showing the menu of the day, different smoothies and the counter showed the variety of gelatos (about 6-8 sorts), a vegan cake and other delicacies.
The friendly waitress took her time to show us the menu and to chat a bit. I found that a nice gesture and could feel that she was totally behind the restaurant’s vegan concept.
Since I was not too hungry at that time, she didn’t hesitate to offer me different alternatives for smaller dishes and eventually altered the menu of the day so that I had the lentil soup with a fresh salad and bread with a pineapple and mango smoothie. My friend decided for the lasagne. We were told the dishes would arrive within 15 minutes.
After we ordered the place slowly started to fill – a good sign actually, but we were happy we arrived a bit earlier.
While we waited for our meal, we started observing our table: the decoration was pretty and simple, and in a fresh turquoise. The only contrast came from the serviettes, which were orange – a nice complementary contrast (which I told my friend, couldn’t help to let the designer’s education speak from me).
But in fact, it was the cutlery that caught our whole attention: it was made out of wood and emphasised the restaurant’s natural ethos.
Our dishes were served in time and well presented. For me, it was just the right amount and the lentil soup was a delight – the taste relegated me to my childhood, just a few herbs were slightly different and gave it an Indian touch.
The fresh salad consisted of tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, olives, lettuce and red cabbage topped with a light dressing and some vegan grated parmesan (which came really close to the original). Adding slices of soft wholemeal bread was just the right choice. The smoothie was not to be sniffed at either, as it was freshly made and a vitamin boost. All in all, I had an enjoyable dish.
My friend, who took the lasagne, was definitely happy about the size. Eventually she got full. Unfortunately she missed some taste, as it was a bit insipid. Because it was just the piece of lasagne on her plate, she would have also appreciated some food decoration or a few vegetables on it to make it look more appealing (especially in comparison to my dish).
When we got in to pay the bill – moderate prices by the way – we decided to have a dessert on the way, but didn’t know what to take. As we noticed the great variety of vegan Artisan Gelato, it bit us with enthusiasm. And back to the beginning of this article – it was delicious!
