Manna, London - Nov. 16th, 2011

(See our Manna, London post from November 2009 here)
It was our 20th wedding anniversary and we spent it in London, and had our dinner at our favorite London restaurant, Manna.


Twenty years of marriage! (24 together.) Still happy.

This is the "ravioli" (£8=$12) "a crisped ravioli filled with wild mushroom & walnut pâté with fennel cream sauce, sundried tomato pesto & balsamic reduction" I think they should call this an "empanada" because it resembles an empenada more that a ravioli because it's not made out of pasta, but more of a pastry. Regardless, this the BEST thing ever. So good. If you go to Manna you are missing out if you don't try these babies.

This is the "Bangers and Mash" (£14=$21) "organic fennel and pumpkin seed sausages on a bed of parsnip & carrot mas h served with cavalo nero on a red wine, leek & thyme jus" This is their signature dish, and they nail it. I have had this before, and it's great every time.

Deanna got the "Pasta of the day" "cherry tomatoes, courgettes, some kind of soy cream sauce." (We can't remember very well!) She liked it, but we were trying to go a bit lighter since we had come a few days earlier and gorged ourselves to the point of pain.

Yeah, we have 3 photos of this dessert.


Deanna is gushing about this! "The best dessert of our trip!" She says. I must admit it was pretty incredible. Its the "Cranberry & orange cheesecake" (£8=$12) "served with ameretto brittle ice cream and butterscotch sauce." They hand make the ice cream, and the combination of that with the perfectly made cheesecake is bonkers.

If you are vegan and going to London, treat yourself to some fancy vegan food at Manna, you will not regret the choice.

Thanksgiving at Native Foods

Deanna and I decided that our Thanksgiving dinner would be at Native Foods this year.

I don't think either of us care too much about the meaning of this holiday. We grew up with it, and enjoy the food centered aspect of it, even after going vegan 20+ years ago. We are very thankful for what we have and like the thoughtfulness attitude of the day, but the traditional pilgrims and indians ideas are total BS. And of course today's turkey genocide centered theme is the worst.

So here is the food. Native's vegan Wellington, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, polenta, cranberry sauce, green beans, and not shown: Green leaf salad and a very nice Waldorf Salad.

All of this is presented in an all you can eat buffet style. You can pile your plate up high just like you might at home.

We enjoyed our food very much. The food was great, the atmosphere was festive if not a bit impersonal (compared to being with family, or even having a regular waitress.) And we didn't have to cook! The dessert was not so hot. They had 3 pies, pumpkin, chocolate, and pumpkin cheesecake. The ones we had, cheesecake and chocolate were mushy, and not inspired.

Eating this food did spurn us to make Thanksgiving type food later in the week though.

I would do this again, the food was excellent, and the price is right. But it feels a little weird not being with family or friends, no matter how bad the food might be with them in comparison.