The AlleyCat

Tucked down an alleyway off the high street, The Alleycat is the latest and greatest restuarant and cafe to hit the food scene in Inverness. Owned by the team who brought us JVNK, The Alleycat blends traditional cafe and pub fair with an all vegan twist. If you've been following me for a while then you probably saw my rave review of JVNK here on the blog and I went back several more times, taking friends and family along with me.

I went for lunch with my foodie friend who is completely omni though loves trying new things so we could have an honest opinion from all angles. We went in at around 12.30 and the cafe was quiet but quickly filled as time went on. There was a slight wait for food but in a good 'I know this is freshly prepared' kind of way rather than a 'for gods sake' one. Its also worth bearing in mind that this was their first week open and that a member of staff had called in sick as well. The menu is split into 3 sections ... breakfast (served between 10 and 12 though the all day is, well, all day) lunch ( served from 12 till 5 and dinner from 5 till 9. There is also a drinks menu featuring soft and hot drinks while I believe you are more than welcome to bring a bottle for a corkage fee. I have popped pictures of the menu at the bottom of this post.

The huge (for me) menu meant I spent a while deliberating over what to have, even though I have been drooling over it since it was posted on facebook. Having had food from JVNK before, I knew everything should be delicious and this made it doubly hard. Fortunately, I have fantastic friends and my dining partner is more than happy to share food which meant we could try a little more.

We started out with a milkshake each while we decided on exactly what we wanted to eat. I went for a simple vanilla which is always a great test of the quality while my friend had a chocolate milkshake. Made with their signature homemade oat milk, the shakes were just the right amount of sweet without being sickly or pudding-y. The big dollop of squirty cream on top had us both nose diving into the concoctions with my friend declaring she prefers vegan squirty cream. I have to admit, we both scooped it into our waiting gobs with our fingers - classy!

Decisions finally made, I chose the all day breakfast - a novelty for me having been vegetarian for nearly 20 years and mainly vegan for the last 10. The dish as a whole was really lovely,  the sausage and bacon were perfectly cooked and the hash browns ( a personal favourite wherever I go) were a total delight but the crowning glory for me was the scrambled 'egg'. As someone who has been allergic to egg since birth, I was a little nervous for this in-case the texture or flavour triggered me but it went down a treat. While the textures and flavours aren't exactly the same as those of a traditional cooked breakfast ( I consulted my friend), this was one great plate of food we would both have been happy to scoff.

My dining partner chose the coronation chicken baked potato, a personal favourite of hers, and declared it was the best she's ever had. The baked potato was well loaded with filling and perfectly cooked to soft fluffiness while the filling was well seasoned and drool-worthy. I had a mouthful and nearly stole the plate. A crisp salad of iceberg lettuce and red onion accompanied the dish, with both elements fantastically fresh - always a good sign to me.

The portion sizes of both dishes were excellent, enough that we felt full but not so much we couldn't sample the selection of cakes and hot drinks on offer...

I chose a hot chocolate, again topped with the squirty cream, to accompany my chocolate chip cookie while my friend had a coffee with a chocolate brownie.

Again the use of the oat milk gave creaminess and a softness of flavour to both the hot chocolate and the coffee, with the coffee beans being ground in house too. The baking was delicious as well, crumby and soft with a fantastic bake.

Overall, we loved our meal at the Alleycat and while I feel I've probably used the word 'delicious' a few too many times, it really was. We are already trying to work an evening visit into our schedule so we can sample the new range of puddings.

I would highly recommend that anyone, vegan or otherwise, tries Alleycat and helps support a new, local business. The team are already great and I can see this cafe going from strength to strength and quickly outgrowing its current home.

When you go, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!

JVNK pop-up by Friends Not Food

I hadn't planned on another restaurant type review this week, I was going to save this foodie adventure for a later date but the food was so incredibly good that I have to share it now. Based out of Blend on Drummond Steet, Inverness; JVNK is a vegan pop-up restuarant on Friday and Saturday nights. The menu features a selection of sophisticated takes on classic junk foods. I went ,as with the night at the Phoenix, with my omni friend who also loved every mouthful. Ideal for those wanting to try new foods, I would recommend this to anyone and can't wait to go back.

The menu was huge (for someone who is used to two options on a 'good' menu) so I had been looking at it, trying to decide for about a week before we went and still took at least 15 minutes once we were there. Fortunately my friend likes just about everything so we decided to split everything we ordered between us and I didn't regret that decision at all, everything was incredible.

We started with a dish of garlic mushrooms and a plate of tempura veg (I can never resist this) with a black bean sauce. The mushrooms were properly garlicy in the best possible way and had been cooked to perfection, soft but not slimy which can be very hard to do. Crisply battered, the tempura veg were delicious but the dip was the crowning glory for me, Im not often a fan of black bean dishes as they can be bland and almost gritty but this balanced sweet and savoury, cutting through the batter of the tempura.

We then ordered the garlic and onion fries, the haggis loaded fries, the signature burger and the Scottie dog. Everything was mouth-wateringly delicious but I think for both of us, the garlic and onion fries were the best part of the meal. Perfectly cooked fries dusted with garlic and onion salt, we would both have happily scoffed a huge plate of these to ourselves with no other accompaniments.

The haggis loaded fries were also a triumph, the fries topped with home-made haggis and whisky cream sauce for an indulgent take on the classic loaded fries. We both loved these, scraping the bowl clean.

For the signature burger, a lightly toasted bun encases a home-made seitan burger topped with the classic ketchup, mustard, onions and pickles. I am not usually a fan of 'faux-meat' foods and have to admit I was nervous but the burger was incredible, Im pretty sure my 'YUM' after my first bite was audible down the street.

The Scottie dog featured a tofu-weiner loaded with the haggis and whisky cream sauce. This was possibly the funniest part of the meal, watching my friends face as she tried to get her head round the fact that this was vegan. Having not had a hot dog that I can remember, this was a delightful new dining experience for me but my friend loves a good hot dog and said this was definitely up there for her.

Overall, I would rate this as one of my top dining experiences of all time, the food was delicious and the portion sizes well thought out. I would highly recommend this to anyone, vegan or not, and will be taking as many friends and family as I can.

Please go and support a fantastic local business.

Enjoy!

Vegan Night at the Phoenix

This weeks post is a slight departure from my normal recipes but it still celebrates food... A local pub, the Phoenix on Academy Street in Inverness, has started doing a monthly vegan food night once a month. Having heard mixed reviews, I had to go try it for myself and was pleasantly surprised. I went with an omni friend who thoroughly enjoyed her meal too so its well worth a try, even to support a local business.

The menu featured three options for each course with two courses coming in at £9.99 and three courses (which we obviously went for) at the grand total of £14.99.

My friend and I both chose the Tempura Veg with Tomato dip for our starters which was utterly delicious. The crispy batter coated a selection of vegetables and the tomato dip was just tart enough to cut through any greasiness from the batter. I'm a huge fan of anything battered so tempura is always a win with me.

For our mains my dining buddy had a chickpea curry with rice which was well balanced and an excellent portion size. The spicing was delicious and a nice selection of vegetables ran through the slightly creamy sauce. A couple of poppadoms or even a vegan nan bread would have made the dish perfect but all in all it was a fantastic effort and definitely tasty.

My main of Moroccan veg and quinoa stew packed a punch on flavour but for me the portion could easily have been halved. Ideal for a winters day, the dish needed an accompaniment of either a chunk of bread to dip in or some green vegetables to lift its richness.

For puddings we were spoilt for choice. I went for a childhood favourite of bread pudding and custard which was sublime. The bread pudding was packed with cinnamon and raisins. The chef had created an unusual but delightful twist by using seeded bread which added wonderful texture and crunch which can so often be a sad and soggy bowlful.

My friend decided to sample the toffee apple upside-down cake which was divine. A combination of soft apples drenched in toffee sauce topping a light sponge made this dish the triumph of the night for both of us.

Overall, we had a lovely evening. The presentation of the food could be refined and there was only one member of waiting staff who was running around but did do a great job of attending to everyone. The room also felt far more like it was designed for functions rather than as a dining room for a restaurant but as  a new enterprise it was great.

Whether you are vegan or not, I would recommend this night as a great way to try different foods and support a local business which is trying to branch out.