Just in case I didn’t bore you enough the FIRST time I went to Moscow, I thought I’d share my second trip with you. This is mostly because one of you reading this might feel compelled to want to make it a holiday destination, or simply because you are nosy and want to see what I get up to in my spare time!
I flew with Emirates who offered great vegan meals:
And at this point, I have to say that I just risked MAJOR backlash as a LOT of SA vegans have been complaining about the vegan options on Emirates. I am 99% sure that what Emirates does it that it outsources its catering, which means that depending on where you are in the world, you may or may not have a pleasant experience with the vegan offering. I had great food on all four of the legs of my journey, so no complaints from me.
I always get asked what my REAL job is. I can assure you – it is NOT Cape Town Vegan. I went for my REAL job, which this time involved taking a group of students over to Russia to perform in a BRICS Festival. The show they had to do was called A Servant of Two Masters, and I was in charge of the music for it. Last year we did a South African version of Romeo and Juliet (which I performed in), and we were asked to do it again this year, which means I reprised my role of Mercutio and got to perform his epic monologue in AFRIKAANS (!) in an outdoor park. Who can say they’ve done THAT?
I decided this time around to scout out as many decent vegan options as possible, and was surprised to find a fair amount on the HappyCow app (which I downloaded from the iTunes store).
List of places worth checking out (that I went to, obviously):
- Falafel Bro – was weirdly closed when I went to go check it out, even though the closing times were posted everywhere.
- Floranofauna – an awesome stand/stall inside an INCREDIBLE three-storey food market (called Central Market) that made a great Baked Lime Cheesecake.
- Fresh – the ULTIMATE vegan restaurant that could give almost all vegan restaurants a run for its money. An insanely extensive menu (both in terms of food and drink). I kept going back for the burgers! I think I ate at Fresh four times in ten days. Only gripe – the price: hellishly expensive! Their sweet potato fries weirdly cost more than any of the burgers (R100). I can highly recommend their BBQ Burger (R80) or their Thai Burger (R80) that had a gorgeous peanut sauce smothered all over it.
- Happy Vegan Shop – struggled to find this one situated behind a block of apartments in a residential area, down a flight of dark stairs and through an unmarked door. Writing this now, I’m surprised I was brave enough to enter, but once inside there was the tiniest little vegan store. I walked away with a bottle of kombucha and some unmarked chocolate logs which were SO good. I devoured them in a nearby park!
- RA Family – an odd restaurant, again situated in a basement of an apartment building, but bright, an open-planned serving only raw vegan options. Steer clear of the cold “cheese” soup but make sure to try out their cashew cheese-filled raw samoosas: INSANELY good. Their hot chocolate is also good.
- Cafe Sok – fairly extensive menu, although none of it is in English! My boss ended up getting a vegan stir-fry and I ordered some vegan sushi as well as an odd Russian staple which I saw on many menus – a sort of circular conglomeration of tofu, peas and mayo that was surprisingly delicious
- Ugol – we had the worst luck: went here and their power was off so we could only have tofu wraps. Moscow loves its tofu. Too much tofu. Great grungy vibe as probably the most affordable meal for two – two wraps and a beer: R100.
Awesome things to do in Moscow if ever you go visit:
- The Charity Shop – for thrift clothes shopping. I thought I would NEVER set foot inside one of these until I saw how amazing the clothes were. OMG. I HATE clothes shopping, so if I loved this, then you must know!
And now some photos, cos… you know… if you didn’t photograph it, it didn’t happen:
If you have any specific questions about my trip, PLEASE ask below, and I’ll add the answers to this blog post xxx
