Where to have a vegan brunch without missing out on all the good stuff

Going vegan for brunch needn't be an abstemious affair, says Phoebe Luckhurst 
Full of goodness: brunch at Pamela

A vegan brunch seems like an abstemious affair. You will not have meat or dairy, and therefore you opt out (willingly) from many of the usual trappings of a brunch menu: eggs, sausages, butter, bacon et al. But Club Mexicana is showing the naysayers. It has risen to the challenge masterfully: on Saturday, July 22, the team will host a one-off brunch at its Dalston residency, Pamela (428 Kingsland Road, E8, pamelabar.com).

Abstinence does not figure: there’s a welcome Bloody Maria or Mimosa to kick off proceedings, then a chilli and lime fruit cup (pineapple, watermelon and jicama, which is a Mexican yam, seasoned with lime, chilli and salt) — both followed by a vegan menu that reworks verboten carnivorous treats.

Eggs Benedict becomes poached “egg” and “bacon”, made with clever substitutes complete with a “yolk”, served on a toasted corn muffin and dressed with a splash of hollandaise sauce. And chick ’n’ waffles are made from a meat substitute and drizzled with maple syrup. For dessert, it’s sweet masa dumplings with dark chocolate sauce and cinnamon sugar. That’s far more fun than a fry-up.

And there’s more good news for hard-living vegans. On Saturday the London Vegan Beer Festival returns, held across three workshops at Hackney Downs Studios. Brass Castle will be running a beer bar indoors while the Beer Market is a riotous collection of beer and street food stalls.

Once you’ve worked through all that, the Beer and Wine Café promises a more sedate offering: the wine is, needless to say, also vegan (veganbeerfest.co.uk). Veg out.

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