Bottomless Brunch is pretty much everywhere now and you can find yourself in a mucky quagmire when it comes to deciding just which one to go to. It’s even worse if you’re vegetarian or vegan – things really start to get tricky.
Well as a rather magnanimous man I’m here to help. With my rather large ears to the ground I discovered that Black Dog had introduced some impressive new vegan options to their Brunch Menu and as a big fan of their Bottomless offering – I went down to check it out.
So starting with the offer – every Saturday and Sunday Black Dog in the NQ offer a 2-hour Bottomless Brunch for £25 where you get a choice of brunch dish and a wealth of drinks to choose from.
There’s Prosecco, Bloody Marys, Mimosa, Red or White Wine, Cans of Lager or Pale Ale or Hot and Cold Drinks. Phew.
On top of a long list of American and British breakfast classics they’ve also introduced 4 new vegan options; Veggs Benny, Smashed Avocado, a Full English and Chkn & Waffles.
We started on the magnificent Vegan Full English which is a huge plate packed with vegan sausages, vegan bacon, scrambled tofu, garlic & soy mushrooms, rosemary roast cherry tomatoes, a homemade hash brown, avocado, beans and toasted sourdough.
As you can see from the picture – this is a considerable amount of food, and as you’d expect from a Full English brekkie – it’s all perfectly balanced. Once you get over the rather odd looking vegan bacon you’re in for a treat – everything is excellent.
I should point out that the hash browns in particular were a revelation, and the vegan sausage actually rather fantastic. I was a little unsure about the scrambled tofu at first but it’s actually really good when paired with the other bits of the brekkie – much like scrambled egg for the non-vegan version really.
Next up we tucked into the classic Smashed Avocado, which is usually a decent vegan option on most menus and indeed is an excellent choice here. On top of the sourdough is the avo (obviously) as well as some of Black Dog’s lovely rosemary cherry tomatoes – all drizzled in a Balsamic glaze.
For such a classic you can’t go wrong – Black Dog have pretty much completed the Smashed Avo offering, and the tomatoes and balsamic are a nice touch to a dish that can sometimes be pretty bland without a shit ton of seasoning.
Alongside the Smashed Avo we tried the interesting Chkn & Waffles – a vegan version of the classic gluttonous American brunch dish that I’m sure everyone eats in places like Kansas & Arkansas.
When it arrives I reckon you’ll be mightily impressed with this dish – it looks almost the same as its non-vegan counterpart with only the vegan bacon arousing any sort of suspicion that this isn’t meat. The ‘Chkn’ looks like it could have been plucked out of the Colonel’s garden and the waffles look exactly the same as their eggy brethren.
It’s hard to explain the texture of the vegan chicken – it’s kind of a little bit like actual chicken but not – a little like Quorn chicken but not. Words escape me. Not to say that it is in any way unpleasant – it’s actually pretty nice and once you pour the maple glaze all over the lot – you’re in vegan heaven trust me.
There’s also a Veggs Benny option, which is Scrambled Tofu on Sourdough with sSoy and Garlic Mushrooms, Vegan Hollandaise, Hash Brown and Chive Oil. We were too full to try this one but if it follows the same rules as the other 3 vegan offerings – it’ll be great.
So if you’re vegan and you’ve been struggling to find some viable options for your Bottomless Brunch on a weekend – Black Dog is certainly a contender. Available from 11am – 4pm in two hour slots, it’s only £25. Enjoy.
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Vegan Bottomless Brunch @ Black Dog
Date: Saturday & Sunday
Times: 11am – 4pm
Cost: £25
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Black Dog, 52 Church St, Manchester M4 1PW
0161 839 0664
