Recently I blogged about Aberdeen finally opening its first ever 100% vegan café. If it took the city itself until 2017 to offer consumers this options, can you imagine what the surrounding countryside must be like - given that cities tend to be better than tiny villages for vegan choices.

Weirdly, it's not that bad. I've blogged before about the Chinese restaurant/take-away Tiger Lily in Oldmeldrum (where I went for my 24th birthday meal) and on my most recent trip home I found another gem: Formartine's, a restaurant and health food store in a seemingly random location (aka, a country road).

Situated on the the junction of the B999 and B9170, and one mile from its nearest town (Tarves), this isn't exactly where you would normally expect to find a food store that specialises in natural and organic food. When my mum first suggested going there to meet a family friend for lunch, I was especially sceptical - but she reassured me that she had been there before and everything would be fine.



Technically there isn't a vegan option on the menu, but my mum (being a lot more brazen than me) asked if there was anything that could be made vegan - turns out they do regularly prepare a Mediterranean platter board for vegans (I wasn't the only vegan there that day, clearly word has spread about this unofficial menu option). Now, I know what experienced vegans must be thinking: a Mediterranean platter with bread, olives and sun-dried tomatoes - isn't this the kind of option we're sick to death of? Well, kind of. But please take my word for it that this is an exceptionally high quality platter with an assortment of doughy breads, rich olive oil for dipping and tasty nuts perfect for sprinkling on top (which left me feeling satisfied and full).



Aside from the restaurant, there is an attached food store that sells plenty of goodies marked as vegan, from both well-known retailers and local producers. The products on the shelves range from tea, to local craft alcohol, to vegan chocolate. There also a pet section and a deli counter.

Just like Bonobo Café I wouldn't say Formartine's is reason enough for all the vegans of Scotland to rush up to the North-East. I would personally much rather support a café that embraces modern-day diets and lifestyles with official menu choices rather than somewhere that forces me to be that awkward vegan. Maybe if Formartine's added the platter to their menu permanently and added another wee option I'd be more inclined to recommend it for a day trip.



For me, the shop was the highlight of my visit and I definitely see myself making a visit when I'm back up the road again to give it a little bit of support (my mum sometimes even pops by for some local brands instead of heading into the city).

Countryside living isn't always the easiest for someone with dietary requirements of any kind, so it's really positive to see Formartine's setting up shop on what is literally a country road with no surrounding businesses or houses. If you live in the Tarves/Oldmeldrum/Methlick area of Aberdeenshire I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Have you been to Formartine's yet? What did you think of it? 

Morag x

When you take a week off work to visit your parents in Aberdeenshire, the to-do list can expand quickly. Going for a family BBQ, visiting your 96-year-old grandmother (yep, my gran is pushing the big 100), stopping by your favourite independent shops, seeing how the place you grew up has changed and, erm, playing Pokemon Go. 

Something I love about my adopted-home of Glasgow is that it's an easy place for a non-meat eater like me to find some grub. So much that the place was named the UK's most vegan friendly city by a certain animal rights group that I don't like and will go unnamed. However I spend trips back to my actual home town slightly more hungry as Aberdeen hasn't quite caught on to the vegan trend (from what I can see anyway). However, when I was having a nosey at Christy's Aberdeen foodie map I came across Foodstory Café to which has answered some of my Aberdonian vegan prayers.

Foodstory is a small independent café located on Thistle Street (near the orthodontist that so many Aberdonians seem to recall from their teenage years) and they literally do tell the 'story' of the food they sell. They have boards up detailing where their suppliers are located and they mark out gluten-free options, raw options and - what's important to me - vegan options. Food labelling at its finest.



My mum was with me and even though she's not vegan she is supportive of local businesses and ethical shopping. We went in on a Thursday afternoon but the café was still very bustling for this time of day (and year) with a wide range of customers from business people from nearby offices and school kids out on lunch.

I'm not used to standing in a café struggling to choose but with so many vegan options available (and teas and teas) I held up the queue a bit. And when I say plenty of options I'm primarily referring to the cakes as there were several vegan slices on their counter. However I settled on a raw chocolate cake and an almond slice topped with avocado-based cream. This was first time trying a raw cake and it tasted exactly like actual cocoa powder and is a very acquired taste.



I can't remember the name of salad we picked but they were beautiful, especially the one that I believe might have been satay style. We also kept it simple and went for a green tea to share which came in a super cute filter jug with a timer so we knew when it had brewed.

As regular readers will know I'm not up in Aberdeen all that often, and my knowledge of the local foodie scene is very limited. Maybe there are lots of vegan-friendly places nestled about and I'm just unaware of them. However, I know Foodstory is popular with a range of people - such as Christy of Dinner Stories and quite a few Aberdonian friends from school etc have liked the page on Facebook.

You should all go stuff your face full of food served with its own story.

Morag x

A week ago I turned 24 and me and my friends went out to Akbar's Glasgow for some curries and a giant naan. However, celebrating my birthday by stuffing my face didn't end there as I headed up to Aberdeenshire to see my family and my parents took me out to a Thai/Chinese restaurant called Tiger Lily in the Aberdeenshire town of Oldmeldrum.


I'm not up-to-date with my Aberdeen/shire restaurants these days as I only get up about three times a year, but apparently Tiger Lily has become quite popular despite it's slightly isolated location (Oldmeldrum is a decent sized-town but it's not the 'main' one in that district). My mum had previously been there with some of her friends in the summer when it was very bustling (we went in cold November so had the place almost to ourselves) and her friend who is a vegetarian was very impressed with the range on offer. I've said before but vegetarianism is still easier in urban areas so it was nice to see a countryside venue offer a good selection, and even better a Chinese restaurant which isn't a 'safe' cuisine for vegetarians.



For my starters I had vegetable skewers. The vegetables were nice in their own right and they tasted as though they were cooked in soy sauce (my fav), however the sauce that went with it was lovely (they don't have a website so I can't check what kind of sauce). My mum had a chicken and sweetcorn soup whereas my dad had wantons.



For main, both me and my parents had red curry with fruit, however I had the vegetable version whereas my mum had hers with chicken and my dad with duck. It had quite a lot of sauce compared to solid food however the sauce was lovely albeit very spicy for my tastes.



The decor of the place was beautiful (and is within an old converted cottage) and I actually think it would be a nice place to take someone on a date, albeit not if your date lives ages away as the roads around the area are very dark (I forgot how terrifying it can be to drive in the countryside at night). They also do a take-away which I noticed was busy that night and the place has a very central location just off the main square of Oldmeldrum. If you're a foodie or vegetarian I'd recommend taking a trip out to Oldmeldrum for this wee place.

If you're one of my Aberdonian readers, have you ever been to Tiger Lily or any other restaurants in the area?

Morag x

P.S. Tigerlily doesn't have a website but you can have a look at their Facebook.

Whilst I'm off work, and in Aberdeen, I usually like to take some time to explore the shops and the city centre during the week whilst the streets a bit quieter. After a trip into town for some new work clothes my mum picked me up and decided to drive me out to an area of Aberdeen I'm not as familiar with for a bit an explore.

We headed out into the Cults area of Aberdeen which sticks out to the west of the city and is generally considered the 'posher' end of town in hunt of a few independent shops. After raking through dresses in the Chest and Heart Foundation shop and an independent shop I can't remember the name of where I decided I couldn't justify an £80 price tag for what could have been the most beautiful jacket I've ever seen (f you can justify that then this nameless shop is along Great Western Road) me and mum stopped for a bit to eat and a latte in a small café in the same area called Terroir Deli.



It's a cute and tiny café which sells the generic stuff a café would - there was no soya milk option so I had myself a regular coffee with a shot of caramel syrup whilst my mum went for a latte, and we shared the hummus platter. I didn't take a note of what was on the plate whilst there - but from the photo I can see some toast, some kind of fancy melba bread, olives, artichokes, salad and sun dried tomatoes (there's also also glass bottles of water on all tables).





Despite the simplicity of what was on offer on the counter, the real selling point of this place was that it doubles up as a food shop. And by food shop I mean it sells just about every kind of tea. And jam. And it sells crackers in a variety of flavours. Oh and snails. Yes, snails. Naturally I didn't buy a packet but if you're living in Aberdeen and are just having one big snail craving - this is apparently where you need to head.

And there's cute bathrooms:







Which called for a selfie:



I wouldn't head along to Cults just for a cup of coffee or a hummus platter. But of you live in (or are randomly visiting) the Cults/Garthdee/Bieldside/Mannofield area of Aberdeen (maybe you attend RGU?) I'd stop by for a wee coffee and a platter after looking at over-priced jackets on the same street.

Or you could head out there after returning from holiday in France.

Morag x

When I was shopping in Aberdeen last week I decided I wanted to stop in by an Aberdeen cafe for lunch. I was looking for a quaint off-beat place but independent places don't ever seem to last long here and after a hunt around the Belmont Street area I decided to give in and go towards Union Square. The restaurants in Union Square are the usual cluster of TGI Fridays et al that you get in 'quay' areas but one or two different ones had popped up, including the Latin American restaurant Las Iguanas.



Having been impressed by the prices and the vegetarian selection (rare for a Mexican place) I opted for their lunch deal where you can get a slightly smaller portion, and add in a starter either for £1.50 or £2.90. It was quite empty whilst I was in and I spent some time ooh-ing over the menu as the selection was so good it took me a while to decide which dishes to get.


For starters, I opted for the veggie empada with a brie & mango filling with corn & sweet chili salsa.

And for mains I went for, the "the full enchilada" with roast butternut squash, roasted red peppers, spinach & gooey cheese. I know it doesn't look that appetising in the picture but believe me it was delish! 

After all this I was still hungry and having been impressed by the meal so far I decided to have a sneaky look on their dessert menu. They had quite a 'mainstream' dessert selection but I settled on the 'Affogato Cubano' which was mainly because it had some rum in it!


There was also a really impressive drinks section with all sorts of rums but I was there by myself, during the afternoon, having a three course meal and taking photos of it so decided I probably shouldn't draw too much attention to myself. But I would love to return to this place - it looks like it would be perfect for a birthday meal or just a good place to come with friends in the evening.


Morag x