Vegan Paradise New York City!

Since my NYC Post turned out so long I thought to make an additional special blog entry only for my vegan experience throughout my travel tour. I've also collected so much unexpected content and facts, it simply deserves to get an own review! As mentioned in my New York post already we checked out loads of different supermarkets and a couple of vegan places. 

To list a few important facts I noticed over there:

- One of my favorites: You literally have the option to choose almond milk everywhere! It's even more common than soy milk what I highly appreciate since almond milk tastes much better in coffee. Big thumbs up for that! 

- I came across so much vegan chocolate with sea salt and also lots of accidentally vegan sweets with peanut butter. Two of my favorite things that I miss here in Germany, especially sea salt chocolate(we had one at Aldi once in a special sale which you can get in the standard range in other countries. It tastes like heaven)

- In some stores you can actually buy pre-packaged vegan cake and sweets. Never seen that before here in Germany. I'm not sure if I was just lucky but there were two stores next to each other on our street just 3 minutes away from us who had so much vegan prepackaged meals. Not only cake but also salads, pasta, rice etc. The vegan cakes were marked with a pink marker.

- You can see the nutrition/calorie facts on nearly everything, even on the menu in restaurants and localities. Honestly, I find it a bit unnecessary and strange. It might be good for people who follow a special diet, but it's very triggering and not important for people who actually follow their cravings and their feelings instead of rules or control. Good that it hasn't affected me at all as I don't really care about it, especially when I travel around. 

- In Germany you are lucky if you can choose between 3-5 different hummus flavors. In the store I went they had a whole shelf with probably 20 different ones!! I didn't take a picture of the huge hummus shelf but this one here was another.

- Let me just say one word: Oreos. 

Germany: maybe two or three different vegan ones. America: All the fucking flavors you can imagine! Just look at that shelf below. And this was only one I spied in all the markets which had even more of them.  I even saw Peeps flavored Oreos in one market. 

- Next words: Clif Bars!!! In Germany we have around 5 different flavors available in stores like Rossmann and DM. In America you can find all flavors including my new obsession - The Nut Butter Filled Clif Bars! God are these tasty!! I stuffed my bag with a couple of flavors to try back home with me too. Like a Clif Bar obsessed hamster haha. Went for Chocolate Brownie, Carrot Cake and Toffee Peanut Buzz!

- Since all good things come in threes: THE COMPLETE COOKIE. Ugh sorry but this is just so exciting to me as you can get your hands on these literally everywhere. There's at least one flavor available in every super market! I made a review of the Snickerdoodle flavor in this post but also had a whole box of White Chocolate Macadamia which is my favorite so far. I knew it's a thing in America but I didn't know it is like a steady product in every single market and open-late store. I'm just stunned!! Soft, fresh and chewy cookies whenever wherever you want. One reason not to live over there. I would have one of these probably everyday haha. I took one Double Chocolate Cookie to taste back home with me. I made researches where to get them online in Germany and found them on Muskelmacher Shop where I have ordered the flavors I haven't tried yet!

These here by NuGo that I found in one store were also vegan but I was too focused on the Lenny & Larry's haha

Another part which is necessary to mention are the drinks and beverages. I've never seen so much choice at one place. The thing is I'm not a fan of smoothies, juices or drinks at all as most of it has added sugar in it or is made with regular milk. Here there were so much options and brands that I've never seen before somewhere else! I can also highly recommend you the cold brew coffees by the brand Califia Farms that I found and bought in UK also. The Salted Caramel one was heavenly!

and these here below were in a Japanese supermarket. Cuteness overload!

- Additional personal opinion: Daiya cheese is gross. I remember my first experience with that cheese on pizza two or three years ago at the Veganz opening in my town. Someone gave me a small slice to taste and I felt really weird afterwards as it has such a really artificial, plastic-like taste which gave me troubles to breath normally. The taste in your mouth also lasts so long. Guys, this is not cheese. It's not. Please try out something else if you haven't yet. There are much better alternatives outside!!(Violife, Jeezini, Wilmersburger, self-made almond cheese etc. just to mention a few)

This one here is nut cheese made from cashew nuts. I wish I would have tried it as the packaging looks so good already. Nut cheese is definitely my favorite and it's healthy too!

Butter and Vegenaise

Loads of different yogurt made from soy, almond and coconut milk. I regret that I didn't buy the Hazelnut Pudding by the brand Zen as it seems to be quite rare on the market.

Frozen pizza and other meaty and fishy substitutes. Gardein is a great brand which I can highly recommend you!

also Jackfruit. Probably one of the newest wonders in the vegan world as it's such a great substitute for like pulled pork which you really need to try!

and to give you a nice dessert, vegan ice cream pints as far as the eye can reach!! I also spied the new vegan Ben and Jerry sorts but surprisingly in one store only. There were loads of other brands though. Thanks to god that it was cold as fuck outside. Otherwise I would have lived off these!!

Now a few other pictures and a couple of "accidentally vegan" tips from me:

This here is powdered Coconut milk. Thought that's super interesting as I have never seen that in Germany before

Vegan Mashmallows!!

Organic Maple Butter because damn, that sounds good!

Same for this Walnut Butter. I know lots of nut butter but this one here seems to be out of the German market.

This here was Vegan Jerky in different flavors. I bought the Maple Bacon flavor and it tasted amazing! Even my meat-eating friend Dan was surprised. It smelled a bit like dog food and also tasted like that somehow, but not in a bad way at all :D

This was peanut butter popcorn ugh. Can't believe I didn't buy it

Nutter Butter Cookies! 

I had these on my Amazon wishlist for so long and finally could try them out without paying tons of bucks on it only alone for the shipping.

If you love peanut butter and chocolate together you just HAVE to get your hands on these cookies! Literally the best cookies I came across accidentally. Yes, I had no idea that these are vegan. It was one of these moments when you grab something heavenly looking while turning it around to find out it doesn't contains milk or stuff while checking it for another 10 times as you just can't believe it. 

and lastly something you can't eat( I mean, well...maybe you can...) this magazine that I've spotted on my way back home to Germany at the Stansted Airport. Just because I thought some of you are interested!

Since the supermarkets were an exploration adventure itself we didn't even need much to eat out anymore. I would like to recommend you two places which I really liked. The first one was an organic café and restaurant which we came across spontaneously. It's called Le Pain Quotidien and offers great vegan options as well. I was craving a nice breakfast so went for the oatmeal with banana, walnuts and maple syrup cooked in almond milk. Very yummy, especially with the fresh mint on top! Along with an almond coffee of course. They also have savory things like avocado on toast, soups or salads. The locality is comfortable, the WiFi is great and the stuff super friendly. Very recommendable in case you are around the corner.

The second place which really deserves a good review is called by Chloe which is a 100% vegan and plant based company. They have a couple of places located in different states of America like LA, Boston and NY. I also saw that they have one store in London which I need to check out next time! 

We went there after the R13 Denim fashion week show so I was super hungry from excitement. The place was quite full as we arrived there at lunch time but it completely depends when you actually go there. The menu is so colorful that I had troubles to choose as I was craving for the Mac n' Cheese but also the Spicy Thai Salad as I go crazy for peanuts. Then the staff told me about a brand new meal which isn't on the menu yet, the Fish & Chips and that sounded amazing to me as I was looking for a vegan option since forever already! The "fish" itself was made from tofu wrapped in nori sheets. It wasn't that fishy, yet it tastes so good as it was soft on the inside coated with a crispy fried shell. The sauce which tasted like remoulade was just so damn good. Served with big fries and peas in a creamy sauce. I also added a side of sweet potato fries as these are simply the best! You are also able to get yourself two different dipping sauces, as much as you want(perfect for a sauce addict like me) one was red beet ketchup, the other spicy mayo. Both tastes great, especially the ketchup! 

As dessert, which I took with me, I got two different chocolate cupcakes that I shared with Dan in the evening at our hotel, one sugar coated cookie with coffee flavor and a chocolate chip cookie which was the best of all. So soft and chewy ugh. I'm getting cravings right now just by thinking of it. You should really get yourself one in case you stumble across one of the places of by Chloe!

So all in over I have to say that you definitely won't get hungry over there at all. I'm surprised that I didn't go back home in a food coma as I usually need to try out everything I see, which as impossible this time haha. I'm just still stoked by how much you can find in America. I knew there's loads, but I didn't know it's a completely new vegan heaven!!!

♥