Dinner (vegan & GF) at PAVE with good pals...

Rocket & Roses Play List:

Fleetwood Mac ~ Man of the World
A Perfect Circle ~ Orestes (Acoustic)
Cyndi Lauper ~ Time After Time
Little Angels ~ Young Gods
Eddi Reader ~ Howling at Ojai
John Denver ~ Like A Sad Song
Blake Shelton ~ Who Are You When I'm Not Looking
Evanescence ~ Last Breath
Doris Day ~ Tis Harry I'm Planning To Marry
U2 ~ With or Without You
Maroon 5 ~ How
Katy Perry ~ Mannequin
Newton Faulkner ~ Straight Towards The Sun
Shakira ~ Inevitable

I had a very lovely day yesterday despite my body trying to ruin it..lol. I had a great time with ML, my sister and the little ones..although M was busy at a birthday party being Darth Vader for a while..lol. Saturdays are always a special day to me..I love the time with my sister.

Mid afternoon we had plans to meet up with three of our closest pals for a catch up and general 'how are ya?'. I wasn't sure if I was going to be up to it but thankfully managed to pull some energy and Brit grit from somewhere and got to the bar. D, B & St were already there and way into their herbal teas...Yes we know how to party in our gang!! lol. And it was only 4pm folks! We met at a cafe/bar called PAVE in the avenues part of the city. For a look at the bar this is their website..we were sat at the sofa'd area. So we were comfy, had nice things to drink and chatted merrily for an hour and then decided to eat there too..

Now it's been a while since I've eaten there and the last time I did my only option was hummus and sliced up pitta so my expectations weren't great. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find not only one choice for my meal but a few. There were many vegetarian options which could be veganised if asked (I know this because D told me so..lol) and the vegan options were good and I was even happier to find a vegan and Gluten Free offering.

D had eaten at PAVE often and so asked her for her opinion on the meals, as she is vegan too. And a little discussion I decided on the Jamaican Pepper Pot meal which was the GF option.

D decided to have the vegan house special option which was Butternut Kutta with an additional side salad. 

So we ordered our meals and carried on chatting, happily until the meals arrived.

It was a very bittersweet gathering as the main reason we were there was because one of our much loved gang is facing a very serious operation on Tuesday because of that damn disease Cancer...so we were gathered together to show our love and support for her. And I have to say the woman is amazing in the face of the enormity of the battle she is heading into. Much respect and love going out to you my lovely pal.

NB All photos were hastily taken by ML on the Blackberry so are not going to win awards but great effort and greatly appreciated..thank you ML ~R~

My meal was the first to arrive and was served in a standard wide rimmed white pasta bowl and the rice looked divine and the Jamaican Pepper Pot was colourful and vibrant and the chopped Coriander/Cilantro scattered across the top made all the dish come together and 'pop'..lol. Now as I always do I mix my meal up so the photo below is after my mixing so maybe isn't the best representation of the dish but hey..it still looks good to me..lol

PAVE's Jamaican Pepper Pot

The rice was perfectly cooked and the Pepper Pot stew was a good blend of sweet potato chunks, succulent peppers and courgette pieces. For me I would have liked a little more of the sauce which was spicy and hot. The cleanness of the fresh coriander/cilantro was a great addition to the dish. I really enjoyed every mouthful and wasn't left feeling too full afterwards..always a bonus! lol.

 

Butternut Kutta with homemade flat bread and side salad.

When D's meal arrived it made my mouth water as I love the chickpeas..but you folks know that right? lol. The Kutta looked rich and comforting as the butternut and chickpeas sat in its sauce. D said it varies each time you order it just how much sauce you get with the beautiful veggies and yesterday's dish came with very little. The spice mix also wasn't as evident as normal so instead of a heady spicy dish it was a comforting and tasty dish. The flat bread came on a separate plate and was cut into four quarters which looked good too. But as I'm trying to steer clear of wheat for a while I resisted trying. (It was very hard!!) And the salad was a great mix of the usual salad suspects with mixed olives and herbs added for good measure. And it was clear to see D enjoyed every bit of her meal and I will definitely be trying it next time.

The atmosphere in PAVE was very relaxed and the music was great. It's a great space and the tables and sofas are placed so that you aren't sat on each other which is always good in my opinion. The food was good value and really good. Even the meat eaters commented on this...and I look forward to going back sometime in the future. And would happily recommend the bar to vegetarian and vegan pals.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a lovely Sunday?

~R~