Celebratory vegan bagels and donuts in Shoreditch

Medical students get examined a lot. Like a lot. While it's horrendous when you're in the middle of it, it makes good sense - after all, who wants a doctor (or wants to be a doctor) that doesn't know their stuff.

After last year's end of year exams, we all went down the pub to celebrate. Hundreds of worn out medical students all crammed into a small pub to duly force down beer in honour of dragging our sorry hides through another week of dragging up knowledge from the depths of our full up brains. Rather than feeling like I wanted to go out partying, I just wanted to go and lie down quietly and sleep for a thousand years, while the hard-won knowledge of the last year seeped out of my ears while I dreamed.

This year, rather than turn up for a drinking marathon that I'm far too old and tired for, I decided to celebrate my first day of freedom by stopping off for a quick lunch before getting on a train to visit an old friend.

Said old friend is a great cook, and always has a fine supply of homebaked vegan treats and rum waiting when I turn up. She's the only person I know that drinks as much teas as I do too, which is a bonus.

Before I went down to see said friend, I got some scran in Shoreditch.

First port of call: The London Bagel Company. It's a food truck in Spitalfields that does all sorts of bagels, including a vegan bagel burger called the Rattlesnake.

The last time I stopped by, the Rattlesnake was off the menu while LBC was trying to get the recipe just so. This time, I was in luck and the Rattlesnack was once again being dished out to anyone with a few quid and an appetite.

Behold:

I loved the bagel, the slaw, the blueberry relish, but I'm not entirely sold on the burger itself - it was a bit on the stodgy side. Maybe I just got one that hadn't properly cooked through - perhaps next time I should just ask for the bagel burger without the burger?!


Then I decided to go check out Crosstown Doughnuts, which not so long ago started selling vegan doughnuts.

The vegan flavours change each week, and I got the rather unassuming looking vanilla glazed (they also do vegan versions of the cinnamon scroll and chocolate truffle).

The vegan donuts get their veganity from coconut butter, oat milk, and chia seeds, which means you do occasionally get a little seedy crunch in there, but I can live with that for a solid donut.

These donuts aren't cheap, but they are large - you could pretty much find a tree and a bit of rope, and make yourself a donutty tyre swing. They're really rather good. (Just to be clear, they don't look as much of a mess as this - this was just what it looked like after a couple of hours in my bag. They're much prettier when you buy them fresh.)

So there you go: you might have thought the best way to celebrate was an alcoholic drink. Turns out a donut is also pretty good too.