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Bread Meats Bread is one of the most famous Glaswegian institutions going. Famed for their “Wolf of St Vincent Street” burger, they’re known to do meat well, and even serve it with a side of more meat, on fries (read: bacon fries).
I consider myself to have burgered with the best of them and this hasn’t changed since adopting a vegan diet, so I was delighted to see that Bread Meats Bread had made provisions for herbivores with a veggie menu consisting of three burgers which can all be made vegan. In lieu of the veggie menu, with their new Great Western Road store opening just five minutes from the university and the inclusion of an upper circle offer that gets you 20% off ‘til 1 December if you flash your subway card, I decided to take it upon myself (and my waistline) to try all three of their veggie burgers.
The “Beetroot and Baba Burger” was my least favourite of the three. The menu describes it as a “beetroot and peppadew pepper falafel burger, served on a bed of beetroot infused baba ganoush and (for vegans) balsamic dressed peppery leaves”. This burger was laden with Lebanese flavours, with the taste of the beetroot well-balanced, however I found it slightly too coriander-heavy, and generally not as sloppy a burger as I would’ve liked in a sea of “Full House” burgers, which is why it holds slightly less favour than the other two.
The “Mexican Falafel Burger” was the next one went for. I’d previously tried a variant of a falafel burger at the St Vincent Street chain a while back, but was keen to try their Great Western Road rendition. It’s described as being a burger made of “chickpea and black bean falafel” served in a vegan brioche bun with hummus, salsa and spicy veganaise. The Mexican flavourings were particularly good in this burger, with the patty dense and satiating. I think the only thing missing was some form of leaves to balance the burger out, as aesthetically it looked slightly sparse. It was a good falafel though, if slightly dry, but that was balanced out by the hummus and salsa so this wasn’t overwhelmingly obvious. I’d definitely have this burger again.
The real star of the show, however, is their “BBQ Pulled Mushroom Burger” – the stuff of Pinterest dreams. By cooking pulled king oyster mushrooms in smoky barbecue sauce with onions and grilled peppers, Bread Meats Bread has created a plant-based pulled pork burger which packs just as much flavour as the real thing. The vegan option comes served with pickled cabbage and tofu and miso sauce which offsets the sweet smoky flavour that comes from the mushrooms. This burger is stuffed-to-the-brim-sloppy, and you will get barbecue sauce over everything within touching distance, but it’s so so worth it. A true 10/10.
Lest we forget the sides. A shout out must be given to their humble chips, which are honestly some of the best I’ve had at a burger chain. The sweet potato fries are also really good, and not overcooked, which is something which happens with sweet potato fries far too frequently. Sadly their onion rings aren’t vegan, but with skin-on fries this good I promise you won’t miss them. Whether you’re already veggie or vegan and want somewhere to eat with your friends that caters for everyone, you hate feeling so heavy after a standard burger, or you just fancy cutting back on your meat consumption without compromising on taste, Bread Meats Bread is a good ‘un.
