I realize posting this so soon after the post about the Gardener’s Arms might make me look like a burger addict, but I don’t care. I love burgers. Being a vegetarian and loving burgers was tricky to start with, but it became easier in recent years. You might think that being vegan and a burger lover might be difficult, but it’s not as difficult as I thought it might be. And I’m making it my personal mission to try as many different vegan burgers as I can!

Over the Christmas holidays, Phil and I dropped Poppy at her grandparents and headed to Reading for a dog-free day. After a pit stop at the cinema to watch the final Hunger Games (why did they ruin it by splitting the final book into two films? WHY?!), we headed to Handmade Burger Co., at The Oracle. I can’t remember how I discovered they did vegan burgers (yes, burgers plural!), but I knew I wanted to try them to see how they compared to the Gardener’s Arms and my own VBites burgers that I have at home. Having studied their menu and their allergens menu at home, I knew that I had choices to make, which can be unusual in a mainstream restaurant. All their vegan items are labelled, which is mega in itself. Four out of their seven veggie burgers are vegan. Four. All the chips are vegan and most of the dips. Epic!

Phil and I both opted for the cajun vegetable and bean burger. Phil added mozzarella to his and I added jalapeños to mine. We ordered a portion of the veggie skewers to try and a portion of fries each, though I had plain fries and Phil had cajun fries. The burger was epic. And I mean epic. It was filling and tasty, though they put too many jalapeños in it for my liking. I like my heat, but I need to be able to pick my burger up without the filling falling out. The veggie skewers were good too, though we didn’t really need them and couldn’t finish them. Next time we go, we won’t bother and we’ll share the fries. Getting a portion each was too much for both of us. They are thick cut chips and were really filling. I still think the Gardener’s Arms burger was better, though this was pretty good.

I was also impressed with the staff. I asked the waiter if the BBQ sauce was vegan, as I couldn’t remember and he said he didn’t think it was but he checked on the allergens menu and let me know it was. Also, the waitress initially brought over veggie skewers with halloumi in, but she corrected it straight away, before we’d noticed and, more importantly, before we’d started eating it! I would recommend if you’re in the area, if for no other reason than to have a choice of burgers!