Could a carnivore stomach Britain’s first vegan hotel?
Meat-free haggis. Feather-free duvets. And even eco-friendly toilet roll! SOPHIA MONEY-COUTTS checks in for a very woke weekend
for dinner. In the dining room is one big communal table, which means everyone has to talk to one another. This might be asking too much of some Brits who prefer separate tables.
We sit and introduce ourselves. On both nights I’m there, the majority of guests are vegan, with a few vegetarians thrown in for good measure.
‘I’m, er, actually an omnivore,’ I nervously tell the man I’m sitting beside. He’s called Steven, comes from Fife and is currently working on Glasgow’s first vegan film festival. He and his wife have come here out of curiosity, having been vegan for ‘many’ years.
Across the table is a woman who works in sustainability in Edinburgh, sitting beside her husband, but I can’t tell you their names because his family are livestock farmers and would ‘disown’ their son if they knew he had visited a vegan establishment.
Every night there’s a five-course dinner, cooked alternately by two chefs: Donna and Deborah, who are both vegans.
The first night we’re given Thaiflavoured falafel, followed by roasted vegetables with a curry mayonnaise, a mozzarella and orange salad, plus spinach and ricotta ravioli, finished off with apple pie and custard.
The second night it’s lentil soup, a selection of antipasti — including a small potato scone, hummus and some olives — a Waldorf salad, the ‘famous’ 1875 haggis with whisky sauce and a chocolate tart.
As a greedy person, I worried in advance that I’d be left hungry. I’ve also long been cynical about some vegan foods: take the vegan burgers you now find at certain chains, which are often made from alarming-sounding ingredients such as pea protein, maltodextrin and so on.
Can they really be much better for you, and the environment, than a burger made from mince?
But nothing at Saorsa 1875 is processed. The cheeses are made from soy, cashews and lemon juice; the curry mayonnaise from oat milk, olive oil and lemon juice; and as for the haggis, it’s fashioned from lentils, kidney beans, oats and Sandra’s secret ‘special spice mix’. It’s delicious.
Breakfast isn’t bad either. I come down in the morning to find the table laid with vegan cereal, including homemade granola, raspberries and blueberries, a breadbasket beside a toaster and a pot of something called Vego. This is vegan Nutella, made with hazelnut paste and cocoa cream, instead of milk powder.
I ask for a vegan croissant. This is the only food I wouldn’t wholly recommend because it’s made from a spread called Naturli’ (its main ingredient is shea butter) and is too oily. But I didn’t miss eggs and bacon too much.
I couldn’t do it full time, though. Talking to the other guests, I realise it’s their whole lifestyle and belief system.
Steven, like several others, is a vegan for ethical reasons and believes it is wrong to eat animals or support the dairy industry. I almost wish I could feel as strongly as him about it, but I simply don’t.
Like many of us, I’m eating less meat these days for health reasons — and when I do eat it, I buy it from a butcher — but I doubt I’ll ever fully give it up.
Sandra has big plans for the hotel, which include yoga retreats and installing hot tubs.
If you’re a vegan looking to meet like-minded souls, it might be just your thing. But book it early, because they’re busy and already filling up for Christmas.
Last December they served mushroom Wellington on the day itself but, if you ask nicely, you could persuade one of the chefs to knock up a haggis.