The Nourish Co

Last week I happened to be in Colchester for an appointment so I decided to stop for lunch at one of the towns newest vegan cafe's The Nourish Co. 

What with the other vegan cafes such as The Den at 23,  Découverte and vegan caterers / street food stall holders V Catering Co., Colchester is quickly making a name for itself as the vegan hot spot of Essex. Last Summer it even played host to the Colchester Vegan Fair at the popular vegan friendly venue The Waiting Room. And best of all, it's not too far from where I live! 

I frequently visit the Den so I was looking forward to finding out what The Nourish Co had to offer and to see how they differ from their competition just up the road.   

The Nourish Co is a very small and cosy establishment which has limited seating inside, including a nice window spot with bar stalls perfect people watching. Despite the fact that you can choose to dine in here it would seem that this cafe is a real hit with customers who are looking to grab a quick take away lunch. During the hour that I sat in there many people stopped by to pick up a hot drink and a sandwich. It was great to see how busy they are and, despite being a relatively new cafe, it's clear that they are already a popular choice with the locals.

The menu is quite small but also really inviting with lots of freshly cooked and prepared plant based offerings. I decided to order the vegan BLT sandwich and I just couldn't resist the lure of one of those sausage rolls which I took home with me for later. 

As soon as I had explored the options I realised straight away how The Nourish Co differs from the Den. Whereas the Den offers up some really tasty fake meat style burgers, sausages and indulgent sweet treats, The Nourish Co's focus appears to be on offering more healthy options using purely vegetable based ingredients. That's not to say you can't get a healthy meal at the Den, because you most certainly can, but the Den is also where we go when we want our vegan junk food fix!        

Along with the ever changing daily specials menu there's also a fridge stocked up with drinks and what can only be described as beautiful raw desserts and sweet treats. I was really pleased to see that the desserts were packaged in handy little take away cartons as I definitely wanted to take away some of the chocolate pie with me!  

As well as food, The Nourish Co also has a few shelves dedicated to selling vegan friendly cosmetics and food items.

When my sandwich arrived it looked great and exactly what I wanted for a quick lunch time pit stop. This was my first vegan BLT experience and I have to say it was really delicious! Bacon was replaced with smoked aubergine and it even included some homemade garlic infused vegan mayo. I thought this was a really simple but innovative idea and one that I shall definitely be trying myself at home.

After my sandwich I decided to go in for a cup of tea and one of the amazing looking raw white chocolate flapjacks. This was loaded with nuts, seeds, puffed rice, buckwheat and oats and tasted incredible. In fact i've been craving another one ever since!   

In my take away bag I added a mushroom & lentil sausage roll and a slice of the berry mousse chocolate pie, both of which I enjoyed later that evening at home. The sausage roll was really tasty and it made a change to eat one which wasn't really trying to be like meat. I think the raw pie is one of the best vegan desserts i've ever tasted. To look at it was stunning and taste wise I wasn't expecting a great deal from a raw pudding but it was to die for! 

Overall I really enjoyed my first visit to The Nourish Co and i'm sure it won't be my last. The staff were really friendly and helpful, the food was healthy, innovative and importantly really yummy, and the prices were also reasonable. I would definitely recommend stopping by if you ever happen to be in the Colchester area! 

You can keep up to date with The Nourish Co's latest offerings via their Facebook & Instagram pages where they regularly post photos of what's on the menu.

Have you been to this cafe yet? What did you think?