For years, vegetarians, vegans, and pescetarians have been subjected to boring bean burgers, yawn-inducing salads, and tactless tarts. And whilst all of these can occasionally pack a punch and hide an exciting flavour beneath their all-too-familiar exteriors, many non-meat eaters have become very, very tiresome of the mushed-up-vegetable genre of veggie food that they are often served by waiters and loved ones.
Two months ago, I was told I’d be going to Glastonbury as a member of the press. And although I was thrilled to be sporting a cool lanyard and production wristband at my first ever British festival, my anticipation increased tenfold when the realisation dawned on me that I’d be able to sample some eccentric and immensely exciting festival food, all whilst being paid to watch some of my favourite artists perform.
Getting my bearings on day one of the highly-anticipated Worthy Farm event, I stumbled across so many intriguing food options; this is hardly a surprise, considering there are over 400 traders offering their goods to the hungry revellers of Glastonbury. After much deliberation, I decided to opt for some vegan fried chick’n for lunch on Thursday (June 23).
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Approaching the black stall, emblazoned imagery of an angelic noodle bowl and a hammerhead shark emerging from a bowl of tipped over noodles, I perused the menu of Notso. Vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters who are partial to a veggie option had five appealing options to choose from, written on the board beside the counter.
Branded ‘twisted Japanese street food’, Notso offers katsu curry, yaki noodles, a katsu burger, chips and curry sauce, and okonomi style chips. Not too hungry due to the muggy air currently suffocating Glastonbury, I opted to order the katsu burger with chips out of pure curiosity.
By itself, the katsu burger costs £10, with the addition of chips setting customers back another £3. On the basis of my limited festival experience (I went to my first one earlier this month), I’m of the opinion that £13 is pretty standard for a substantial meal at Glastonbury.
Between two toasted buns, the katsu burger offering layers a fried chick’n burger, vegan cheese, Notso mayo, Asian slaw, pickled cabbage, and tonkatsu sauce. After placing my order, and having to wait to the side for two or three minutes, the friendly team dished up my burger and chips and popped them on the side.
Rather than your conventional burger van condiment options of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, the food hut offered two Asian-inspired sauces to squirt over your meal. These were Thai honey sticky sauce, and a garlic, ginger, and chilli infusion, both of which I zig-zagged over my chips.
Sitting down beside the partially-constructed Other Stage - where names like the Pet Shop Boys, Years and Years, and Megan Thee Stallion will be playing this weekend - I eyed up the vegan delicacy I had in front of me. This modern, veganised take on the classic burger and chips combo that meat eaters have enjoyed time and time again was very visually appealing, especially with the addition of sauce.
I’m a ‘save the main event last’ kind of person when it comes to eating, so my fingers - cut and bruised from trying, and then failing, to put my tent up yesterday - darted straight to find comfort in the chips. Spoiler alert: they did.
Crisp and fresh from the fryer, these were some incredibly pleasing skinny fried potatoes. Wearing little potato skin top hats, the flavour of the chips was accentuated by the sweet, sticky sauce that had been drizzled over them. Honestly, forget the burger, each one of these chips were their own main event.
Except I couldn’t forget the burger, because it was what pulled me to the food stall in the first place, and the reason why I even had the pleasure of enjoying the perfectly-cooked chips. I was a little nervous as, in my four years of being vegetarian, I’ve had the best and worst of the meat alternatives, and I was even more scared to sample the vegan cheese.
When you ask vegetarians why they aren’t vegan, many of them will say something along the lines of, ‘I just love cheese too much’. Although vegan alternatives have come on leaps and bounds in recent years due to the dietary movement gaining more popularity and technology progressing, vegan cheese has been a let down for many time and time again.
Sadly, biting into the burger I bought with such high expectations, I was reminded why I too will (most likely) never be vegan. I really, really hate to say it, but the taste of the half-melted grated vegan cheese was disgustingly similar to the gag-inducing strong yet sweet smell of chicken faeces that we encountered upon our arrival to Worthy Farm.
Of course, you expect the smell from a working farm, but you really do not anticipate it to end up in taste form your tongue, and lurk around like a literal bad smell. Sadly, I do not have much to add, as the vegan cheese was really overwhelming.
The chick’n, from what I could taste, was pretty pleasant. It was a healthy off-white colour, much more appealing than some chicken alternatives I’ve tasted previously that have presented a grey faux meat filling between breadcrumbs or batter.
But if you are at Glastonbury this weekend, and you’re interested in trying some good vegan food - I would definitely recommend trying Notso, just not the burger - unless you’re keen on generous helpings of vegan cheese. The noodle options ordered by others looked and smelt fantastic, and the chips were the freshest I’ve had for some time.
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