NEW vegan menus launched at Urban Beach Hotel and Urban Reef in Bournemouth caused a social media storm this week.

The launch of the plant-based menus have had over 58,000 hits on social media within four days of being released.

The new menus list dishes such as Tandoori courgette, aubergine and red onion skewers and roasted root vegetable and chestnut pearl barley risotto. It has certainly been popular with fans of all things vegan.

Francis Baumer, head chef at Urban Beach Hotel (Bournemouth), said:

“I initially created the dishes to celebrate Veganuary but because of the positive response through social media, we’ve decided to keep the menu for the whole of 2018.

“The menu incorporates all things natural and plant based and I have used local fresh produce throughout the dishes.

“People are now more conscious of what they are eating when they go out for a meal and I love creating new dishes for customers, so this is really encouraging!”

With more than 500,000 vegans in the UK, people from all across the country are wanting to try the menus from the Bournemouth-based hotel and restaurant.

The menus at Urban Beach and Urban Reef offer different dishes, giving vegan customers even more choice with the hope that they will come back wanting to try more. The hotel and restaurant will also sell Vegan wines including their house white and house red wine.

Matt Lawrence, marketing manager said: “The menus are delicious, so we can see why people are getting excited about it and not a nut roast in sight!”

Veganism is currently defined as “a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose”.

A vegan’s diet consists solely of beans, grains, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Research shows that it’s an exciting time to be a vegan.

Latest figures from the Vegan Society revealed that there are 542,000 vegans in Great Britain, three and a half times as many as ten years ago.

Supermarkets have also been recognising the ever-growing demand for vegan products and a record-breaking 150,000 people have signed up for this year’s ‘Veganuary.’