We tried ‘Naughty By Nature’, Newcastle’s newest plant-based junk food takeaway

They even PLANT A TREE with every order made, omg

3 years ago

The three things Newcastle students spend way too much money on are as follows: going out (counting down the days until we can step foot in Swingers again), buying wavy garms on Depop and… takeaways.

There’s only so many times you can recycle your three go-to student meals each week before you get bored (any pasta dish, I’m looking at you), which is why that Deliveroo app icon proves to be so dangerous, especially now during Covid times when there really isn’t much else to do apart from eating your way through what the Toon has to offer. No food in? Takeaway. Finally finished that assignment without even filling out a PEC? Takeaway. “Have you heard of this new plant based junk food place?” Takeaway!

Naughty By Nature was launched last Friday and delivers exclusively through Deliveroo, operating every weekend between 5pm and 1opm. It describes itself as “A HipHop Kitchen Serving up the Best in High Protein, Plant Based Junk Food!”, and prides itself on its ethics, going so far as to plant a tree with every order made (in partnership with One Tree Planted).

So, we ordered a few things off their menu to see whether Naughty By Nature’s food was as great as its ethics. Tested by yours truly, a vegetarian and a meat-eater.

‘Notorious V.E.G’

The Notorious V.E.G. is two of Naughty by Nature’s secret-recipe homemade plant-based patties, topped with “cheese” and rashers of THIS Isn’t Bacon with burger sauce and garnish. As with all of their burger products, The Notorious V.E.G comes with a choice of colour for its brioche bun (all of which are fresh from Gateshead’s Original Bakehouse), and we chose to go for pink. There is no difference in flavour between the different colours of bun – Naughty by Nature state that it’s “purely for the ‘Gram”.

The most obvious first impression we got (aside from the eye-catching bun colour) was the sheer size of this burger – it was absolutely stacked. Knowing the limitations of our own mouths (no matter how much they were salivating), knives and forks were immediately dispatched to tackle this titan.

Perhaps the best thing of all about this burger was, in what is an exceptional sign, the actual burgers themselves. Naughty by Nature’s homemade patties are divinely succulent and taste very convincingly not-plant-based. Whatever that secret recipe is, we want it.

THIS is one of our favourite meat substitute brands anyways, so our enjoyment of their Isn’t Bacon resting on a bed of melted cheese was no surprise. The sauce and garnish also added flavour while not clouding the taste of the patties. A definite recommendation!

‘Can I Chick It?’

Can I Chick It? is a breaded seitan-based chick’n fillet burger, stacked with a hash brown, sriracha mayo, “cheese” and garnish. Like the Notorious V.E.G, all brioche buns come with a choice of colour, so you can pick between a choice of standard white, pink, black, and yellow (depending on what best matches the story aesthetic you’re going for).

And WOW, that’s all we can say. Between the spiced crispy chick’n fillet coated to perfection and the tangy sriracha mayo, our taste buds truly had a boogie and our junk food cravings were fixed. If that isn’t enough to get your mouth watering, we don’t know what is.

Can I Chick It? was wholly convincing and to answer your question, yes – we can definitely chick it and can’t wait to chick it again.

Via @naughtybynature_newcastle on Instagram

Also available on the burger front is the Juicy, which combines Naughty by Nature’s homemade, naturally sustainable BBQ jackfruit burger with house ‘slaw and garnish to create what is said to be one of the juiciest burgers in town. And burgers aren’t all! If you’re more of a hot dog lover, they’ve got you covered, too. The Nate Dogg tops their signature plant-based hot dog with THIS Isn’t Bacon rashers, cheese sauce and gherkins, while the Snoop Dogg takes inspiration from the Juicy by topping its hot dog in homemade BBQ and jackfruit slaw as well as the cheese sauce and spring onions.

‘Nuggets With Attitude’

As a non-meat-eater, have you ever been jealous of your housemates ordering chicken nuggets off Deliveroo? Or even wished you could just cheat for an evening as you reminisced over your past enjoyment of them before morality got in the way? Well, envy no more.

Naughty by Nature is also serving up THIS Isn’t Chicken Plant-Based Nuggets, so your food can be the one attracting the prying eyes of those around you. They are available in portion sizes of six or ten, depending on whether you’re having them as a main or as a side, or whether you’re having them all to yourself or sharing them (yeah, right). Debates were certainly had over who got the last bite of this breadcrumbed goodness!

‘Bacon Loaded Fries’

The Bacon Loaded Fries come topped with THIS Isn’t Bacon and a “cheese” sauce. Having already declared our love for THIS as a meat substitute brand, it comes as no surprise that this was the side of our dreams.

We don’t know about you, but from where we stand it’s a crime not to have fries with your burger – add a second charge if you’re passing up on the option of indulging in loaded fries. Crispy, creamy goodness: what more could you want? It would simply be rude not to. Plus, the portion is the perfect sharing size, although we definitely don’t blame you if you’re not wanting to go halves on this occasion.

We went for the bacon option, but if you’d prefer your loaded fries to be juicier, check the Juicy Loaded Fries for a smothering of homemade BBQ jackfruit ‘slaw (regular fries and sweet potato fries are also available). Fancy a saucier occasion? No problem – Dr. Will’s make delicious plant-based condiments (and were founded in the north east, too!), and Naughty by Nature offer their Tomato Ketchup, Vegan Mayonnaise, BBQ Sauce, Beetroot Ketchup and Sriracha to unleash even more flavour on your meal.

‘Still O.R.E.O Shake’

Lastly, we tried the Still O.R.E.O milkshake, a vanilla flavoured shake topped with OREO crumbles. All milkshakes are a delicious blend of dairy-free Northern Bloc Ice Cream, whipped cream and a selection of signature toppings. What other way to wash down your plant-based junk food completely guilt-free than with a heavenly shake?

If Oreo isn’t your favourite flavour, pick another fighter. Other milkshakes on the menu include Cookies & Cream, a chocolate peanut flavoured milkshake topped with cookie crumbles, Biscoff Delight, a salted caramel based milkshake with Biscoff crumbles, and The Jammy Dodger, a strawberry and yuzu shake with – you guessed it, Jammy Dodger crumbles.

After something a little stronger? You can soothe the spice of the sriracha with a BrewDog Punk IPA, Brooklyn Lager, Red Stripe, Corona or Hooch Lemon. And if your Naughty By Nature night is meant to be a bit more romantic than ours was, why not throw in a bottle of Whispering Angel Rosé? Oh, and if you’re doing Dry April and shakes aren’t to your taste, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta and water are also on the menu.

The verdict

Overall, our experience with Naughty By Nature was a rousing success – and definitely has the coveted meat-eater’s seal of approval.

Vegans and vegetarians of Newcastle rejoice: we finally have a truly great takeaway place for when we’re in a junk food mood. And meat-lovers, if you ever feel like changing up your takeaway routine, consider a plant-based option too… yes, it’s really that good.

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