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domenique
Nov 26th, 2007, 06:28 AM
Hi,
I just joined yesterday! :) I’ve been searching for some answers both here and on the web with no luck. After pulling some hair out I decided to write.

My husband and I want to travel to Scotland this coming spring. We have never been there. We would really love to see the Highlands as well as some of the Islands, and can’t leave out Edinburgh and Glasgow. Of course as vegan travelers we are afraid of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no Vegan food.
What are some of the most vegan friendly places in Scotland? I looked on Happy Cow and was surprised that there are no Vegan or Veg friendly restaurants in all of Inverness, just a few shops … and when they close so early /closed Sundays, that might leave us screwed. I hope someone can tell me otherwise.

What we are looking to do is fly into Edinburgh, stay there a few days and drive to Glasgow, stay there a few days, then drive up to Inverness and stay there a few days and drive west and take some tours of the Islands. Or am I fooling myself? Does this sound like something Vegans can do? :rolleyes: I know it sounds stupid but we were in a similar situation recently in Wisconsin ... boy, did that suck!
I just wish there was a Vegan tour that would think of all these things for us.

Any info would be greatly appreciated :D

Stu
Nov 26th, 2007, 10:52 AM
Sorry that I can't answer your questions, but my favourite creature is the Highland Cow:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/HighlandCow.01.jpg/600px-HighlandCow.01.jpg

Scotland is ace, by the way. But be sure to bring a warm coat.

Sluggie
Nov 26th, 2007, 11:07 AM
Edinburgh's brilliant for vegans. Make sure you visit Hendersons for the vegan haggis. :)
http://www.hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk/

If you are driving, I would stock up on vegan snacks when you're in Edinburgh though, because I suspect you may find it a little harder out in the wilds.

bryzee86
Nov 26th, 2007, 11:12 AM
yeah I was thinking that, as you're driving, it would be easy enough to cart your own supplies around.

Joeybee
Nov 26th, 2007, 11:22 AM
I love that cow, how hairy are they? ! Awww bless.

AnneCE
Nov 26th, 2007, 11:47 AM
Edinburgh is good for vegans - my favourite places are Susie's Diner and the Mosque kitchen (they use olive oil rather than ghee and you get rice, and veggie curry for £3 - usually a choice of three or four - I usually have dhal and spinach but they also do mixed veg and chickpeas) - both on West Nicholson Street.
Like others have said, stock up when in Edinburgh - Real Foods have two branches - both fairly central http://www.realfoods.co.uk/ for details.
I don't know too much about Glasgow, but I do visit Inverness regularly and there is nowhere really I would recommend. My partner lives there and we don't eat out much anyway, but never in Inverness. However, there is a good health food shop at 20 Baron Taylor's Street where we stock up. I'm going up again for Hogmanay (New Year) and will keep my eyes and ears open for any changes.
http://highlandveggies.org/ has good information but not sure how up to date it is.
I don't know about accommodation but you might be better going self-catering? Hope other people can tell you more because I'd love to know of more vegan-friendly places anywhere in Scotland.

Aberbrothock
Nov 26th, 2007, 03:14 PM
Not sure about the rest of Scotland, but Glasgow fares pretty well for vegans.
Mono bar and bistro - completely vegan
The 78 bar - vegan/organic food
13th Note bar - vegan/veggie
Grassroots cafe - veggie/vegan
EN Trading - veggie/vegan

More info here at the University of Glasgow's Vegan Society pages... http://www.gla.ac.uk/clubs/vegan/glasgowshops.html

harpy
Nov 26th, 2007, 04:28 PM
Yes, Edinburgh and Glasgow are both fine. Can't vouch for smaller places as I haven't been to any up there for a long while, but IIRC quite a few small towns have an Indian and/or Chinese restaurant that can often be more helpful than "British" ones for vegans? Pizzerias will often do you a more-or-less vegan pizza as well - i.e. a veggie one without the cheese - you might want to check what's in the dough. Pizza Express is a chain that's good in that respect and they seem to have a branch in Inverness.

I always take stuff like nuts and fruit with me when I'm travelling so that if I can't find a suitable restaurant I don't get too desperate. If you're going to be driving it should be easy to carry emergency rations.

Marrers
Nov 26th, 2007, 04:41 PM
Might be worth doing some searches for vegetarian B&B's (Bed & Breakfast) which can usually cater fro vegans. At least you could start the day with a full stomach. Some will also do an evening meal.

It is some years since I toured Scotland but we found veggie places to stay - can't remember where though. Also on the Isle of Skye which was lovely.

ETA Have a look here:- http://www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/vegetarian.htm

Guide book:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/189917141X/theinterneguid07/

domenique
Nov 26th, 2007, 06:03 PM
Thanks for all the great advice!
Just got the book Scotland the Green, I’m sure it will be very helpful too.
I figured driving would be our best bet. I don’t want to be in that situation where a bus stops for food at a KFC, McDonald’s, etc. :eek:. Not that I know they do that there, you probably don't even have such disgusting places outside the cities, but they do in the US, and I’d just rather avoid the situation.

Awww, the Highland cow is a big puppy :D and so stylish. Hope we see some of these beautiful guys.

Heartsease
Nov 26th, 2007, 08:28 PM
I don’t want to be in that situation where a bus stops for food at a KFC, McDonald’s, etc. :eek:.
Awww, the Highland cow is a big puppy :D and so stylish. Hope we see some of these beautiful guys.


You would'nt need to worry about McCrapsters/KFC here on the West Coast...

And...those cute, cute, furry coos are abounding here on the Isle of Mull. There's a deli in Tobermory that sells some good vegan munchies.

And...wow...I think there are two vegans on the entire island (humans, I mean)....

Tesco and the Co-op in Oban (on the mainland) sell enough vegan food to keep you going...and there's a very lovely healthfood shop called Millstones. People there are ace. And the place smells as delicious as it did 19 years ago when I worked there as a young 'un.

Simon
Nov 27th, 2007, 08:23 PM
There's a great little shop called the fruit and nut place in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. The owner of the shop is a vegan and they sell lots of vegan stuff.

I go up to highlands and islands of Scotland a lot and have never had any problems with food but I always self cater when I go so don't know what the situations like with eating out. If your going to the islands there aren't a great deal of resturants to chose from and u may be a bit stuck for a vegan choice.

Good luck, I'm sure you will have a fantastic time. It's an amazing place to go.

Declan
Nov 28th, 2007, 01:50 PM
Also in Glasgow, a new place opened a couple of weeks ago called Stereo, owned by the same person who owns Mono and the 78. It's very central, but when they say it's down an alleyway they mean it very litterally, if you didn't know it was there you would never walk past the dumpsters to get to it. But it's really good :) it was meant to be an organic bakery too, unfortunately the one time I went they'd only been open a few days and so hadn't started making their desserts/breads etc yet.

If you go to 13th Note you HAVE TO have one of the brownies, they're the best thing I've ever eaten. Ever.

AnneCE
Nov 28th, 2007, 02:45 PM
Declan, is this (http://www.stereocafebar.com/) it? If it is where I think it is, it will be very handy for the bus and train station. And more than makes up for Pret stopping their vegan sandwich (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=389856) which was where I used to grab lunch when I went through to Glasgow.
And I've found a very handy guide to vegan Glasgow here (http://gvn.rhizomatics.org.uk/glasgowguide.html).

Declan
Nov 28th, 2007, 03:42 PM
That is indeed the place, and very good it is too. It's very very handy, as you said, for either train station and the bus station, it's not über-expensive and the food is really excellent.

There are also places owned by the university which do Vegan, and which are open to the public. The best palce for anything hot (apart from soup) would be One A The Square in the main building

domenique
Nov 28th, 2007, 11:19 PM
Dunvegan?! I thought I read it wrong, how cool is that, Castle Dunvegan. It’s now added to the list of attractions.

Mmmm brownies! We’re going to be making a lot of stops :o

Simon
Nov 28th, 2007, 11:35 PM
Dunvegan?! I thought I read it wrong, how cool is that, Castle Dunvegan. It’s now added to the list of attractions.

Mmmm brownies! We’re going to be making a lot of stops :o




If your going to Dunvegan castle theres a really cool beach if u carry on up the road a couple of miles. U have to walk for about a mile to get to the beach from the car park. The beach is all made up of small bits of calcified coral and looks really cool if u take a close look at it. Heres a pic of the beach

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/grogan197/Scotland%20Volunteering/coral-beach.jpg

Roxy
Nov 28th, 2007, 11:46 PM
Beautiful!

Heartsease
Nov 29th, 2007, 12:52 AM
There are some lovely beaches on Mull too...Calgary Bay is very nice.

http://www.mull.zynet.co.uk/accommodation/calgary.htm

Heartsease
Nov 29th, 2007, 12:55 AM
And on Iona.

http://www.isle-of-iona.com/

domenique
Nov 29th, 2007, 01:12 AM
Gorgeous! Any other recommendations of places to visit in Scotland are greatly appreciated. I've got some books and checked online, but it's always better to hear it from awesome vegans who have experienced them first hand.

AnneCE
Nov 29th, 2007, 05:57 PM
Hi Domenique, thanks for starting this thread, am finding out about new places!

I've thought of another three vegan-friendly places in Edinburgh that I regularly go to

1) Jordan Valley on South Bridge, very near the Royal Mile, a shop which sells a range of stuff like locally-made vegan flapjacks, hummus, aubergine pate, spinach and lentil pate, etc. plus lots of Middle Eastern imported goodies like fig jam. Good place to stock up for a picnic...

2) the Filmhouse (http://www.filmhousecinema.com/) on Lothian Road, independent cinema with a good cafe bar where the soup is ALWAYS vegan (though they only offer Flora and butter with the rolls :( Keep meaning to contact them about this!) and there are other vegan and veganisable stuff on the menu.

3) the cafe at Out of the Blue (http://www.outoftheblue.org.uk/index.htm), a community arts centre in Leith, just north of the city centre and where I live, which does a vegan chocolate cake ( unlike any other place in Edinburgh who don't do sweet vegan stuff too well though you might get a vegan flapjack at Susie's Diner). I've not had a meal here and their website doesn't have any mention of the cafe but I will investigate. It's got lots of history and art and humour. For example, the roof has some leaks so you will see lots of different coloured buckets hanging from the rafters.

Still interested in hearing about other vegan-friendly shops, cafes, B&Bs especially in the Highlands.

domenique
Nov 30th, 2007, 06:33 PM
Thanks AnneCE! Loads of great info here.
It makes it so much easier to sight see, knowing there are great place not far off. Especially when you’re limited on time ... the last thing you want to do on vacation is spend the entire time tracking down a place to eat.

When I was recently in Wisconsin, a place we spent hours getting to (listed as Vegan friendly) didn’t even know what vegan is. When I said no dairy, honey … they asked if Chicken was ok :eek:. Fortunately they did have something vegan, they just didn't know it :rolleyes:
But then again, I ran into many restaurants that didn’t know what olive oil is, but that’s another story, sad, sad story :(

AnneCE
Dec 15th, 2007, 04:04 PM
Entirely for this thread's sake, I went to Stereo today while I was in Glasgow. Had a great cooked breakfast and took home a portion of blackcurrant cheesecake, which I have just finished. First time in a long time that I have had a cooked breakfast or a cheesecake! Both delicious.

Their menu and other details are http://www.stereocafebar.com/ It's a nice place, not too pretentious, staff are very nice but it is a bit hard to find. Worth making the effort though. Now I've got some place to go when I am through in Glasgow.

Sluggie
Dec 15th, 2007, 07:51 PM
That was very public-spirited of you AnneCE, to go to so much trouble for the sake of research. Keep up the good work. :)