Vegan friendly restaurants in UK (outside London)

[Lilac Hamster]

Watch out at Pizza Express! Not as good as I thought they were!

We were there today at the one in Kingston Rotunda and had to pick off a few bits of melted cheese that had been accidentally dropped onto our pizzas!

It was definitely not intentional that the cheese was on there, just a little bit of contamination but a little of it had ended up on two of our pizzas. We have been to several other PE branches before and never had this happen to us before, they have always been very careful making vegan pizzas as far as we know.

We ate the pizzas and just picked off the little bit of cheese because we felt it would have been worse for animals and the environment if we had caused them to be wasted and insisted on replacements, and we did not want to cause a huge fuss or make ourselves as vegans look really bad and awkward, but we did make sure the waiter knew there was some cheese on them! We also pointed out that as ethical vegans contamination is not serious for our health, although we'd prefer it not to happen, but for a dairy-allergic person this could have been serious so we really hope they will be more careful next time they get anyone for ANY reason wanting no cheese.

Lesley

[Cloudy]

Next stop Blue Moon cafe and the Brown Bear watch this space for Kev's review.

Sounds like a plan, although that should be a Saturday afternoon jaunt to catch the Bear at its best

Good to see you both, hopefully do the same sometime soon!

[catmogg]

Well i'm checking out The Mangla as soon as possible!!

[alisont]

Went to an Italian bistro in Worcester Sat called Puchinnis. They offered lots of vegan pasta sauces and pizzas - cooked in their own area of the kitchen, they use vegan cheese on the pizzas and offer normal or gluten free on pasta and pizza bases. The manager told the waiter to move the parmasen cheese from the table as i was vegan - she thought it would offend me..........

Nice to go into a non veggie/vegan place and find staff who understood the word vegan!

Alison

[Kevster]

Was recently in Oxford and went to the Magic cafe, errr, was a bit of a vegetarian heaven, are there no vegans in Oxford or had they eaten all the cake before i got there? In total about six types of cake was on display, and there were a couple of pieces of vegan flapjack, that was OK. I also had a cup of Yogi tea that was nice.

[gertvegan]

Not sure whether the Cobra ale is vegan ?

As far as I'm aware, Cobra, Tiger, and Kingfisher are Vegan.

[harpy]

As far as I'm aware, Cobra, Tiger, and Kingfisher are Vegan

I do hope so!

By the way, talking of Neal's Yard, has anyone been to the World Food Cafe? I have only been once but it seemed nice, and fairly vegan friendly (as is their recipe book of the same name which I bought in Oxfam). It's not open in the evenings though.

[RedWellies]

There are two cafes in Hereford that are vegetarian with some vegan options: Nutters, and the cafe at All Saints Church (literally in the church which is cool!). Also, Bill's deli, although serves meat will provide something for vegans(jacket potato with hummous and salad for example).

If I want to eat at a non-veggie/vegan restaurant I find most places can accomodate a vegan diet if they have a decent chef and cook everything there. A few weeks ago, a chef in a very meat-orientated restaurant made me feel welcome by cooking a three course meal for me and wrote the dishes on the "specials" black-board. That felt great - made me feel "normal" instead of different.

[harpy]

RedWellies, I went to that one in the church a year or two back and thought it was great. It is, or used to be, run by the same chap as The Place Below in London - Bill Sewell, is it? Does the Deli belong to him too?

[LittleMissVegan]

I don't know if the Brewsters chain is all over the country but we have one in Barnsley. They have a list of vegan products for example roasted vegetable pasta. It's nice but the staff are a bit slack. I once asked for a jacket potato instead of garlic bread because I was a vegan. So she asked the chef and he said it was OK but then when it came the pasta had flesh draped all over the top of it- Eeek.

Otherwise food is very nice and quite cheap.

[RedWellies]

Yes, Harpy, he owns both. The church needed repairs to the spire and roof and English Heritage and the lottery would only help if the church had a viable economic future. The priest had heard about Bill's place in London and contacted him.
Another couple of places to eat are Nature's Choice in Ross-on-Wye, and St Ann's Well (does vegan cakes) and The Kettle Sings Near Malvern. Oh, and Chesters in Worcester is good for vegans apparently(I've not been yet).

[RedWellies]

Also, Wetherspoon's vegeburger, fries and onion rings are vegan.

[LittleMissVegan]

Champion!!!! I never knew that. Does Yates do anything suitable for vegans? I haven't been for ages but there is usually always a Yates wherever you go.

[RedWellies]

I don't know about Yates, but if they have a web page look under the nutritional content of the food. Often this states if a product is vegan.

[alisont]

All weatherspoons seem to do is a decent baked spud and beans. They told me in 2 pubs that the vege burger has egg in and the chilli contains quorn

Will have to remember about Yates burgers!

Alison

[RedWellies]

I went for dinner last night at No 12, Suffolk Parade,Cheltenham. I had already spoken to the chef/owner and he was more than happy to cater for vegans, with a bit of notice. He adapted some of the meals from the main menu and added other choices. I had a choice of starters,main courses and desserts! He didn't know if the wines were vegan, but allowed me to take my own. The service and food was great and the restaurant itself is like being in someone's lovely Georgian home!

[Kevster]

*Ignores LittleMissVegans comment*

OK went here last night:

http://www.vegout.info/restaurant2.p...erful%20Chilli

I've been to The Cheerful Chilly vegetarian restaurant once before for a vegan Christmas meal and it was delicious. This time it was a usual night out, with Mexican food on the menu. To start we shared garlic bread and freshly made parsnip crisps with dips, really very good indeed. For my main course i had vegan enchilada (almost all meals on the menu can be made vegan, and the chef is very knowledgable) it was very good and the salad and dressing excellent. We had phoned in advance and asked him to make a vegan pudding and lo and behold out came a chocolate fudge cake, WOW! It was amazing. I had ice cream with it too.

That's the best, most delicious meal i've had in ages.

He's booked up completely until mid April. (No wonder)

[LittleMissVegan]

*Ignores LittleMissVegans comment*

lo and behold out came a chocolate fudge cake, WOW! It was amazing. I had ice cream with it

Choccy fudge cake- Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!

[alisont]

Sounds a good menu esp the choc fudge cake

Am meeting friends in Worcester Sun for lunch at Puchinnis - a great Italian bistro - serves non veggie food but offers vegan pasta/sauces and pizza with vegan cheese - best pizza ive tasted there! They also do gluten free pizza base and pasta options.

Alison

[alisont]

Spent a chilled Sunday lunch in Puchinnis in Worcester, ordered a vegan pizza with roasted vege and vegan cheese and pinenuts, friends (all meat eaters) ordered garlic bread for starters which is with butter, the chef sent me a slice of vegan garlic bread made with oil and fresh garlic - nice touch i thought. No vegan puds but was full, think i will copy some ideas for vegan puds and see if they will oblige!

Alison

[RedWellies]

That sounds great, Alison, And not too far away from me...I will have to go see...

[Pob]

Had lunch at the What the Dickinns pub in Rochester.

It's run by a vegetarian lady (who does the cooking). She cooks meat dishes as well as vegan and vegetarian. (Which may be good or bad, depending on if you have people in your party who won't eat unless they have dead animal on their plate. Be prepared to have to sit through the omnis declaring how wonderful the dead animal on their plate is, and them not feeling guilty because it was not factory farmed.)

There are some totally vegan options, some that are available as vegan or veggie (+/-cheese), some that are veggie only. I think there was a cottage pie that was veggie and not vegan - presumably it was using Quorn, might need to investigate whether she would be willing to switch to using Realeat mince. The choices are nice, but unadventurous - solid pub food in other words. Couple of vegan sandwiches on the menu. Vegan margarine available.

Wide range of organic and vegan wines (not tried yet), organic beers and lagers (not tried - presumably vegan).

Very friendly service, food is cooked while you wait so isn't quick, premises are clean (though hand dryer not working in men's!). Quite small and not much seperation between smoking and non-smoking area - so expect to leave a bit smelly. Wish a total smoking ban would hurry up.

Definitely worth checking out if you get stranded in the vegan-hostile wastelands of the Medway towns

This is where the Medway group will be meeting up, so we should get a chance to influence the menu a bit

[harpy]

Thanks Rob - that isn't too far from my mother-in-law's in Essex. Perhaps we could combine it with a trip to Bluewater

[friend]

kevster, i hope the grove is better value than thje corner cafe, which costs 13 quid for a vegan curry, and refills of tea cost extra,,,why do the leeds vegans uncritically repeat information from all these places on their eating out guide?

[RedWellies]

I have just received written confirmation from Wetherspoon's head office that the website is correct. Therefore the veggie burgers are vegan, it is the lists in the pubs that are wrong. They apologised for any inconvenience caused.

[tabitha]

We have a nice vegan/veggie cafe in Leigh on Sea called Cafe Pulse. I took my dad there before Christmas and he is a meat eater and he loved it. I love it because they do such lovely puddings. I had a "cheese" cake with soya cream and it was heaven.

[pinkgirl]

We have a nice vegan/veggie cafe in Leigh on Sea called Cafe Pulse. I took my dad there before Christmas and he is a meat eater and he loved it. I love it because they do such lovely puddings. I had a "cheese" cake with soya cream and it was heaven.

Their cheesecake is fantastic isnt it??!! I go to Pulse at least once a week, sometimes twice in a day!

[alisont]

Went out to Pizza express last night, took cheezley which they were happy to add to my mixed vege pizza - bit of a mix up with orders but i did get my vegan pizza - very nice. Due to my friend getting a cold pizza and a few other mix ups - they didnt charge us for the pizzas!

Took vegan choc cake for pud - as they didnt have a vegan option - they didnt mind this.

The company does seem vegan aware

Alison

[Gorilla]

wow, they actually let you eat food you'd brought along yourself? i've had cheese-less pizzas in Pizza Express before and they usually look at me like i'm weird so i'm surprised they let you bring your own food with you - glad to hear it though!

[Troutina]

Ooh can't believe I forgot to say- I visited Harrods the other week and enjoyed an unbelievably lovely pot of melted dark chocolate and strawberries mmm it was GOOD! But beware to ask for no marshmallows, didn't say it came with them so was a nasty suprise when they arrived. Picked them off and flicked them in the direction of nearby family member.

[alisont]

Yes its atcually in Pizza Express's staff guide to allow vegan customers to bring vegan cheese in, as long as you ring in advance and take it in a sealed tub. I offered to bring a whole sealed block for hygiene reasons but they said no just bring enough for a pizza.

Any customers can bring a birthday cake, think it depends on the brance but the staff were vegan aware and helpful. Said they might stock vegan cheese if theres more of a call for it (most vegans just have cheese free pizza)

Makes a nice change - am sure they wanted to throw me out of the harvester once when i took a tofu grill with me to go with the jacket spud i had there - the looks i got my friends think im too cheeky eating out as i love to ask why places dont cater for vegans

[lozza]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! *squee*

ok very sorry if someone has posted this already..but i went to visit my sister in england at the weekend and we found a vegan-friendly shop & cafe in lancaster.

the shop is called "single step" and the cafe is called "the whale's tail" both were amazing! the shop sold loads of cruelty-free shampoos which i would only be able to buy online; faith in nature products, the natracare pads, different soaps & other cosmetics as well as tons of different foods, cakes, chocolates, different tofus (including silken tofu which i have NEVER seen), books and too many other things to mention

i was in heaven. i was jumping around like a crazy person. we had lunch in the cafe. i had soup & a tofu/mushroom burger. they did an amazing waldorf salad & i had a vegan hot chocolate. and to top it all off, i had a slice of the vegan chocolate fudge cake.

my sister and my boyfriend both enjoyed it very much too. my sister especially said how staisfying & tasty the food was. she is a hardcore omni, and she kept saying how surprised she was, that it was all so delicious and hats off to the chef, cos he was so young (looked mid-20's).

i felt so naughty for having cake but it was all so fantastic!!
definitely recommend anyone in/near lancaster to go try and find it.

[feral]

Man, Northern Ireland is woeful for vegan eating out . I do know a lovely organic place where all the food is grown by a foundation for disabled people, the food is veggi so hopefully the next time I'm there they'll have lots of lovely vegan grub *drools*.. I'll also have to check out a good Indian restaurant I know to see if they can do me some nice vegan garlic nann... ooohh I'm so hungry now.

[harpy]

Took our mothers to this place for mother's day lunch yesterday and it seemed to go down very well, so thanks for mentioning it, Rob.

I had aubergine and bean casserole with rice and Mike had chilli (sp) with rice - both tasty if rather similar to one's own home cooking. The mothers had lentil rissoles and non-vegan shepherd's pie. We all had puddings as well, including a vegan chocolate cake which was pretty good if a bit sweet for my tastes (but they weren't to know that!).

The place is a definite find. It doesn't look like much from the outside but has a friendly atmosphere - the local drinkers didn't seem to object to incomers

Rob, if you're reading this I tried to send you an e-mail about it a couple of days ago - did you get it?

Had lunch at the What the Dickinns pub in Rochester.

[Antonia]

Gadebridge Balti
2 Rossgate, Gadebridge
Hemel Hempstead
Herts HP1 3LG

Indian Restaurant. I go there about once a fortnight. They have offered to make me ANY dish on the menu with vegetables rather than meat!!!!!!!!!!!
If any of you are in the area and intend to go there pleaaaaasse let me know so I can feed my addiction

[beansprout]

I don't know whether anyone is in reach of Halesowen W. Mids. but we just ate well at the Sun at Romsley. I rang in advance and they listed the ingredients in their butternut squash bourgingon (which was even nicer than it sounds). When I got there the waiter checked with the kitchen, firstly about the rice, and secondly about the complimentary Nachos, without any fuss.

Shan't get much work done this afternoon though, cos if you order 2 glasses of Chardonnay they give you the rest of the bottle free.

[Marrers]

Sounds lovely! So did they know which of their wines was vegan too or was it a brand you knew?

[beansprout]

So did they know which of their wines was vegan too?

You jest! I doubt whether anywhere within lunching distance would do other than laugh or look perpexed if I asked.

We all draw our line in different places. I don't bother about wine.

[Marrers]

You had my hopes up there! Damn, I must've been drunk!!!

[Marrers]

In fact it's shocking how many veggie restaurants have never been asked. Maybe most veggies and vegans don't bother about wine either?

I wish I didn't as I'm such a lush!! Seriously though, I'd say the difficulties of drinking wine when I'm out is the worst thing about being vegan.

[beansprout]

Seriously though, I'd say the difficulties of drinking wine when I'm out is the worst thing about being vegan.

The world is changing fast - maybe in a year or two....

[Lex]

[quote=Marrers]
I wish I didn't as I'm such a lush!! Seriously though, I'd say the difficulties of drinking wine when I'm out is the worst thing about being vegan.[/quote

i'd agree with you there, Marrers! It’s generally easier to work out what’s in the food than what’s in the wine, more’s the pity

[Gal]

Can anyone tell me if there is a Vegan or veggie cafe's or resturant's in whtiby?

A Friend of mine at work told me that the Shepherd's Purse does vegan food. I'm not sure if it is wholly vegan and the only directions I have to it so far is over the swing bridge on the main drag to the abbey steps.

Never been to Whitby myself but I'm looking forward to it. I haven't told my husband yet that he will be taking me there when his off-work shift allows.

[alisont]

I have been to Whitby loads love it there! all visits as a veggie before my vegan days but yes Shepherds purse did do vegan aswell as veggie - it is over the bridge at the bottom of Church Street, the other place that does vegan (best to speak to them first) is the Magpie cafe, now as its a fish place it sounds strange but they had a great veggie menu and i recall it saying vegan on request. Having said that id struggle to eat there for worry of all the fish dishes about (couldnt eat my meal with lobster on the next table )

If you get to Bridlington down the coast this place has good reviews: http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/sixwhee...here/index.htm

I have got a veggie/vegan guide to eating out in North Yorks but cant find it at the mo............

If your in need of vegan supplies there is a nice little health shop - go out the upstairs back entrance of Woolworths and turn right down a little passage way and its there! Health shop at the front of Shepherds purse too.

Alison

[Gal]

Thankyou for that Alisont,

I told my husband today that the next lunch or dinner out will be at the Shepherd's Purse in Whitby as I am heartily sick of just cooked vegges with gravy everywhere we go in the Cleveland area.

My mother-in-law did not seem too happy about it. I wonder why?

[Smell]

I don't know of AAANY vegan restaurants near me. =[

[friend]

Gal...sadly Shepherd's purse has long ago deteriorated to the point where it now sells meat, fish and eggs as part of it,s cafe and it,s breakfasts too. Back in the early 90s it was a pure vegetarian place and it was genuinely very good.Cafe was open until 8 every night. Now it,s merged with the fish cafe next door..you,ll get vegan , but nowt special and rather pricey. Enjoy....

[Shisha Fiend]

Went to someone's birthday do at Frankie & Benny's in Rochester, Kent.

It's an American Italian kind of place.

They don't have anything vegan on the menu - the one likely candidate had wine listed as being part of the sauce.

I'm sposed to be going there today and trying to find out what vegan stuff they do. Is cheeseless pizza not an option, do they put milk in the base or something? I've tried to find a list of their ingredients online but no luck so far.

Anyone know anything further?

[alisont]

I have had chats with Frankie/Bennies head office over the lack of vegan options - the pizza base i was told is not vegan due to milk in it the pasta is all fresh egg so ive not gone basically

Its such a shame they dont add vegan options to the menu.............

[lozza]

frankie & benny's is AWFUL for having nothing vegan. its a shame, cos it looks real nice. even if they just had a plain tomato pasta & sauce thing. i went there with 3 friends one time. and we had to leave, cos after looking at the menu, i realised there was absolutely nothing i could eat!