If you’re giving Veganuary a go, Stoke Newington has brilliant cafés and restaurants which offer full flavour without the meat or dairy!
There are some widely-publicised health benefits to reducing meat and dairy consumption. A vegan diet has been linked with lower risk of cancer, diabetes and obesity and a better mood, with plenty of research backing up the benefits.
Most restaurants locally offer some vegan dishes. Here are 10 of the most vegan-friendly eateries in Stokey.
Bringing Keralan food to Stoke Newington, Rasa in Church St is one of London’s best-known vegetarian restaurants and their Vegan Feast menu offers starters, mains, sides, snacks and sweets. It’s a great way to sample vegan cuisine without compromising on taste. Rasa is run by Das Sreedharan, who grew up in a small village near Cochin, Kerala, on the lush, spice-rich south west tip of India and helped his mother tend the vegetable garden and cook.
Rasa is open evenings (Tuesday-Sunday) and at the weekends for lunch.
Sutton and Sons Fish and Chip shop on the High Street has innovative and tasty vegan options. Their signature recipe is made from the banana blossom that’s been marinated in seaweed and samphire and then deep-fried in batter. It also includes a ‘prawn’ cocktail, ‘scampi’, ‘chicken’ and ‘fish’ burgers, battered vegan sausages and vegan pie and mash. The dishes are complimented with top-notch sides, including sweet potato chips and curry sauce.
Open daily from 8am, Wave in Evering Road is a fully vegan café, run by Sophie and Cait – who also founded Cupcakes and Shht. Their menu includes brilliant coffee served with turmeric, peanut butter or beetroot (as well as more traditional hot drinks), pastries and legendary ‘waffle-pops’ (waffles on a stick).
No need to scour the menu for vegan options at this brilliant tapas restaurant, The Black Pig with White Pearls on the High Street has more than a dozen vegan options. They include Lentil Meatballs with a Tomato Sauce, Beetroot Carpaccio Salad and Tortilla De Patatas with Chickpea Flour. Everything is bursting with flavour and a visit to this lovely restaurant feels super special.
The Muddy Puddle (Albion Rd). The breakfast at this vegetarian café is as tasty as it is colourful, these guys do amazing things with tofu and their empanadas are fabulous! There’s a lovely leafy garden and snuggly indoor seating areas. Their vegan pastries are pretty special too.
Bodega 50 on Allen Road has a brilliant selection of vegan food. Their Seitan burger with black beans is yummy and they offer home-cooked food that’s good for the soul, like spicy squash stew. Though not everything at this neighbourhood café is vegan, much of the menu is! All their cakes and cupcakes are vegan.
Working in partnership with War Child, 215 Hackney is a café determined to do good. Their menu has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. We recommend their vegan Sabich (an Israeli/Iraqi pita sandwich stuffed with shakshuka style vegetables and egg plant topped with sun-dried tomato, pickle and tahini. Also on the menu is a vegan breakfast (we’ve heard great things about their scrambled tofu) and a vegan burger.
ITTO on the High Street offers a range of Asian food and has a full vegan menu. They have a small indoor seating area and are open for takeaway too. The menu includes Satay Tofu, Black Bean Fried Noodles, Vegetable Summer Rolls and lots more.
All the baked goods at Atlas Grinds on the High Street are vegan – dive into award-winning muffins, cakes and pastries! And with sumptuous coffee roasted by Origin in Cornwall, your caffeine fix is in good hands too.
Acoustic Brasserie has lots of vegetarian and vegan options – the staff are super helpful and most dishes listed as ‘vegetarian’ can also be made vegan. Our favourite vegan dish here is the Sundried Eggplant and Pepper Dolma (stuffed with rice, pine kernel, blackcurrant, herbs & spices).