Vegan Guide to York, England

York is a stunning city in northeast England, known for its Roman origins, huge Gothic cathedral, and quaint cobbled streets. We spent a week in December in and around York for the Christmas markets and truly found it magical. There was plenty of vegan food to eat, so we didn’t get a chance to try everything. But I’ve tried to collate a good list of places we did and didn’t go to help you plan your visit.

The Orchid Vegan Restaurant

The Orchid is a fully vegan restaurant offering dishes with East Asian inspiration. You can eat in or takeaway from their extensive menu including vegan prawn crackers, different skewers, calamari, an array of curries, noodles, and even desserts like chocolate cake.

Source

Source is a family-run vegan brunch and lunch spot in the heart of York. Their brunch includes a huge list of amazing smoothies, a Full English, French toast, chickpea omelette, as well as open sandwiches, burgers and more. Their lunch menu features starters like ‘crab’ cakes and satay skewers, as well as innovative vegan-ified favourites like ribs and fish and chips.

Wawin Vegan Chinese

Wawin is a fully vegan Chinese takeaway (although they have a few seats inside where you can eat). They have five locations – Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, and York. Their menu is huge featuring everyone’s favourites with different varieties of vegan ‘meats’. We ordered satay ‘chicken’, sweet and sour tofu, chow mien noodles, and spring rolls. And yes, we ate it all.

Masala Craft

Masala Craft is an Indian restaurant in York that sells meat, vegetarian, and vegan options. They offer street food and South Indian favourites like dosa, as well as four vegan curries, vegan naan, tandoori roti, and more. They pride themselves on being the only restaurant serving authentic Indian food in York.

Lucia

We decided to go to Lucia to celebrate our anniversary – an Italian restaurant and cocktail bar. They also have restaurants in Harrogate and Beverley. Their vegan menu was delicious, offering starters including bruschetta and vegan meatballs, a long list of pastas for mains and two pizzas. They also have a biscotti cheesecake dessert to finish off.

Eagle and Child

Tucked away on one of the quieter streets of York is Eagle and Child, a Grade II listed pub with 3 floors. They offer typical pub food with some innovative vegan options including ‘salmon’ tartare, prawn tagliatelle, and vegan fish and chips. They also offer sorbets for dessert. We tried the fish and chips which was made with banana blossom and tasted so realistic!

Tempt York

Opposite Eagle and Child is an ethical vegan chocolatier, Tempt York, which sells a gorgeous selection of handmade chocolates across a variety of interesting flavours. You can also purchase these on their website. We tried a few different ones (but had to eat them quick in the sun!)

Double Dutch Pancake House

If you still have a sweet-tooth after those chocolates, you have to visit the Double Dutch Pancake House. They offer non-vegan and vegan pancakes with a massive list of toppings. They have 10 savoury options including the BBQ Melt (‘bacon’, ‘chicken’ and cheese) and the Farm House (mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and cheese), and 8 sweet options including the Go Nuts (vegan Nutella and almonds) and the Half Ban Half Biscuit (sliced bananas and Lotus Biscoff). If you aren’t sold already there’s an option to design your own vegan pancake stack from a list of different toppings, and they also offer milkshakes, savoury sides, and sundaes to choose from.

The Hide, Pocklington

The Hide was a lovely small café in Pocklington just outside York I had to mention too. They had delicious vegan options and a small space inside to buy local gifts, chutneys, and gins. Their menu changes seasonally and they offer sandwiches, salads and mains with at least one vegan option in each category. At the deli counter, they offer artisan bread and cakes, some of which are vegan.