aka Hungry in Hungary. So many good options, for eating in, takeaway, and vegan groceries, I almost regretted getting a flat with a kitchen. In no particular order... Vegan Love Junk food and proud, a variety of burgers, not-dogs, salads, macaroni cheese and donuts. Delicious and fast, and pretty cheap, but cramped and busy. Las Vegans A food truck pretty close to where I was staying. They had a ton of different burgers and I wanted to try most of them. They also have smoothies and mango lassi. It's in a little street of foodtrucks which are open late, so it's a good place to go in nice weather with omnivores; something for everyone. Tokmag Sandwiches, soups, salads and burgers. The 'chips' are thin-sliced potato, more like crisps. Nice soft burger buns, easy to eat. Soup was good too, and I had a 'cream cheese' sandwich which was kind of boring. Only two seats, so one time I went we had to stand and juggle the food because it was pouring with rain outside. Good quality food, and close to attractions. Vegacity If I ran a vegan restaurant, the kind of food I'd serve can be found at Vegacity. A vast array of pre-made stews, soups, delicious mush, fried things, salads, sushi, vegetables, brightly coloured burgers, rainbow of smoothies and an excellent cake selection. I tried to read the signs, but then just pointed at what looks good. There are two floors of seats, and wifi; I hung out here quite a lot. I should have more food photos, I don't know what happened to them. Naspolya Nassolda Raw cake, breakfasts and snacks. Stopped for good coffee and a few hours working. Not a lot of space, but it wasn't busy. Would return for interesting granola. Vegazzi A pizza foodtruck in the courtyard of a bar. All very hip and lively at night. And omg the pizza. Amongst the best pizza I've ever had, with an interesting selection of toppings. Sweet potato and chestnut, with vegan mozzerella added, a little combo of sweet and salty, was perfection. The mushroom one also rocked hard. I tried everything on the menu over two visits with other people. All pizzas very structurally unsound. No boxes to takeaway; eat it on the spot or risk it disintegrating in the street. Both times a pizza was delayed because of an 'accident' (I think they ate it, who could blame them) or severely misshappen and came with an offer of a replacement? I said it was beautiful and ate it as it was. There are seats outside, but the bar (which also serves food) allows the pizza inside as well. Great Bistro Was... not so great. The first time I went what I thought was well before closing time, but the kitchen was finished. When I did make it to eat I found the menu limited and the prices extortionate. The food was presented to make it seem fancy, and it tasted fine.. I had a dish with porcini mushrooms which really just hold their own and are always amazing. The desserts were miniscule. I wouldn't go again. Kosmosz A good sized basement restaurant with a lot of Hungarian dishes translated to vegan. Everything I ate here was delicious, with standout goulash (not pictured) and a poppyseed pancake layer cake with a divine chocolate sauce. Istvanffi Burgers and fries which really fill the junkfood hole. Single-size burgers are small portions, but the prices match, so it's a great place for a substantial snack. There are also double versions, and all come with a variety of fillings. The fries are good, and they have fresh juice instead of soda. There's plenty of space and wifi, though the interior is stark and wasn't cleaned very well when I was there. For some reason this is the burger of the the month that lingers in my mind and I really want to eat again. Veggie Nyers All raw cafe with pre-made dishes in the counter, and many good looking cakes. We took a mix plate between two (some of everything, and crachers) plus smoothies and cake. Definitely healthy and delicate. Some of the little scoops of stuff were so-so, some were super delicious. Slow Foodiez Pretty pricey and I wasn't convinced they were justified. I really wanted almond cream pancakes and gnocchi, but both times I went only limited menu items were available. The chickpea omelette was passable, and they have a nice selection of raw cakes. Need to figure out what times the main menu is available though. Other stuff I walked past this place after eating at VegaCity, which looks like it just opened. Didn't get chance to go back. There's a bakery next to Tokmag called Fill Good which I wish I'd found sooner. It's only takeaway, but they have a huge range of sweet and savoury vegan baked goods. I took a bunch for my road trip, but didn't get a good photo. It was all delicious. And, when I wasn't eating...
Between night buses I spent a day in Munich. The medium sized lockers in the bus station are 2.50eur for 24 hours which seems like a pretty good deal. There was one left, so I left my backpack. I ambled indirectly into town. Noticed I was in the vicinity of Max Pett, a fancy vegan restaurant. I didn't hold high hopes of it being open on a Sunday morning, but it wasn't much of a detour to go past. It was 10 minutes before opening! And they had scrambled tofu and baked beans! I ate a really delicious breakfast on a table outside in the sun, and stayed there for about three hours. Eduroam wifi reached, the staff were friendly, and did I mention the food was great. 15eur is usually a lot more than I want to pay for breakfast... but I managed to do enough work while I was there to break even. I walked through the town center, taking pictures of churches and stuff, and generally enjoying the sun. There are a lot of green spaces. I stopped for an ice cream. Eventually got to the Bavarian State Library, which is very grand. There are large lockers in there too, and your 1eur gets refunded, so that's a good option in future. I spent a few hours in the reading room, first hiding amongst the stacks on the floor and eventually at a desk. By 1830 I started to think about food again. I'd been planning to go to Bodhi, near the bus station, but I'd planned this before the expensive Max Pett breakfast. I took a recommendation for Umi's cafe instead. Again I sat outside in the sun, and ate mushrooms and a giant spring roll from the salad counter, followed by a nougat tart. Not everything here is vegan (all vegetarian), but it's labelled well. I also had a really delicious almond milk iced coffee. And took some food to go. I hauled myself back to the bus station and boarded a bus to Krakow. Feeling the effects of the previous night, even though I'd had two seats to myself and slept not terribly, I passed out almost at once. The rest of the photos from Munich.
Compared to the size of the city, there are a lot of veg*n places to eat. Most regular coffeeshops have plant milks, and a surprising number have raw vegan cakes too. It's overall cheap. Also quite a few places have vegan ice cream options. I got chestnut from Luculus 5 minutes after hopping off the bus. Balans Bistro Busy both times I went, this all vegan place has a pretty extensive menu. I tried the quesadilla which was more beans than cheese, but still good. A plate of some of the best chips I've had outside of the UK (high praise, y'know). Another time I was really not hungry enough for a full meal and I was definitely going to get soup or/and a cake, but the day's special was a pulled jackfruit burger.. It was great. I got fluffy creamy chestnut cake to go. My sister had the soup which was spicy and had avocado floating in it, which worked surprisingly well. Vegan Kiosk A foodtruck outside Tesco. Various burgers, drinks, bananabread. Interesting burger buns. Approved. U Dobrozrutra All vegan bakery; I wish I had been able to try everything here. They also had a few groceries like nut butters. I ate a poppyseed pastry. No wifi, but a few seats and coffee as well. Foodstock All veggie, mostly vegan. One of the only places I could find open on Easter Sunday, they have gyoza, ramen and falafel and hummus. Food quality is good. I ate miso soup and gyoza, which were covered in edamame and mushrooms. A small portion, but very delicious. They also have bottomless green tea. Pestre A French crepe place, with coffees and fresh juices. They can make vegan and gluten-free crepes from almond milk and buckwheat flour, and have vegan chocolate options. I tried one with banana and blueberries, and one with 'nougat' chocolate sauce. There's wifi and lots of seating; I worked here for a whole morning. The espresso is good too. Re:fresh Need vegan junk food at 2am? No problem. I didn't go at 2am, but it was nice to know it was an option. Mid-afternoon, it wasn't busy and was a fantastic place to work, with wifi and power. I ate an absolutely fantastic quesadilla, which was just packed with not-cheese. They also have some great cakes; on another occasion I had a burger. It's good solid (omnivore) pub food, with extensive vegan options, big portions. Schoendorf Bio Cafe An omni place off the main street. I just stopped in for a coffee but ended up staying for a hot chocolate and waffles as well. Small portions, on the pricey side, but the hot chocolate was really fantastic. Good for vegan breakfast or snack, not so much for lunch. There were a bunch of places I tried to go to but didn't because they were closed when I was in the area, or were way too busy. Next time. Things I did in Bratislava that weren't eating.
Mostly I cooked for myself or ate (terrible) conference food, but on a couple of occasions I ate out in Lyon... Aux Bonheurs des Chats Arriving by nightbus first thing on a Sunday morning didn't yield a lot of breakfast options. Aux Bonheurs des Chats, a vegan cat cafe, opened at 11 though, so I waited. A wonderful decision! I sat down at a window table, already occupied by a moggie who declined to move, and inched closer and closer to my laptop over the course of the morning. Everything was covered in hair. They offered brunch for 16eur which seemed a bit much, and I wasn't that hungry. I had a hazelnut chocolate brownie (big!) and a super creamy matcha latte. Hank Vegan Burger Good burgers, lots of different toppings, and coleslaw or potato wedges as a side, and some vegan cakes. Small meal deal (drink and side) or large (plus dessert) at 13 and 15eur respectively. I just ate a burger and potato wedges. Like An Elephant A trek across town and up a hill was absolutely worth it. The menu wasn't huge, which means I wasn't paralysed by choice. Between two of us, we shared two starters, two mains, and two desserts, which came to 49eur. Delicious gazpacho soup, and an avocado mush thing were the starters. The avocado mush was seated upon a cheesecake-like grount nut crust, and topped with dark chocolate flakes. It was as close to dessert as you can get without actually being sweet. The mains were seitan with bok choi and mango noodles, and a burger with baby potatoes. And the desserts were two tiny cakes; one with chocolate and one with pear. I loved all of it. It was also a nice cosy place, with friendly staff and witty signage. YAAFA Recommended for the 'potato things', and it was open late, and there is a branch not too far from the bus station, I went to YAAFA on my last afternoon. There are many falafel pita options, half of which are vegan (all vegetarian), plus homemade bottomless lemonade and iced tea, and indeed good potato things - something between wedges and US style homefries. I had a falafel pitta with orange carrot salad, and stayed there for several hours. Seating upstairs was nice. No wifi. Modjo Not far from the Part-Dieu train station and the central library is a big glass fronted cafe on a corner. Stopped in for coffee, and to enjoy sitting in the sun whilst still being inside, and spotted a chia bowl with coconut milk on the menu. It was pricey, but a nice breakfast. Un Monde Vegan I stopped by this all vegan supermarket just to see. Picked up some Vego of course, and some chocolate almond milk and tofu sausage to snack on for lunch. They have a whole arrary of fancy looking vegan cheese wheels, in good French style. Had I come here at the beginning of the week, I might have invested. I didn't do any touristing in Lyon, I was just at TheWebConf.
There are quite a lot of options in Vienna, but everything is expensive, so I mostly bought groceries and cooked. But not always.. Vegan Anker Anker is a bakery chain that's everywhere in the city. Regular branches have a few vegan things, but there's an entirely vegan Anker right in Stefansplatz Metro station. There are a couple of tables, and it's around a corner away from the bustle of the main station, so a nice place to hide away and pass the time. It's also really cheap by Vienna standards. They have a huge array of cakes and pastries of course, as well as sandwiches and other savouries. My sister (who's not vegan) got a sandwich from there for her conference lunch one day and raved about it for the whole evening afterwards. I only tried a great sticky pastry, plus an espresso, and read my kindle for a couple of hours. Elmira I went to this place cos it was relatively close to where I was staying. It's a small biomarket with a vegan cafe added on, only a couple of tables. The food is super fresh and homemade; they have a couple of salad options and a hot main dish each day, on a changing menu. I tried goulash, and a big fluffy latte. It was all good. She tried to upsell me a salad, but I wasn't hungry enough. It was hard to find somehow.. but I can't recall exactly why now. The street of the address is not actually where the entrance is, or something. Veganista An ice cream chain, these are everywhere. Great flavours, generous scoops, good prices. I tried black forest and poppyseed. Pita Box They have a big kebab-shaped lump of seitan rotating in the same way normal kebab places have meat! Wild. An extensive mostly-vegan menu, including different kebab combos and falafel. I had seitan in a pita and was able to load it with toppings from the counter myself. They have a bunch of interesting hummus flavours, including peanut (which obviously is what I had). The guy told me which things in the counter weren't vegan, which I think was just the tzatziki. HappyCow lists this as non-veg, but I'm 99% sure everything was vegetarian. Voodies A junkfood stop near Karlsplatz with a wide range of burgers and toppings. I had a Mexican hotdog, fries and homemade lemonade. Cheap and tasty. Veggiezz A wide and varied menu, mostly consisting of meat-substitute oriented dishes, the form of bowls, plates and burgers. I went with a couple of omnivores and they were both happy. It was super busy and there seemed to be only two staff, so it was a while before we got served. There are seats downstairs, too. I ate pepper steak. Most dishes are very customisable in terms of sides, sauces and add-ons. Pricey, and not huge portions, but average by Vienna standards I think. There are a few branches around the city. Harvest Cafe A super nice cosy place, my sister and I collapsed here after a long day of walking to recouperate so we wouldn't start fighting as soon as we got home. She had a hot chocolate and I had a veganised Viennese coffee, and we shared apple strudel. We were spoilt for choice on the cake front, they all looked great, but we weren't hungry enough for two. It's all vegetarian, and vegan stuff is labelled. Denn's Biomart If all else fails, there are Denn's everywhere. They usually have a cafe counter with sandwiches, pastries and cakes, as well as good coffee and smoothie options. Things I did in Vienna that weren't eating. Update: Return in June.
I'm in a small bakery in Krakow who usually has several vegan things, but today they only had two muffins left. I ate one, and took the other to go for later. Now I'm sitting here sipping my espresso and some more vegans came in and there's no cake for them. I feel bad but not bad enough to give them my spare muffin. Which, by the way, is an amazing blueberry and lemon giant monster cake and I'm excited to eat it again later.
I only spent a day and a half in Krakow. There are a few good vegan options around. Krowarzywa A burger and hotdog joint, with great salads and toppings, homemade lemonade and bottled sodas. I had seitan pastrami, plus vegan cheese as an extra, and lemonade for less than 5eur. The burger is big. There are also potatoes, and other drink options that look great. The 'meat' part of the burger is also covered by many options, from seasonal roasted vegetables to tofu. You can have it as a wrap or a salad bowl, too. It was crazy busy when I was there between 2 and 3 pm, and I had to wait in line both to order and for the food. They give you a beeper. I'm really happy to see a fully vegan place like this so busy, including families with young kids, and old people. There's enough space to sit, even when busy, a toilet, English menu, and staff are friendly. No wifi. Sweet Life A small bakery, with a few vegan cake options. Opens early. I went here before my train out, as it's so close to the station. They said they usually have more vegan cake, but on this occasion only two lemon and blueberry muffins were in the display. I bought one to eat with my coffee, and one to go. HappyCow said they had pies, so I'd been hoping to get lunch there to take on the train. This was one of the best muffins EVER. It was huge, super moist, lemony and fruity and just.. so good. Later two more vegans came in and there was no cake for them, but I had no regrets. There are lots of seats, and wifi so I got my laptop out. A bit later I noticed a sign on the wall for 'life bowls', including one with tofu. I enquired; they usually have egg, but they were happy to make it without. I had to wait for the kitchen to open at 11. I ate half and took the rest to go. This was also great, lots of flavours and textures, all good. The chef came to ask me how I liked it. Ice cream and juice Loads of places sell vegan sorbets, including some interesting flavours. I didn't eat any, but I audited every ice cream place I passed. There are also tons of fresh juice bars. I had a nice orange, elderflower and mint concoction from Frankie's. Watch out, some places put yoghurt in their smoothies. The rest There's another burger place, a vegan kebab place, and a couple of bistros, listed on HappyCow. Hopefully I'll pass through again and get to try them.
False alarm. It's not all vegan, and whilst they do have a large range of (labelled) vegan sorbets, they don't have any vegan non-sorbet ice cream. Slightly disappointed.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. A VEGAN ICE CREAM SHOP JUST OPENED IN SARAJEVO. IN. SARAJEVO. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. STAND BY FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
I stayed a month in the Trójmiasto (Tri-City) area on the north coast of Poland. The three cities, Gdynia, Sopot and Gdansk, are connected by a handy fast train, or stunning walks along beaches or through the woods. There were plenty of veg*n places to eat, and I didn't get to try everything on HappyCow. But here's what I did try: Gdynia i Krowa Kala A vegan burger bar right outside the SKM exit of the main Gdynia train station. I went there a few times due to convenience on my way back from the city center. It's open late, and has a lot of varied options. No English menu, however, and staff didn't seem keen on translating anything for me. Since it was all vegan, I picked at random. There's wifi, but no power that I could see (I didn't look very hard) and not much seating. (I never saw it full though.) I tried a seitan burger one time, and a tofu grill another time. Both pretty decent. Full of salad and sauces, and hard to eat. The bread is toasted, which doesn't help. They also offer pita though (and gluten-free bread). The fries were particularly good, seasoned with something a little spicy. On another occasion I got 'pierogi samosa', because I had to know... and they were neither pierogi nor samosa. More like mini deep fried cornish pasties stuffed with samosa vegetables? A big portion though, and they travelled well. They have different desserts here every day, too. One time I got a really great jam-filled doughnut. If I ever get back there, I want to try the pita with deep fried oyster mushrooms. They were out when I asked for it. I got a falafel pita instead, with distinctly non-traditional falafel, but still good (the next day, in Amsterdam). Bio-Pierkarnia A chain of eco-bakeries, with multiple branches in all three cities (though not all of the branches listed on HappyCow actually seem to exist). I mostly went to the one next door to i Krowa Kala, for obvious reasons. It's not all vegan, but about one third of their cakes, pastries and desserts are. The one by Gdynia station also has a wide range of vegan grocieries, and takeaway sandwiches and salads, some of which are vegan. Good prices. My favourite cake was an amaranth chocolate slice, which I will continue to fantasise about for years. It's nothing special generally I think, I just have a special taste for that particular kind of cake. On other occasions, I had a fruit tart, chocolate orange muffin, ... Bioway A canteen-y sort of place in town, all vegetarian and the staff were able to tell me what was vegan. Pretty hearty and healthy stew-type options which were all pre-prepared. More stuff on the menu, but I was lazy to find out what it was. Not overly exciting, but good for want of anything else. Veganica I spotted this place in Gdynia; it wasn't on HappyCow. Felt pretty new, staff still seemed to be finding their feet. I'd just eaten, so I had a random smoothie. It was.. pretty bad. I saw her putting water in, which was an obvious red flag. So yeah, needs work. Maybe the food is better. (All veggie, not all vegan). Tlok A nice cafe for working, which always has one vegan cake on offer, and takes coffee very seriously. I spent a morning there. Sopot There's a GreenWay here right off the pier. A convenient location, but I never ended up in Sopot over a mealtime, so I didn't go there. Kulki Anulki An organic icecream shop with a few vegan options, not far from the beach. I asked for a recommendation and was told to try the banana and dark chocolate together. I never eat two scoops of ice cream of any kind, and I wouldn't normally go for banana. But I did as suggested, and it was incredible. The banana by itself was way better than I expected, and coupling with the bitter chocolate brought out some kind of amazing tang. Gdansk Vege Port This was hands down my favourite place. I went there a bunch of times. On some occasions, I took the train all the way to the suburbu of Wrzeszcz just to eat here, then left again. Or I looked for excuses to pass through Wrzeszcz on my way to or from an adventure. It's all vegan, and they have an exceptional pizza menu. There are also other dishes, a combination (not fusion) of Polish and Italian. The homemade lemonades are good too; one time there was rhubarb. They also have cake and ice cream. My favourite pizza was one with not-chicken, pickled cucumber, and crispy onions. Pickles on a pizza! Revolutionary. The cheese was delicious and melty always, and the more ordinary pizza toppings were perfectly cooked. They have a range from very simple to fairly unusual options. I also tried gnocchi bolognese and 'rollo', a not-chicken wrap. Atmosphere is nice (wifi, power), it was rarely busy, and the staff are super friendly (maybe because they saw me so frequently). Once I stopped by just before closing and they were cashing up, but they still made me a pizza and let me stick around another 20 minutes to eat it. I took a non-vegan local on one occasion, who subsequently return without me, with other non-vegans, who were similarly impressed. I think this may be a tie for my favourite ever vegan pizza, with Vegazzi in Budapest. Avocado There are two branches of Avocado that I went to, and whilst definitely the same mini-chain, they had quite different menus. I went to one at dinner time and one at lunchtime though, so maybe that was a factor. Both good. Within walking distance of Brezno beach is a large space, with a really big and varied dinner-type menu. I ate creamy coconut tofu and fresh spinach curry, and a really fantastic cake. I picked the cake for it's fluffy coconut exterior, and to my surprise and delight the inside revealed itself to be layers of chocolate and sour cherry. I could be convinced that this was a magic cake that adapts to the desires of the eater. The other Avocado is in Wrzeszcz. It's on the same street as the vegan supermarket, and Fukafe, and the other side of the station from Vege Port. Location is top, but the space is much much smaller. I ate deep fried pancakes, stuffed with lentils and spinach, with a really good side salad. The cakes looked good too, but Fukafe next door has a wider range of fancier ones, and was calling me. Fukafe A wide range of fancy cakes and coffees. Not cheap, but quite spectacular and unusual selection, so worth it. A nice atomosphere (wifi, power) to hang around for a while, too. I tried an iced latte, and a spinach cake. On another occasion I went in for a cookie but they had none, so I took a coconut energy ball to go instead. It was the only thing that would travel well, though I wouldn't normally go for that as they are so often disappointing. This one however, even after a day of sitting in my backpack on buses, was really great; moist and rich. Spozyvczak An all-vegan supermarket in Wrzeszcz. It has all the usual stuff, at all the usual (highish) prices. I stocked up on Vego, and they also have a freezer full of great looking ice creams, though I never got one (having always passed by after stuffing myself at Fukafe or Vege Port). Atelier Smaku A gormet vegan gluten-free foodtruck. I finally got vegan pierogi from there; they weren't great, but they were cheap and filling. You can also buy them from the vegan supermarket to cook at home. No English menu, but it is on the website. Guga Spicy Guga Spicy sits beside Guga Sweet, by the river in Gdansk. Guga Sweet is a bakery, and was closed when I stopped by, but on request they ran across to fetch desserts from there in Spicy. It was really expensive, and clearly in a generally expensive area of the city. I passed by chance on the Long Night of Museums, surprised to find them open after 10pm. I ate summer rolls (on the menu as spring rolls, which is misleading... I love spring rolls, I only like summer rolls). They were good anyway. I followed with a giant bowl of udon packed full of vegetables, seaweed, and tofu. I took a coconut 'bounty' cake to go, which was fantastic for breakfast the next morning. Manna68 A nice fairly formal restaurant, close to the touristy area of Gdansk, I was randomly wandering different streets on my way to the train station (to go to Wrzeszcz for Vege Port) when I passed this place by chance. I'd seen it on HappyCow, but not felt inspired to seek it out. But since I was there, I stayed. It's not cheap, but not unreasonable. I ate mole chilli, which was not spicy, but quite chocolatey. They have a brownie on the menu which can get you a free coffee if you guess six ingrediants.. I was tempted, but went with a chocolate mousse instead. It was disappointing! It had good toppings - almonds and pomegranate - but should have been darker and richer. The espresso was ridiculously tiny. Oh also for some reason in the the bathrooms the audio playing was a Spanish language learning tape (phrases repeated in English then Spanish) but with really bizarre sentences. Couldn't tell if real. If you want to know what I did in Poland when not eating, try my posts from May.
Vegan in Trójmiasto (Gdynia / Sopot / Gdansk)
There's this Georgian dish - ojakhuri, "family meal" - of potatoes slow cooked with mushrooms, and sometimes tomatoes, onions and slightly hot green peppers. I mean. They know what I like. (The mushroom version is the weirdo alternative to pork, obviously, but common everywhere.) On a related note I have extreme potato bloat right now.
Me: I would like potato khinkali please. Waiter: :o but you're alone and the minimum order is five Me: My good sir, let me tell you about the time I ate ten khinkali. (in case you were wondering, I ate all the khinkali. And a salad. And then the waiter hit on me and I ran away. But the important part of this story is KHINKALI)
I discover a new kind of lobiani every day.
I made it to Tbilisi a little late (it should be a 6.5 hour bus from Batumi), because the bus stopped for a few silly reasons. Little things like cows in the road.. roof is leaking rain.. side of the bus opened and suitcases flew out and had to be rescued from mountainside.. Then I accidentally didn't get out in the city center - because I didn't think the bus was stopping in the city center. And ended up at a bus station in the south I was entirely unprepared for. I found myself surrounded by taxi drivers, one of whom told me there is no metro connection here. He may have been biased, but it sure looked like a wasteland. My general desire not to get into a taxi had the effect of reducing taxi prices by 5 GEL every minute until I gave in and took a taxi to the old town. This was still not the right place, and I walked through the rain to the vegan cafe, to plan the rest of my night. (Current status: pizza coma.)
Georgia's fresh tomato game is very strong, but pickling them whole is next level. (And they make a great midnight snack.)
"Shemomechama" is a Georgian phrase, translating roughly to the passive "it happened that I ate everything." I like to think of it as "I accidentally all the food." Which is very much what happened during my two weeks in Georgia. Traditional (or, some would argue, modern-tourist-adapted-traditional) Georgian food is actually vegan heaven. When you peer around the meat and cheese, you discover a whole world of beans, bread, potatoes and mushrooms. They do great things with veggies, particularly aubergine, and I've never had such spectacular and simple salads. My usual 'vegan in' posts are a list of places to eat, but in this case I'm going to do a list of dishes, most of which you can get in any random Georgian restaurant you find on the street. At the end I'll also list a few places across Tbilisi and Batumi that I thought were particularly good. Other things to note about Georgian cuisine is that it's generally served family-style.. that is, huge plates, ideal for sharing. If you're eating on your own, you really must resist ordering many dishes even if they look like sides because this is too much food. If you're with a group though - even a meat-eating group - it's ace. Because so many totally normal common side dishes and well-loved mains are vegan! On more than one occasion I sat back and let other people order a bunch of stuff, and there was always stuff I could eat. Fasting One of the reasons Georgian food is so vegan-friendly is because of the Orthodox fasting periods. Wednesdays, Fridays, and many many special occasions, many adopt essentially a pesca-vegan diet - they can't have any food from land animals. As a result, many restaurants have a 'fasting menu', or at least understand the concept of vegan if you ask if something is okay for fasting. And since Georiga is not the kind of country to add secret fish to things, ordering anything from a fasting menu that isn't explicitly fish is pretty safe. Lobio Lobio is bean stew. It comes in a clay pot, and is delicious. That is all. Mchadi Mchadi is Georgian cornbread. It's vegan, and soaks up the juice from lobio like a treat. Comes in fried and non-fried varieties, and may be thick and chunky or flat and round. Fried ones can be seen in the foreground of this meal. Lobiani Lobiani is bean paste in bread. There are so many different kinds! And of varying qualities. Sometimes, the bean paste is just dry and maybe not even seasoned. If you're around for a while, it's worth scouting out different places to find the best lobiani. If you get it from a bakery or streetside 'fast food' type place, you'll likely end up with a flaky pastry type deal. This is fine, but not my favourite. An improvement on this theme was from Literature Cafe in Batumi, where the lobiani was more of an upright giant-dumpling shaped pastry; the bean filling was particularly good. In restaurants, it tends to come as a pizza-sized round flatbread. Bread-wise, this is my favourite (again, the bean filling varies from place to place), partly because I'm a sucker for flatbread, but also because the bean-bread ratio is more balanced. Ajarian lobiani, which is fairly widely available in Batumi (since it's in Ajara), is a regional take on their famous khachapuri. I have to digress here, since khachapuri isn't getting its own entry in this list. Khachapuri is a very famous Georgian food, and in general is cheesebread. The Ajarian take on khachapuri involves a boat-shaped loaf of bread, carved out and filled to the brim with cheese, butter, and egg, heart-attack-on-a-plate style. So Ajarian lobiani then, obviously, is the bread-boat full of beans! Usually served with some pickled chillis. Whoever thought of that is a genius. This is giant meal. I got mine from Porto Franco, but many large Georgian restaurants will have it. I'm going to digress again to tell you about bakeries. Georgian bakeries have a giant round clay oven called a tone, which is like a partially submerged well of FIRE. They make bread dough, and slap it onto the burning hot side of the oven for just a few minutes, before peeling it off all baked and delicious. Tonis puri is bread that is baked in this way. THUS tonis lobiani is, you guessed it, bread dough stuffed with bean paste and baked in a tone. I got it in at a very wee bakery next to Irmale's Cafe in Tbilisi. The bread is obviously fantastic all by itself, straight from the oven. The beans inside were a bit dry; I don't know if this is a side-effect of the cooking method, or just this one place. Khinkali Khinkali are dumplings. The dough is vegan. So, the fillings? See a fasting menu for potato and mushroom options. Traditially they're meat or cheese, and you may have to hunt a bit for the the veg alternatives. I was under the impression for most of my time in Georgia that the fasting khinkali are a perfectly ordinary traditional Georgian food, but on my last night a hostel employee plus an old lady she found to back her up absolutely insisted to me this is not Georgian food and was only invented for tourists. It was way more common in Tbilisi than in Batumi, in any case. I don't care when or why they were invented though, because they are fucking delicious. The first time I went to a khinkali house in Batumi, the potato and mushroom ones were on the menu but they were out. I then spent a week craving a food I'd never eaten, until I was finally satisifed in Pasanauri in Tbilisi. The correct way to eat khinkali is to pick them up by the knob at the top (lifehack: stick a fork in if it's too hot or slippery to grab and you're too impatient to wait 5 minutes), make a small bite to suck the juice out (potato ones don't have juice, but mushroom ones do) and then eat the rest, leaving the knob that you're holding on your plate, so that you can count how many you demolish. There are various positive superstitions about people who manage to eat khinkali without getting any juice on the plate. You're not supposed to put sauce on them or dip them in anything, but really if there's tkemali on the table whatcha gonna do? Most places seem to list khinkali on the menu with a per-dumpling price, and have a minimum order of five. Five is a reasonably sensible number to eat all by oneself as long as you're hungry and don't order anything else. Heh. They don't let you mix and match fillings though.. so the first time I finally went for khinkali obviously the only thing I could do was to order five mushroom and five potato ones. I wasn't alone.. but neither of my lunchmates wanted to eat my khinkali. So I ate ten. And some lobio. And some bread. It was great. It was a slight struggle, but I have no regrets. Mushrooms on a ketsi I don't know if there's a Georgian name for this. A ketsi is a clay dish, and if you order mushrooms on a ketsi, you get a clay dish with sizzling, delicious, juicy mushrooms. Why wouldn't you? Be careful not to get a cheesed-up version (eg. with sulguni). Bonus points: if you're in the mountains and it's mushroom season, you can get really expensive fancy mushrooms that will blow your mind and are worth every penny (we did so at a roadside restaurant called Zgapari). Ojakhuri with mushrooms Ojakhuri is typically a dish where potatoes are slow cooked with pork.. but you can get it with mushrooms instead. And it's delicious. When I ordered it, it had some onions, tomatoes, and chilli peppers thrown into the mix. Ajapsandali Ajapsandali is like ratatouille - a tomatoey vegetable stew, usually with aubergine, capsicum, and other seasonal veggies. Simple, but, like all things Georgian, delicious. Phkali Phkali are a cold starter or side dish, consisting of different coloured balls of mush. They're vegetables minced with walnuts and seasonings. You'll find spinach, aubergine of course, and beet commonly. Aubergine and red peppers may also be grilled, sliced, and spread with walnut mush then rolled up. They can be exceptionally tasty, but they can also be kind of meh. They were a common conference buffet food option, often the only vegan thing around, so I ended up eating more than I would have given my walnut allergy. I don't know if it's a faux-pas to smoosh them onto bread but.. that's also nice. Salad Cucumber and tomato salad is a staple at every table and somehow manages to be thoroughly delicious. The fresh seasonable vegetables help of course, and liberal dressings of locally sourced rich sunflower oil also contribute. You can usually order it with or without walnuts. There are various other kinds of salads too. Just watch out for ones with cheese, and you'll be safe. A plate of 'greens' is actually mostly fresh herbs like tarragon, maybe with other strong things like spring onion and radish. Which can be pretty intense to just chew on, obviously meant to accompany the other food you're ordering. Pickles PICKLES. They pickle everything. You can order mixed pickles, or plates of specific pickles. Pickled tomatoes may be whole juicy red ones (so good) or green tomatoes. Cucumber, obviously. Pickled chillis are also common. A weirder one is jonjoli flowers, which are bascially weeds. I loved them, several people I met don't. Pickle all the things! I love them so much. Sauces Tkemali is a sour plum sauce. It's really good with everything. Get some with every meal. Adjika is a spicy deep red sauce, which reminds me subtly of Korean gochujang. Also fantastic, would eat with every meal. See a picture of adjika with greens. Bazhe (sometimes spelled baje) is a really delicious walnut sauce. How do I know it was delicious? I am allergic to walnuts and I ate a bunch of this sauce on stuff and it was WORTH EVERY MINUTE OF PAIN. Churchkhela You see them dangling from souvenir shops, street carts and market stalls, churchkhela are a traditional sweet made from stringing up a line of nuts and then dipping them repeatedly in fruit syrup. The syrup sets, and the amount of dips determines the thickness and shape of the final strand, and the colour depends on the fruit juice that was was used. You'll see red pomegranate, purple grape and brownish white grape. I haven't figured out what the green ones are yet. Mostly they use walnuts, but I managed to get hazelnut ones. I hear the may also be made with peanuts and almonds, but I didn't find them. They look like sausages, but don't worry, they're all-natural vegan candy. Restaurants Kiwi Cafe (Tbilisi) Kiwi is a vegan cafe in Tbilisi that has been around for a while. They were once attacked by sausage-weilding neo-nazis, and had to move location. The new location is really spacious and pleasant. There's power and wifi, friendly staff, and great food. It's a good place for a vegan (or anyone) to take a break from traditional Georgian cuisine, and eat things like pizza, burger, curry, salads, sandwiches, pasta, apple pie, milkshakes.. and more. It's reasonably priced - not above average. I went here a bunch of times. Irmale's Cafe (Tbilisi) A brand new, very small "healthy vegan friendly" cafe outside of the old town. I happened to be staying around the corner, so I dropped in here a number of times. The smoothies packed with 'superfoods' are not the cheapest, but really good. There are cold soups and salads which I didn't try. Buckwheat pancakes with two fillings - scrambled tofu with sprouts, or cashew cream with fruit - are both really tasty but very small. A light breakfast at most. There's an array of tiny healthy cakes, energy balls, cheese cakes, all made with love. The coffee is good. There's wifi and power, and outdoor seating, but not a lot of seating in general (a table for two, and four bar stools). I anticipate the menu growing as they find their feet. Mama Terra (Tbilisi) I didn't actually eat here, but it's a vegetarian (mostly vegan) place almost next door to Kiwi. I did go to the secret bar behind the bookcase at the back, which you only know about if you know about it... Pasanauri (Tbilisi and Batumi) This is a traditional Georgian restaurant, of which there are two (at least) in Tbilisi and one on the beach in Batumi. They have a whole fasting menu, which is a filtered down vegan-friendly version of the regular menu, on the back page. Handy dandy. This is where I ate ten khinkali, and a bunch of other things, and went to both branches in Tbilisi and the one in Batumi. The khinkali are particularly good because they dough is thin and the fillings are well seasoned. Luca Polare (Tbilisi and Batumi) A chain of ice cream shops. They're ten a penny on the Batumi seafront, and I ran into at least three in Tbilisi. They have soya milk for coffees, and a bunch of vegan sorbets. They make 'fruit frappes' which are sorbet with fruit juice too, and seem to always have one vegan cake (labelled!). They tend to have wifi and power, air conditioning, and a nice atmosphere to hang about. They're also open aaall the time (8am to 2am). Porto Franco (Batumi) A Georgian restaurant that's part of a hotel, I was surprised to be recommended such a place by a local. I had ajarian lobiani here, and it was really delicious and all good prices. It opens early (because of the hotel I guess) and it's rare to find places for breakfast in Georgia, so that was nice. Uncle Feng's (Batumi) A Chinese restaurant, with several vegan things labelled on the menu. They were out of tofu when I went, but I ate delicious spicy ("Chinese spicy not European spicy") handmade noodles with vegetables, and a pot of Chinese tea. Pretty busy, but a nice atmosphere, and power and wifi. A good option for a break from Georgian food.