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Top 8 vegan restaurants in Utrecht

Utrecht is one of the most beautiful cities in the Netherlands. It’s Amsterdam, but smaller and less crowded, what more do you want? Well…. FOOD of course. While there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, and they generally all have some vegan dishes, there are some great spots where you can find especially great vegan food.

Vegan restaurants:

1. The Vegan Gorilla

The vegan gorilla is a sort-of new restaurant in Utrecht. All their dishes are completely vegan and delicious. They offer both small Asian-style streetfood dishes to share, as well as larger meals from spaghetti to tacos if you prefer to eat everything by yourself. And next to their great dishes they have a cool drinks menu with drinks like apple-nettle icetea. It’s a bit out of the way if you’re in the city center, but worth a visit anyway.http://www.thevegangorilla.nl/

2. Oproer

Oproer is another restaurant you won’t find while shopping around the city canals. The restaurant/bar can be found near Utrecht Zuilen station at an industrial terrain, where they sell vegan food as well as their own home-brewed beers. They use organic, seasonal ingredients and because of that also have a new menu every month! http://www.oproerbrouwerij.nl/

3. SNCKBR

SNCKBR Utrecht is the only 100% vegan restaurant of all the SNCKBR restaurants. They offer many kinds of dishes, from tempeh to pizza. They also have a specific lunch menu with the typical dutch dish called “Kapsalon” meaning hair salon (WHY?!?! I don’t know..). This is usually a meat-lovers dish, but here a vegan version can be found with sweet potatoes, barbecued pulled jackfruit, Caesar dressing and cheese. According to their website they also work with sustainable ingredients, and, good to know, they can be found in the city centre! https://snckbr.com/SNCKBRUTRECHT/?lang=nl

Restaurants with vegan options:

1. Gys

Gys could almost be with the vegan options since their menu is ALMOST entirely vegan friendly. Gys was one of the first restaurants in Utrecht to create a partly vegan menu, however nowadays it’s almost 100% vegan. The offer a range of organic vegan/vegetarian options such as Fish & chips (vegan), sate, pokebowl, gnocchi. The food is really good and the atmosphere is great. There are two locations in Utrecht and both have their own menu, so have a look at that if you don’t know where to go. https://gysutrecht.nl/ 

2. Restaurant Ân Ân Vietnamese food

Restaurant Ân Ân is a Vietnamese restaurant selling Vietnamese streetfood. It has a very laid back and simple atmosphere, which makes it feel a little bit like you’re actually eating in the streets of Vietnam. It’s a very popular restaurants with many different dishes. While they serve meat and fish, they also have an extensive list of delicious vegan options and even the ones that don’t seem vegan can sometimes be made vegan when leaving the egg out. The idea of the restaurant is that it’s kind of Taiwanese tapas, so you order many different dishes to share, which makes it an even more fun dinner experience. https://restaurantanan.nl/

3. Wagamama

Wagamama has been in Amsterdam for many years now, but recently finally moved to Utrecht. It’s a Japanese restaurant (although they serve a limited amount of other Asian dishes as well) with amazingly delicious dishes and drinks. They’ve recently released an entirely vegan menu that finally has a vegan version of my boyfriend’s favourite dish (Japanese curry) and some other amazing dishes. The food is freshly made, so dishes are not served at the same time, but that also means you get really fresh food. https://www.wagamama.nl/restaurants/utrecht

4. Sunshine

Sunshine is an amazing Ethiopian restaurant in Utrecht. It is small, cozy, quite simple and the people are really nice. The food they serve is traditional Ethiopian food, served in a traditional way. While they serve quite some non-vegan/vegetarian dishes, they also have some AMAZING vegan options. I would definitely urge you to go if you want to try vegan Ethiopian food, to make sure which dishes are vegan, make sure you ask them. https://www.ethiopisch-restaurant-sunshine-utrecht.nl/

5. Soy

Soy is a restaurant/take-away a little bit outside of Utrecht city centre. They offer amazing Chinese dishes, but all vegetarian/vegan! :D So if you’re into Chinese-ish take-out, make sure to get it here! Eating in is alright too, but it’s simple and small so not very special for eating out. http://www.soy-utrecht.nl/menukaart/

So if you're in Utrecht, make sure to try out one of these amazing restaurants and let me know in the comments what you think :). 

Related content or attachment:
Recipe: Delicious vegan ramen recipe

Recipe: Delicious vegan ramen recipe

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It's RAMEN TIME! :D 

This is a Japanese ramen recipe that is delicious and suitable for everyone, also vegans. It is easy to make and you can create a different dish every time if you change the toppings. This recipe will give you the ramen stock, and some toppings I really like. In case you make the stock with mushrooms, add 1 hour to your cooking time. However, it's also delicious without the mushrooms! 

1. cut the tempe/tofu and put it in a bowl with a bit of soy sauce and garlic.

2. cut the garlic and ginger into small pieces and heat it in sesame or sunflower oil for about five minutes on low heating. 

3. now add the stock, soy sauce, mirin and if you use them, the dried shiitake or different type of mushrooms. Let it cook for about 5-10 minutes (the longer the tastier though), but in case you added dried mushrooms, let it boil for one hour before you continue with step 4. 

4. prepare the toppings (cut them into smaller pieces if necessary).

- heat some oil in a separate pan and bake the tempe/tofu. 

- boil some water in a separate pot, add the spinach for about two minutes, then drain the spinach with cold water. 

5. add the noodles and cook as long as necessary, then turn down the heat, add the miso paste and stirr well (don't boil when the miso paste is in). 

6. divide the stock and noodles over two bowls and add the toppings. I only use a little bit of pickled ginger in the middle because it looks very pretty but has a strong flavour. And you can sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

7. Enjoy

 

Ready In: 45 min.

Ingredients:

  • sesame oil (or sunflower will do too)
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 inch ginger
  • Vegetable stock (i used two blocks), so about 1L
  • Two tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon miso paste (usually white, but I used red and it was tasty anyway :))
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • about 150 gram ramen (depending on how hungrgy you are)
  • Optional: dehydrated mushrooms (shiitake)
  • Toppings such as:
  • tempe/tofu marinated and baked in a bit of soy sauce
  • 1 spring onion
  • 1 can of corn (200gram)
  • spinach (150-200 gram)
  • mushrooms
  • pickled ginger
  • sesame seeds
  • 4364 reads
Recipe: Vegan Arepas

Recipe: Vegan Arepas

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Arepas are corn pancakes/bread that can be eaten in all kinds of ways. If I understood correctly, arepas are mostly eaten like a kind of sandwich in Colombia (so cut open the arepa and put stuffing inside), while in Ecuador I mostly got it as a kind of thick pancake with other things on top. 

Since I am vegan I try to find food that fills me up and gets me through a day of walking and sightseeing. This arepas recipe is perfect for this; it is super easy, very filling, healthy and most importantly super delicious. Of course, you can adjust the recipe to your liking, but here is the recipe the way I like it: 

Ingredients for one/two people: 

Arepas: 

  • 1 cup arepa flour (in the Netherlands I can only find P.A.N. but other brands are masarepa and harina blanca. Just look for 'pre-cooked corn flour' and if you're in a Spanish speaking country just say 'harina para arepas?' which means 'flour for arepas?' and they will help you. 
  • 1 1/4 cup warm-hot water 
  • Pinch of salt
  • One Tbsp vegetable oil (sunflower)
  • Optional: other ingredients to add to the bread (I often add garlic or onion (small pieces) or paprika powder)

On the side: 

  • 1 can brown beans or kidney beans (400gr)
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 small can of corn
  • 1 onion cut into small pieces
  • 3 cloves of garlic cut into small pieces
  • 2 diced tomatoes (optional)
  • 1 avocado (optional)
  • One tablespoon paprika powder 
  • Chili (optional)
  • Salt (optional)
  • Oil

1. Cut the ingredients that you want to mix with the arepa flour into small pieces. 
2. Mix all the ingredients for the arepas. 
3. Knead until you get a ball of dough. 
4. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. 

1. Cook the onions in vegetable oil for about 3-5 minutes
2. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute
3. Now add the can of beans, corn and can of tomatoes (optional: chili & salt)
4. Turn to low heat and let it simmer 

5. Now shape the arepa dough to 1cm thick pancakes. You can choose the size depending on what you prefer. 
6. Bake the arepa in a good non-stick pan with enough oil and turn over when the bottom is golden-brown (you can also semi-fry them by adding a lot of oil and adding the arepa when the oil is hot)
7. Put the arepa on a plate, add the bean mix and add some fresh avocado and tomato pieces

ENJOY! :) 

Ready In: 30 min.

Ingredients:

  • Arepa flour
  • Warm-hot water 
  • Brown-/kidney beans
  • Can of corn
  • Can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 fresh tomatoes (optional)
  • Avocado (optional)
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Salt
  • Vegetable oil (preferably sunflower)
  • 6898 reads
Travelling in Ecuador as a Vegan

Travelling in Ecuador as a Vegan

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As a vegan who loves travelling, you've probably heard that it's impossible to do it if you want to stay healthy. Well, I'm here to change that view and give you some tips for travelling as a vegan in Ecuador.

When I went to Ecuador, I was doubtful about whether I would manage to stay vegan. I had been vegan for a year, and while it was rather easy in the Netherlands, I always thought that I would never be able to keep being vegan while abroad. Nevertheless, I did it with the help of some tips/tricks. 

1. Cook yourself
The easiest and best way (if you can use a kitchen) is cooking yourself. There are so many delicious recipes that contain some meat, but it's easy to substitute this meat for beans. Check out the arepas recipe on my page for example. Arepas are totally vegan, and if you combine them with vegetables and beans, very nutritious as well. The plantain recipe is also a very easy recipe for vegans which can be combined with all kinds of things. Basically, you can cook anything you were used to cooking at home as well, just check the ingredients. 

2. Eating out? Ask for something specific. 
This might sound strange, but it works better than asking "do you have something vegan?" or "can I have this without meat?". These questions often lead to misunderstandings, or even more questions. If you ask for rice with salad, or rice with beans or rice with beans and avocado, you will get it. Of course, in bigger or more international restaurants you might get away with asking for a dish without meat, but if you're at a bus station, or a smaller town or just local restaurants, ask for a specific thing. 

3. Look for vegan restaurants
Nowadays many places have some vegan restaurants, or restaurants with vegan options. Especially in the bigger and more touristic places in Ecuador (Cuenca, Quito, Otavalo, Banos, at the coast) you might have a chance of finding vegan things. For a start, in Tena, where I stayed for 3 months, is a great vegan restaurant next to Cafe Tortuga (which also has some vegan options). It is owned by a wonderful cheff and she makes just great dishes! In Baños there is a restaurant called Healthy Food which you can't find on Google Maps, but it is near Ponche Suizo and they have many vegetarian and Vegan options. Also in Baños is Zumo, a great restaurant at which they offer all kinds of dishes, also vegan, and if you ask they might even be able to make some adjustments to the non vegan dishes. But since Ecuador is a popular travel destination, you can find many options nowadays at more international restaurants. 


Food at Zumo                                                                                   Vegan Streetfood

Hopefully, this can encourage you and aid you in your vegan travels! Also in the rest of South America! Let me know if you have any more recommendations :)

Cheers, 
Hannah

 

  • 4852 reads
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Comments, Compliments & Kudos

Vegan Utrecht Bert Brouwers contributed on 12-11-2021 11:37

Hey Hannahlow! What a nice and interesting blog did you write!

I was born and raised in Utrecht. First I lived with my parents, but now I live with some friends. I find it verry funny to read that you compare Utrecht with Amsterdam, only Utrecht is smaller. That's something my parents always say as well! With its canals the centre of Utrecht has the same atmospehere as in Amsterdam.

The restaurants you mentioned are very popular. I also been at some. My favorite vegan restaurant is definitely 'Gys'. They have a versatile menu and the food is delicious. Another restaurant worth mentioning is 'Vegitalian'. If you're into Italian food, this is the place to be in Utrecht. They're located in the centre, near by 'De Neude'. You should really try this restaurant! ;) Vegitalian is also open for takeaway and delivery.

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