Suffolk's Vegan Hotspots

Offering Vegan and vegetarian food, the Old School Cafe is situated inside Just Traid at the St john's Centre in St John's Street, Bury St Edmunds.

Their menu includes hot and cold food options as well as cakes and cream teas.

Choose from chilli, chilli nachos, cheese, leek and mushroom spelt quiche, watermelon, mint and feta salad. Cakes includes tangy lemon drizzle cake, rich coffee and walnut cake and vegan spiced carrot cake.

Situated just north of the riverside town of Woodbridge, the Farm Café + Shop at Marlesford serves breakfast from 7am - 11.30am and lunch from 12pm - 4pm. Everything that is served in the café is available from the next door farm shop; including locally grown vegetables, juices, wines and beer plus plants and flowers, and a range of fresh or frozen ready meals made in the café for you to take home!

The vegan menu, which is incorporated into the main menu, features dishes such as mushrooms, baked beans or tomatoes on toast, Bonallack Granola and muesli (ask for soya milk when ordering).

For lunch, there’s mushroom tomato and egg jacket potato, sandwich or baguette, falafel panini and salads including mixed salad leaves, cucumber, beetroot, tomatoes, spicy sweet potato and giant couscous.

Just a stone’s throw from the golden sands of Lowestoft Beach, VeGee Deli sells a wide range of vegan friendly and gluten free food, made using fresh, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.

Warm up after a walk along the beach with a cup of freshly ground coffee made with dairy-free milk and tuck into a mushroom, tarragon and chestnut “sausage roll”, before stocking up on vegan cheeses, antipasti, pastries and cakes, sandwiches, bread, locally grown vegetables and chutneys.

Once a month, the deli hosts a pop-up restaurant at nearby MarkG at The Tramway Hotel. The recent menu boasted a mouth-watering selection of vegan dishes, including Spiced Squash Soup, Candied Seeds, Harissa with Ras Al Hanut flatbread and Herb Crusted Peppercorn Lentil & Nut Pate, Orange Relish and Toast for starter; Beetroot and White Bean Burger with Mozarella, Pickled Slaw and Rosemary Fries and Roast Vegetable and Artichoke Paella with Garlic Bread, Tomato and Red Onion Salad for main; and for dessert, Blackcurrant and Coconut Blancmange with Blackcurrant Compote and Banana Flapjack or Chocolate Brownie Sundae.

These special menu nights are very popular though, so make sure you ring ahead to book a table.

Cradle in Sudbury is a plant-based café and bakery is situated on North Street in the town and is a social enterprise and community interest company with the profits going towards community gardens and food waste solutions; so you can feel good about your spending as well as your diet!

The café is open from 8am - 4pm Wednesday to Saturday and Saturday evenings from 7pm - 11pm for bookings only. Previous dishes on the menu have included Chestnut and Cognac Parfait with Hibiscus, Apple and Onion, Kale and Hazlenut Croquettes with Celeriac Puree and Leeks, Blue and Sweet Potato Gnocci, Pumpkin Tortellini, Capel Mushrooms, Toasted Walnut and Sage Crust with Blue Potato Skin Crisps and Seville Orange and Chocolate Cheesecake.

This eclectic restaurant Edmundo Lounge is situated in the heart of historic Bury St Edmunds. Find yourself a cosy sofa to sit on and choose from the impressive vegan menu. Breakfast picks include the Vegan Breakfast (with falafels, hash browns, baked beans, slow-roasted tomato, sautéed mushrooms, spinach, wood-roasted peppers and toast), Vegan Sweet Potato Waffles with black beans, avocado lime ad coriander and Avocado Brunch with lime, chilli, coriander and tomato on toasted ciabatta.

For mains, choose from Vegan Falafel and Hummus Ciabatta, Falafel Salad, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Rice Bowl, Goan Vegetable Curry and Sweet Potato Falafel Burger.

There’s also a selection of cakes on offer including Dark Chocolate & Ginger Torte and Fruity Flapjack, plus a Tapas Menu of Patatas Bravas, Hummus and Sweet Tomato and Chilli Dip.

A delightful canteen style café on Museum Street in the county’s capital town of Ipswich. Museum Street Café is vegetarian but there’s also a wide selection of soups, lunches and cakes plus an exciting salad bar featuring roasted carrot, beetroot, pea hummus, tomato salsa, grated carrot, hummus, courgette, couscous, mushroom, spicy red slaw, coronation cauli, coleslaw, Waldorf and cheese.

To accompany your salad, choose from Potato and Apple Latka with Carrot and Spinach Curry, Ploughman’s or Carrot Pancakes with Chickpea and Roast Carrot Hummus.

And if you’ve still got room or want a sweet treat to take away, cakes available include cinnamon and Chocolate Brownie, Syrup and Ginger and Raw Millionaire’s Shortbread.

Located in Ipswich’s Butter Market Shopping Centre, Cosy Club is the ideal spot to enjoy lunch whilst shopping, a pre-theatre dinner or late night cocktails. Like other Cosy Clubs (there are now 15 located across the country), the restaurant is inspired by the 1920s with a dark wood bar, golden rails and chandeliers.

There’s a dedicated vegan breakfast, lunch and dinner menu on offer. For breakfast, choose from the Vegan Breakfast with falafel, grilled tomato, field mushroom, wood-roasted peppers, spinach, fried potatoes and baked beans with toast and Avocado Brunch with lime, chilli, coriander and tomato on toasted Puccia Bread.

For mains, there’s a range of sandwiches including Falafel, Hummus and Avocado and Hummus & Roasted Red Peppers Panini; tapas dishes Patatas Bravas, Garlic Mushrooms and Thai Veggie Burger, The Empire Curry, Courgette, Pea & Edamame Bean Risotto and Moroccan Tabbouleh.

You needn’t miss out on pudding either as there’s Marshfield Farm Sorbet and Dark Chocolate & Ginger Torte to choose from.

Located in the heart of the Suffolk countryside in Great Brickett, The Red Lion is a vegetarian pub. Recently taken over by new owners, there’s a new menu coming in January 2018, but previous menus offer a range of vegan dishes too.

Previous dishes on offer have included starters of Hummus Platter and the Soup of the Day and main courses of Seitan and Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry, Smokey Butternut Squash and Chickpea Tagine and Wild Mushroom Ravioli.

The previous owners of The Red Lion have taken over The Walnut Tree at Thwaite and offer an extensive vegetarian and vegan menu. The pub is a Grade II listed restaurant with comfy sofas and open fires for chilly winter evenings and an enclosed beer garden for the warmer months. It’s dog friendly too, so the ideal spot for a post-walk dinner.

On the menu there’s Mushroom, Thyme, Walnut and Cognac Pate, Gado Gado (an Indonesian salad with cucumber, beansprouts, white radish with a peanut dressing), and Chickpea ‘Crab’ Cakes for starter.

For your main course, tuck into Sweet Potato, Peanut & Apple Burger, Parsnip, Pistachio, Chestnut and Wild Rice Roast and Smoked Almond Tofu Laska to name but a few.

Finish your meal with a sweet treat of Strawberry Pimms Summer Pudding, Pear, Blackberry & Hazelnut Crumble and a selection of sorbets.

Young vegans are catered for too, with Quorn Chicken Nuggets and Chips, Veggie Sausages and Homemade Hummus.

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