Eating vegan while you're travelling is so hard!

I've heard people say that they don't follow a vegan diet when they're travelling because it's too hard. I've also been asked if I find it impossible to eat vegan when I'm on holiday.

I'm not sure why there's an assumption that eating vegan away from 'home' would be difficult, but you wouldn't be alone if you thought the same!

Myth busting - eating vegan whilst abroad is no bother at all

Suraj (my hubby) and I have travelled to a few places within Europe and outside of it and we've not had any trouble at all.

Our short stay in Malaga
Honeymooning in St. Lucia
The deliciousness in San Francisco
Eating well in Salzburg
A few days in Marrakech

Eating vegan in Barcelona

We were spoilt for choice in Barcelona! There were so many cafes and restaurants that served vegan food; and not just a few options either! They usually had a delicious range of vegan meals listed on their menu. What was even better, is that, a lot of the restaurants were vegetarian to begin with! Isn't that good? For me, the best places were those that were vegan throughout, and there were a few of those! Just amazing.

Eating for less

The Menu del Dia was introduced as a way to enable workers to enjoy at least one healthy three course meal per day, for a small cost. This includes a drink too! It's often served between two and three in the afternoon in most restaurants in Spain.

Biocenter

We were lucky enough to go to Biocenter on a Tuesday. This was very much a fluke! However, the reason it was so good is because everything they serve is vegan on a Tuesday!

Lunch at the Biocenter is buffet style, and there's table service for dinner.

Eating at Biocenter was really nice. The staff were lovely. They helped guide us about which 'package' to go for. I think we went for a 3 course meal, and we also got a 2 course meal, so that we could share 1 dessert. The beauty of the salad is that you can refill it as many times as you want!

The normal set menu includes soup or salad, a main course and a dessert. Biocenter also have combinations dishes, which means customers can order a combination of 2 courses or just 1 course.

Enjoy vegan

We only had a coffee here. This was not because I didn't want to try some of the delicious things they were serving, but I was just so full!

Most of the items they made and sold were vegan, but not everything.

Some of the staff speak and understand English really well, so if you don't speak Spanish, it's worth asking about the items in the cake stands, rather than, going by the label near them. I say this because most of the labels weren't in the right place when we were there.

Gopal

We went on a free walking tour and happened to pass Gopal just before the group stopped for a short break. Suraj and I legged it to Gopal and got their burger meal with a coffee to take away, so that we'd make it back to the group within the 15 minute deadline. It cost less than 8 Euros. Isn't that amazing?

We loved it so much, that we went back for another meal! This time, we had a croissant as well.

The walk was really worth it by the way. The tour guides get paid on a 'tip whatever you want' basis. The idea is to encourage the tour guide to make sure that the walk is of a high standard. We liked it so much, that we went on the paid Gaudi tour on the following day. No regrets from either of us! It's definitely worth doing if you have the time.

Meal to take away

Some of Gopal's burgers

Gopal's menu

Sweet treats at Gopal

Knel-la

Knel-la is a small bakery. They make everything themselves and quite a few items in their range happen to be vegan. The items aren't labelled vegan, but the staff are more than happy to show you which vegan options are available.

It's definitely worth popping in. As you can see, we had a bit of a feast!

Rizoma

Rizoma is a lovely restaurant, which we went to for lunch. However, 'our' idea of lunch is from around 12 to 1, which is earlier than when the Spanish typically eat, so we were the early birds and we had the restaurant to ourselves.

This worked out to be a blessing in disguise, because it gave us the opportunity to chat to the owner, Javier. He said he wanted Rizoma to be like home, where customers can relax, enjoy the space, use Wi-Fi to check maps etc. and eat delicious food.

We spent 24 Euros and got so much for it! But it was more than the food. The space, Javier's vision, the service and care; it was all part of the meal being fantastic!

Sesamo

We went to Sesamo for dinner and were a bit stuck because there were so many vegan options on the regular menu. This was made worse by the fact that they also had vegan specials! Talk about spoilt for choice! :)

We made some decisions and soon realised that the food was rich, delicious and that we'd perhaps ordered a little too much. We slowly ate our way through what we'd ordered and had a lovely, chilled out meal!

We wanted to go back to taste more of the standard menu but didn't have time.

Bread with tomato

Slow roast aubergine, red peppers and onions with vegan cheese and rosemary oil

Baked cauliflower with tahini sauce, coriander, green chilli sauce, pine nuts and pomegranate

Cocoa, avocado, date mouse with wild berries

Teresa Carles

We lovingly gave the restaurant a nickname - TC. We enjoyed a couple of meals there and would have been more than happy to eat at TC again, if it wasn't for the amazing range of options available elsewhere!

I was very keen to eat at other places, so we had to limit TC to two meals.

Ηealthy Nachos - Homemade no-fried corn and spelt nachos, adzuki beans stew, guacamole, fresh tomato dices, pimientos del padrón and vegan sour cream.

Gazpacho

Seitan Vegan Stroganoff - Seitan fillets, onion, mushrooms, gherkins, non-spicy paprika, mustard, coconut cream, basmati rice.

Happy Coca Newi - Spelt flour pizza, smoked aubergine, green beans, artichokes, boletus edulis, grated cauliflower, olive oil, Teresa's Vegan Foieshavings.

Lasanyuki - Homemade lasagna with whole grain flour and 5 steps of real pleasure.

The 5 steps of pleasure are: spinach & pinions, boletus edulis, masala-chai style cooked pumpkin, cashew roller cheese, and a sauce made of both fresh and dried tomates

Snowflake cake - Home made vegan cake with caramelised Lleida's pears, macadamia nuts & vegan white chocolate fudge.

Mille-Feuille - Spelt flour and pine nuts mille-feuille with crema catalana, strawberris and other berries.

Eating vegan whilst travelling

So was it always this easy to eat vegan whilst abroad? I have no idea, but I've been doing it since early 2008 and I haven't had any problems so far.

Gratitude

I wanted to say thanks to a few people who shared activities that the local recommend and places to eat.

Vegan Disco shared a map with locations of shops and places to eat marked on it.
My Vegan Fridgie shared some of her favourite places to eat
Like a local guide shared Barcelona City Guide
Caitlin Galer-Unti shared some of the places she's enjoyed eating at

Places to visit next time we're in Barcelona

Za'atar Vegetariano
La Báscula de la Cerería
Juicy Jones
Vegatalia
L'hortet
Cat Bar
Väcka

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Vegan eats in Barcelona