The Best Vegan Friendly Restaurants in Belfast
I had such great feedback about my favourite vegan friendly restaurants in Dublin, that I thought I’d put together a similar post for Belfast. Obviously I only spent a long weekend here compared to around 3 months in Dublin, so this guide is considerably shorter, but nevertheless, the hype about a couple of these places is real and I’m confident you won’t be disappointed with my top picks!
If you’ve been following any of my platforms for a while, you’ll know that I am obsessed with Asian cuisine; Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Fusion.. I love it all (except for maybe Chinese food). When I saw that two of the best vegetarian/vegan restaurants in Belfast were Asian fusion, I knew I had to check them out..
JUMON
Unit 6, McAuley House, Fountain Street, BT1 5ED
I have to start with the best first because when I first heard about this restaurant, it had my name written all over it – all vegan and Asian fusion, I instantly knew we had to go there!
Jass and I ordered a selection of dishes to share, because quite frankly, the entire menu looked soo good that we wanted to try as much as possible.
To start, we ordered a cauliflower dish which was a special on the night we went and it was simply divine! It was the tastiest roast cauliflower we’ve both had so we were determined to order a second portion at the end, but sadly we were too stuffed! (sob)
The fries, above, were loaded with kimchi, mapo eggplant, tofu, truffle and coconut milk and I have to say this was our least favourite dish. I’d skip this and order two portions of the cauliflower dish next time – yum!
We ordered a salad and main course to share – the ‘Pok Pok’ salad with papaya, pickled pineapple, carrot, tomatoes, avocado, nuts and seeds and ‘Sayur Lodeh’; a jack fruit curry with asian greens, pickled lychee, carrots and brown rice.
I cannot begin to describe how delicious both of these dishes were. The creative fusion of all the ingredients such as pickled lychee worked incredibly well together – it was truly a delight for our tastebuds!
This is probably quite a bold statement, but I’d go as far as saying that this is up there with some of the best Asian food we’ve ever had!
I don’t have a sweet tooth and I particularly don’t like cake so dessert is something we very rarely order. However, because we loved the meal so much, we wanted to try something sweet and the waitress recommended this Full Moon dessert.
In true Nishi-style, I didn’t like the cake or the ice cream on top, however the banana, chocolate crumble and caramel maracuja sauce around the edge of the plate was delicious!
This place has great service, a lovely atmosphere and purse-friendly prices – even if you do get carried away and order 752 dishes (ok, maybe not), but regardless of whether you’re vegan or not, if South-East Asian food is your bag, then you need to visit Jumon! Just make sure you call ahead and book a table as they have strange opening hours and when they are open, they tend to get fully booked very quickly – I can totally see why!
I just wish they had a branch in London – I can guarantee I’d be there at least once a week if it was closer to me!
Read More: Belfast City Guide – Where to Stay, Eat, Things to Do, See & Explore
You may also be interested in 7 Excellent Vegan Restaurants In York You Need To Try.
YÜGO
3 Wellington St, Belfast BT1 6HT
Yügo is another restaurant I’d heard rave reviews about and as far as aesthetically pleasing decor goes, this place is on point. What they lack in service, they more than make up for with the food. They offer a vegetarian & vegan menu alongside their regular menu and it does not disappoint.
I was really excited to see a veggie bao bun on the menu, as traditionally these are filled with pork and not an option for me. This one was loaded with kimchi, pickled ginger and chilli sambal. There was no warning on the menu that it’d be spicy and boy is it spicy! As delicious as it was, my mouth was on fire and I couldn’t finish it which was disappointing.
The vegetarian roll selection; complete with cucumber hosomaki, avocado hosomaki, vegetable uramaki and yuzu miso sauce was delicious. The wok fried green beans, again, were pretty spicy and lacked something that I can’t quite put my finger on. They didn’t blow me away, however Jass loved his prawn dumplings and pork bao buns.
Like Jumon, it was really difficult to get a table here on Friday and Saturday night as it was fully booked, so we chanced it on Saturday lunchtime and arrived a few minutes before they opened and got lucky!
Though the prices aren’t budget friendly, the food was delicious and so I would go back again. Next time, I’d opt for the dinner menu as I hear they do a vegan massaman curry, and if I could pick one thai curry to live off for the rest of my life, it’d be a massaman!
Read more: THE BEST VEGAN FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS IN DUBLIN
GINGER BISTRO
68-72 Great Victoria St, Belfast BT2 7AF
Though they make a mean Espresso Martini here, this restaurant almost didn’t make the list as I didn’t love my meal here. I’m not keen on French cuisine as you may have guessed from this post, however, I’d heard a lot of great things about their vegan menu and I was intrigued.
I ordered the risotto with parmesan and truffle oil to start, which was delicious. It’s quite a filling dish to order alongside the Cottage pie main, but we were really hungry and I didn’t regret it as it turned out to be my favourite dish. In fact, I regret not ordering the large portion and skipping the main altogether.
Jass ordered the calamari to start, followed by a fish main course; both which he absolutely loved. Again, he’s not keen on French cuisine either but he said it was some of the best fish he’s ever had and we heard other diners around us complimenting the chef on their fish so it really must be something special!
I ordered a chestnut mushroom and puy lentil cottage pie with parsnip chips for my main, and I have to say that I didn’t like the pie. Obviously this is personal preference, as I’m not a fan of the French cuisine – there’s just something about the flavours that I don’t enjoy, so this was hardly surprising.
While I personally wouldn’t go back to this restaurant, I was impressed with the amount of choice for vegetarians/vegans on the menu and I know a lot of people who highly rate the food here. The ambience was beautiful and the service was great too, so if you like European food then this is one not to miss in Belfast!
Have you been to Belfast? What are your favourite restaurants there?
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