Eats, Shoots, Leaves – a Guide to the Best Vegan Spots in Cardiff
Whether you're a committed vegan, or just experimenting with meat-free Mondays and other ways of cutting down, Cardiff has an incredible array of options that are sure to give you plant-based power!
Image credit: Eartha
Eartha
213 City Road
Eartha started life two years ago as a plant-store pop-up in an empty shop in the centre of town, but has blossomed into a cool retail space with a brilliant café at the top end of City Rd, just near the junction with Richmond and Albany.
Cool hunters enter through an oasis of cacti, succulents and hanging plants and can grab a table near the kitchen, or head outside and sit in the yurt out back. The all-vegetarian, mostly vegan menu changes weekly, and the Wednesday night, five-course supper clubs are not to be missed. Leaving without a plant or two under your arm is a challenge.
Mother Nature
16 High Street Arcade
Cardiff's Victorian arcades are packed with indie hangouts with pavement-seating, perfect for a spot of people-watching over a stack of pancakes. Mother Nature is a cute-as-a-button space, with comfy seating, pretty Spanish tiles and a cosy weekend vibe every day of the week. The menu has a host of breakfast choices, as well as hearty curries and a couple of brilliant burgers, but if you only come here once, make it on a Sunday. The Mother's Roast, with pecan crusted chick'un, caramelised carrots, roast potatoes and a generous serving of rosemary gravy is everything you want on a plant-based plate.
The Naked Vegan
Cardiff Indoor Market
Have you been into the Indoor Market yet? You really should. Tucked between the greengrocers, hardware stalls and the penny sweets are some brilliantly quirky independent food sellers. If you're in town and in need of a coffee and a cake, the guys at Naked Vegan can sort you out with a chocolate orange brownie or a red velvet cupcake. There are a couple of tables, but take yours to go, and wander up the stairs to the balcony for a browse at the always brilliant Kelly's Records, who have been selling vinyl to Cardiff's students since 1969.
Wild Thing
36-38 Cathays Terrace
Based in a community centre, this is a social enterprise where you pay what you can afford, and all the profits go back into funding projects for the local community. Sit in the back garden for a breakfast feast of fig and tahini toast, plum-topped porridge or a stack of vegan pastries. They have a community fridge too, and are very keen to talk to anyone interested in volunteering. Get involved!
Image credit: Blanche Bakery
Blanche Bakery
16 Mackintosh Place
You've arrived in Cardiff in the middle of a pandemic. It's a bit weird. What should you do? Sit at a marble-topped table in a bougie blush-pink café and order a berry-topped doughnut and an iced tea, of course. Blanche Bakery is the most Instagrammable spot in Cardiff, and also serves a mean vegan brunch, as well as burgers and salads. Go for the selfies, stay for the baked goods.
Ripple
102 Albany Road
Hey, of course it's nice to eat out, but you didn't buy all those pans and plates in Ikea just to pack them back up in June. Ripple was the first zero waste store to open in Cardiff, and is still the best one, with the biggest selection of dried goods to buy by weight—as well as shampoos, laundry detergent and cleaning stuff. Just take your clean, empty containers with you and fill them with pasta, rice, nuts and spices and you can cook up a vegan storm in your very own kitchen. While you are there, pop into their lifestyle store next door, for ethically produced clothing, beauty and homeware.
The best of the rest:
The Lazy Leek, 183A Kings Road Yard - Plant-based street food shack trading on weekends in Kings Road Yard. You have to try their The Cow(less) Boy burger!
Simply V, 26 Castle Arcade - Independent, family-run vegan shop stocking everything from frozen food to candles, beauty, gifts and more.
Viva Organic, 79 Pontcanna Street - A one stop shop for all things organic and zero-waste. Also famous for their juice bar.
