Vegan Aberdeen (by a Non-Vegan).

Firstly, I say vegan, but, I guess I really mean plant-based.

Secondly, I say ‘non-vegan’, but I was a plant-based eater once, I’m just not anymore.

Just so we’re up to speed, the definition of a vegan according to the Oxford Learners Dictionary is, ‘a person who does not eat any animal products such as meat, milk or eggs or use animal products like leather or wool’. Plant-based is a term used more specifically to describe diet. I’m going to use vegan and plant-based interchangeably throughout this blog, just for ease. People become vegan for lots of reasons such as animal welfare, sustainability or health…and people stop being vegan for lots of reasons too.

Often plant-based food is sold to vegans by other vegans and I wanted to put it out there in my blog title that I’m a meat eater, I love vegan food and I’d love for other meat eaters to love it too! I’m not going to go into my diet and the many transitions it’s been through here but there is a second post talking about that for those that are interested. I’m also not going to sell the vegan ethos to you as a) that would be deeply hypocritical and b) there’s plenty of information out there to sift through if that’s something you’re interested in. What I do want to do is tell you about all the great vegan food within Aberdeen, and maybe inspire you to try something different, especially if you’d normally steer clear of plant-based meals.

Roots

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Let’s start with Roots Plant Based Catering. Roots has several different faces, and I must admit I’ve only sampled Roots@The Beach. BUT I’m super keen to try out Roots Takeaway, Roots Butchery and Roots@Home at some point!

Roots@The Beach is featured in the pictures above and is stationed on the Beach Boulevard close to Footdee. As it’s a bright green food truck it’s not too hard to find. The truck is open Friday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm. I went with my pal Alysha for a late lunch a while ago but I didn’t write down what I had (good work Amy!). I just remember it was some sort of chick’aint burger with some form of delightful plant-based milkshake and Alysha had special Korean BBQ pulled ‘pork’ tacos and a coffee. We both really enjoyed our meals and weeks later I’m still thinking about it…even if I can’t quite recall exactly what it was! For both the burger and the milkshake I’d say that they hit the flavour and texture points of animal products really well. I think one of the things that often puts committed meat eaters off trying vegan alternatives is the misconception that it’s all too ‘health foody’, it’s bland or that fake meat is a poor cousin to real meat (so why would you bother). Both of the things I ate from Roots@The Beach were a bit naughty, very flavourful and great animal product substitutes. I follow @rootscatering_UK on Instagram and it seems that they’re quite flexible with the menu, changing things up regularly and keeping it fresh. Its such a cool little spot, especially as the winter sun goes down.

I’ve not tried Roots Takeaway yet, but I keep thinking about it. I really need to try it out soon! They do deliveries Wednesday to Sunday, 4pm to 9pm and they serve different types of burgers, fried chickn’, loaded fries, drinks and dessert. They deliver all around Aberdeen City, but if you’re not sure if you’ll be in their delivery radius they have a handy little map on their website.

Finally, Roots Butchery and Roots@Home are not available yet but I’ll condense the information on their website so you don’t have to look yourself! Roots Butchery will provide plant-based butchery products such as Seitan Bacn’ and Fajita Chickn’ Strips. I believe you’ll need to pick up these bits and pieces from 99 Bar and Kitchen on Back Wynd, but as I said, it’s not quite ready yet so maybe follow them on Instagram and watch that space. Roots@Home is described as “chef prepared plant-based food delivered to your door’. This is offline for now, as in I don’t know any more about it. I also don’t know how this will be different to Roots takeaway…but I’m sure it’ll be great.

Bio-Café

I’m somewhat reluctant to say this but I was actually a little dubious about Bio-Café before I ate from there…twice. It’s healthy, as in it has cakes that are gluten free, dairy free and without added sugar plus it’s Deliveroo options are limited to things like ‘vegan nourish bowls’. It’s not that I don’t like healthy food, it’s just I’d rather make it at home than spend money on it and quite frankly if I’m going to eat cake then I’m going to eat CAKE!

The first thing I had from Bio-Café was one of those vegan nourish bowls with a vegan ‘snickers’ on the side. The bowl was fresh, colourful and made me feel like I was doing something really great for my body. The ‘snickers’, which was rich and naughty, definitely went some way to balancing out that feeling!  

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Although this wasn’t the kind of thing I’d buy myself very often it did make me want to try Bio-Café again. The daily Instagram pictures from their account @biocafe_aberdeen encouraged me to try it again ASAP! From what I can gather the menu, or at least elements of it change regularly. I went during a WFH day and ordered a beetroot latte (solely because of the colour, let’s be honest), a savoury waffle with chickpeas, mushrooms and avocado AND some Matcha cheesecake. The waffle was straight up incredible, the latte’s colour did not disappoint (and it tasted much better than I expected), and the Matcha cheesecake was understated but pleasant. It is worth bearing in mind that vegan cheesecake is nothing like ‘real’ cheesecake though. It’s an entity of it’s own!

Honestly, after starting off a little unsure I’m now totally converted. I’m just looking forward to my next WFH day so I can sneak off at lunch to try something else that’s slightly out of the norm for me.

Biff’s

So, Biff’s was a bit of a surprise, as in I didn’t know it existed until my boyfriend picked them out from Deliveroo. This was also a surprise as he’s a pretty committed meat and dairy eater! From what I can gather Biff’s originated in London but is collaborating with BrewDog to reach a larger audience. Biff’s is all about serving the classic junk food; burgers, fries and ‘wingz’, and they do it well. They only soft launched in Aberdeen a couple of months ago so they’re definitely worth hitting up and showing some support. Deliveroo just happens to be my food delivery company of choice but I believe they’re also available on Just Eat.

Bonobo

Bonobo was one of the first places I visited when I moved to Aberdeen a couple of years ago. I have no memory of what I ate because it was during the height of wasp season and Bonobo has a delightful terrace garden area which was attracting a lot of them. I strongly dislike wasps at the best of times, but I dislike them even more when I’m trapped inside with them. I sat there quietly panicking until mercifully it was time to leave.

Two years later I’m over the wasp trauma and thought it was time to try out Bonobo again! Like Bio-Café I’d put this in the category of ‘healthier’ vegan cafes and likewise it also keeps it’s menu fresh, changing it regularly. They have a great Instagram page (@bonobotribe) which makes me feel hungry ALL the time. When I went the other week they were only open for takeaways but I believe they’ve just spruced up their outside area so I think you can eat there now. I made a snap decision of ‘seitan sandwich’ because it all looked so good and I didn’t know what to have. I also grabbed an oat milk chai tea latte which was delightful. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but the sandwich was really, really flavourful and definitely hit the spot. I’m looking forward to going back soon.

Foodstory

Everybody in Aberdeen knows Foodstory and everybody loves it! Foodstory isn’t a strictly vegan café but their meals are largely plant-based. There’s a lot going on with Foodstory, there’s a great café (obviously), they run yoga and craft classes, they have a zero waste style store upstairs selling shampoo bars and loose grains, they run reggae nights (I learned that I’m way to uncool for these) and they now have an online shop and delivery service. It’s worth checking out their website…especially as a fair few of things I’ve just listed will be running differently due to COVID.

My favourite time to visit Foodstory is Sunday brunch as they do vegan pancakes. On Sunday they only make pancakes and they are fantastic. You have lots of different toppings options and of course Foodstory has all the relevant vegan milks for you to have a fancy coffee to go with it.

Notable Mentions

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Nope, notable mentions is not the name of a vegan café but I wanted to mention a couple of non-vegan restaurants and café’s that I think have some great vegan options.

Firstly, Contour Café. I haven’t been to Contour Café on The Green since the COVID palaver started, but I believe it’s open. They do a stunning vegan sausage cob (or bap or roll…whatever your persuasion is!), which is the perfect breakfast. They also have a range of plant-based milks.

Secondly, BrewDog. We’ve already established that they’re collaborating with Biff’s but they also have their own great vegan food options. Actually, out a whole menu of meat options I always choose the vegan…which I think says a lot about how good they are.

Thirdly Refillosophy. Refillosophy on Albyn Grove in the West End is a store full of eco-friendly goodies that aim to help you live a life with less single-use plastic. The main reason I wanted to go to Refillosophy was the vegan doughnuts I kept seeing on their Instagram page! Refillosophy sells many, many baked goods by The Vegan Bay Baker who is based down in Newburgh. I had a Biscoff Brioche, a caramel doughnut and I got 2 vegan butteries for my partner. He didn’t believe that they were vegan…and I think that says all you need to know!

Finally, @plantbasedaberdeen, it’s not a store but an Instagram account. @plantbasedaberdeen is a great way to stay on top of all things vegan/plant-based in Aberdeen. So, go check it out.

And that’s it, that’s your lot. If you are vegan then I hope I’ve mentioned somewhere you haven’t tried yet and if you’re not vegan then I hope I’ve encouraged you to try something new. Now go out and eat!