Six restaurants where you can feast vegan

Meatless happiness

Eating less meat or no meat at all, giving up animal products temporarily or permanently - this lifestyle is gaining more and more followers worldwide. As individual as the motivation to give up meat may be, the culinary options are just as varied. The spectrum of vegan delicacies that you can find in Düsseldorf's rich restaurant scene ranges from sweet treats to exotic dishes and hearty fast food. Word is just getting around about how good and healthy you can feast on plant-based food here. Just give it a try!

Lush green 

Vehement meat fans like to claim that they don't get full from vegetables. This argument is refuted in the most delicious way at Sattgrün - the lavish buffet at this popular vegan-only restaurant offers plenty of hearty dishes: soy stroganoff with mushrooms and salsify, for example, or pasta with tomato and sunflower seed pesto and spinach. You can choose between four portion sizes and decide for yourself how much you want to heap onto your plate. So you'll definitely be full here - even without meat or other animal products. The fact that satiety lasts longer after the meal and that you feel full of energy thanks to the vegan diet is a tangible plus point. This fact has convinced so many people that Sattgrün now has branches in three locations in Düsseldorf: In MedienHafen, at Lindenplätzchen in Flingern and at Graf-Adolf-Platz in the city center.  

To1980 vegan 

Pho, a rice noodle soup, is the national dish of Vietnam. It is served in the so-called To, the food bowl that bears the vegan name of the restaurant To1980. Fancy something even more traditional? Here you sit on the typical colorful chairs, guarded by Buddhas, and do as the Buddhist monks do: out of respect for creation, they abstain completely from animal products. The Vietnamese themselves follow this custom on days when they visit Buddhist temples. So it's no wonder that Vietnamese cuisine has so many vegan delicacies. To1980 lists 20 vegan starters alone, from well-known dishes such as the popular spring and summer rolls to more exotic dishes such as braised green banana with tofu, eggplant and herbs or deep-fried sweet potato with homemade, vegan chilli mayonnaise. Delicious fruity cocktails are served alongside, and for dessert there is sticky rice, a sweet coconut milk rice. Want to bet that you'll look as full and satisfied as the little Buddhas afterwards?         

Cigköftem 

Çiğ Köfte is Turkish and means something like "raw meatballs" - but in this case, the Turkish specialty has nothing in common with meat. Instead, it is made from bulgur, tomato paste, ground chili peppers and 18 different spices. The starter is the cigköftem wrap for 4 euros, in which the spiced bulgur is combined with iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomato, spring onions, mint and parsley and refined with homemade pomegranate sauce. Based on these ingredients, there are various dumplings in which, for example, delicious wheat balls can be rolled on request. These wheat balls are also available with vegetables and nuts. Homemade hummus and cream puffs filled with dark chocolate round off the range of vegan street food perfectly.  

Jade 

In Düsseldorf, if you want to eat without animal products, you can also find something off the beaten track. For example, at Jade on Dürener Straße in Bilk, which has been around for 27 years now. In the first few years after it was founded, the small restaurant, which has space for a maximum of 30 people at its four tables and bar, still served meat. From February 2008, however, Kim Trieu made a complete change. Since then, 80 percent of the menu has been vegan and 20 percent vegetarian. "Apart from a few eggs, we don't put any animal products in the pot," says the chef, explaining his philosophy. So everything that sounds like meat on the menu, be it goulash, duck, chicken, steak or ham, is plant-based. Maybe bring your convinced meat eaters along and put them to the test?      

Space Burger 

The burgers at this Old Town institution are said to be nothing less than intergalactic. They are called "Orbxio", "Spina del Tozzi" and "Champignon Jones" and are all served in vegetarian and vegan versions. The burger specialists develop an extraordinary number of ideas for you: In addition to the purist classic, in which a vegan patty, a slice of tomato, caramelized onions, gherkins, lollo bianco, iceberg lettuce, ketchup and homemade burger sauce are married, the umpteen different fast food dishes also feature smoky grilled eggplant, walnut pesto, kimchi, teriyaki mayonnaise, jalapeños and Persian dates. If you are really brave, order a sweet "Lord Cherry". It comes with grilled pistachios, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, barberries, carrots and sour cherries.  

La Fiorentina 

How to make a wedding cake? That's what Florentine Gronski asked herself. And soon found a suitable answer: plant-based! With her patisserie delivery service, the Düsseldorf native has indeed found a lucrative gap in the market and offers the finest cakes and cupcakes on a vegan basis. Advantage number 1: All vegans and lactose intolerant people can join in. Number 2: The sweet treats are also healthier and easier to digest than conventional cakes. So it's even easier to shake a leg at the wedding waltz! The proven expert - Florentine learned her trade in a traditional pastry store and also expanded her patisserie knowledge in the bakery of London's luxury department store Harrods - doesn't just limit herself to the big day. She also develops cakes for other occasions and even molecular dessert variations. So you can do it without a wedding. For the freedom-loving among you, that's the third piece of good news.

Cover picture: © To1980 Vegan