How to survive traveling in Ireland as a vegan and where to find the best vegan restaurants in Dublin? In my opinion, Ireland is one of the most challenging countries in Western Europe when it comes to finding vegan options. While traveling around the country can be difficult as a vegan, the capital city, Dublin, offers a variety of vegan options.

 

Vegan Restaurants in Dublin

Sova Vegan Butcher, 51 Pleasants St, Portobello

This one was my favorite one for sure! They offer both lunch and dinner, and everything is 100% vegan. The dinner menu is a bit more expensive compared to some other restaurants but seriously worth it. They specialize in mock meats, and all of them taste delicious. You need a reservation, especially if you are a group of more than two people and you would like to have a dinner there. This restaurant should be a must for everyone visiting Dublin!

 

HappyFood, 27 Camden Pl

All of their meals are vegan and delicious. Here you can find the best vegan burgers in town! I ate here several times and not even once did I have a bad experience. The only negative thing is that they close very early and are not open for dinner. The restaurant is tucked away down a side street so might be difficult to find. Google Maps is accurate though, so just follow the directions.

 

Veginity

This place is not open anymore, but I was lucky to taste their food before they shut down. I’m mentioning this restaurant because I think they will open again in the future, so check out their Facebook page for the latest news. The food is very beautifully presented but in my opinion, not so tasty as in Sova. They had a different menu every week at their main restaurant and also a fast-food vegan fish and chips truck at Eatyard.

 

Shoots and Roots

Vegan food vendor selling at local markets. Check out their Facebook page for a schedule. Delicious food and I really recommend visiting some of the markets where they sell their food.

 

The Planted Bean, 16 Baggot Rd

This restaurant is so new that I didn’t even have a chance to try it. The food looks awesome though, and I will definitely check out this place if I ever travel to Dublin again.

 

 

Vegetarian Restaurants

Blazing Salads, 42 Drury Street

Healthy vegan/vegetarian takeaway place where you can build your own salad box. You pay by weight so it can get expensive very quickly. The salads are all vegan, and they also have different kinds of hummuses, tofu, and warm dishes. Usually one of the warm dishes is non-vegan containing dairy, but all the other ones are vegan. They also sell some delicious desserts and salty products that are not priced by weight. Try their rice balls – they are delicious!

 

Govinda’s, 83 Middle Abbey Street / 4 Aungier Street

Very affordable vegetarian restaurant. You can choose between brown and white rice and then just tell that you want all the vegan options (usually they have one vegan and one vegetarian dish and then some veggies). They have two different locations but the Abbey Street one is better with cheaper prices and better vegan dessert selection. The price for a small plate is 6,50€, for medium 9,00€ and for large 15,00€. The small plate was always enough for me and included two vegan dishes and rice.

 

Umi Falafel, 13 Dame Street

There probably wasn’t a single week that I didn’t go to Uni Falafel (and I spent over three months in Ireland!). They have the best falafels in town and very affordable options. I recommend getting the Palestinian falafel sandwich which is tastier and more filling than the Lebanese one. Both are only 5€ for take-away. They also have excellent lunch deals: 7,50€ for a falafel sandwich, potatoes and a drink or 8,50€ for a falafel sandwich, lentil soup, and a drink. It gets hectic during lunchtime so it’s better if you can get here before 1 pm or after 2 pm to avoid the worst crowds!

 

Cornucopia, 19 Wicklow Street

This is the oldest and possibly most famous vegetarian restaurant in Dublin. They have a buffet with delicious vegan options and also lots of vegan desserts like cakes.

 

The Happy Pear, Church Road, Greystones

Practically not in Dublin, but a little bit outside in a town called Greystones. I recommend you to spend one day doing the Cliff Walk hike from Bray to Greystones and ending it up having a delicious vegan meal at The Happy Pear. The restaurant is owned by two twins who also have a popular Youtube channel and Instagram with even more followers than I have (check out my Instagram by the way). I had never heard of these guys before I moved to Ireland, but they are famous there with their own product range, cooking book, etc. Note that the restaurant is not fully vegan but vegetarian with lots of vegan options.

 

Italian Restaurants

Aperitivo, 6 Parliament Street

An Italian restaurant with lots of vegan options specializing in pizza. They have a separate vegan menu with things like sandwiches (only during lunchtime), vegan pizza with vegan cheese and desserts. I even tried vegan tiramisu there!

 

Zizzi, 24 Suffolk Street

A little bit more expensive than Aperitivo and in my opinion even a bit overpriced. Almost all of the restaurants offer tap water for free, but here I paid 3,60 € for a fancy bottled water! They have a separate vegan menu, and I tried Vegan Lentil Ragu which was tasty.

 

Health Food Restaurants

Chopped, multiple locations

A salad restaurant chain where you can either choose from the offered options (Vegan Bodybuilder was the vegan option) or build your own salad/wrap/sandwich. They also have a book where you can check all the ingredients to make sure your salad dressing is vegan. What was little disappointing though, was the fact that they offer smoothies but none of those were vegan. I hope they will change this in the future!

 

Staple Foods, 24A Grattan Street

There are lots of different health food restaurants in Dublin offering at least some vegan options, so I’m not going to list all of them. Just to mention one more, Staple Foods is a nice one, and the vegan options are clearly marked in their menu.

 

Vegan Desserts

The Rolling Donut, 55 South King Street / 34 Bachelors Walk

A large selection of delicious vegan donuts and really worth checking out. They have two locations – both of them selling the vegan treats.

 

Yogism

This is another restaurant which is unfortunately closed at the moment, but I’m mentioning it because from what I understood they would open again in a new location. They served delicious vegan desserts like pancakes, waffles, and frozen yogurt.

 

Other Restaurants

The Mongolian Barbeque, 7 Anglesea Street

This was my go-to lunch place in Dublin! Lunch is only 6,90 €, and while meat-eaters only get one plate, vegans/vegetarians can fill up two bowls. Dinner is all-you-can-eat the price is 15€. The idea here is that you get a bowl, fill it up with whatever veggies you want. They also have tofu, mushrooms and sometimes lentils. Then you add the spices and sauce of your choice and hand it to the chefs to fry it up for you. If you add noodles, the white one is vegan and the yellow one is not (egg noodles). They also bring a cup of rice to your table, so I usually skipped the noodles. It can get very busy during lunchtime so be prepared!

 

Soup Dragon, 168 Capel Street

If you fancy some soup, this is the place to go! They have a large variety of soups every day, and many of them are vegan. You can get a good lunch deal – 4€ for a small soup including a piece of bread and fruit.

 

Brother Hubbard, 153 Capel Street / 46 Harrington Street

This is a trendy place for brunch. While they may not have a huge selection of vegan products, they are all clearly labeled in the menu, and everything I tried was delicious! They have two locations: north and south.

 

Klaw Poke, 159 Capel Street

This is actually a seafood restaurant but worth mentioning because they have an option to create your own bowl. They offer options like Yakitori tofu, kimchi, seaweed, and edamame beans.

 

Indian/Middle Eastern/Asian Restaurants

There are lots of Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants around the city offering some vegan options. For Asian food, I really recommend Yamamori Noodles.

 

Where to Stay to Be Close to the Vegan Restaurants

The best areas to stay if you want to be within walking distance of the vegan-friendly restaurants are the city center, Temple Bar area, The Liberties or Portobello. For more information about the neighborhoods and ideas for hotels, check out this post.

 

Supermarkets and Health Food Stores

I would say the best supermarket for vegan specialties is a department store Dunnes. Even they don’t have a very extensive selection but it’s your best bet in Ireland. They have some vegan products you can’t find in any other supermarkets, but they are quite pricey as well. Check out Koko Dairy Free products – they are delicious.

The cheapest options for grocery shopping are Lidl and Aldi. While these don’t really have any vegan specialties, you can find all the basics like fruits, vegetables, oats, canned beans, bread, rice, pasta and even hummus and soymilk. Aldi is a little bit better compared to Lidl, and they have things like almond milk, ready-to-eat vegan meals and salads and a health food sections with seeds, nuts, and stuff. However, both of these stores lack many of the vegan options you could find in their other stores outside of Ireland. You can’t find basic vegan things like tofu for example.

Tescos and Spars are everywhere, and even though they are a lot more expensive than Lidls and Aldis, you can usually find things like tofu, Alpro products, vegan snacks (check out Naked and Trek bars – so good!) and smoothies.

Unfortunately, in Ireland, you can’t usually find some vegan products like vegan cheese, chocolate, etc. in standard supermarkets and instead you have to go to very expensive health food stores. Nourish is one option with several different locations and also Down to Earth has a centrally located store.

 

Dublin Vegfest

Although this event takes place only once a year, I want to mention it because I ended up having such a great time there. If you’re living in Ireland, staying there longer or just happen to be traveling there at the time – definitely go here! I was volunteering for a day and then went there the next day too just to chill out. The volunteering was nice, and I got a free entrance plus a goodie bag so I can’t complain. I had just arrived in Dublin, so this was a perfect introduction to all the vegan options out there, and they also had cool speakers like James Aspey, a Youtuber Earthlings Ed and vegan bodybuilder Patrik Baboumian, just to mention a few. Go there with an empty stomach – there are just too many vegan things you want to try!

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