Vegan Eats In Cambridge

Last week I attended an iPhoneography workshop in Cambridge and I decided to use my spare time beforehand exploring some more of what Cambridge has to offer in terms of vegan eats. 

You may recall that it was around this time last year when I visited the Rainbow Cafe in Cambridge which is always the first eatery everyone recommends me to go to when in the area. As much as I enjoyed my rainbow experience, I was keen to mooch the streets this time to discover what else is on offer in this diverse and beautiful city.  

My first port of call was the main market square which I have visited numerous times in the past to browse, but this time I had a mission to find as many vegan friendly options as possible! 

I always really like this market because it's not too big and it's full of variety. 

There are some great fresh fruit and veg stalls here and as I wondered around I pictured myself doing a weekly shop here and filling my bicycle basket with colourful offerings. If I was a local resident I would definitely be doing this on a regular basis and supporting the small traders. 

There's a really great nuts and dried fruit stall which offers a wide range of tasty looking snacks, my favourites being those sweet chilli rice crackers which I can never say no to. As you approach this stall the aroma of olives really draws you in and then before you know it your hands are full with treats! One of my favourite things to do on a day out like this is to pick up some little bits and pieces I know I will be grateful for by the time I return home. 

A stall which was totally new to me was this West Indian street food seller. I was impressed to see from their menu that they offered two great sounding vegan options - a vegan roti wrap and a vegan curry box meal. Both sounded really delicious and this is definitely a cuisine I'm not used to trying. 

Another stall which I have visited in the past is the large bakery stand which sells some really lovely looking loafs of bread and  sweet baked delights. The only vegan friendly option, aside from the bread, was this simple pizza focaccia bread which I decided to grab a takeaway slice of to take home for my husband as pizza is one of his favourites. Despite not having a huge amount in the way of toppings this was still a really enjoyable late night snack!  

The award for the most colourful stall would have to go to this fresh fruit and juice stand which really caught my eye and drew me in. It was a swelteringly hot day in the middle of our recent heatwave so this was just what I needed to stumble across. The variety of fresh juices and smoothies were amazing and I couldn't resist picking myself up an iced strawberry drink which really hit the spot. 

Drink in hand, I continued on my journey around the cobbled streets and took in some of the stunning sights around me. Cambridge is certainly a great place to visit in the UK if you've never been before. It's always a hive of activity with a whole host of charming cafes and shops and, just like London, it's somewhere I could visit over and over again and never get bored. It's also pretty vegan friendly which  makes it even more appealing!  

My next stop was the Fudge Kitchen which, after having visited in Bath in the new year, I was aware served vegan friendly options (on the right day!). Sadly when I visited the Bath branch they didn't have any vegan fudge available but this time I was in luck! After enquiring about vegan friendly options I was immediately presented with a square of salted caramel fudge to try for myself. As imagined it was as good as I had expected so I didn't waste any time in taking a slice to the checkout.  

Despite being dairy free, and made with soya milk instead, I really couldn't tell the difference between this and regular fudge. The guy behind the counter obviously disagreed with me (eye roll!), but in any case it really is some damn good fudge! 

After having carried out a little veggie / vegan restaurant search on Trip Advisor I became aware of Taste of Cambridge, a mobile food van which offers up a variety of falafel and pizza wraps. Quite amazingly this is in fact currently rated in 58th place out of 532 eateries in Cambridge. Which isn't bad for a fully vegetarian and vegan friendly street food van. 

I've actually walked past this van countless times in the past but for some unknown reason I'd never stopped at it before. Maybe it was the queues that put me off in the past as this sure is one popular pit stop for people looking for a quick take away bite. 

Three out of four of the falafel wraps are vegan friendly and although they all sounded pretty good I decided to stick with the 'classic' option. Once I placed my order I was handed a ticket with a number on and soon discovered there were over ten people ahead of me all eagerly awaiting their lunch. To be fair I did decide to visit during the lunch time rush so this 'quick' take away ended up taking about 15 minutes.

I was glad I went for the regular 'medium' option as it was the perfect size to enjoy walking along with and exactly the right amount of food. The falafel wrap itself was everything I was hoping for and really tasty. I found myself a little wall to perch myself on and I enjoyed eating alfresco in the sunshine whilst people watching. 

Whilst en route to my photography workshop I came across this Revital Health food shop on Bridge Street and I decided to pop my head inside. Almost as soon as I stepped inside I was more than surprised to see in front of me a counter full with different takeaway foods and cakes. On closer inspection I was impressed to find numerous and clearly labelled vegan options. When did health shops get this good!?  

It was a shame my husband wasn't with me as this is exactly the kind of food he loves - vegan pies and sausage rolls! If my bag didn't already contain fudge and pizza I think I would have picked up a lot more from here but as it was I decided to just select two sausage rolls to take home for him. Which by the way were insanely good! This is definitely somewhere that I know I will return to time and time again when i'm in Cambridge. 

On top of all the amazing food Revital Health also had a really great selection of vegan friendly foods, supplements, toiletries and cosmetics so it's well worth checking out if you're in the area. I especially like discovering shops like this which are quite different to your regular Holland & Barrett stores. 

All in all I had a really great day in Cambridge and I am already looking forward to a return visit. I feel very lucky to be only an hour away from both London and Cambridge as both are such great cities for vegan food and exploring on foot, although I would say that a day in Cambridge is much more relaxing than a day in London! Especially if you find time to take a punt along the river too. 

Have you been to Cambridge before? 

Where do you love to eat? 

Let me know if you have any other recommendations!