How to Celebrate Veganuary in Newcastle
An at-a-glance guide to some of the best ways to participate in Veganuary in Newcastle
The beginning of a new year invites all sorts of grand plans and decisions to live better – from Dry January to gym memberships – but one of the most effective, important and easiest to take part in is Veganuary.
The Veganuary campaign started in 2014 and in 2023 more than 700,000 people signed up to the campaign – swerving all meat, dairy and animal-derived products. Around 2.5% of the UK population was vegan in 2023, almost double the number in 2019. Being vegan in Newcastle is easier than ever, so read on for our suggestions on how to celebrate Veganuary in the Toon!
Newcastle is well served with vegan restaurants (or vegetarian restaurants with vegan options). One of the longest serving is Super Natural on Grainger Street, which has been a vegan mainstay for 45 years and serves tasty, tempting food that just happens to be vegan. There’s great hot and cold drinks, hearty brunches and mains, all entirely vegan.
Or you could try Vegano in Blandford Square, a stylish café that started life as a food truck. Open from noon to 9pm from Thursday to Saturday (when it opens at 10am), they’ve got an impressive new menu with a range of burgers, pizzas, pasta, sides and starters. So if you fancy some Truffle Mac N Cheeze, an Ultimate Vegano Cheezeburger with all the fixings or something from the daily dessert section, you’re sorted!
And don’t forget the wonderful SnackWallah in the Grainger Market, a little food shack as bright and vibrant as the delicious grub they serve up. Open from 9.30am except Sundays, ethics and sustainability are a big part of the appeal here, but the food is excellent. Choose from a great range of puris, wraps, curries and sides and don’t forget a chai or a lassi to go with it.
Newly arrived on the Quayside is Cantina, a vegan taqueria serving up amazing plant-based tacos and sides alongside tequila, cocktails and beers to wash them down with.
And if Indian food is your bag, Karma Kitchen Café at the Bigg Market is a family business that offers delivery of fabulous Indian dishes and also offers a mail order ‘Karma Boxed’ service, posting curries and sides to your door for you to heat and serve at home.
Lots of big names on the Newcastle food scene are either offering up some great specials during Veganuary or always have some vegan options on offer anyway. Pizza Punks, for example, have the option of creating your own plant-based pie from a range of vegan-friendly toppings and vegan mozzarella and this Veganuary they've teamed up with vegan pizza giants Purezza to introduce two tasty specials using their signature Stracciazza cheese - the Meatfreeball Marinara and the Romesco Vegana.
Fellow pizza hotspot Twenty Twenty is happy to swap out dairy cheese for vegan cheese and fake chicken for real chicken on request and has a few vegan options available as well.
Fat Hippo on Shakespeare Street always has a great range of vegan options, like the Five Lies and Harlem Fake, but for Veganuary they’ve added a couple of tempting specials – the Parm-ela Anderson and some garlic butter fries - while Umai Mi in Eldon Square has some great vegan dishes on its tasty Japanese menu. Who could resist dishes like Shanghai Vegan Pork Yakisoba Noodles or Miso Butter Low Mein?
Indian street food supremo My Delhi has some very tempting and inventive vegan dishes on its flavourful menu – the Cauliflower Manchurian comes very highly recommended, and ditto Grandma’s Aloo Matar, a spicy North Indian potato and pea curry. Leila Lily’s, that riot of colour and flowers on Grey Street, has a dedicated and tempting vegan menu full of intriguing plates like Moroccan Coal Roast Heritage Carrots and a Portobello Mushroom & Sage Wellington and offers a vegan afternoon tea on request.
Over at Turtle Bay on Newgate Street there's a whole host of vegan Caribbean eats on offer, from vegan jerk chicken to vegan Caribbean katsu curry, plus lots of vegan-friendly cocktails to enjoy too.
There is also an excellent array of vegan food events in the city throughout the year, such as the Flower Power Vegan Fest at Wylam Brewery on 26th-27th January. The fourth of these weekends to be held at the brewery, it will be run on the same lines as their hugely popular food truck battles so expect some excellent food and a whole lotta fun.
Also back this year is Newcastle Vegan Market, with two outings taking place on Grainger Street, on April 20th and October 5th. Expect food stalls, artisan bakers, ethical jewellers and environmental champions. And there’s the Tyneside Vegan & Music Festival, at the Northumbria University Students Union on May 11th. Here you’ll find food and drink stalls, as well as crafts, environmental and animal rights resources and charities, and a day of poetry and music!
Being vegan is simple, healthy and ethical and as with most things, Newcastle offers everything a vegan could need - from restaurants and shops to events and street food. There’s no better time to give it a try!
