Belfast is one of the most vegan friendly cities in the UK

A recent survey has revealed that Belfast is one of the UK’s most vegan friendly cities, falling just behind Bristol, London and Edinburgh.

The survey which was conducted by energy price comparison site Save on Energy, who compiled a vegan index, examining the number of vegan-friendly restaurants in a city; the number of organic health food shops; the number of vegan supplement stores; and the number of vegan-related searches made online per month in each respective city.

The survey findings reported that: “Residents in Belfast have the most organic health shops of all cities studied (19), the third-highest number of vegan supplement stores (15) and is home to 198 vegan-friendly eateries.”

Commenting on the results was 2nd year History student Saoirse who said: “My favourite cuisines are Mexican and Italian so Belfast, being home to the two great loves of my life, Boojum and Little Wing, makes it one of the best places to be Vegan”.

She added how, “It’s amazing considering two years ago, when I turned Vegan, the only way you could get a Vegan pizza in the North was if you ordered a normal pizza without the cheese. Likewise, I remember once ordering a Burrito in a Mexican restaurant and they told me it wasn’t possible to make it without the cheese… How?”.

However, Saoirse also said that this means that restaurants who do not serve vegan produce, really don’t have a leg to stand on unless they are primarily meat. These days, to be able to get at least oneVegan option in any restaurant (and also not feel embarrassed or annoying when asking for the Vegan menu/options) just being the norm is amazing.

Adding to this, 4th year Politics student Kirsty said, “It’s great that a small city like Belfast, which has such an agriculturally reliant economy, has been named the 4th best for vegan food in the UK”.

“I have noticed a massive increase in vegan options when eating out and the vegan breakfast from Output on the Lisburn road is my personal favourite! I also love the vegan options in Bao Bun. From small shops to large restaurants the increase in plant based products has made it so much easier to make the move to vegan”.