Dublin is a city known for its rich history and culture. It’s also home to a huge population of vegans. That means that if you’re vegan, eating in Dublin is a breeze!
Veganism has been on the rise, and Ireland has been leading the way with more than 2.0% – 4.1% of people identifying as vegan according to Wikipedia in 2018. Since then, interest in veganism has boomed, so no doubt this figure is even higher today. There is a wide variety of vegan food in Dublin and it has become easier to find vegan restaurants and cafes.
Dublin is actually one of the most progressive cities in Europe when it comes to veganism with an abundance of vegetarian restaurants, supermarkets, and cafes. In fact, they were even found to be rated the most vegan-friendly city in the world, with more than a fifth of vegan eateries analysed on TripAdvisor as having vegan options.
How to find vegan food when you’re in Dublin
Veganism is a type of plant-based diet that excludes all forms of animal products, including meat, dairy, eggs, and honey. It can be difficult to find vegan food when you are travelling abroad or to a new city because of the different dietary cultures. Irish cuisine is traditionally not vegan-friendly because it contains a lot of butter, eggs, and milk. However, in recent years there has been an increased number of vegan-friendly restaurants opening in Dublin. This makes it easier than ever to find what you are looking for.
Here are some tips to make your search for vegan food easier:
- Check out local restaurant booking websites: it can be hard to know where sells vegan food or where to even begin looking if you want a restaurant meal out. Of course you can traipse through restaurant listings on Google, but it becomes frustrating when the menus don’t have what you are looking for. When in Ireland you can use this SquareMeal website to search for restaurants in Dublin and filter the results by vegan. Go to menu > restaurants > Dublin and then filter by vegan options.
- Search for ‘the best vegan restaurants in Dublin’: or cafes, or takeaways, or whatever type of eatery you require. The Google business listings at the top are handy as they give you a map and opening hours, but just be aware the opening hours are sometimes wrong, so unless you are close by it’s best to call and check before just turning up.
- Take a supply of food with you: even if you have no fridge and you are on a road trip or day out, there are so many vegan snacks and meals you can carry with you. Check out my list of road-trip friendly foods for vegans that don’t require refrigeration. You can take some items with you in your rucksack just incase or even to have a picnic in one of the beautiful parks in Dublin.
- Search on Instagram: people love to share their vegan food finds on social media, especially on photo-sharing platform Instagram. Search relevant hashtags like #vegandublin to see the places vegans in Dublin already recommend.
- Check out vegan websites for their recommendations: there are many vegan websites such as HappyCow and PETA who share restaurant reviews for vegan. Just search for Dublin on their websites.
- Find the health food stores: if all else fails, you can guarantee you’ll find some delicious and familiar looking vegan snacks and foods in health food stores. All supermarkets will also have lots of vegan friendly options and even section of the store dedicated to plant based food.
- Ask: don’t forget to ask! Sometimes, restaurants and cafes will have a separate vegan menu and it’s not always on display. Or they might be able to adapt an existing meal on their menu so it’s suitable. Just ask!
Conclusion: If you’re vegan and travelling to Ireland, you’ll have plenty of options as long as you plan out your trip ahead of time. With these tips, eating vegan in Dublin will be easy!
Great tips – I have never been to Dublin but would love to go!
I had no idea it was so vegan-friendly, that’s great! And these are really helpful practical tips; thank you!
Dublin is vegan friendly. Thank you 😊