Ah, Christmas. You’ve just had two weeks of stuffing as much turkey into your mouth as is humanely possible. Leftovers are spilling out the fridge. Frankly, the sight of just one more tin of Roses might send you over the edge. It’s time for a cleanse, you say, as you sneak a handful of cheese and crackers from the depleted Christmas cupboard. You watched The Game Changers and Cowspiracy on Netflix in the weird period between Boxing Day and New Years Eve and decided; yes, it’s time. I’m doing it. I’m doing Veganuary.

“What is Veganuary?” you might be asking. That’s a very good question. Veganuary is actually its own charity- set up in 2014 to encourage people to try out veganism, even if only for the month of January. You cut out all meat and animal products from your diet for the month, and at the end you can either go back to your normal diet, or carry on eating vegan. Simple as that, really.

Except, it’s not always that simple. As much as your vegan friends might try to convince you, going cold turkey from, well, turkey, is actually pretty hard. Firstly, you’ll have to think of new meals you can make that don’t contain meat or animal products. If you’re a terrible cook like me, you might be stuck eating Quorn mince and stir fry day in, day out. Secondly, what on earth are you supposed to do after a night out?? Sure, you could just get chips, but what about the nuggets? The lamb doner? THE BATTERED SAUSAGE?? You can’t even have the garlic mayo.

Look, you might be panicking a bit right now. Maybe I’ve given you the sweats. But never fear, I’m here to remind you that we live in a city with some of the best, most varied, vegan options available right at our doorstep. Cardiff contains some of the best vegan restaurants, cafés, takeaways, and shops your hungry little heart could desire, and to make things easy for you, I’ve compiled some of my favourite vegan eateries in this handy little list. Veganuary? Sorted, mate.

Greazy Vegan

Let’s start with the big guns. You really, REALLY fancy a Big Mac, but you’ve managed to get a week into January without caving and ordering a Maccies. Or maybe you’ve been seeing a mixed doner and chips in your dreams. Pop along down to Greazy Vegan, on the corner of Castle Street and Castle Arcade, and fulfil all of your junk food fantasies, without a single helping of meat. They specialise in top of the line vegan fast food, including their infamous ‘Big Moc’, which tastes pretty much exactly like a Big Mac but without the flavour of guilt. Wash it down with a delicious creamy vegan milkshake, and grab some fries for the side. It’s a tad more expensive than your normal fast food fare, but seeing as they’re offering a 25% discount for Veganuary this year, now is the perfect time to give it a try.  

Grazing Shed

You could ask any Cardiff local for the best place to grab a burger in the city and the answer would pretty much always be, ‘Grazing Shed’. This beauty of a fast food joint may not be 100% vegan, but it does offer one of the most expansive and varied vegan burger menus of any restaurant. (Side note: I ordered a Vegan Wah Wah to review for this article, but it was new years day and I was so hungover I ate it in like, 15 seconds. Quick review: Gorgeous crispy vegan patty, perfectly combined with apple chutney and vegan mayo, no holding back on the extras or condiments, 10/10 would recommend). As a bonus for Veganuary this month, they’ve also re-added the Pritchard Dirty vegan burger to the menu for a limited time- a curry patty with mango chutney, chilli sauce, and all the trimmings that’ll leave you wondering why you never branched out to vegan burgers before.

Cardiff Market

Let’s get real for a second. As much as I like to try and convince myself that ordering UberEATS 3 times a week isn’t bad for my budget, we all know that at some point, you’re going to need to go shopping for some fridge filling supplies. It might be easy to just grab all the meat alternatives from the freezer section at Co-op, but if you’re looking for fresh fruit and veg, and perhaps a bit more meal inspo than you’d get at your local supermarket,  grab a reusable bag and head down to Cardiff Market. There’s meat and fish stalls, yes, but also fruit and veg stalls packed to the brim with super affordable, high quality produce, as well as dry goods and spice stalls, bread stalls, and tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants and cafes with some of the most thoughtful vegan selections in Cardiff’s foodie scene. It’s a great way to kickstart more sustainable shopping habits too, by buying from small, local businesses, which makes your shopping habits more environmentally friendly. (Not a requirement for Veganuary, but always worth mentioning). Find Cardiff Market just behind St John’s gardens, in between The Hayes and St Mary’s Street.

Simply V

If you need a little more guidance on your plant-based journey, the guys at Simply V have you covered. Originally starting out as a vegan bakery, they’ve expanded their selection in their small store in Castle Arcade to cover vegan dry goods, meat alternatives, vegan toiletries and so much more. They trial new products almost every week, so check back to their Twitter page to keep updated with what’s new in store. The heart and soul of Simply V remains their freshly baked goods, which changes daily from pizza rolls to velvet cake to beautiful golden pasties. Forget the Greggs vegan steak bake, Simply V are on a whole new level of plant-based baking. What’s more, you can ask the lovely people behind the counter pretty much anything you ever wanted to know about becoming vegan, and with years of combined professional and personal vegan knowledge under their faux-leather belts, they’ll be happy to provide some insight. Find them as you wander up Castle Arcade, next to Science Cream.

Blue Honey Local

A fully plant-based pub! Vegan roasts on a Sunday! There’s a yurt in the beer garden!

Sat on the iconic foodie mecca that is City road, Blue Honey Local is a lively little lounge, pub, and plant shop, serving small, Asian street-food inspired vegan dishes at reasonable prices, with plenty of quizzes, live music, and vegan chardonnay. What more do you want?

As a younger sister to the Blue Honey Night Café, Blue Honey Local has taken all of the elements that made the Night Café so great- good tunes, good pints, and good food- and compressed it into a spirited, friendly pub with plenty of outdoor seating and atmospheric lighting. For Veganuary, you might not have realised that you won’t be able to drink every alcoholic beverage your heart so desires- wine is often processed using animal based proteins and gelatin, and beer can also be clarified in a similar process. When visiting Blue Honey Local, you won’t even have to think about reading the label on the back of the bottle- just sit back and enjoy the ambience. And the food. Don’t leave without trying the Bao buns.

Green’s Vegan

When all’s said and done, sometimes all you fancy is a nice coffee, in a quiet little café with a toastie and a mate. Serving up the tastiest vegan sandwiches in town, the offering at GREENSVEGAN goes even further with Sunday Roasts, micro-brewed beer, vegan homeware supplies, and even artisanal vegan cheese boards to take home with you!  A perfect spot to get away from the bustle of the city centre- grab a seat by the window, sip on an oat milk latte, and watch the world go by. Check their social media for information about cookery classes, artisan produce fairs, clothing swaps, and lots more. Find them as you wander back towards Cathays from Queen Street, on Windsor Place next to WOW Bar.

So that’s it- my ultimate list for getting through Veganuary in Cardiff. This list isn’t exactly extensive, but it’ll get you started on your vegan journey, and help you get to know what kind of options the city has to offer. I’ve tried to include some unhealthy options on this list, because in my experience, that’s where people tend to fall off the vegan wagon. Some other amazing resources to help you through your Veganuary/ vegan transition include:

• The Veganuary website– you can find recipe ideas, meal plans, as well as guides for where to eat and shop.
• This amazing cheat sheet, showing you how to transition into a vegan diet (if you thought about Veganuary but were too afraid to take the plunge).
• This map of all the places you can eat vegan- Cardiff and beyond.

The most important thing to remember whilst completing Veganuary, or transitioning into veganism is this: it’s okay to try it at your own pace. You don’t need to go from eating meat every day to cutting out all animal products tomorrow. You can set your own pace, but in all honestly, you’ll probably surprise yourself and end up enjoying vegan food way more than you ever believed you would. The point of Veganuary is simply to try.  So give it a go yeah? Cheers.

-Lilli