Goa has always been an eternal favorite for me, so the prospect of discovering something new in an often visited place was quite exciting. I landed at Goa airport and casually started looking up restaurants. I’m usually one to plan well in advance, but here I decided to go with the flow.

I thought Goa had only 2 or 3 officially listed vegan restaurants but I soon realized that I was indeed spoilt for choice and my tummy felt utterly pampered over the course of 7 days. Just because a restaurant wasn’t listed as a vegan restaurant didn’t mean they didn’t have vegan options. This wasn’t evident from Zomato, Trip advisor or Happy Cow. A ‘vegan-friendly’ option would have actually made this a lot easier for tourists like me.

The Goa food trail starts from the North and goes all the way to the South. There are and will be many more restaurants which offer vegan options as the word is getting around.

Shantaram Raw

Location: Arambol

This is a lovely raw food restaurant that has a rooftop deck and an open kitchen. Their raw thali, salads, pasta are big crowd-pullers!

Vegan First Rating: ***

ELAA CAFE
LOCATION: ANJUNA

Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse at Elaa
Image Courtesy Rithika Ramesh

Elaa Cafe is located right by a paddy field in Anjuna. The menu at Elaa is 70% vegan and the food is conceptualised and inspired from Goan cuisine. The chef has curated the dishes based on local and responsibly sourced ingredients. Avocado Kasoondi on Pav, All Green Poi, Tapioca Pudding and Peanut Butter Mousse are some of the vegan dishes on the menu.

Vegan First rating:*****

JARDIN D'ULYSSE

LOCATION: MORJIM

Tofu Enchilada at Jardin D'Ulysse
Image courtesy: Rithika Ramesh

Situated just across from the Morjim river and a short walk from the beach, Jardin D'Ulysse welcomes you with it's greenery and tropical charm. They have a separate vegan menu with salads, soups and three mains that you can choose from. They are generous with their portion sizes and even offer an appetizer of freshly baked pita with hummus and baba ghanoush on the house.

Vegan First Rating: ****

Bean Me Up

Location: Anjuna

Image Courtesy Vinita Contractor
 

Shawn, owner of Bean Me Up, has attempted and successfully created food that truly reeks of innovation and creativity. Their tofu burger, tempeh steak sandwich and bbq seitan sandwich were legendary. The tempeh and seitan are made by the Bean Me Up team from non-GMO and organic ingredients. The menu is detailed and contains useful and relevant information which explain ingredients such as tempeh, seitan, kombucha, tofu etc.

They serve salads, starters, pasta, mains, smoothies, desserts, ice cream as well as a special breakfast menu. The open-air restaurant has a relaxing ambiance and is completely vegan, surrounded by a lot of greenery. For those who just can’t get enough; can choose from accommodation options at their guesthouse on-site!

Vegan First Rating: *****

German bakery
Location: Anjuna

Image Courtesy Vinita Contractor

This quaint little cafe with its warm lighting and cozy seating also has many vegan options to offer. The waiters were well versed with veganism, even though the items weren’t categorically marked as vegan. Once they understand your food preference, they recommended what is suitable.

We tried their buckwheat roll with sautéed mushrooms, tofu in cashew curry, vegan chocolate cake, dark chocolate with almonds, chocolate bounty style, gluten-free cookies and a salad which was easily veganized by simply omitting the cheese.  They have a counter selling organic foods such as millets, herbs, tea etc which is convenient for people to pick up from on their way out.

Vegan First Rating: ***

Baba Au Rhum

Location: Anjuna

Image Courtesy Vinita Contractor and Baba Au Rhum
 

This love garden restaurant is a French café and bakery predominantly known for its pizzas. It does not have a separate vegan section on the menu but the staff is aware and on explaining, will recommend what is suitable for vegans.

They do have a vegan tofu thin crust pizza on their menu which was pretty good and most vegetarian salads could be veganized with the omission of cheese. They have an add-on soy milk option for coffee lovers too!

Vegan First Rating: **
 

Artjuna café

Location: Anjuna

Image Courtesy Artjuna Cafe

The ambience of this place is lovely as it is but it's even better if you are here with kids. They have a treehouse, a sand play area and quite a bit of space for them to wander around. There is also a store which carries unique handcrafted pieces of jewelry and clothing.

The café specializes in health food and Mediterranean cuisine. They serve sandwiches, salads and mains, all day breakfast, fresh vegetable juices as well as specials. The Falafels, hummus, many of the mains and salads were vegan or could easily be veganized.

Their orange & lime frizzer, and the dark chocolate sorbet were simply mind blowing!

Vegan First Rating: ***

Zest Café

Loactions: Patnem, Palolem and Agonda

Zest has a group of 3 cafes in Patnem, Palolem and Agonda. Patnem is the smallest and Agonda the largest. A plethora of healthy, organic, vegan, raw vegan and gluten-free food options are available. Their salads, smoothies, desserts and mains are all fresh, flavourful, and high on nutrition. Simple and easy on the stomach, the feeling of eating here is wholesome and filling.

Love their brightly colored patchwork kantha stitched cushions, laid-back casual vibe and the pottery tableware. It brought a smile to my face to see the servers wear t-shirts with the caption ‘Peace, Love and Avocado (mango or coconut).’

Their Vietnamese summer rolls, Mexican bowl, mango passion fruit sorbet and pistachio cacao cheese cake were exemplary and I’d definitely to go back for more!

Their café in Agonda serves wood fired oven pizza. The vegan pesto pizza was out of the world!

Vegan First Rating: *****

Bhakti Kutir

Location: Palolem

Image Courtesy Bhakti Kutir
 

Their restaurant is set underneath swaying coconut trees, above Colomb village, at the south end of Palolem beach. The restaurant offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten free food made from home grown, largely organic produce. They also have an extensive range of fresh juices. Bhakti Kutir also has ‘back to nature’ Cabanas which are fashioned from local materials like rice straw and bamboo and make for a great getaway amidst nature.

Vegan First Rating: ***

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