Vegan Stays and Eating in the UK

Whilst Lisa was enjoying her travels in Europe, I was in Yorkshire at Beck Hall, Malham.  In my blog I will tell you all about this lovely, welcoming place and also go on to big up serveral other places I have stayed and eaten at in the UK on past jaunts!

Beck Hall is a quaint little hotel nestled in the small village of Malham in Yorkshire.  It has recently moved to being 100% vegan and is dog friendly.  We were really looking forward to our stay.
The building is lovely and is in a beautiful setting and garden.  It was very cosy with lots of original features but also had a modern new extension for the dining room.  Our room was perfectly adequate for our stay but had less storage than we needed and was perhaps on the smaller size (but we did book a Classic room rather than a Superior).  There was a small flask of oat milk left for our tea and coffee and a delicious booja booja chocolate! 

Staying for two nights we were able to sample several things on their extensive menu.  Everything looked tempting and it was difficult to choose.  On the first evening we had the truffle wild mushrooms (on a garlic and herb-toasted ciabatta), followed by the sage and thyme seitan ballotine (crispy polenta, roasted red pepper puree, buttered seasonal greens) and slow-cooked seitan shortrib (warmly-spiced seitan short rib, cinnamon bone, hassleback sweet potato, charred corn, sour cream, crisp shallots, salted pumpkin seeds, shallot jus) with a side of onion rings. I found my seitan ballotine to be a bit dry and chewy but good and the polenta was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten!  David's hassleback sweet potato was a little under cooked but everything else was great.  This was followed by two amazing espresso martinis finished off in the incredibly cosy snug (where there was alway an open fire burning!).

The next morning we sampled the breakfast.  The choice was quite extensive with hot food available as well as pastries, toast, cereals and yoghurt - all, of course, vegan!  David had the full breakfast and I had the scrambled tofu with a sausage.  I have to say, this was the weakest meal we had.  David's food was all a little dry and the scambled tofu was plain and tasteless.  It was a shame as it looked great - well presented with good portion size. 
Lenny joined us for breakfast - dogs were welcome anywhere in the hotel and beds, blankets and treats were readily availble.

During our stay we enjoyed some lovely walks around Malham.  It is a very pretty village with very easy, accessable walks with rewarding views. 

Our meal on the second evening was also delicious.  David had the 'steak' pudding (steamed suet pastry, seasonal greens, pickled beets, truffle mashed potatoes) and I had the white bean cacciatore (mixed white beans, capers, black olives, tomato ragu, whipped tahini drizzle, puffed chickpeas, garlic ciabatta), followed by sticky toffee pudding and lemon chai cheescake.  All of these were very good.  The lemon cheesecake was to die for!  I thoroughly regretted not having pudding the night before.

After another comfortable night in our room (it was amazingly quiet at Beck Hall) we headed down for breakfast.  We tried something different today - David had the pancakes (which he had spotted on someone's table the day before) and I had the porridge.  The pancakes were too sweet for David but very good and I very much enjoyed my porridge.

This was our last day in Malham and at Beck Hall.  We enjoyed another walk in the morning to Janet's Foss.
On the Thursday and Friday we enjoyed walks with very few people around, however, on the Saturday vistors swarmed into the village.  It was amazing to see just how busy it got!  On the Saturday parking was being charged at £7 in an additional field.  Thankfully, we were able to stay in the carpark at the hotel.
After our walk we had lunch at Beck Hall.  No photos of this unfortunately but it was excellent.  We had a 'steak' sandwich with chips and a chicken pesto sandwich with chips.  The chips were amazing and I took the oportunity to have another slice of lemon chai cheesecake!!
Beck Hall's restaurant is open to any visitors and you don't need to be a guest to eat there.  It was busy every day and often had reservations for their Afternoon Tea.  Even if you don't stay there, a visit to Malham should include a lunch at Beck Hall!
The staff at the hotel were the real gem - friendly, helpful, accomodating and just the right side of chatty without being overbearing. I would definitely return to Beck Hall for a stay or for a day visit and would recommend to anyone - it's a must for any vegan!



As promised, I want to mention 3 other vegan places I have stayed and eaten at elsewhere in the UK.

Saorsa 1875 is a vegan hotel in Pitlochry, Scotland.  David and I stayed there in August 2022.  The hotel is a beautiful building set in lovely grounds.  The room and hotel was immaculate and beautifully decorated. It is also dog friendly and we were able to have Lenny in this beautiful room with us.

We enjoyed a top quality meal here with vegetables cooked in wonderfully imaginative ways and presented to a high standard.  My one criticism would be the lack of textures - there was no 'meat' or 'cheese' substitute to provide a variation to the flavour or texture of the vegetables.  Here is shown a betroot ravioli, cauliflower steak, an aubergine dish, a chocolate mousse and strawberry dessert (apologies for the lack of detail - it was a long time ago!).

I would highly recommend Saorsa 1875 for a stay or a meal if you are in the area. 

The next place deserving of a shout out is the Plant Bonsai Kitchen in Brighton.  David and I visited Brighton in April 2023 and we went to Plant Bonsai as David really enjoys asian cuisine.  It would never be my first choice and so I wasn't expecting to enjoy it much.  I have to say it was the most incredible vegan meal I have ever had.  The food and drink was absolutely delicious, without excpetion.

Pictured here is a sample menu from their website.  it doesn't list all the things we had but shown here, we had the Hanoi "pork" spring roll, pickled apple,  tempura cauliflower and the dirty rice. 
In addition, we had vegetable gyozas.
The "pork" spring roll was just amazing!
I would highly recommend a visit here to any vegan food-lover.

Finally, I'm going to big up The Queen Inn, just north of Newport in Wales.  David and I went here in April this year for my birthday.  If you haven't heard of the Queen Inn, it is the top rated vegan restaurant on Happy Cow.  The menu was extensive and everything sounded amazing!  It was very difficult to choose what to have.

I chose the 5 oz Redefine Meat flank with peppercorn sauce and David had the L*mb doner kebab on a garlic naan with sides of BBQ ribs and Dirty chips.  The portions were incredible so worth the money.  We both really enjoyed our food.  The dirty chips were especially good.

There was also a dessert menu which had so many options  - a real rarity for vegans.  They were all comfort puddings and just the sort of thing I like.  We had to try something!

I had the hot cross bun bread and butter pudding and David had the caramel cheesecake.  They were just delicious!

---

The Queen Inn is dog friendly and even has a little menu for your furry friend.  Lenny, naturally, came with us and enjoyed 2 vegan sausages and doggy ice cream for afters (not vegan).  We went on a Tuesday and there were several other diners but it was not too busy.  The staff were helpful and friendly and I would highly recommend visiting if you are in Wales or are planning a trip there.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog and found it informative as well as giving you some ideas on places to try as a vegan food-lover!  Happy travels and happy eating!  Cheers!