A Vegetarian’s Guide to Interrailing: The Top Ten Restaurants
Interrailing is a hugely exciting experience. Not only can you engage in a month full of culture, exhaustion, awe and wonder, but you can also partake in culinary delights. Being a vegetarian, you could be nervous about what kind of food there is to eat the further east in Europe you go. If this is the case, you will be pleasantly surprised to hear that a vegetarian can eat just as much amazing food as their non-vegetarian travel partners. We take a look at the ten best vegetarian restaurant from Berlin to Venice.
Santa Maria | Berlin
Bar, Diner, Restaurant, German, Mexican
U Kroka | Prague
Roasted gnocchi with creamy spinach, garlic and crispy green onions with a small fresh salad, fresh bread, cider and wine on the side will only set you back about 11 euros – a true steal if ever there was one. U Kroka is one of the top restaurants in Prague and yet is unassuming and relaxed, despite the utmost quality of the food served. Other vegetarian options include: creamy potato and sheep’s cheese gratin with roasted fresh vegetables; pasta with mushroom ragout and white wine, flavored with walnut oil; and a whole host of crispy green salads. Friendly staff, a busy atmosphere and ideally located near Vysehrad, this restaurant certainly merits its high status.U Kroka, Vratislavova 12, Praha 2 – Vyšehrad, Czech Republic, +420 775 905 022
Café Camelot | Krakow
Café Camelot is a prime example of the fact that you need not spend a lot to eat extraordinarily well. To start, why not try their take on French onion soup? Even better still, the delectable cream of leek soup which tastes like heaven in a bowl. Move onto one of their vegetable tarts served with fresh salad, accompanied by a refreshing raspberry beer, and follow it up with decadent chocolate cake. Camelot offers an extensive menu which caters to everyone’s needs. The range of breakfast, lunch and dinner options is remarkable and the list of desserts and hot beverages covers the majority of the menu. The restaurant is in the heart of the gorgeous old town, not far from the main square, and offers all of the quirkiness that one would hope to find in such an area. Café Camelot, Świętego Tomasza 17, Kraków, Poland, +48 12 421 01 23
Top Kino | Vienna
Bar, Restaurant, Dessert, Vegetarian, Salad Bar, Pub Grub, Austrian
Gelarto Rosa | Budapest
Café Corso | Belgrade
Phenomenally cheap (not even 2 euros) and delicious, the Serbian take on French toast is a delight. Called prženice and served with paradajz or ajvar (a tomato and pepper sauce), pavlaka or kajmak (sour cream) and feta cheese, this is a brilliant vegetarian breakfast, brunch, or lunch option. Be sure to try some of the natural yogurt that accompanies many of the meals and wash it down with their freshly-made lemonade. This café-bar-restaurant is open well into the early hours of the morning and hosts an extensive cocktail menu as well as salads, meats and pasta dishes. With plenty of seating outside, you can take in the atmosphere of the busy Belgrade street while enjoying the food.
Kava Tava | Zagreb
Cafe, Croatian
Cacao | Ljublijana
For marvelous ice cream, smoothies and hot chocolate, look no further than Cacao. With a warm atmosphere, this is the place that students can spend hours sipping coffee and reading a book. If you need to cool down on a hot day, go for one of the extensive flavors of ice cream offered both outside and in at this parlor. For a health kick, try a smoothie. For utmost indulgence, try the ice cream hot chocolate – vanilla and chocolate ice cream, in hot chocolate, covered in cream, chocolate sauce and almonds. Cacao, Petkovškovo nabrežje 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia, +386 1 430 17 71
Desideri e Auguri, Da Marino’s | Trieste
A little off the beaten track, this is one that comes recommended by locals. With no real menu, the owner explains to you what he can make for you that day upon arrival at the cozy yet not cramped restaurant, where everyone appears to be friends. Despite Marino (the rather eccentric Italian owner) proposing a large plate of meat (which comes highly recommended), mention your vegetarianism and he will whip up special dish of penne, tomato, garlic, aubergine, mozzarella and basil pasta. Name a pasta dish and the chef will make it for you, no questions asked, dependent on the ingredients necessary. Be sure to try the house rosé to really top off your evening spent rubbing shoulders with the locals.