What is the best vegan restaurant in York?

The Orchid Vegan Restaurant. It was York's first vegan Chinese kitchen and the cooking is entirely plant based, which means you can order anything on the menu without an interrogation.

Where can I eat healthily inside the York city walls?

Goji Cafe for mostly vegan and vegetarian food and a proper deli counter, and Filmore and Union on Petergate for vegetable led bowls and salads. Both are a few minutes from the Minster.

Anywhere in York with a full gluten free menu?

The Blue Barbakan on Fossgate. It keeps separate vegan and gluten free menus alongside its Polish classics, which is far more useful than a list of allergens in small print.

Is this guide only for vegans?

Not at all. It is plant-forward, not plant-only. I care whether the vegetables are fresh and the sourcing is honest, not what is on your own plate at home.

How do York restaurants get on this list?

I choose them, on purity, wholesomeness, organic sourcing where possible and how much real produce arrives on the plate. No restaurant pays to appear, and none ever will.

York · England

Gillian McKeith's guide to healthy restaurants in York.

Written by Gillian McKeith

York feeds a great many visitors and it would be easy for its kitchens to coast on fudge and afternoon tea. Happily, a handful of them refuse to, and those are the ones I have gathered here.

The Orchid Vegan Restaurant was the city's first vegan Chinese kitchen and it is still the address I give people first. Goji Cafe has been going quietly within the walls for years, mostly vegan and vegetarian, unfussy and honest. Filmore and Union builds its menu around vegetables, bowls and salads that actually satisfy. The Blue Barbakan on Fossgate does something I wish more restaurants would attempt: full separate vegan and gluten free menus, not a footnote.

I judge York the way I judge anywhere: purity, wholesomeness, organic sourcing where the chef can manage it, and an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds. Nobody buys their way onto this page.

4 restaurants in York

Open in full directory

Healthy eating cafe

Filmore and Union.

York

Healthy eating cafe

Filmore and Union

York, England

Wellness focused York cafe chain serving seasonal, vegetable rich nourishing bowls and salads.

Vegetarian cafe and deli

Goji Cafe

York, England

Long running York cafe and deli within the city walls serving mostly vegan vegetarian food.

Polish and European

The Blue Barbakan

York, England

Fossgate Polish restaurant offering full dedicated vegan and gluten free menus alongside classics.

Asian fusion

The Orchid Vegan Restaurant

$$$

York, England

York's first vegan Chinese restaurant serving pure plant based Asian fusion dishes.

Eating well in York: your questions

What is the best vegan restaurant in York?: The Orchid Vegan Restaurant. It was York's first vegan Chinese kitchen and the cooking is entirely plant based, which means you can order anything on the menu without an interrogation.
Where can I eat healthily inside the York city walls?: Goji Cafe for mostly vegan and vegetarian food and a proper deli counter, and Filmore and Union on Petergate for vegetable led bowls and salads. Both are a few minutes from the Minster.
Anywhere in York with a full gluten free menu?: The Blue Barbakan on Fossgate. It keeps separate vegan and gluten free menus alongside its Polish classics, which is far more useful than a list of allergens in small print.
Is this guide only for vegans?: Not at all. It is plant-forward, not plant-only. I care whether the vegetables are fresh and the sourcing is honest, not what is on your own plate at home.
How do York restaurants get on this list?: I choose them, on purity, wholesomeness, organic sourcing where possible and how much real produce arrives on the plate. No restaurant pays to appear, and none ever will.

Every York restaurant in the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide

Every York kitchen in the guide, with my notes on each.

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Gillian McKeith, author of the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide

About the author

Written by Gillian McKeith

I'm Gillian McKeith: television presenter, creator of the global hit show You Are What You Eat, writer, nutritionist, and the editor behind this guide. Every York entry here is chosen and written by me. I judge kitchens on the things that actually matter: real ingredients, honest sourcing, vegetables cooked with care, and food you feel better for eating.

Nothing on this page is a paid placement. Restaurants cannot buy a recommendation, and any listing marked as sponsored is labelled as such. If a kitchen slips, it comes out of the guide.

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