VEGAN LUNCHING AT BONOBO CAFE

I feel like I should start this post off by stating that I am not Vegan. I’m not Vegetarian either if I’m being completely honest! I often have meat-free days however, I’ve never made the full commitment to give up meat, fish or dairy etc. Of course, this does not mean that I cannot enjoy Vegan options and my recent trip to Bonobo Cafe has proved that Vegan options definitely can be delicious!

What is bonobo cafe?

Bonobo Cafe is the first 100% vegan, Workers’ Cooperative cafe in Aberdeen! Absolutely everything in the cafe is completely vegan down to the milk options for your coffee. It’s a great addition to Aberdeen, especially with the rise is people turning vegan or making more vegan choices.

I also want to explain the Workers’ Cooperative term as I had never heard of this before until reading up about the cafe. In a Worker’ Cooperative, employees are given the option of becoming a joint owner of the business and any decisions are made based on votes by all of the owners. The workers also get to decide whether profits go back to the business, to the employees or to support the community. This is an important business model to Bonobo and they pledge to never change this model as the business grows.

Drinks at bonobo cafe

I couldn’t decide if I wanted a hot drink or a cold one so obviously I went for both! For my hot drink option, I decided to go for an oat milk Tumeric latte. I’ve had Tumeric lattes before however, none with oat milk. It made the latte taste a little sweeter and I would opt for oat milk again. Kirsty decided to go for a normal oat milk latte – the Tumeric was not her favourite! 

For cold drinks we both chose kombucha. I opted for Clever Kombucha’s Lime Sea Salt flavour. This is infused with organic limes and smoked sea salt. I’m pretty new to kombucha and I’m liking it! I loved the zing of the lime that came through – it was super refreshing. As for Kirsty, for her first kombucha experience, she chose the Equinox Kombucha in Raspberry and Elderflower. This one was also refreshing but had more of a delicious fruity taste. Both were very good choices! 

Vegan Food at bonobo cafe

Bonobo serve breakfast options, sandwiches, lunch and most importantly cakes! They have some core options that are always available however their soups, salads, hot pots and specials change daily. 

Both Kirsty and I were drawn to Bonobo Mac – Vegan Mac and Cheese! I ordered mine with a side of tattie scones which was an extra £1 but so worth it. When our food arrived our mouths were watering! It also didn’t look like a whole lot of pasta but believe you me, these bowls are deceiving! 

The macaroni pasta was served in a creamy squash and sheese (vegan cheese) sauce served with mixed salad, cherry tomatoes, breadcrumbs, a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. Macaroni cheese has always been a firm favourite of mine and I was a little worried that the vegan take on the dish would not live up to my expectations. I could not have been more wrong. In fact, I don’t think you could even tell the difference! It was cheesy and creamy like all good macaroni cheese should be! 

From this experience, I would very much like to visit Bonobo again and try out more of their vegan dishes. I’m also keen to recreate a vegan mac and cheese at home! 

Are you vegan? What’s your favourite vegan dish/recipe?

More of a sweet tooth? Why not read all about the Vegetarian Haribo range! 

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