My vegan trip to Hamburg
Mid-June is my husband's and my birthday week. Yes, his birthday is exactly one day before mine. That's why we've been taking the whole week off for a few years now and spend the time away from home if possible. This year we chose Hamburg.
We've already been to this beautiful city by the water twice. So we were able to skip the typical tourist spots. Besides, it was the first time I came here as a vegan. I knew it was easier to be vegan in Hamburg than in my home town of Stuttgart. But I didn't think it would be SO easy.
Which I also didn't expect: The week surprised me with so many first times. I still think back on it so fondly. I've put all the food spots together for you in a map so you can find them easily.
All food spots on one map
Want to try out a restaurant or two for yourself? Find them easily with this map.
My 5 days in Hamburg as a vegan
Day 1: A vegan korean feast
kini
On our first evening, I was really craving Asian food. Luckily for me, there were two purely vegan Korean restaurants not far from our hotel in the Sternschanze district. We chose kini because of the anju on the menu. Practically the Korean version of tapas.
We ordered too many of them – but it was a feast! My highlight was the tteok bokki, which I've had on my food bucket list for so long. These are rice cakes in a spicy sauce.
But everything else we ordered was so good too. Be it banchan (various pickled vegetables), bindaeteokk (savoury pancake), bossot tangsuyuk (deep-fried shitake), and so on ...
Links | Website
Day 2: Hip in the morning, Turkish in the evening
good one
The website says: "Serving good stuff only." And I can only agree with that. It's really good!
We ordered a smashed avo and a breakfast burrito. Sounds like nothing special at first, more like the menu of almost every vegan café. But when our food arrived at the table, my mouth immediately watered. It was so beautifully arranged and looked just as delicious as it finally tasted. This was true of our meal as well as the iced café latte I ordered.
Next time I'll have to try the pancakes, which I later saw on the good one's Instagram channel. So fluffy! How do they do it?
Links | Website
After breakfast, we dedicated the entire day to art. First we went to the Hamburg Art Museum and then took a guided tour through the OZM, a street art exhibition. After so much walking and marvelling, we were very exhausted and decided to have dinner near the hotel so that we could practically just fall into bed afterwards.
Pamukkale
Right across from the kini is Pamukkale. A Turkish restaurant that was always bustling when we walked past – whether in the morning, at lunchtime or in the evening. Because it was very windy that day, we sat inside. There weren't many vegan main dishes on the menu. I opted for Imam Bayıldı, an aubergine stuffed with tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers.
Although my dish was labelled vegan on the menu, it came with tzatziki. The waiter noticed it himself while standing at our table and briefly disappeared back to the kitchen with the plate to exchange it for couscous. Since the dip was in a small bowl, it was also quite easy to do without having to completely redo everything. Afterwards, I took another look at the menu and it said that every dish comes with tzatziki. So my tip is to tell them when you order that you want it replaced. The rest is really vegan.
It was really tasty and the portions were quite big. So a starter was unnecessary. Especially because most of the dishes came with a mixed salad, dips and bread anyway.
Links | Website
Day 3: Bali, Mexiko and Poland
hanging out
How can you give your holiday even more of a holiday feeling? If you're in Hamburg, the answer is simple: with its fresh interior and chairs hanging from the ceiling, the vegan-vegetarian hanging out café sparks Bali vibes.
When we came here for breakfast, I couldn't decide whether I wanted something sweet or savoury. Luckily, there was just the thing for this situation: the Sweet&Salty Plate. Mmm, you read that right! On one plate you'll find two vegan breakfast classics – banana bread and avocado bread. But with a twist.
The banana bread was grilled (!) and topped with almond mousse, coconut yoghurt and fresh berries. The avocado bread came with tomato hummus, wild herb salad, sprouts, pumpkin seeds and more. So yummy! So much! I struggled a bit with the portion. But every single bite was so worth it.
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Then we walked through the Old Botanical Garden and along the Alster. We took it slow because it was my husband's birthday. And we had only planned one activity for the day. Correction: I had planned this activity for the day. In the morning, I had given my husband only a time and place: 4 p.m. at the Überseebrücke. So we had quite a bit of time until then. Of course, we were there far too early. The opportunity to visit one of the nearby beach bars.
StrandPauli
A small island at Hamburg's harbour, complete with sand and beach loungers. Perfect for an afternoon of cocktails in the sun. Plus delicious bar food, like burgers, pizza and the like.There are vegan options for everything.
We ordered nachos with guacamole. A good "snack" for in between. I put that in quotation marks because the portion was quite big.
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And what was now at 4 pm at the Überseebrücke? The museum ship Cap San Diego anchored here. On board there was the opportunity for a puzzle hunt that sent you across the entire ship.
Sounds like something for children at first, but far from it. The puzzles were really challenging, but very fun. Another advantage: the Cap San Diego was not far from the Kuchnia, where my husband wanted to have dinner.
Kuchnia
There are not many vegan options at Kuchnia. A few cold starters and one main course. And this is the one I was looking forward to. I had pierogi on my food bucket list for a long time. And here I could finally tick off the dumplings.
But let's start at the beginning: the starter. Here, Kuchnia offers several cold options for vegans. I chose a selection of pickled vegetables, which honestly surprised me a lot! I've never had such delicious pickles before.
The vegan pierogi was as good as the starter. The dumplings were filled with mushrooms and herbs. So delicious! And because Kuchnia is also a vodka bar, we tried the different cocktail variations. After that, I really wanted to go to Poland. Maybe next year?
Links | Website
Day 4: American and catastish
Mamalicious
My birthday breakfast! We celebrated it with Mimosas at the vegetarian/vegan diner Mamalicious. They serve American breakfast all day long.
I chose fried potatoes with scrambled tofu. The portion was big and filled me up for a large part of the day. To drink, I ordered a caramel macchiato, which was a bit too sweet for my taste. But to be honest, that suited the American concept.
Links | Website
Because I could decide what to do on my birthday, I of course chose something scary: the Dungeon in the harbour city. We had so much fun – and from all the scares (ok, only I was scared) we were really thirsty afterwards. How good that the Katzentempel is practically around the corner.
Katzentempel
Katzentempel is the very first cat café I ever visited. When we arrived, we were directly welcomed by four fur babies lying in the entrance area. After we sat down, we were given the menu. On the last pages was a description of each cat and a few rules how to behave towards the animals.
The menu includes breakfast, burgers, bowls, sandwiches, cakes and more. Because we weren't really hungry, we ordered coffee, non-alcoholic cocktails and a slice of mango cheesecake. Both the drinks and the cake were quite sweet, but delicious.
As time went by, most of the cats retreated to a back room or slept on a scratching post, so at some point it looked pretty empty. I'm sure it had something to do with the time of day. Our cats also take a longer nap in the afternoon. Maybe a visit for breakfast is more worthwhile?
Links | Website
A visit to the Operettenhaus was on the agenda for the evening. My husband and I are Hamilton fans – we always listen to the songs while cleaning. So we couldn't miss the translated version. But as it is with musicals, Hamilton didn't start at a time that left much time for dinner beforehand. Fortunately, Bidges & Sons is right across the street from the Operettenhaus.
Bidges & Sons
Originally a store with fair clothing from the fashion label of the same name, Bidges & Sons now also has a restaurant, café and cocktail bar. Everything is vegan and sustainable to match the clothes.
From the rooftop bar you have a good view of the Operettenhaus. However, you might have to be a little wary of teasing seagulls here. At least during our visit we saw one of them stealing fries directly from the plate of a young woman who was still eating.
Speaking of which: You can get really tasty burgers and loaded fries here. And not the run-of-the-mill burgers, but more unusual creations that leave you wanting more. So we ordered nuggets afterwards.
Links | Website
Day 5: Even more cats
Katers Köök
Nordic food and veganism are mutually exclusive? Katers Köök shows that this is not true. We had our sights set on this cat café for a while. And seriously, the breakfast here was really a grand finale to our Hamburg trip.
My husband ordered the hearty breakfast with scrambled tofu, baked beans and vegan bacon. I opted for the Nordic breakfast – what else when staying in the North? It came with vegan herb cream cheese, graved sauce, carrot salmon and aubergine herring. Oh, it was delicious! The best carrot salmon I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.
The food alone is worth a visit to Katers Köök. But the cats are the selling point par excellence. In contrast to the Katzentempel, they were more active and much more curious. They especially liked our suitcases which they had to sniff at intensively. But as I said above, that may have been due to the time of day.
Links | Website
Oh, Hamburg! I miss you already. Of course, because you're a beautiful city. But if I'm honest - the variety of vegan food sure plays a big part. Everything was so delicious. And as an ethical vegan, I was very touched by the fact that some cafés had flyers on display educating people about the dairy industry and the lives of city pigeons.
I'll definitely come back. After all, I have so many more restaurants and cafés whose food I want to try out.
More info for your vegan Hamburg trip
Mit Vergnügen
In this online magazine you can find leisure and food tips for different cities. There is a separate section for vegan food, which is very practical.
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