Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated October 27, 2016.
Update (October 2018): This restaurant closed in May 2018.
Swing Kitchen is an Austrian vegan fast food chain, there are currently two restaurants in Vienna, Austria’s capital. Both of them are included in my restaurant guide, The Vegan Tourist: Vienna. A third branch – owned and operated by a franchisee – opened in September 2016 in the shopping mall Shopping City Süd, which is located just outside of Vienna in Vösendorf, in the state of Lower Austria. (Süd means “South,” and the word indicates that the shopping mall is located South of Vienna.) I believe Shopping City Süd is the largest shopping mall in all of Europe, so it’s a perfect choice for another Swing Kitchen restaurant.
Swing Kitchen’s owners, Charlie and Irene Schillinger, also own the very popular vegan restaurant Gasthaus Schillinger in Großmugl, in the state of Lower Austria. At Swing Kitchen, you get high-quality vegan fast food: you can choose between various burgers (5.20 – 5.90 Euros) and wraps (6.80 Euros), French Fries (2.90 Euros), Onion Rings (3.50 Euros), and Vegan Nuggets (4.50 Euros). Salads und excellent desserts – Tiramisu, Cheesecake, a raspberry-yoghurt-poppy seed cake, or an almond-nougat-dessert – are also available.
At Shopping City Süd, Swing Kitchen is located on the mall’s upper level, in the food court, shop number 269. Opening hours are Mondays – Wednesdays, Fridays 9:30 AM – 7:30 PM, Thursdays 9:30 AM – 9:00 PM, Saturdays 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM. The restaurant and shopping mall are closed on Sundays and on public holidays.
Website: http://www.swingkitchen.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwingKitchen Email: office@swingkitchen.com Free WiFi: Yes Debit Cards: Yes Credit Cards: No Bathroom Facilities: Yes, in the shopping mall Dogs Welcome: Yes, leashed dogs are allowed in the shopping mall and in the restaurant Non-Smoking: Yes Seating Available: Yes
Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist on July 8, 2014, and updated in October 2018.
Update (October 2018): This restaurant closed in May 2017. The owners, Charlie and Irene Schillinger, concentrate on their wildly successful new venture, Swing Kitchen, a vegan fast food chain. The have opened five locations in Austria so far (a sixth is scheduled to open soon in Vienna’s 1st district). Two restaurants will open within the next few months in Berlin, and one in Bern, Switzerland.
I finally made it to the vegan restaurant Schillinger last Sunday. The restaurant has a stellar reputation amongst vegans in Austria. I don’t think there’s a single vegan in the country who’s never heard of it. It is that famous.
So it was high time that I made the trek there myself. And it is quite a trek. Schillinger is located about an hour north of Vienna, in the county Lower Austria, in a tiny village called Großmugl. It is only accessible by car (there’s no train station in the village). As I don’t own a car, I never quite managed to make it all the way to Großmugl. But last Sunday I finally got my chance: a car, three people, and a motion-sick dog (who threw up thrice in the car during this trip) arrived at Schillinger at 4:30 PM in the afternoon – quite famished – and sampled the menu.
All the food at Schillinger is vegan, and there are many dishes to choose from. I am happy to report that the restaurant’s excellent reputation is justified.
Between the three of us, we shared two appetizers, a double-sized entree, and two desserts. I didn’t get to taste one of the appetizers, Frittatensuppe, but apparently it was very good (2.80 Euros including tax). Frittaten are crepes cut into small pieces, and Frittatensuppe is an Austrian specialty.
I ordered the fried (mock meat) “duck,” which was served hot. It was marinated in a soy & chilli sauce, and served with sweet peppers on a bed of salad. Very good! (4.90 Euros).
As an entree, the three of us shared the so-called “house plate,” meant for two people (24.00 Euros), which is basically a sampler of various mock meats with French fries, coleslaw, salad, and herb butter (all vegan, of course). The platter was so big, and there was so much food, even the three of us couldn’t quite finish it. It was delicious.
For dessert, we ordered panna cotta (with mango pulp, pistachios, and whipped cream (3.50 Euros), and tiramisu dumplings with strawberry pulp and a compote of peaches (4.50 Euros). I liked the tiramisu dumplings, but I loved the panna cotta.
All in all – food, plus three soft drinks, three glasses of wine, one double espresso -, we spent 55.10 Euros (including taxes), plus tips. The restaurant is so popular that guests kept showing up all through the afternoon to eat, and it started to really fill up when we left at about 6:30 PM. If you want to visit Schillinger – and you should – you absolutely have to send them an Email and make a reservation at least a week in advance.
The restaurant is currently owned by Karl “Charlie” Schillinger and his wife Irene. The restaurant first opened its doors in 1793 – that’s not a typo. Eight generations of “Schillinger” have continuously owned and managed the restaurant. The current owners decided to turn it into a vegan restaurant – due to huge demand. According to the information on their website, they first started cooking vegetarian dishes for friends, who told their friends about it, who spread the word even further, and so on. That’s why one of the best vegan restaurants in the country is located in a tiny village in Lower Austria. It’s a huge success story, and proof that there’s great demand for vegan restaurants everywhere.
Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist on 20 January 2014, and last updated May 25, 2019.
Update May 25, 2019: While the bookstore is still in business, it no longer functions as a vegan café.
Original blog post:
It takes a brave soul (or two) to open a bookstore in this day and age, when most people seem to buy their books on Amazon (guilty!) or download them from the Internet onto their E-Readers.
My friend Stefanie Klamuth and her boyfriend Pablo Hörtner recently both quit well-paying corporate jobs to open a “radically left” book store and vegan café in Vienna.
At Librería Utopía you won’t find the latest mainstream bestsellers, but books – old and new – on far-left politics, history and philosophy, which are usually hard to come by. You’ll also find books on their shelves which question/criticise the status quo of our society, which inform readers about feminism and gay/lesbian issues, and books about religion or vegetarian cooking.
You’ll also find alternative children’s books, and specialty travel guides like Jewish Vienna (available both in German and English, by publishing house mandelbaum). By the way, this book costs 15.80 Euros (English version) at Librería Utopía, but 19.90 Euros on “Amazon.de”. It’s worth every cent, so stop by their store and buy it, before you start your sightseeing tour of Vienna.
Author’s readings and other events are organized frequently at the store, which is made available as a meeting space for NGOs. Check their website for updates.
Librería Utopía is not just a bookstore, but also a vegan café, which looks and feels like Stefanie’s and Pablo’s own personal living room. Drinks are prized very moderately (1.60 Euros for mineral water, 2.20 Euros for a café latte). There are no fixed prices for the vegan snacks they offer. You pay what you think is fair. There’s free WiFi, and dogs are welcome. Even puppies, which are not yet housebroken (thank you for that!).
Veganmania just keeps getting bigger and better. Each year, the Veganmania summer festival tour stops in a number of cities in Austria and her neighboring countries. This year, Veganmania has tour dates in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Croatia.
In 2015, the Viennese and visiting tourists got to enjoy the Veganmania festival for four whole days, from June 3 – 6, and I managed to make it to the festival site on three separate days. It’s always fun to catch up with friends and family, but even more enjoyable, if I’m surrounded by food stalls that sell vegan food. All the drinks are vegan, too.
At Veganmania, I can eat and drink anything I like, and don’t have to worry about (hidden) ingredients, additives, the food preparation process, or cross-contamination. I only have to decide which of the many delicious foods on offer I would like to taste first.
Veganmania is like a mini-vacation, and every year I look forward to this summer festival.
Of course, Veganmania isn’t all about food. Live bands and DJs perform on a stage, you can buy vegan shoes and clothing, purses and cosmetics, books, specialty food items, and more at the vendors’ market stalls. Several animal welfare organizations also have stalls at the festival, where you can collect information materials about their work, and educate yourself about animal welfare issues.
By the way, the 2015 Veganmania festival tour has just started. Throughout the summer, until early September, there are nine additional Veganmania festivals scheduled this year. All the tour dates are listed on the website, so check it out. Veganmania is organised by The Vegan Society Austria.
Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated June 12, 2015.
It’s been a while since I last wrote my last book review, so I thought I’d pull one of my favorite cookbooks off the shelf and let you know why I like this book so much.
Vegan Recipies is barely a book – the 96 pages are stapled together. The book is out of print, but (some) new and used copies are still available through Amazon.
Here’s why I like it so much:
1) All quantities are given in both imperial and metric measures. Measures are also given in standard cups and spoons, and there’s information about the difference between Australian and American tablespoon measurements.
2) The book contains information about vegan ethics, there’s a glossary of common animal by-products, and there are tips on how to avoid animal products. (Did you know that poppadums are often coated with shellac or that dried banana chips are often glazed with honey? Me neither.) There’s also a chapter on vegan nutrition, vegan sources of nutrients, and information about how to replace dairy products and eggs in recipes. The book contains a shopping list for vegan staples, which you’ll need for a variety of recipes, and there’s a chapter on vegan nutrition for pregnant women and children. Tips for eating out and entertaining at home are also given.
3) The book contains 56 recipes, for soups and starters, main meals, salads and side dishes, desserts, and breads and baking. There are numerous photographs that’ll make your mouth water and show you how to prepare the dishes.
4) Best of all – and that’s why I really love this cookbook – for each recipe nutrition notes are listed. Many cookbooks give information about protein, fat, carbs, etc. That’s standard. But Vegan Recipes gives information about the iron and calcium content of each recipe. For vegans, that is very useful information indeed. I don’t know any other vegan cookbook that lists this kind of information.
As a vegan, I pay special attention to nutrition. I never worry about lack of protein – but I do worry about getting enough of all the essential amino acids. Cookbooks – even vegan cookbooks – never supply this kind of information. I also need to prepare dishes which contain Omega 3 fat, something that’s also never mentioned in the nutritional notes for recipes in cookbooks. And of course I watch out for iron and calcium. A slice of Caramelized Red Onion and Thyme Tart contains 1.8 mg iron and a whopping 170 mg of calcium. A portion of Byesar – an Arab dish similar to hummus, but made with broad beans – contains 2.7 mg of iron and 44 mg of calcium. Recipes like the ones included in Vegan Recipes help me plan my diet and ensure that I get all the nutrients I need. Unfortunately, information about nutrients like iron, calcium, essential amino acids and Omega 3 fat is not standard in vegan cookbooks, and that’s a shame. Vegans do have special nutritional needs, and vegan cookbooks should acknowledge that.
Here’s hoping that in the future more and more vegan cookbooks will provide additional nutritional information about their recipes. It’ll make it easier for vegans to stay fit and healthy.
Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated November 4, 2013.
This is the last one of my articles about restaurants & (vegan) food shopping on the island of Menorca, Spain. I hesitated for a long time before I decided to publish this one last review. We didn’t spend much time in Ferreries, the fifth-largest town on the island, and our dining experience was quite disappointing. I keep thinking there must be better restaurant choices for vegans, and don’t want to portray the town unfairly. However, vegans really don’t seem to have many options in Ferreries; best to make plans to eat elsewhere.
Ferreries is located at the centre of the island, and it has the distinction of being the highest town on the island above sea level (142 metres). The only tourist attractions in town are the Museo de la Natura, and the church of Sant Bartomeu (located on Plaça de L’Eglésia), neither of which we visited.
We strolled through Plaça Espanya, which is basically the town centre, and while there were a couple of bars and cafes, the only restaurant in the vicinity was Restaurante Cala Galdana inside the Hotel Loar Ferreries.
The hotel is located at the corner of Carrer Reverend Pare Huguet & Avinguda Verge del Toro, at one of the corners of Plaça Espanya. Unfortunately, the restaurant’s menu – displayed outside – did not list a single vegan dish. Instead, we ended up at the hotel’s bar & cafeteria, where I was able to order the usual fare: a mixed salad and pa amb tomàquet, a version of pa amb oli (with crushed tomatoes).
The salad and toasted garlic & tomato bread were no better or worse than the many other salads and pa amb olis (or pa amb tomàquets) I had eaten before at various Menorcan restaurants. But I found it quite depressing that the only dining option available to a vegan tourist in Ferreries during the off-season at mid-day was a hotel cafeteria.
However, there was truly no other option. We walked around the town centre for about half an hour, and the bar & cafeteria at Hotel Loar Ferreries is where we finally ended up.
Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated November 4, 2013.
Wow, I didn’t expect that – The Cobblers Restaurant has closed.
I just recently had lunch there – a bare six months ago, on April 28, 2013 – and as I am sitting down to write the review, I’m shocked to learn that The Cobblers Restaurant closed down for business at the end of September.
That’ll teach me to put off writing reviews for too long..
Luckily, the owners are opening a new restaurant at a different address in Alaior, The Brasserie & Bar Dos Pablos. They’re set to open in March 2014 (according to a cached Google page), but on their new Website they’re already providing information about a Christmas Day (2013) Luncheon, so check their Facebook site for updates.
Even though The Cobblers restaurant has now closed, I still want to tell you about my visit there, as you can expect similar hospitality from the owners at their new restaurant.
We vacationed on Menorca during the off-season in late April 2013, and stopped by for a “Sunday roast.” For Sunday lunch, they offered a three-course set meal (some options) for 21.95 Euros, but you couldn’t order a la carte during Sunday lunch. Not ideal for a vegan. Nevertheless, we decided to stay for lunch.
I was lucky, as one of the starters was vegan, a delicious tomato soup with basil. There weren’t any vegan entrée options on the “Sunday roast” menu, but one of the owners – whose name I don’t recall – who waited personally on all his guests, was happy to accommodate my vegan needs. The chef made me a pasta dish with broccoli, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and corn. There’s nothing special about a pasta dish, of course, but what was special was the owner’s willingness to go out of his way to accommodate a vegan: “If we have it in the kitchen, you can have it.”
And that’s why I recommend that you visit their new restaurant, even though I haven’t been there myself. Call ahead, if you can, let them know that you are a vegan, and I’m sure they’ll accommodate your dining needs. If you’ve read any of my other restaurant reviews of Menorca, you’ll know that this is special indeed. The owners are British, so there’s no language barrier, and they actually know what the word “vegan” means.
None of the desserts were vegan, but instead of opting for an off-the-menu fruit salad, we asked to take-away one of the non-vegan desserts, so my omnivore dining companion could enjoy it later. I was quite full after the soup & pasta dish, and simply couldn’t eat any dessert.
We had a great time at The Cobblers Restaurant, and I am sorry that it has now closed, but I wish the owners well with their new venture. I’m sure it’ll be a success.
Contact information for their new restaurant, The Brasserie & Bar Dos Pablos:
October 3, 2013: Day One, 3:00 AM – 8 hours after she first arrived at my home. Me, hard at work at my desk (so I can pay for the dog food & treats & toys & vet & dog taxes & pet insurance), wrapped in a sleeping bag for warmth.
Daisy helps.
Posted inThis & That|TaggedDaisy|Comments Off on Welcome to Vienna, Daisy
Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated October 27, 2013. I deleted inactive links on 28 November 2021. I could not verify that the restaurant is still in business.
My spring vacation on the island of Menorca, Spain, is but a distant memory. Nevertheless, I still have three more articles about Menorca that I want to post on this website. Somehow I never quite got around to writing them, but today’s finally the day. Sunday, October 27, 2013, 4:00 AM.
First, I’d like to tell you about my visit to Restaurante Molí d’es Racó in es Mercadal. The town of es Mercadal is situated at the centre of the island, along the main road (Me 1), and you can’t miss the restaurant. It’s located inside an old windmill, which towers over the town. This family restaurant is huge – three dining rooms seat 200 people – and I would imagine that quite a few tourist buses stop by during the high season. But don’t let that deter you. We had a late lunch/early dinner there at 3:45 PM on a Saturday afternoon during the off-season (April 27, 2013), and the restaurant was packed with Menorcans. We were lucky to get a table, and I didn’t notice any other (non-Spanish speaking) tourists at the restaurant during our visit. It’s clearly very popular with the locals, too.
Our friendly waiter spoke a little German and I was able to explain to him what “vegan “meant. He assured me that one of the island’s specialties – oli i aigua (tomato soup with figs) was 100% vegan. I wasn’t – and still am – not sure about the broth. It’s difficult to explain to a non-vegan that even vegetable broths aren’t necessarily vegan, so I usually never order soups at restaurants. But there weren’t many vegan choices at Restaurante Molí d’es Racó, and as oli i aigua is one of the very few Menorcan dishes that are (supposedly) vegan (the other being pa amb oil and variations thereof), we went ahead and ordered it. It was delicious.
My second choice – oven-baked aubergines stuffed with breadcrumbs – didn’t impress me. Again, the waiter assured me that this dish was vegan, but I couldn’t help wondering about the breadcrumbs. What can I say, the devil’s in the details – not all kinds of bread are vegan. Aside from that, I didn’t much care for this dish anyway. I’m not much for soggy breadcrumbs, vegan or not. I wouldn’t order it again.
I ordered fried potatoes as a side dish, and this was a big mistake. I love potatoes, but these were fried in the same oil as all the other dishes – the restaurant specializes in meat and fish – and the potatoes had a fishy flavour to them. Don’t order them; in fact, don’t order anything fried.
Unfortunately, this leaves you with very few choices at Restaurante Molí d’es Racó. In addition to what I ordered, there was also a mixed salad on offer, but that was about it in terms of vegan choices. The restaurant did serve a small bowl of olives as a free appetizer (very good, I ate them all), and we also ordered some bread, so there was plenty of food to eat – we didn’t leave hungry. Have a salad, order the soup, and enjoy the atmosphere of this unique Menorcan restaurant.
Prices are moderate at Restaurante Molí d’es Racó. The soup was 6.50 Euros per person, the stuffed aubergines with the fried potatoes cost 6.95 Euros, and an order of bread per person was 65 cents. Mineral water (1 litre) was 2.65 Euros.
Address: c/Major 53 , es Mercadal, Menorca
Opening hours: daily 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM, and 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM
Phone: +34 – 971 – 375 392
Website: inactive. This restaurant may no longer be in business.
Posted inVegan Living|TaggedMenorca, Spain, vegan|Comments Off on Vegan Survival Tips for es Mercadal, Menorca: Restaurante Molí d’es Racó
Alaior is the third-largest town on the island of Menorca, after Maó and Ciutadella. My various guidebooks list the town’s population somewhere between 6.400 and 9.400 people, and I have trouble believing either number. Alaior is quite small, and half a day will give you plenty of time to explore the town centre.
Alaior is famous for two things: cheese-making and the production of abarcas, flat leather sandals – neither of which is of any interest to vegan tourists. But the town is lovely and we took the self-guided tour suggested in Robert Zsolnay’s (German-language) guide book Menorca.
There’s a small herbolario (herbalist’s store) right in the town centre, which also sells organic and vegan food. You can buy tofu, Seitan, soy and rice milk, vegan spreads, and cosmetics (e.g. Weleda) at Hort de Temps.
I bought a jar of shitake pate there. They sell organic bread. No fruit or veggies, but right across the street is a greengrocer’s.
We also shopped at Hiper Centro, a supermarket in Coll del Palmer, across the street from Capella de Gràcia, which today houses the tourism office. Coll del Palmer leads towards Plaça de la Constitució.
We only bought some water and potato crisps at Hiper Centro, but they also sell fruit and vegetables, soy milk, an assortment of nuts and dried fruit, and pre-cooked beans in jars; but no soy yoghurt, hummus, tofu, or other staples of a vegan diet. It’s a medium-sized supermarket, despite the “Hiper” in its name.
I popped into another supermarket to check it out, when we passed it on our stroll through the town centre. It’s called Supermercats San Crispin, located at Carrer des Ramal 39, vis a vis from the Plaça des Ramal. Supermercats San Crispin is a food co-operative, they aim to sell (many) fairly produced and local products. They have four stores on Menorca, as far as I could understand, as their website is only published in Spanish.
This store is smaller than the Hiper Centro store, and I noticed that all the soy milk on offer at this particular store had added Vitamin D. I usually avoid products with added vitamin D, as this often means Vitamin D3, which is derived from animals. They did sell rice milk, assorted nuts, dried fruit, and pre-cooked beans in jars; but no vegan yoghurts, hummus, tofu, Seitan, etc.
Hort de Temps Address: c/es carreró 11, Alaior 07730, Menorca Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM, and 17:00 PM to 20:00 PM, Saturdays 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM Phone: +34 – 971 – 378 886 Website: http://hortdestemps.blogspot.co.at/
Hiper Centro Address: Coll del Palmer, across the street from Capella de Gràcia, 07730 Alaior, Menorca Opening hours: Monday – Saturday 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM, and 5:00 PM – ?? (sorry, I can’t read my notes). Closed on Sundays and Holidays Phone: ?? Website: I couldn’t find one
Supermercats San Crispin Address: Carrer des Ramal 39, Alaior 07730, Menorca Opening hours: Mondays – Saturday 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM; afternoons: ???; closed on Sundays Phone: +34 – 971 – ?? Website: http://www.sancrispin.net/
