Grove is in the heart

Can’t decide between pizza and curry? Don’t know if you should grab a samosa or a plate of savoury rice? Eating can be a real dilemma. Well, one restaurant is making it easy for vegans to have all of these dishes and more.

Vegans often don’t get a huge choice when it comes to eating in the world of pizza, fried foods and home delivery. The Grove Cafe located in Headingley, Leeds is turning this upside down by offering a delectable range of dishes suitable for cruelty-free diets.

On a recent weekend visit to the city, I made sure I ate my fill of delicious rice, garlic bread pizza and Indian starters. I need to do each dish justice, so forgive me for taking my time here.

When you visit the Grove Cafe, I must insist you start with the garlic bread pizza. Available in two sizes, this oily delight is one of the best bread dishes I have ever enjoyed.

Grove doesn’t serve only vegan or vegetarian food, but they do take particular care of vegan diners. They have a good range of vegan pizza options that can be topped with Vegerella vegan cheese.

Another must-have starter is the vegetable platter. This collection of fried goods is made up of onion bahjis, mushroom samosas, a side salad and a large, regular samosa.

The giant, onion bahjis are phenomenal and the staff know not to bring yoghurt dressing for vegan customers.

All of the fried foods at the Grove are suitable for vegans. No meat or dairy is fried in the cooking oil.

I might sound like a broken record here but another amazing dish is the mushroom rice. It is stacked high in a bowl and packed with flavour.

Everything that is suitable for vegans is clearly marked on the menu.

There is a fine selection of vegan curries listed and on another occasion I have enjoyed the Daal Tarka.

The Grove usually has a choice of vegan chocolate cake on offer and you can even have everything home delivered. If you can’t bring yourself to venture out before their midnight closing time, the vegan food will come to you!

Once you have cleaned your plate and sipped up the delicious, home-made lemonade on offer, take a post-dinner stroll around the neighbourhood of Headingley. Just a few blocks away you will find a gorgeous, heritage-listed cinema called the Hyde Park Picture House. The film house is still functioning and is a stunning example of a bygone era.

Headingley gives up even more delights if you enjoy another short walk just past the Hyde Park Picture House.

Abu Bakar is a spectacular Indian grocery store that contains a monumental array of dried goods, rice, lentils, beans and breads.

You could easily spend an hour in here, daydreaming of all the complex meals you could create with the fine ingredients for sale.

It took a while to get it all on the page, but there you have it. Headingley in Leeds is a great day out for vegans. Take in a film at the Hyde Park Picture House, pick up a few groceries from Abu Bakar and fill up on tasty dishes from the Grove Cafe.
Grove Cafe

133-135 Cardigan Road
Leeds LS6 1LJ

0113 230 2727