9Aug

Vegan food at climbing centre

Have you been searching for a place where you can eat vegan food AND climb a wall in London?

Well, I’ve got the solution you need and it’s all housed inside (and out) a heritage listed Victorian pumping station that looks like a castle!

The Castle Climbing Centre is the UK’s largest climbing centre and is on Green Lanes just near Stoke Newington in north London.

This climbing centre is simply amazing. The old pumping station is built in the style of a castle, complete with towers and cavernous inside spaces. The halls and rooms have been fitted out with climbing walls and surfaces, while one of the towers affords customers the chance to engage in a bit of indoor abseiling.

In a surprising and welcomed twist, the onsite café at the centre offers up vegan food choices.

The menu consists of two main dishes each day, one of which is always vegan. The mains can vary depending on the season and what veg is on offer. The staff tell me it is usually something like a curry, stew or rice dish and vegan pilaf with tahini dressing is popular at the moment. They also offer a daily soup and wide ranging selection of salads all of which are always vegan. Other items on the menu include toasties (hummus & sundried tomato, peanut butter and banana, vegan cheese with homemade chutney etc.), jackets with a range of toppings, hummus and toast. In the summer they run a café from their garden every Wednesday serving wood-fired pizza.

In addition to savoury dishes they always have a wide ranging selection of cakes, which are vegan about 60-70% of the time. This includes flapjacks, banana bread, lemon drizzle, brownie bites, cheesecake, cupcakes and whatever else they can make using the produce from their garden. Yes, they grow most of their own produce on site!

Main dishes range from £5.50-£6, soup costs £3.50 and the majority of cakes are under £2.