Vegans.UK

A place for Vegans to share!

  • Home
  • Restaurants
  • Easy Vegan Recipes
  • About

The Restaurants of Pisa, Italy

November 2, 2016 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

A welcoming sign in Vegan Come Koala
A welcoming sign in Vegan Come Koala

I was lucky enough to take a trip to Pisa, Italy recently. The hotel had been booked in a hurry so we had no time to check how vegan friendly Pisa was. We needn’t have worried. You’ll probably know that Italian food is generally pretty flexible and there’s always penne all’arrabbiata to fall back on, but in this beautiful university town, we had plenty more to choose from than just that.

The local olives were divine
The local olives were divine

We not only found mainstream restaurants to be incredibly accommodating but there were dedicated vegetarian and even vegan restaurants to choose from – all within easy walking distance from the famous leaning tower!

 

Homemade bread - delicious!
Homemade bread – delicious!

One of the first places we tried for dinner was Ristorante Ben d’Iddio which is a vegetarian restaurant just round the corner from the tower. At least half the menu is vegan and our waiter was very thorough in explaining the dishes to us. We were absolutely spoiled for choice. While we pored over the menu we were served olives and some of the tastiest morsels of bread I’ve ever eaten.

Mixed starter platter
Mixed starter platter

Finally we decided on a mixed starter consisting of beautifully prepared aubergine, mushrooms, pepper, courgette, bruschetta and a local chilli pepper which, although incredibly mild, was tasty and the waiter was impressed I’d finished it! There were some gorgeous homemade sauces that came along which was the icing on the cake. My companion had a salad of cucumber, tomato, onion, croutons and basil which was dressed to perfection.

Salad, dressed to perfection
Salad, dressed to perfection

To follow, he chose the mushroom stuffed gnocchi which looked amazing. I went for their award winning seitan in a gorgeous bolognaise sauce on top of linguini. We were both wanting to try dessert at this place, but were simply too full to contemplate it!

Mushroom gnocchi
Mushroom gnocchi

Instead we were served some limoncello and then some of the local hazelnut liqueur to aid digestion. What a wonderful evening.

Seitan linguini
Seitan linguini
Limoncello
Limoncello
Beautiful local hazelnut liqueur
Beautiful local hazelnut liqueur

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very warm every day during our visit, so we normally felt like a sandwich or something similar for lunch. Luckily for us there was a fully vegan sandwich takeaway nearby. Vegan Come Koala is run by just one guy, but he’s there every day from about noon till teatime and the extensive menu belies the tiny size of his shop.

Totally vegan sandwich shop
Totally vegan sandwich shop

There was a choice of wraps every day from corn to spelt to wholegrain and you could fill them with whatever you pleased from falafel to seitan to tofu and the selection of sauces were equally impressive.

The extensive menu would be happily translated
The extensive menu would be happily translated

You could have a hot Panini, pizza, burger, hot dog or even a gluten free beer (which I did, very nice) or any other veggie sandwich shop delicacy you could think of. We came here most days at lunchtime (our visit to Pisa lasted a week as there were loads of things to see and it was just a pleasant place to hang out.)

The selection of drinks was as impressive as the food
The selection of drinks was as impressive as the food
The cecina was soon devoured
The cecina was soon devoured

We sought out Pizzeria Il Montino as we’d been told they had good Cecina, which is a traditional Tuscan dish made from chickpea flour and olive oil and looks a bit like a pancake. We had some and it was gorgeous, but quite small, so we had a pizza there too and it was wonderful. Just a simple combination of roasted peppers and aubergine was made special by the sheer quality of the tomato sauce and base. The Italians do simple yet delicious very, very well.

Simple, but delicious pizza
Simple, but delicious pizza

 

Totally vegan restaurant
Totally vegan restaurant

 

 

 

 

Across the river near the university was another totally vegan restaurant called Il Vegusto. It had lovely decor including a piano and nice soft lighting. Although the staff’s English was limited, the menu was in English as well as Italian, so was very easy for us to negotiate.

Vegan omlette starter
Vegan omlette starter

Over a couple of nights we sampled the fried vegan omelette, zucchini carpaccio and cocktail of carrots in a pink sauce. For our main course, the pesto gnocchi was a favourite, along with their Tuscan pasta and Seitan with vegetables.

Zucchini carpaccio
Zucchini carpaccio

On the first occasion we even had room for dessert, and sampled both the delectable apple cake and the chocolate mousse. All of this was accompanied by fabulous vegan Italian wine and bread and a generally lovely atmosphere.

Pesto gnocchi
Pesto gnocchi
Tuscan pasta
Tuscan pasta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous Italian vegan wine
Gorgeous Italian vegan wine
The apple cake was yummy
The apple cake was yummy

 

A lovely, family-run place
A lovely, family-run place

 

 

 

Another lovely place across the river was a family run place called Rusticanella, where they happily made vegan pizza for us and were very patient with my faltering Italian. They even had vegan friendly local beer Moretti on tap. It was a lovely casual place to sit outside and have the odd Vespa drone past you every now and again. The pizza was delicious. It’s amazing how they can make mushrooms, peppers and aubergine into pizza heaven.

Pizza heaven
Pizza heaven

 

Back near the tower, there were plenty of places who were happy to accommodate us even though they weren’t dedicated veggie eateries. One of these proudly advertised vegan friendly and gluten free dishes, Terrazza Laterale Con Tavoli. They served us pizza without cheese as well as amazing spaghetti in the most heavenly tomato sauce.

The amazing vegan platter
The amazing vegan platter

Impressively they also had an amazing vegan platter that included the yummy Cecina, as well as mushroom, pepper and tomato bruschetta, aubergine, olives, cabbage and artichoke. Quite a plateful!

Simple but superb pasta
Simple but superb pasta

Of course, a visit to Italy is never complete without sampling the local ice cream and for vegans in Pisa there’s no need to miss out. A few places had some options, but the best one that we found, Oro, looked onto a bustling square.

The best vegan ice cream in Pisa
The best vegan ice cream in Pisa

Their vegan flavours were dark chocolate, almond, lemon, strawberry, coconut, liquorice, figs & almond and passion fruit & pepper, so, a pretty comprehensive choice! You could enjoy a combination of flavours in a cone or cup and sit on one of the many public benches in the square to enjoy them.

Vegan flavours were clearly marked
Vegan flavours were clearly marked

 

 

 

 

I found in Pisa that there was plenty of choice (spaghetti aglio e olio should be vegan anywhere) it was useful to have a few Italian phrases to hand while ordering.

Salads to die for
Salads to die for

Sono vegana (I’m vegan, female)

Sono vegano (I’m vegan, male)

Senza formaggio/mozzarella (Without cheese/mozzarella)

Con verdure (with vegetables)

Senza latte (without milk)

Don't forget the beer!
Don’t forget the beer!

Per favore (please)

Grazie (Thank you)

Pisa is definitely somewhere to spend more than a day if you can, if only to try a selection of their fabulous restaurants!

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Vegan Meals Out Tagged With: ice cream, Italian, Italy, pasta, Pisa, pizza, Travel

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sponsors:


Natural Collection - Ethical


Ethical Superstore

Advertisement

Cover for the first book by Heather Hamilton - Puppies for Sale.
Heather Hamilton - Puppies for Sale.


Cover for the book Forced to Run by Heather Hamilton, the cover has greyhound dogs running with an ominous Scottish mountain scene.
Heather Hamilton - Forced to Run.
Twitter: @VegansUK
Facebook: @VegansUK
Instagram: @Vegans.UK
  • Home
  • Restaurants
  • Easy Vegan Recipes
  • About

Copyright © 2025 · Modern Portfolio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Vegans.UK Cookies Policy

Our Website uses cookies to improve your experience. Please visit our About page for more information about cookies and how we use them. To continue using the website you give consent to use cookies as mentioned on About.

Close
%d