Norwich restaurant announces it has become fully vegan

Moorish Falafel Bar, Lower Goat Lane, Norwich. Picture: Neil Perry (Image: Archant)

Moorish Falafel Bar, on Lower Goat Lane, has dropped all dairy products from its menu and replaced them with vegan alternatives, meaning the city eatery is now 100pc vegan.

The business, which serves a range of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean salads, wraps and burgers has been a popular vegetarian dining option since it opened almost nine years ago.

Samia King, owner of the Moorish Falafel Bar, said the change was something she had wanted to make for a long time, but had held back from because of a lack of vegan options for their key ingredients.

She said: "I've was always been a bit nervous about removing a couple of items from the menu that aren't vegan but now there are good alternatives.

Moorish Falafel Bar in the Norwich Lanes has gone fully vegan. Picture: Neil Perry (Image: Archant)

"I decided I wanted to be somewhere where we are 100pc vegan, I just made the decision."

Officially launching the new fully vegan on February 12, Ms King said reaction had been really positive.

She said the main tweaks to make the change official had been removing cow's milk from the menu and swapping feta and yoghurt for vegan alternatives.

"I feel really positive about it and I think it makes a lot of sense," she said.

"A lot of people did ask [about vegan options] and obviously having a couple of things that aren't vegan means you can't say you're a vegan place and you have to be a lot more careful about cross-contamination.

"This makes things a lot more simple to run and it means we can call ourselves fully vegan.

"And the good thing about vegan food is that anybody can eat it."

In July, Norwich topped a list of vegetarian and vegan-friendly cities due to the number of meat-free food choices it boasts.

The research, which was carried out by catering equipment retailer Nisbets, found there were 2,094 people per vegetarian or vegan restaurant in Norwich, putting it ahead of other top spot contenders including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.