Rachel Ricks shares her favourite vegetarian restaurant finds from her travels around South America.
As much as I admire the noble vegetarian, I’m not a veggie yet, but I thoroughly enjoy the food – healthy, nutritious and often more tasty than meat dishes. So I’m always keen to hunt out at least one meat-free option wherever I go, and this is a particular challenge in carnivorous South America. But dig a little and you can find some great vegetarian places to eat; the added bonus for the budget traveller being that they’re invariably really good value for money.
Here are my favourites I found while traversing the continent:
El Encuentro – Now an institution in Cusco and with two further branches opened up in town, it’s no surprise these little cafés serve great food for excellent prices. Particularly good value is the lunch menu including salad buffet, soup, main course and tea for S./7 (£1.70/US$2.70).
Choquechaca 136; Santa Catalina Ancha 384; and Tigre 130, Cusco, Peru.
Tomate Café – I was very impressed to stumble across this forward-thinking café in La Paz’s centre, with comfy seating and WiFi, it’s a great place to linger over their delicious and well-made veggie burgers, paninis and pastries.
Calle Ayacucho 376, central zone, La Paz, Bolivia.
La Vegetariana – This gets points just for boldly appearing in the capital of big meat Uruguay. An all-you-can-eat buffet where you could easily eat every night for a fortnight and not get bored – the range of options was impressive – from soups to quiches, from lasagnes to curries. Plus, you can choose two desserts afterwards.
Yi 1369, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Expreso Virgen de Guadalupe – In the unusual setting of an old tram carriage where they stopped running in Lima’s Barranco district, but this is no gimmick. It’s a professionally run restaurant with a great value lunch buffet, including some vegan dishes. S./15 (£3.70/US$5.70) for the lunch buffet.
San Martín y Ayacucho, Barranco, Lima, Peru.
Govinda’s market stall – Seek out the furthest corner of the San Blas market hall in Cusco to find Govinda’s stand where she serves up a restaurant-standard lunch menu of hearty soup and main course for a mere S./5 (£1.25/US$2). Just be prepared to squeeze onto the bench with all her other loyal customers – travellers and locals alike.
Mercado San Blas, San Blas, Cusco, Peru.
Natural – Yes, a third option in Cusco, but the city deserves credit for its great range and quality of cuisine. This is a new addition to Cusco’s veggie scene, too, but again excellent value for good, wholesome food. Unbeatable is the lunch menu of salad buffet, soup, main, dessert and tea for S./6 (£1.50/US$2.30) – get there early because, unsurprisingly, it sells out quick.
Chihuampata 652, San Blas, Cusco, Peru.
What other options are there?
In Buenos Aires, I didn’t find a specific vegetarian restaurant but found at least one veggie dish on most menus, such as pasta with nuts and cream, pizza or in Indian restaurants (recommended is Krishna, Malabia 1833, Palermo Viejo). The best option I found was to go to one of the Chinese-run supermarkets that provide vast buffets of various hot dishes to take away, with plenty of vegetarian options such as baked butternut squash or stir-fried vegetables, plus all sorts of salads. Help yourself with one of the plastic containers and they price it up by the weight (average 20 pesos (£2.50/US$4) for half a kilo).
Find vegetarian restaurants around the world on HappyCow.net
Currency conversions all correct at time of writing.
Follow more of Rachel’s Travels on her blog.