We didn’t really know what to expect before arriving in “vegan Dusseldorf”.
German friends from other cities had been pretty dismissive about our plans to spend a weekend in the city on the banks of the Rhine.
In one dinner conversation with colleagues the previous week I had innocently asked, “Does anyone have any tips for Düsseldorf”, and then somehow received an in-depth 30 minute tourist’s guide to Hamburg in response.
I left with a huge number of suggestions for Germany’s second largest city, and with the unsubtle message that there were better places we could be spending a weekend getaway.
Undeterred, we checked-in to the 25 Hours Hotel in the French Quarter. Open since May 2018, 25 Hours is actually one of the best hotels I’ve had the pleasure to stay in – certainly for a mid price-range.
Each room was quirkily decorated down to the finest detail in a French or Parisian style – our room had plenty of home comforts and quirky touches, such as the record turntable and selection of obscure French vinyl. The four-poster bed and extremely comfortable mattress and duvet were oh so welcoming too.
Oh, and the hotel also boasts a 17th floor bar with some of the best views over the city. And they also make some fine craft cocktails from a menu that continues the French influence.
But I’m not here to review the hotel – I’m here to give a brief guide to where we ate, shopped and explored.
A first taste on Friday
Our Hotel Receptionist advised that the first thing any vegan Düsseldorf visitor should do is head to the Altstadt and walk along the Rhine. This we eventually did on the Saturday, but found it to be pretty busy and touristy.
The Altstadt is also known in Germany as the ‘longest bar in the world’ because of the enormous concentration of neighbouring bars in such a small area. As you can expect, this creates a certain atmosphere which may or may not be what you are looking for, but the impression we got was that it was the place to be for Germans from other cities and tourists looking for a big night out. By day, it’s also filled with shoppers as the main commercial shopping district.
Yes, the walk along the Rhine up to the iconic RheinTurm (TV Tower) is striking on a sunny day. But I personally wouldn’t be so quick in recommending the Altstadt as the must-visit primary destination.
Instead our first destination was Sattgrun (Mitte), a local vegan Düsseldorf buffet-style chain, which offered an impressive array of eat-as-much-as-you-can-pile-on-your-plate hot and cold options. From moussakka to chilli sin carne, asian style tofu, Indian style cauliflower, plus countless salad combinations featuring all your favourite vegan and superfood ingredients. The options were all super fresh and flavoursome, and we really hoped to be able to visit again before the end of our weekend. My personal favourite were the delicious soya medallions in peanut sauce. Oh, and the lemon drizzle cake which we took away for an afternoon treat!
After a little bit of exploration it was soon dinner time, and a bit of online research recommended Kirti’s, an Indian restaurant close to the RheinTurm with a good reputation for vegan options.
Being spoiled by the excellent quality of Indian food in the UK (and half of my family being Indian) we’ve grown resigned to the fact that Indian food in Germany is usually a let down. But these guys know what they are doing, and served us three delicious, fresh and flavourful dishes (Okra with ginger, saag with courgettes, and our classic go-to chana masala, served with roti). We were really happy with our choice, despite massively over-ordering. But we were very happy to take away our leftovers (which we later enjoyed on Sunday afternoon!)
Saturday shopping
A better recommendation from our hotel receptionist was Lorettostraße in the Unterbilk district. Much quieter than the Altstadt it features a series of boutique shops, including RomantikLabor which stocks vegan, organic, fair trade goods. As well as the nearby Vintage Store, which as the name suggests stocks an impressive array of fashion items dating between 1930 and 1980.
It was here that we also stumbled upon Greentrees, an Aussie style brunch and lunch cafe with a great vegan selection on both their All Day Breakfast and Lunch menus.
We had a matcha pancake, served with maple syrup and generous amounts of fresh fruit, and what seemed like a bottomless acai bowl with a very generous serving of acai. Washed down with a divine matcha latte with coconut milk. The place was very popular on a Saturday lunchtime, but the standards were high and presentation immaculate.
From Lorettostrasse we progressed to Kleidsam on Neusserstrasse, selling brands like King Louie, Sessun and Skunkfunk, although almost everything was for women.
It was a sunny early autumn day so we decided to continue on foot to the Bilk district, heading towards Yavana, a ‘green concept store’, specialising in “everyday and business clothing, fair fashion, eco fashion, green fashion, fair trade articles, accessories and lifestyle products. This had much more of a selection for chaps, not to mention a very helpful and talkative shop assistant.
Brunnenstraße seemed pretty cool as well, with some great alternative looking cafes popular with a hip local crowd, a classic-looking Metropol independent cinema, and a zero waste general store. We grabbed a drink from Herrtotti Eis Manufaktur, which we noted had some attractive looking vegan ice cream options.
Next we jumped on the U-Bahn – by far the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to get around – to Uhlandstrasse to check out Ackerstrasse in the Fligern district.
Here we struck gold. Firstly in the Langbrett / Patagonia store, where I picked up a couple of sweaters for autumn. Langbrett are an ethical German surf & skate brand, with a focus on organic, fair, non-chemical and handmade products that do no harm to other people or the environment.
Continuing down Ackerstrasse we discovered Green Guerillas, which was stacked floor to ceiling with organic/fairtrade clothes for him and her. This time my good lady was the one with her purse out, picking up a dress, a sweater and some funky trousers. It was probably the best and broadest selection of ethical fashion I’ve come across in a store yet.
Ackerstrasse turned out to be our favourite street in Dusseldorf. Again, boasting a number of cute alternative looking cafes, and boutique stores.
One of the main attractions is the factory store of Dusseldorf-based ethical clothing brand Wunderwerk. The store is literally at the front of the factory, so is a good place to potentially pick up some samples at discount price, or find some styles that aren’t available in some of their stockists elsewhere.
Also worth a visit is upcycling store PLUP (Plant Upcycling), which has a great range of clothes, accessories and gift, all, as the name suggests, upcycled from various materials.
Note that many of the more boutiquey stores like to close at 4pm on Saturday, which caught us out and meant we missed experiencing a few others that looked very inviting from the outside.
Also be aware that Sundays are observed as religious days of rest throughout Germany, so all shops, and many cafes and restaurants are closed. Bear this in mind on a visit to a German city, and use your Saturday mornings wisely to avoid disappointment.
100 Keyboards and dinner in a supermarket
For dinner we read some recommendations to try Pythagoras – another vegetarian/vegan buffet style venture.
To be honest this was a bit of a let down, especially after the delights of Sattgrun previously. Firstly was the setting – Pythagoras is kind of a cafe within an Edeka supermarket. Albeit a very shiny and new branch. Still, it’s inside a supermarket.
Secondly, whilst the range of options were good, a lot of the dishes had been standing a while and were lukewarm to eat.
It’s definitely not so bad – we just wish we’d researched and planned a bit better than to go there for our Saturday night dinner. It would have been more appropriate as a passing through lunchtime place – although at almost €14 for a plate, that’s a rather expensive lunch.
Dusseldorf also boasts a rich cultural programme, and we checked out a performance of ‘100 Keyboards’ by Japanese artist Asuna. As the name suggests, the show features Asuna working from 100 different keyboards of varying shapes and sizes, as he sets each to play a long continuous note, gradually building from silence, up to a crescendo of sound, and then taking it back down, layer by layer to silence once more.
Sunday in orbit
Due to poor planning on our part, for Sunday brunch we found ourselves returning to Greentrees
– although we tried a different branch – Greentrees the Juicery near the Dusseldorf Derendorf S-Bahn. The food (we had avocado toast) was on par with its sister joint, although the location smaller and with less atmosphere.
Our final destination was the impressive contemporary art gallery K21, where I experienced the amazing “In Orbit” installation by the artist Tomás Saraceno.
A construction of enormous steel nets stretched just below the glass-domed roof of the gallery, it is inspired by the artist’s fascination with spiderwebs, and aims to recreate for humans the feeling of walking across a web – with every move of each individual, causing vibrations that impact others using the web at the same time.
Whilst very impressive, the experience of walking 20+ metres above ground with only a steel netting standing between me and a drop to certain death taught me that I am far more afraid of heights than I ever realised!
The gallery also includes some excellent work by artists such as Marina Abramović, Paul McCarthy, Katharina Fritsch, Robert Gober, Maria Lassnig, Rosemarie Trockel, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Schütte and Wael Shawky – some of which won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but makes provocative points about topics such as politics, history, violence and desensitization. .
And that was our vegan weekend in Dusseldorf over.
All in all, we were definitely pleasantly surprised and I happily recommend all of the places listed below to any traveller visiting the city.
Other places we wish we’d tried…
Laura’s Deli, critically acclaimed ‘urban natural food and drinks’, Carlsplatz 1
Giovani L: Award winning ice cream maker with a good vegan selection, Berger Str. 22
The weekend shortlist
25 Hours Hotel, Louis Pasteur Platz 1
Sattgrun (Mitte) Vegan buffet, Graf-Adolf-Platz 6
Kirti’s Indian Restaurant, Bruckenstrasse 19
Greentrees Aussie Style Brunch, Lorettostrasse 54
RomantikLabor Ethical gift store, Lorettostrasse 32
Kleidsam, Ethical Women’s Fashion, Neusser Strasse 123
Yavana, Wide range of ethical fashion, Brunnenstrasse 32
Herrtotti Eis Manufaktur, ice cream parlour with vegan options, Brunnenstrasse 4
Langbrett, Conscious outdoor store, Ackerstrasse 113
Green Guerillas, Enormous range of ethical fashion for men and women, Ackerstrasse 113a
Wunderwerk, Ethical fashion factory store, Ackerstrasse 133
PLUP (Planet Upcycling), Upcycled gifts, accessories & clothes, Ackerstrasse 168B
Pythagoras, Vegan & Vegetarian buffet, Berliner Allee 52
Greentrees the Juicery, Juice bar with a brunch menu, Munsterstrasse 149
K21, Contemporary Art Gallery, Ständehausstraße 1
