It can at times be a little frustrating that the rest of the world hasn’t quite caught up with the fact that there are more and more vegans who want to dine out or even just join their friends in going for a coffee on an afternoon.

So I was stunned, yes stunned, to find that when we popped into Starbucks in York for a soy frappuccino, that there was absolutely nothing on the menu (foodwise) that we could have.  I am not counting the soy porridge pot, it wasn’t breakfast time!

I thought with them giving customers the option of steering away from dairy (which is great) and offering milk alternatives that perhaps that would filter on down through to the food choices as well.

But, there was a shining beacon beckoning vegans from afar to their doors in the form of El Piano Restaurant, a gorgeous eatery where every single thing on the menu was suitable for vegans.  It was such a breath of fresh air to not have to quiz the waiter/waitress as to what was in a particular sauce, or ask if I could have their vegetarian option without the cheese or cream sauce.

Their menu was quite extensive and varied and we opted for the Hispanic Platos Principales which came with refried beans, tinas, chilli sin carne, spanish omelette, rice, mixed salad, corn fritters and sauce stack. (pictured above).

We demolished this (see below!) and I can say, hand on heart, it was delicious, flavoursome and gorgeous. We followed this up by sharing a cheesecake and a chocolate brownie, which came along with a large pot of coffee and did I mention… everything was vegan!

We just wish we were staying in York longer so that we could go through the entire menu, but we may need to come back again sometime soon!