Vegan in Lunenberg, Mahone Bay, and Blue Rocks

As a title 'Eating vegan in Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, and Blue Rocks' is a bit of a misnomer. You see, all of these places aren't particularly vegan friendly. They're known for scenery like this:

As you can see from the pic, they're all located on the coast, and all three were basically built off the back of Nova Scotia's fishing industry. While they might be more focused on tourism than fishing these days, they've all clung onto to the whole fish thing when it comes to eating out.

In short, don't come to any of these three places if you're looking for a rich smorgasbord of vegan places to eat, as you'll be disappointed.

Let's take Lunenburg first. As far as I can see, there's really only one place that expressly caters to vegans: Lincoln Street Food. It says on its website it can accommodate food sensitivities and allergies, and the shop front mentioned vegan food when we walked by. Alas, when we walked by, it was closed, so I can tell you how many vegan options there were or whether they were tasty, but it looked like a nice cosy place.

As for other options, I got the impression there are a few pizzerias that could leave you the cheese off, or cafes that could make you a sandwich and some chips, but nothing that looked wildly exciting.

We were self catering, and cooked for ourselves with stuff we picked up from the local supermarket, which I think is called independent. It's got a few useful vegan things in, like Earth Balance, lots of non-dairy milk, and even some vegan ice-cream, if memory serves.

Don't let me put you off visiting Lunenburg, by the way - it's a lovely little place to spend a weekend. Just don't expect incredible vegan feasts while you're there!

Mahone Bay is about 15 minutes drive away from Lunenburg (or about two hours if you walk, like we did!) but it has more in the way of vegan options.

Both Mateus Bistro and Rebecca's Restaurant are listed on Happy Cow as having vegan options, and quick look at their menus suggests that's the case, though only Rebecca's Restaurant has them actually marked out.

We went to the Biscuit Eater cafe and book shop, which also has a few vegan options on its paper menu, also clearly marked. The online version isn't so clear, but you can check it out here for reference.

We didn't stop for lunch (we'd brought our own picnic, being on a self-catering trip) but there's always room for coffee and cake, right?

I think this was called something like a caramellito, and it was unnaturally good. I could feel my blood sugar spiking and my arteries hardening with every bite, and it was all totally worth it. A truly gorgeous cake. It's rich enough that you might want to consider sharing it, but to be honest, I wouldn't advise it.

As a side note, if you're picking up some vegan food, may I recommend you go for eat in rather than takeaway? The Biscuit Eater is a lovely space. It how my dream front room would look, and just as comfy:

Onto Blue Rocks. Blue Rocks is a dinky little village and there's not much in the way of anything there - it's about the size of a postage stamp - so don't expect there to be a lot of food options, let alone a lot of vegan food options.

There's one dinky place that does takeaway coffee and other bits and pieces (I think it's called the Point General), which I'll recommend for two reasons: one, they make a cracking cup of tea (Earl Grey with almond milk, in my case) and two, they're the site of the only public toilet we came across in the village. Also, the lady who runs it was super friendly. I didn't enquire about whether any of their food is vegan, but I can confirm there are vegan tea options!

We walked from Lunenburg to Blue Rocks, and while it wasn't the best walk, the place itself is lovely. And the tea's not bad either.