As a solo traveller with an appetite for quantity as well as quality when it comes to vegan food, finding the Cologne branch of Sattgrün on the Happy Cow app was a godsend at the tail-end of a busy day.
The food is presented canteen-style, starting with a soup area, where you can help yourself to a small or larger-sized bowl of whatever hearty soup is on offer each day. If thats’s all you fancy, you’ll be paying €5 to €7 for a bowl including bread. A similar size dish of mixed salads costs around the same.
It had been a long day of sight-seeing and I was peckish; I went straight for the large plate size, currently costing around €16 (there are smaller, cheaper options available).
There are around 10 salads and vegetable side dishes available alongside five or six mains. I added a bit of most of the offerings to my plate.
To give you a flavour of the choices, they included roasted sweetheart cabbage in orange and ginger sauce, lentil curry with chickpeas, fried soya medallions in peanut sauce, tofu stroganoff, and plenty of rice and pasta-type recipes. I’m a huge potato fan so I especially liked the crispy roasties with finely chopped almonds.
In general, the food felt wholesome and it was tasty. And although I was too full for cake on this occasion, I saw some delicious-looking desserts that I’d definitely try next time.
The system was really easy to follow, which is important to me, as is friendly service, and the young woman who took my drinks order was a delight. Again, as a solo traveller, these little interactions make a big difference to your day.
There was a chilled vibe to this restaurant, which had a large, comfortable outdoor area as well as indoor seating. When I went there, it was not over-busy but it was clear that this was a place popular with locals as well as tourists.
Cologne Sattgrün is part of a small chain of restaurants, and there are also branches in Düsseldorf and Essen, which I’d be keen to sample on future visits to Germany.
As an aside, I found this gem, as I find most places I choose to eat in, through Happy Cow. I’d imagine most travellers have this installed, but if you don’t, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Bardo Burner 