‘You’ve heard of the Curry Mile – this is the Veggie Mile’: Manchester’s south suburb brimming with plant-based restaurants

Just over 10 years ago, there seemed to be a lack of life in the South Manchester suburb of Withington. Bumping shoulder to shoulder with student-centric Fallowfield on one side and posh Didsbury on the other, the village’s shopping center was a mix of charity shops and barbers.

Nowadays, the chazzas and barbers are still there, but there is a new generation of cafes and restaurants that have made the place a must-visit for vegetarians and vegans. And the sense of community that is building in Withington shows that these independent businesses are doing something very well indeed.

Traveling along Wilmslow Road out of town, vegan ice cream and dessert bar Ice Shack is on the right in Rutherford Square – next to the Carnegie-funded Withington Library. It’s a place that’s become something of a pilgrimage for vegans eager to dig into amazing cakes — in flavors like Funfetti and Biscoff — and indulge in dairy-free ice creams like Peach Melba and Blueberry and Lavender.

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Owner Leah Newton makes all of her vegan cakes and treats from scratch and said she’s excited about the response to her dairy-free offering and the upside of other veggie and vegan openings in the area.

“You’ve heard of the Curry Mile — that’s the Veggie Mile,” she joked. “I’m not here to change hearts and minds, I’m just here to give people tasty ice cream.

The Ice Shack opened in 2016 as a vegetarian ice cream and sweets parlor under a previous owner, but in April 2017 went vegan.

Leah said: “It was only about a month after I went vegan and I was a dedicated customer for five years before I bought it. I always joke that we are the Playmobil set of vegan restaurants – it’s the Prima My Vegan Experience.

“No one here is going to shout at you and get preachy – we’re all really relaxed. It’s like, try it, and if you don’t like it, that’s fine.

“But if you like it—hey, you just discovered something you like. So we can go from trying ice cream to cake or different milk in your coffee.”

The community is very buzzing right now, Leah adds – and she believes the point of difference for area consumers is attracting people from further afield.

“I have lived in Withington for 10 years and absolutely love it. I don’t think I’ve ever lived anywhere like this, there’s the thing about Withington, it really does exist.

“The sense of community is really there. Everyone seems to have the same goal, which makes it a great place to live.”

On the other side of Rippingham Road, Cafe Blah sits like a bar straight out of Berlin’s hipster Kreuzberg district. Inside, expect art, coffee, beer and wine—and an entirely plant-based menu. For three and a half years, co-owners Adam Porrino and Tess Parkinson have been serving vegetable mezze plates and panini options, and recently added veggie ramen to their menu.

Co-owner Adam Porrino says they’ve been accepted as a vegetarian place since day one: “I think people associate us with being vegetarian. We still get people who come in and will see ‘English Breakfast Tea’ on the menu and occasionally ask for a full English, but not too much.

“I think we’ve established it as a vegetarian place and people know that’s what we do. With students, it’s like a rolling thing, we get a new gang every year. But I think the word is spreading quite quickly and maybe it’s a younger demographic thing – they’re more aware of what they’re eating these days.”

Having been vegetarian for many years, Adam and Tess felt it was part of their ethos and did not ‘choose’ to exclude meat – rather it was natural to be plant-based.

“I did the vegetable business for several reasons. It’s a lot easier and cheaper and it’s the kind of food we wanted to put out – cheap vegetarian food.

“We don’t have a huge selection, but it’s a good price for what it is. It’s about not excluding anyone who isn’t vegetarian.”

The recent openings have filled Adam with excitement for Withington, and he says the community always supports independent local businesses.

“All the local business owners, we all know each other. It’s fantastic that Ice Shack is now on the market because it’s even closer to us. I really think this end of Withington is being built so it’s a full strip – you can get whatever food you want and whatever drink you want here.

“It’s such a great community, it’s not something I’ve experienced before living here, it’s really nice. I think Withington found us.

“I’m not sure we would thrive as much in any other place. There seems to be such a collective effort to go in one direction in Withington. It always feels fresh and new things are coming out, so it’s great to be here.”

A few locations down on the same side of Wilmslow Road as Cafe Blah is the granddaddy of veggie joints, Fuel Cafe Bar – which has been around for more than two decades and doesn’t have a meat selection on the premises. The bohemian and cool venue is known for its upstairs concert nights as much as its meat-free menu – but even omnivores would recommend the good-value dishes that are typical student working lunches if visiting during of the week is desirable.

Across the road, the South Manchester outpost of Herbivorous has been selling vegan street food since 2021, having opened after the business did well in Hatch on Oxford Road. Where Fuel embraces the falafel and salad side of meatless nibbling, Herbivorous – founded by Robyn and Damian – uses the vegan protein seitan to recreate ‘dirty fries’ and other travel-inspired ‘fast food’ dishes them across North America.

Although Withington stretches further along Wilmslow Road towards Didsbury with Lotus Plant-Based Kitchen – another vegan favorite – the newest kid on the block is off the main stretch of Wilmslow Road on Egerton Crescent. Something More Productive is a cafe that sells veggie sandwiches by day and, Thursday through Saturday, pizza and beer by night.

Owner Theo Tobias is vegan and said he’s happy to run a vegetarian cafe, but is keen to stress it’s not their main focus as a venue.

“I personally was very vegan for years, and then after the isolation I went back to vegetarianism. I still don’t eat a lot of dairy and I couldn’t imagine ever opening a cafe that served meat, it just wasn’t for me.

“This is a living business, I have to be here all the time and there is a big part of my personality that is reflected in the walls of this cafe. Because of that, I couldn’t see myself serving meat.”

The wide selection of local and co-op suppliers Theo uses for the cafe helps, he says, because the ingredients are top-notch.

“There are so many good vegetables out there. It’s both a simplification and then just a complete opening up of things, that was really important to me.

“The fact that we can use less stuff and create more interesting tastes. I’m quite aware – they don’t advertise us as a vegetarian cafe, but people get the point very quickly. We’re a very small space, so people have to understand that we have a small menu, but to me it’s a bit gimmicky to say you’re a vegetarian place.”

That said, the Something More Productive site – the former home of Wilderness Records – was Theo’s top choice for his first cafe for a very specific reason.

“I was on Withington, and in this place in particular. Commercially I want to do something vegetarian, you know it will float a bit better in a student area and also in a liberal leaning metropolitan suburb of Manchester.

“I knew this would be the right area. I feel Withy is an area where that would float, you could just be vegetarian here without anyone batting an eyelid.”