When it comes to vegan offers, Uppsala is somewhat behind compared to Stockholm. Well, it’s a small town anyway. You might expect to find some vegan burger in MAX, the Swedish fast food chain, or some falafels, if you're on the go. However, if you prefer to sit down, I have two places to recommend.

Los Vegos

Los Vegos has been one of the oldest in town that offers vegetarian and vegan food. I am not sure if it was called this before, but I’ve surely dined here in the past years when I visited Uppsala. I remember it was a dark and crowded room with second-hand furniture scattering around and food was homely prepared.

The last time when I was there it felt fresh and new. The house was painted white, with fresh blue mosaic decoration. The walls are white and a few paintings hanging around. There are simple tables and chairs, with some plants placed near the window sill. The interior is still a bit dark, but now there is some cozy light around. The atmosphere is cozy and casual. When weather allows, you can also eat outside.

There is a small private space near the kitchen and bathroom where you have a red vintage sofa and table.

The menu now offers various drinks, a few types of sandwiches or smorgås as well as dessert. Those could be quickly purchased at the counter. There is also a lunch deal now offering a plate composite of small salad, panang curry with chickpeas, rice and a small dish of yogurt. Now everything is plant-based. The curry tasted delicious, a little spicy, otherwise pretty mild. It was nicely presented on the plate than the last time I was here.

Since I was alone this time I only had this. I hope next time I come back I get to taste something else. If you ever visit Uppsala and look for vegan food, do come here for a quick meal.

• Address: Svartbäcksgatan 21, 753 32 Uppsala, Sweden

Messob

A while ago when I was still living in Shanghai, a lady who was a globetrotter told me that I should really try Ethiopian food. I have some basic knowledge about African vegetarian food from cookbooks but haven’t really tried any in real life. I have been curious about it since then. Now I was surprised to find a restaurant in Uppsala serving Ethiopian food, and luckily they had some vegan options!

We booked by email ahead to secure our dinner table. The restaurant was located quite close to the center attraction, which is the famous old cathedral. The interior has a Nordic taste: minimal, simple yet cozy. Some Africa inspired paintings and artworks were decorated here and there.

Staff are young and speak perfect English. So if you don’t know Swedish it’s not a big problem. They are also happy to help you read the menu.

We have 6 different choices on the vegan menu so we tried all of them. The “Allitcha” is a combination of light strew of potato, carrots, paprika and green beans, cooked in herbs. “Vitkålallitcha” is cabbage stew in garlic and herbs. “Timtimo/misir” is cooked lentil paste mixed with garlic, onion and herbs. “Shiro” is the Eastern African peasant’s everyday food. It’s grounded chickpea cooked in Berbere sauce, which is an Ethiopian sauce made of chili peppers, garlic, ginger, basil, korarima, rue, ajwain or radhuni, nigella, and fenugreek. (I admit that I haven’t even heard of the name of some spices here, hehe). “Silsi/Tsom wot” is just the berbere sauce with onion and the restaurant’s home-made spices. “Hamli/Gomen” is oil fried spinach with garlic and herbs. The sauce itself is a bit spicy, but quite manageable in small doses, compared to some dishes in Indian or Thai cuisines. All dishes were served with a special sponge-like, very “flexible” pancake (that could do yoga perfectly I believe) made of barley, wheat flour, corn and teff flour. Those dishes were quite mild yet tasty. Though I don’t know if the owner has adapted them to local taste so they were milder than their original version. Honey also tried one of those mango-infused African beer with a cute giraffe on the bottle.

We were quite happy about our dinner and would love to come back again if we visit Uppsala. If you want something “unique” and vegan in Uppsala, even though it’s not Swedish, I recommend Messob!

• Address: Sturegatan 4A, 753 14 Uppsala, Sweden
• Website: http://www.messob.se/