For about a hundred days a year, a large part of Romania eats no meat, dairy or eggs. The Orthodox fast, called post, is built into the calendar, and during it ordinary restaurants put plant-based menus on the table without anyone asking. In Bucharest that sits on top of a proper vegan scene: a raw cake counter in the old town, vegan cozonac at a bakery café, and an all-vegan counter in a food hall by the river.
The list is short and the good stuff is spread out, so it pays to know which address you are heading for.
Vegan Bucharest at a Glance
- Vegan Romanian bake: cozonac at Prăjitură din Natură
- Best cake: the raw cakes at Sublimmme in the historic centre
- Easiest lunch: a burger at Sara Green on Lascăr Catargiu
- Best weekday lunch: Nom Nom, an all-vegan counter in the Carnivale food hall
- Biggest menu: Vyro, vegetarian, with raw cakes
- Cake delivered: Lorelicious and Rawmantic
- The word to learn: de post, which means fasting food with no meat, dairy or eggs
Best Vegan Restaurants in Bucharest
1. Sublimmme: Raw Cakes in the Historic Centre Vegan
There are more than 15 raw vegan cakes in the counter, and the chocolate and peanut, chocolate-raspberry and matcha are the ones people rave about. They also do vegan versions of Romanian classics like the amandină, a chocolate sponge soaked in syrup, plus a vegan Snickers and Bounty. None of it has refined sugar, gluten or dairy.
It is a café and bakery with seating, so you can have a proper lunch too: a burger with baked potatoes, a Buddha bowl, soups and smoothies, and local craft beer. Everything is vegan. I would come for cake and coffee and let lunch be the bonus.
💡 Tip: Open 11AM to 8PM every day. They also deliver cakes across Bucharest the same day, which is handy if you are staying in.
📍 Splaiul Independenței 2F, 030099 Bucharest | Centrul Vechi | ☎️ +40 771 135 605 | 🌐 sublimmme.ro | 📸 @sublimmme.ro
2. Sara Green: Vegan Burgers Near Piața Victoriei Vegan
Order a burger, like the Super Quinoa, and there are wraps, salads, poke bowls and a full gluten-free run alongside. The dessert counter of cakes and brownies is good for a sugar stop between museums.
The Lascăr Catargiu branch is the one to visit, walkable from Piața Victoriei and open seven days into the evening. The second branch in Pipera is among office towers and built for the weekday lunch crowd there.
💡 Tip: Lascăr Catargiu is open 9AM to 8:30PM Monday to Friday, 11:30AM to 8:30PM on Saturday and 11:30AM to 7:30PM on Sunday. The Pipera branch is weekdays only, 8AM to 4PM.
📍 Bulevardul Lascăr Catargiu 43, Sector 1 | Piața Victoriei | ☎️ +40 774 962 246 | 🌐 saragreen.ro | 📸 @saragreen.ro
3. Nom Nom: An All-Vegan Counter in a Food Hall Vegan
Nom Nom runs an all-vegan counter in Carnivale, a modern food hall on the ground floor of the Timpuri Noi office complex, with other counters doing pizza, pasta, burgers and Romanian food around it. Order a bowl, like the Mediterranean one with falafel, or the burrito with smoked tofu, and check the board for the hot dish of the day, which runs from mushroom stew with polenta to lentil curry with rice. Finish with the cashew tiramisu.
It is an easy weekday lunch on the walk along the river between the old town and the east of the city, and with shared tables and a central bar, it works well when not everyone in your group is vegan.
💡 Tip: Its own site lists it as open 9AM to 7PM Monday to Friday, so plan it as a weekday lunch. Most of the hall’s counters are busiest between 12PM and 2PM.
📍 Splaiul Unirii 165, inside Carnivale Food Market | Sector 3 | ☎️ 0743 014 807 | 🌐 mynomnom.ro | 📸 @nom_nom_bucuresti
4. Prăjitură din Natură: Vegan Cakes and Cozonac Vegan
Every cake here is vegan and sweetened without added sugar, and the counter is the kind you stand in front of for far too long: raspberry and chocolate, Passion Pistachio, mango and chocolate, a Snickers-style cake and a raw cheesecake with raspberry. They also make a vegan cozonac, the sweet bread swirled with walnut and cocoa that Romanian families bake for Easter and Christmas.
It now has its own café, so you can sit down with a coffee and a slice instead of taking your cake to go. It also opens on Sunday mornings, when a few of the other places on this list are closed.
💡 Tip: The café is open 12PM to 8PM Tuesday to Friday, 10AM to 6PM on Saturday and 9AM to 5PM on Sunday, and closed on Monday. Whole cakes can be ordered through their website.
📍 Str. Gheorghe Pop de Băsești 57, Sector 2 | ☎️ 0722 768 888 | 🌐 prajituradinnatura.ro | 📸 @prajituradinnatura
5. Vyro Raw & Vegan Bistro: The Biggest Menu in the City Vegetarian
The menu is huge, and recent favourites are the baked beans with vegan meatballs, a vegan omelette with asparagus and the raw cakes afterwards. There are raw meals, vegan pasta and custom cakes to order too, and the staff are friendly and happy to talk you through it.
The savoury food is all vegan, but some of the desserts and drinks are sweetened with honey, so it is vegetarian. It is on a quiet street behind Calea Victoriei, easy to walk past.
💡 Tip: Ask which cakes are sweetened with honey: conține miere? Open 10AM to 7PM on weekdays and 11AM to 4PM on Saturday, closed Sunday.
📍 Strada Transilvaniei 11, Sector 1 | near Calea Victoriei | ☎️ 0726 605 501 | 🌐 bistrorawvegan.com | 📸 @vyro_raw_vegan
6. Rawdia: Raw Food and Smoothies, Since 2012 Vegetarian
A daily menu of light raw dishes, raw cakes, smoothies and juices, and a small shop to take ingredients home. Rawdia has been going since 2012 and has several outlets in Romania, and regulars rate the desserts and the value.
Everything is vegan except for the honey, which turns up in some of the sweets, so it is vegetarian. It is a good stop if you have a kitchen where you are staying.
💡 Tip: Ask which sweets contain honey. Check Instagram for the branch nearest you before you set out.
📍 Bucharest | 🌐 rawdia.ro | 📸 @rawdia.ro
7. Lorelicious: Vegan Desserts, Delivered Vegan
Plant-based and raw-vegan desserts made in a production kitchen in Sector 4 and delivered across the city. There is no counter to visit, so this is the one to order from for a birthday, or when you want a whole cake in your apartment.
💡 Tip: Orders are taken Thursday 1PM to 9PM and Friday and Saturday 2PM to 10PM only, so plan ahead.
📍 Șoseaua Olteniței 67A, Sector 4 (production kitchen, delivery only) | ☎️ 0727 483 032 | 🌐 lorelicious.ro
8. Rawmantic: Raw-Vegan Cakes by Refrigerated Delivery Vegan
Raw-vegan cakes and pastry made without refined sugar, gluten or dairy, delivered refrigerated across Bucharest and shipped anywhere in Romania. The kitchen is in Otopeni, out by the airport, so order ahead and have it brought to you.
💡 Tip: Order a day ahead. If you are flying out of Otopeni, you can arrange to collect on the way to the airport.
📍 Calea Bucureștilor 36, Otopeni, Ilfov (delivery) | ☎️ +40 745 253 583 | 🌐 rawmantic.ro | 📸 @rawmanticc
The Heaviest Building in the World, and a Bookshop Made of Light
The Palace of the Parliament is the building Ceaușescu had built for himself in the 1980s, and it is so large that it is often called the heaviest building in the world. A whole neighbourhood was cleared to make room for it. The guided tour takes you through a small part of more than a thousand rooms, and you need to book it and bring your passport.
Centrul Vechi, the old town around Lipscani street, is where Bucharest goes out at night, with bars in old merchants’ houses and inns. Inside it is Cărturești Carusel, a bookshop in a restored 19th-century building painted brilliant white, with curving white balconies stacked floor upon floor. It is free to walk in and the most photographed shop in the city.
For a quieter afternoon, Cișmigiu is the city’s oldest park, with a lake you can row on in summer and old men playing chess under the trees. Take a cake from Sublimmme, which is a few minutes’ walk away.
Vegan Bucharest: What to Know Before You Go
- Learn de post. Orthodox fasting food excludes meat, dairy and eggs, and supermarkets like Carrefour keep a permanent produse de post section with plant milks, bean and mushroom pâtés and egg-free mayonnaise.
- Honey and fish are the catch. Honey is allowed during the fast, and fish is allowed on some days, so read the label or ask: conține miere? means does it contain honey.
- Fasting periods: the Nativity Fast runs 15 November to 24 December, Lent runs for the seven weeks before Orthodox Easter, and the Dormition Fast is 1 to 14 August. These are the easiest weeks of the year to eat out.
- Watch the sides. Mămăligă, cornmeal porridge, usually arrives with cheese and smântână, sour cream, on top, and salată de vinete, the smoked aubergine spread, often has mayonnaise beaten into it. Zacuscă, a roasted pepper and aubergine relish, is usually vegan and makes the best jar to take home.
- Weekends: Nom Nom is closed at the weekend and Vyro on Sunday, so plan Sunday around Sublimmme, Sara Green or Prăjitură din Natură.
- Getting around: the metro is quick and cheap, and the M2 line runs north to south through most of this list.
When to Visit Bucharest
May, June, September and early October are the comfortable months. Bucharest sits on a flat plain, so July and August get very hot and January can stay below freezing for weeks.
For eating, late November to Christmas is the best time to come: the Nativity Fast puts plant-based menus in ordinary restaurants, and the Christmas market fills Piața Constituției in front of the Palace of the Parliament.
Vegan Bucharest FAQ
Is Bucharest good for vegans?
Yes, especially during Orthodox fasting periods, when restaurants serve de post menus with no meat, dairy or eggs. The fully vegan places to start with are Sublimmme, Sara Green and Nom Nom.
Where can I eat vegan Romanian food in Bucharest?
During the Orthodox fasts, ordinary Romanian restaurants serve sarmale de post, cabbage rolls with no meat, on their fasting menus. For a vegan Romanian bake any time of year, get the cozonac at Prăjitură din Natură.
Where is the best vegan cake in Bucharest?
Sublimmme in the historic centre has more than 15 raw vegan cakes and seating. For delivery, try Lorelicious or Rawmantic.
What does de post mean?
It is Romanian for fasting food. Orthodox fasting excludes meat, dairy and eggs, so food labelled de post is usually vegan, though it can contain honey and, on some days, fish.
Is Vyro vegan?
It is vegetarian. The savoury food at Vyro is plant-based, but some desserts and drinks are sweetened with honey, so ask before you order.
Is Rawdia vegan?
It is vegetarian. Everything at Rawdia is plant-based except for honey, which is used in some of the sweets.
Are Romanian fasting dishes vegan?
Usually, but not always. Honey is permitted during the fast and fish is allowed on certain days, so ask about both.