Vegan Trieste: Giardino Tergesteo

I have just got back from a foody weekend in Trieste and I want to tell you all about Giardino Tergesteo. I looked up vegan restaurants beforehand and this my first stop, soaked by the wind and rain after dropping my bag off at the hotel.

I arrived dripping wet and windswept and was greeted by 'caffè?'. I ordered a decaf cappuccino with soya milk which was bought to me when I had eventually taken off all of my layers!

I asked for a menu to find the kitchen isn't open at lunchtime on a Saturday but I didn't need to worry because the staff were very helpful in telling me what I could eat. They had several sandwiches and wraps on offer in the counter, one wrap was vegan so I had that! I'm not quite sure what was in it as that got a little lost in translation (they didn't speak much English) but it definitely had crushed beans, sun-dried tomatoes and rocket in it. I think it may have also had avocado in because the beans tasted like guacamole (and it was green!). Anyway, It came hot and it was yummy.

Feeling satisfied, slightly warmer and slightly drier I got up to pay the bill and saw several vegan cakes on offer. Who could say no? The options were crostata, almond and forest fruit slice, Sacher torte or chocolate and pear cake.

I went for the chocolate a pear cake and it was nice - spongey, juicy and chocolatey.

After the success on Saturday, I returned for breakfast on Sunday for another soya cappuccino and a choice of vegan brioche. I was surprised to find all the brioche (or croissants for non Italians) were vegan, there was plain, jam, cream or chocolate hazelnut. The latter was an easy decision for me, it was basically vegan Nutella. It was delicious and I honestly couldn't taste the difference! They weren't labelled as vegan and I was secretly quite pleased to see all the middle aged Italians drinking espresso and eating vegan brioche without even knowing it!

I would highly recommend Giardino Tergesteo to anyone who is visiting Trieste- vegan or not! I would like to go back and sample some of the vegan food from the kitchen.