Mono is one of the go-to spots for tasty vegetarian and vegan food in Glasgow, but don’t take our word for it – they’ve been voted best restaurant at the UK VegFest awards for the past two years. With that in mind, we headed down to see what everyone was raving about.
Venue
Mono is found just off Argyle Street, heading in the direction of the East End. Although it sounds like it’s fairly tucked away, it’s very easy to find and well worth venturing slightly out of the city centre for. Not just a vegan café, Mono does a bit of everything as it’s home to independent record store, Monorail Music, and Good Press, a stockist of independent publications. The venue also holds numerous events throughout the year, from gigs to art exhibitions. Phew.
A showcase of regular gigs keeps the entertainment wheel turning at Mono.
Atmosphere & Clientele
As Mono is not just a dining venue, there’s always a buzz of something going on as soon as you step through the door. It was almost daunting at first – should I sit down for food first or check out the record shop? – but that’s the whole point! It’s a very casual venue, so you can wander around as you please, but we’re fairly sure that you’ll want to try the food before you leave. We visited Mono on a weekday and it was already fairly packed, so we imagine this place is even busier for an event or at the weekend. The crowd is fairly young and seems to be a popular place with older university students.
With a microbrewery in hours, Mono are churning out their own selection of delicious drinks.
Food & Drink
Unless you knew otherwise, you probably wouldn’t notice that everything on the menu is completely free of animal produce. Mono doesn’t just appeal to vegetarians and vegans and you’ll find meat eaters who are looking to try something a bit different. The food is brilliant (no frozen beanburgers here) and I say that as a meat eater! I went for their refried bean burrito with dirty rice and a coriander sour cream at £5.50 with my friend choosing the Seitan burger with American mustard at £8, which I was assured was delicious. It’s the ideal place to bring a vegetarian or vegan friend as you don’t need to go through the menu with a fine tooth comb or worry about any rogue pieces of meat in their food. As Mono is a bit of a multipurpose venue, they have a fully stocked bar and they even serve up their own ginger beer and lemonade from the in-house microbrewery!
Tuck into a bottle of the good stuff at Mono as Pitfield Brewery beers are a bold pick.
Summary
Mono is a super-cool multipurpose café that caters to the ethically conscious Glasgow diner. You might want to keep aside a few extra quid if you plan on checking out the record store because if you’re like me, you will spend much more than you planned, but it’s impossible to feel guilty as the money is going back into a super venue. We love Mono and we’ll definitely be back!
