Hello everyone! I just got back from my 6 week road trip across Canada and it was EPIC. My mom and I started from Vancouver Island and drove all the way to the Prince Edward Islands. We left in the second last week of August and it couldn't have been better. We had amazing weather all along the way and saw so many wild animals! We saw elk, caribou, a bear, deers, a fox, whales, porpoises, a baby moose, tons of cows, herds of bison, tons of horses and big horned sheep. We did so many different things but I would have to say the highlights were; going to Toronto to visit my family, driving on the icefield parkway from British Columbia to the Columbia Icefields, Standing on Glaciers in the Columbia Icefields, Old Quebec City, The red shores of PEI, Banff, All of the 15 waterfalls we saw throughout Canada, riding a boat into Niagara Falls, The hopewell rocks in New Brunswick, the hoodoos in Drumheller, Alberta and of course all of the amazing vegan food I had! It definitely wasn't always the easiest thing finding vegan friendly food everywhere, Especially Alberta! They mean it when they say it's "cattle country". It's hard when you're on the road too because you're not sure what time you're going to pass places and if they will be open or how easy they are to get to. Another concern of ours was that we had a truck and trailer so parking was an absolute MUST. I managed to find a handful of really awesome places all throughout Canada and wanted to share them with you! If you plan on doing a roadtrip to one of these places soon I highly recommend checking out any of these places for some quality cruelty free food. Other than that... bring lots of trail mix and smoothies haha!
Here's a couple pictures from our travels
A herd of Bison in Alberta
A herd of Elk in Banff. Alberta
My mom and I standing on the Athabasca Glacier
The red shores in PEI
Aldo the donkey that lives in the heart of Old Quebec City
My mom and I at the Hoodoos in Drumheller, Alberta
Montmorency Falls in Quebec
Old Quebec City in Quebec
First stop! Banff. The Wild Flour Bakery. (link attached to name)
Now unfortunately I can't seem to find any of my pictures from this particular place but it was really good!! I got a coffee, blueberry muffin, granola bar and vegan cookie and everything was perfection. It's locally owned which is always good and the people there were really friendly. I really hope to go back to Banff soon so I can revisit this place and get some pictures because it was super cool inside. If you're making a stop to Banff be sure not to miss this place, they are only open till four! Check out their website for more info! Since I don't have a picture of this place I will leave you with this,
The Bow River in Banff, AB
Next stop Saskatoon, Saskatchewan!
*link to their website attached
The griffin takeaway was amazing! It was a really cute store. I wish I got a shot of the inside. They had a bunch of baked goods and different treats in cold cases in the front as well as a menu to order from on the back wall. Its all feel good food. Comfort food. Tons of gluten free options and everything looked AMAZINGGG. You could tell these people were pros. Definitely a must if you're in the area. You won't find anything like it around there! Haha. I had an avocado sandwich with artichokes and roasted red pepper on their housemade bread(which was the best vegan,gluten free bread I had ever had.)I also got a vegan, creamy, curry cauliflower soup, a vegan blueberry muffin and a vegan peanut butter nanaimo bar. Everything was way too good and I was super impressed. I highly recommend them! Check it out!
Next stop, Winnipeg Manitoba!
Falafel Place *there is a link attached to their name
My falafel with fries and banana peppers on it.
Housemade onion rings!
This place was SO GOOD. If you're looking for something hot, spicy and filling come to falafel place. You will not be disappointed. By the time I finished my israeli falafel (which is 8 falafel balls, hummus, lettuce, tahini and fries inside a pita topped with banana peppers) I could barely even eat the onion rings. I obviously did eat them because I mean, LOOK AT THEM. They were super good. Best vegan onion rings I had had in a long time. With a really interesting, unique menu and a really chill atmosphere inside it made for the perfect stop on our trip after doing some long drives. I would say it's a must do if you're in the Winnipeg area. It was one of my favourite places along the trip. ABSOLUTE must do for falafel lovers. You will think you'd died and gone to heaven. Check out their website to see all the funky stuff on their menu.
Next stop, Toronto Ontario.
This was my FAVORITE place on my trip. Of all the vegan places I went to this one stole my heart.
The big carrot *click the name for the link
My vegan jambalaya and vegan shrimp with a veggie samosa!
The big carrot is the BOMB. So much to choose from where do I begin. The cafe there is to die for. I have never seen such a diverse arrangement. They had ANY type of food you could think of.
Established in 1983 from a group of individuals who dreamed of an organic, non gmo market to shop at, the big carrot is the best destination in the city for health nuts. I had SO many different things here. Vegan muffins, vegan shrimp, vegan butter chicken, a vegan butter chicken wrap, fancy yogurts and health bars. I could go on forever. I stocked up here for most of my drive home. The prices are really good and the service is great. Although there was so many other places to go in Toronto for vegan food, this one impressed me the most. The store itself looks really funky inside and there is a juice bar/coffee shop connected to the building as well as the cafe. If I lived in Toronto it would be very hard not to spend my entire pay cheque here. ABSOLUTE must check out if you're in Toronto. I wouldn't have even found it if my uncle didn't take me there so I'm really grateful for that!
I went a couple other places in Toronto like
Live Organic Food Bar *click name for link
I got a really fancy burrito and it was good but my dessert totally blew it out of the water. It was so good for you and yummy to eat! Highly recommended for their desserts! If you're looking for a healthy treat this is the place to go!
The only place I ran out of time to go to that I really wanted to check out was Apiecalypse now pizza in Toronto!
http://www.apiecalypsenow.com/gallery/home/
This place looks really neat with tons of innovative pizza ideas and a punky theme that totally sets the right mood. If you're looking for a slice this is the place to go. There's tons of snacks and baked goods there as well. One day I will go back to Toronto and I will go here!! I'm still highly recommending it though because I've heard great things and I love punk/metal pizza places!
Check out their website to see their awesome pizza menu!
Next stop, Ward Island in Toronto!
The Island Cafe *click name for website
This was one of my favorites by far! The centre islands in Toronto are really neat. You take a really really old ferry across for about 15 minutes and BAM, you're in a completely different place. Full of little cottages, hippies and animals this place is a must stop for earth loving tree huggers. We stopped at The Island Cafe to get some food on our travels. This place was COOL. It was set up really neat. You can tell someone did a lot of work to make this place look good. They have a garden outside with amazing flowers. Just go check it out for yourself. You'll love it!
My Thai Tofu wrap from the Island CafeNext stop, Montreal Quebec!
The Copper Branch *click the name to see their website!
OH MY GOD. This cafe. Exactly what a vegan would be looking for on the road. It's healthy, quick, there is tons of variety from breakfast to power bowls and tons of house made vegan burgers. The entire place is vegan. They have a huge menu to choose from. I honestly could have come to this place several times as I wanted to try EVERYTHING on their menu. I only went once though and I had the tofu scramble breakfast sandwich with a smoothie. Everything was perfect though. It felt like I was at home. You could really tell they were making everything from scratch. Highly recommended if you're wandering around downtown Montreal looking for something plant based to eat. They are opening more locations as well. Check their website to see!
Next stop, Fredericton New Brunswick
Isaac's Way
*click the name to check out their site
This place was AWESOME. What a spot for a restaurant. Right on the Saint John River. In a building that was made in 1858. With indoor and patio seating! It had a great relaxing vibe and it was busy so you know it's good! We choose the patio of course because of the amazing view.
The food was great. With a real farm to table mentality you can tell these people carry some strong ethics about their cooking. They accommodated the whole vegan thing very well. With lots of options of their menu for everyone, it's a good restaurant to go to if you're with a crowd of meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. My mom had these zucchini egg patties that looked phenomenal and I had their Peanut Thai Tofu. The sauce was done REALLY well. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was completely stuffed afterwards. Even though the place was really busy the atmosphere was so lovely I didn't even feel like leaving when I was done. This is the place to go if you're looking for a place to go out and eat in Fredericton!
Next stop, Charlottetown PEI
Now unfortunately I don't seem to have tons of photos from Freshii but it was great! It's a chain opening up across Canada. They have great choices for every kind of eater. Its an innovative alternative to "fast food." All the food they have there is healthy. Really healthy. Its pretty awesome. Also its inexpensive. So if you're a traveller whose looking to get your protein for cheap, look for a freshii! I saw quite a bit of them along the way so it should be easy to find. I went to the one in Charlottetown as well as one in Toronto. Both of them were really good! Definitely a place worth checking out.
Now at this point my mom and I had to decide to turn around and start driving back.
My next stop is.... MONCTON NEW BRUNSWICK
I know what you're thinking. What the heck am I going to eat in Moncton? Which is what I thought when we were driving into the place. Its pretty small. Very old. You wouldn't think you'd find any animal free food there because it's mostly fishing/hunting country out there. Luckily for me I managed to find a delightful little treat right in town.
The Zen Garden.
This was by far the coolest vegan/vegetarian place I went to across Canada. It was the bottom of an old character house that had been converted into a little restaurant. The people that run the place live upstairs. They have a variety of their own teas they make themselves, as well as faux meats, dumplings and other various frozen items you can buy to take home with you. The menu was great. They had pictures, names and descriptions for pretty much all their meals. It was sort of chinese/buddhist cuisine. I had the best vegan dumplings I have ever had there. The presentation of the food was so neat! I loved it. I got a rice roll stuffed with shiitake mushrooms, wrapped in a bamboo leaf! That was something totally new to me and it looked great. The service was great. The food was SO CHEAP. Like seriously CHEAP. If you're starving and you have 5 bucks in your pocket this is the place to be! The owner was super nice and even knew where Campbell River was which was surprising. STOP AT THIS PLACE!!! You will not be disappointed. It was some of my favorite food on my trip.
Hello! I'm interested in doing a similar road trip this Summer. I was wondering if you are open to chat about your experiences and possible give me some advice? If yes, please let me know awepax@gmail.com thank you :)
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