Guides, places, and community stories

We visited VegANGELov in April to celebrate a birthday. It was late afternoon, and the place was almost full. We took a table on the top floor. There is seating on the ground level too, but upstairs felt more cosy. It’s what we wanted for this occasion anyway.

There was no crowd and no rush all the time we were there.

We started our meal with some lentil bread and grilled shiitake mushrooms. A friend recommended that we must check out the bao buns, so we did. For mains, we chose the forest ramen (šuma ramen) and the gnocchi with blue cheese and walnuts. We shared a cheesecake from Superfit for dessert.

I won’t describe dish by dish. The short version is that everything was amazing. Flavours were so rich, and by the end of the meal we were talking about coming back to work through the rest of the menu. The forest ramen in particular is the dish I’d recommend to all of my friends.

Service was quiet and unobtrusive, which suited us. We hadn’t booked a table and didn’t need to apparently. There was room when we arrived, even with the place mostly full. Price felt fair for what we ate, and on a birthday it wasn’t the thing we were thinking about anyway.

Next time, I want to try the tom yum ramen. I’d recommend VegANGELov to anyone in Belgrade looking for a proper meal, vegan or not.

One of the best vegan restaurants in Belgrade. The dishes are exceptionally prepared.My favourite were the bao buns, with oyster mushrooms in sweet and spicy sauce. The superfit cheesecake we had for dessert was superb as well.

Would definitely like to go here again and try other dishes.

We went to Bemata on a Friday afternoon for a quick lunch. The place was busy but not too crowded.

It is a neighbourhood restaurant in Novi Beograd, surrounded by residential blocks. This is not a vegan-only restaurant, but it has a dedicated vegan and vegetarian section on the menu.

We started the meal with some small bites on dark bread with hummus, which were nicely presented on a long plate. It made us realise that the kitchen staff pays attention to how things look and how they are served.

I ordered the vegan burger. It is a bean, oatmeal, and spelt patty served with rocket and vegan mayonnaise. It was solid: well seasoned, good texture. For someone used to a filling lunch, it felt a little small as there were no sides, but the quality was undeniable.

What caught my attention most was the dessert menu, although I didn’t get to try it this time. There’s Jaffa cake made with cashew, almond, orange, and cocoa. I definitely want to try that one next time we go to Bemata. I think that for a place that is not exclusively vegan, this is a surprisingly deep selection of desserts.

The space itself is calm and well kept. White brick walls inside, good natural light and they also have a spacious covered garden out front with blankets, which would be a good spot once the weather warms up. We sat inside because it was too cold for the terrace, but I can see this being a proper outdoor lunch place in spring and summer.

Bemata menu looks good, with a lot of vegan-friendly choices. I decided for the tofu crisp on my first visit here. It wasn’t entirely up to my liking, but luckily we ordered enough food to go around and share.

I must compliment the presentation of their food, and I also liked how the place looks very cozy.