Eat At The Stade - Hastings

This restaurant is fantastic with plenty of vegan choices available. They even cater to raw food vegans like myself.

After following a breakfast recommendation, I decided to try this restaurant and was not let down. The portion size was generous and cooked perfectly. The bread they use is delicious and pairs perfectly with the beans. They also offer plenty of vegan snack options. I had to chuckle at the 'school compliant' apple juice. The staff was fast and friendly, handling a difficult family in front of us in line with more grace than I could have managed. Overall, it was a wonderful way to start the day.

The restaurant is decent, but there are better vegan options available in the area, especially the sushi place. The food is average, and I have visited a few times without being particularly impressed. However, it's nice to have the option available. Just a heads up, there are usually a lot of kids at this restaurant.

The cafe has moved to the new building at The Stade near the Jerwood Gallery and the fishing huts on the seafront, from Claremont. Vegan options such as vegan cheese panini, beanburgers, vegan cheese or mushroom pate sandwiches baguettes jackets are still available but I do think there is more emphasis on fish and tourist food since the move. I guess this is unavoidable in the location. It is still VERY child-friendly, with toys and stuff provided, child seats, and child portions of most dishes available. Nothing has been done to deal with acoustics so it can be a bit irritating to eat-in unless you are also blessed with a brat. In the Summer there are tables and chairs outside. There are more staff now and not all seem to understand vegan-ism, so last time I ordered vegan cheese panini they served it with coleslaw which isn 't vegan. That kind of mistake never used to happen. They also stopped making vegan pizzas, which was one of the finest things they used to do. For vegans this place has really gone downhill! Updated from previous review on Saturday September 06, 2008

We were in Hastings for bank holiday weekend and the most irritating thing is that the veg*n friendly places all seemed to be closed for the majority of the time. This place was no exception. We finally managed to find the place open one day and had a lovely meal. We shared a soup; my boyfriend had a vegetarian filled roll and I had the vegan mini pizza. It was nice but not really enough to fill me up. Great people but the place was a little too child friendly for a young couple on a romantic weekend away it was a bit too much like a creche; very noisy and kids running around with toys climbing all over the place. I think that is the purpose this place is supposed to serve though. In any event, we were pleased to find somewhere in the area that could cater for vegans.