Eating out used to be a millstone around every vegan's neck. In the bad old days, restaurants gave you a choice between a pile of leaves on a plate or a slightly different pile of leaves in a bowl. The prospect of plant-based sweet treats was deemed patently ludicrous, and asking a waiter if there were vegan options on a dessert menu would see you greeted with the kind of derisory stare usually reserved for serial killers.

Nowadays the high street seems engineered to reel in as much cash as possible from vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians. Next to artisan cafes, ethical soap shops and exorbitantly priced health stores, vegan restaurants have taken pride of place in any city worth visiting.

So much so, in fact, that discerning the bulgur wheat from the chaff can be a real headache. To help you, we've trawled through the Tastecard site to find some of the UK's finest vegan eateries and placed them in this handy list.

If you sign up for a Tastecard subscription, you'll be able to eat well and save big at hundreds of selected restaurants, as well as attractions, cinema tickets and movie rentals. We're offering a 90 day free trial of Tastecard on our offers page, so take a look and discover how you can enjoy mega discounts on fine dining experiences.

KataKata

Where is it? 132 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RS
Expensive? Between £8.50 and £9 for a main
Best item on the menu? Jerk goat galette
What's the Tastecard deal? 50% off food

Situated in one of the hippest areas of London, KataKata sings the praises of veganism like a Hare Krishna on a street corner. And quite right too – the food on offer here could turn a butcher vegan.

Ideal for breakfast, lunch or teatime, the menu is a mixture of plant-based staples, including French traditional pancakes loaded with any filling of your choosing and a range of healthy smoothies.

This is one for someone looking for restaurant-quality food in a cafe atmosphere.

Vedic Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurant

Where is it? 21 Market Street, Hyde, SK14 2AD
Expensive? Between £7 and £10 for a main
Best item on the menu? Mushroom korma
What's the Tastecard deal? Two for one meals

Let's not beat around the bush – Vedic is a delicious place to eat with a menu that's crammed full of Indian flavours and spices.

The ginger in the chana masala is vibrant and fresh, the potatoes in the bhuna are just the right side of soft, and the naan bread can be personalised with up to three toppings. Add an extensive wine list into the bargain and you've got a pretty good night on your hands at Vedic.

World Peace Cafe – Sheffield

Where is it? Kadampa Meditation Centre, 685-691 Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8TG
Expensive? Between £5 and £6.20 for a main
Best item on the menu? Handcrafted bagel falafel burger
What's the Tastecard deal? Two for one meals

The path to world peace is located in Sheffield and it tastes amazing. That might sound like a sentence from a Douglas Adams novel, but here we are. Sitting snugly in the front of a Buddhist Meditation Centre, the volunteer-run World Peace Cafe is Sheffield's hub for vegan dining, valuing healthy foodstuffs over junk food options.

World Peace offers an older style of vegan cafe, providing uber-nutritious blends of lentils, tofu and spiralised cabbage, alongside a wide selection of loose-leaf teas. Much like the intentions of the Buddhist Meditation Centre itself, you'll leave feeling more refreshed than when you arrived.