Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free food in the Faroe Islands

These are the places whose own words, or the tourist board's, put a plant-based or gluten-free dish on the table. All of them are in or close to the town centre, where the free town buses and the regional bus terminal are.

• → Hamsa, Karlamagnusarbreyt 7A in Hoyvík: the café's own menu lists a vegan burger, a dahl it calls a vegan lentil dish, vegan cheese as an extra, and a gluten-free burger bun and a gluten-free pizza base as paid swaps. Visit Faroe Islands describes local and Indian dishes with vegetarian options.
• → Tita, the café in the Nordic House: the house says it cooks simple food from scratch with a focus on seasonal vegetables, and the tourist board adds that it has vegan options.
• → Suppugarðurin: Japanese ramen and craft beer in the middle of town, described by the tourist board as including vegan-friendly options.
• → Ruts, the restaurant inside Hotel Føroyar: the tourist board describes innovative vegetarian and fish menus.
• → HAPS: its own menu lists a vegetarian patty, and it has moved into the bowling hall at Á Hálsi, Heykavegur 1. Most of the free town routes call at Á Hálsi, and so does airport route 300.

Source: Hamsa — Hamsa menu (menu.fo) · Nordic House (Norðurlandahúsið) — Café Tita · Visit Faroe Islands — Accessibility and inclusive travel, Vegan guide to the Faroe Islands · HAPS — HAPS — welcome and menu · Tórshavnar kommuna — Tórshavn by bus — town routes and timetables

Visit Faroe Islands names ten places that serve vegetarian and vegan options. Eight are in Tórshavn: Kafe Umami by the harbour, Bitin, Hvonn, Etika á Áarvegnum, Katrina Christiansen, Suppugarðurin, Hallartún (the bar at the Hilton Garden Inn) and Sushi Daily. The other two are Café MorMor on Suðuroy and Fiskastykkið, which the board describes as a fish café in Sandavágur. The same page notes that most vegetables and all fruit are imported, which is one more reason to ask what is on today rather than trust last season's review.

Vegan guide to the Faroe Islands (Visit Faroe Islands)

Source: Visit Faroe Islands — Vegan guide to the Faroe Islands

The tourist board says most venues in its Tórshavn accessibility overview are marked as offering allergy-friendly food, which it explains as possibly lactose-free or gluten-free dishes, or a kitchen able to accommodate certain needs. It also says menus and preparation vary, and to tell the venue about allergies when you book or order. A gluten-free bun on a menu is an ingredient, not a promise about the grill, the fryer or the pizza oven, so ask:

• → Is the gluten-free bun or base cooked on the same surface, or in the same oven, as wheat?
• → Do the chips share a fryer with anything breaded?
• → Is there wheat, barley or soy sauce in the sauce, the stock or the marinade?
• → For a vegan dish: is there butter, cream, egg or fish stock anywhere in it, including the bread?

Source: Visit Faroe Islands — Accessibility and inclusive travel · Hamsa — Hamsa menu (menu.fo)

Away from Tórshavn, the honest answer is to plan the meal with the bus.

• → Gjógv: the guesthouse Gjáargarður runs a restaurant that serves light meals and cakes in the afternoon and, in the evening, dishes with fish, meat and vegetables, and it recommends booking a table for dinner. It can also pack a lunch for a day out if you order it the day before. Its site makes no vegan or gluten-free claim, so ask when you book — and remember route 201 to Gjógv is a booked bus too.
• → Gjógv, by the gorge: Gjáarkaffi lists waffles, ice cream, coffee and drinks. Treat it as a treat, not a meal you can rely on.
• → Klaksvík: none of the ten places on the tourist board's vegetarian and vegan list is in Klaksvík, and we found no Klaksvík venue that publishes a vegan or gluten-free dish. Bring lunch from Tórshavn, or ask.
• → Vágar: Fiskastykkið in Sandavágur is on the board's vegetarian and vegan list. Sandavágur is a stop on route 300 between the airport and Tórshavn.

Source: Gjáargarður — Gjáargarður guesthouse, Gjógv · Visit Faroe Islands — Vegan guide to the Faroe Islands · Strandfaraskip Landsins — Route 201 Oyrarbakki – Gjógv, Route 300 Tórshavn – Airport – Sørvágur

The tourist board points to a modern shopping centre within easy walking distance of Tórshavn's centre, with the best-stocked supermarket anywhere in the islands. Route 300 also calls at the SMS shopping centre on its way in from the airport. Either way, buy the day's food in town and carry it into the villages.

Source: Visit Faroe Islands — The capital: Tórshavn · Strandfaraskip Landsins — Route 300 Tórshavn – Airport – Sørvágur