Review: Green Routes

Magdalen Road’s iconic vegan eatery has revamped its menu.

Prone to switching things up every now and then, Green Routes has reduced its menu to be more seasonal and allow greater focus on fewer dishes. Though the quantity has gone down, I assure you the quality is as high as ever.

Green Routes has always been one of my favourite brunch spots in Oxford, offering a range of savoury options alongside their famous pancakes and a selection of pastries, there is always something for everyone. They even serve cow’s milk for the non-vegans you bring to dine here. However, everything else on the menu is vegan, although you would hardly tell.

This new menu is about half the size of the menu you are used to Green Routes boasting, which may feel like a loss (and there are a few items I am very sad to see go), but they have introduced a rotating sandwich and daily soup options which add extra variety if you have exhausted the menu offerings. On the weekends they have a pancake special to sweeten the deal.

I visited mid-February and tried both the Bagel Baby and the Daily Sandwich which was a spicy Tuna Melt. The Bagel Baby was almost a mixture between their two famous breakfast muffins on the old menu, although I have to say I preferred the English muffin over the bagel. Now served with tater tots (which are incredible), this dish is on the pricier side at £12, but the portion size reflects this. You can choose to go tater totless if you prefer and the price reduces to £8.50, still more expensive than their breakfast muffin ancestors (£7 – £7.50) but a decent price considering the stacked bagel featuring a sausage patty, smoky cheese, hash browns, onions and more.

What really impressed me on this new menu was the Daily Sandwich.

Ours was a Spicy Tuna Melt consisting of chickpea tuna, sweetcorn, red onion, peppers and jalapenos, spinach, cheese and crushed dill crisps. Not the most aesthetically pleasing dish (but in my opinion the best ones never are!) It was delicious, the crips in particular adding a unique touch which worked very well.

Crispy, golden bread and zingy filling, with a slight kick but not too spicy, the Tuna Melt won me over to the new menu as I now want to return and sample all of the other sandwich creations the Green Routes team will come up with. Though we did not sample the soup, on the day we went it was a potato, onion and cider soup. It will be something we try next time.

I did love the old menu, and this menu feels slightly on the sparse side, but hopefully with the rotating items, there will be enough to keep hungry brunch-goers coming back!