Earth

With El Food One away researching Moroccan food I was left flying solo for this visit, where and why did I choose where I chose? These are questions I have been asking myself a few times a day since that fateful day, and my friends please keep reading but do not expect an answer to them all.
My selection was Earth Café. Maybe in a bid to be healthy, I decide to check out their menu of ‘everything that makes food tasty removed’. Its Veggie, Vegan, Gluten, Sugar and E number free. I am pretty certain a part of my soul was removed too.
My first impressions as I walked down the narrow stairway to the entrance, was to make a few quick calls and say my goodbyes, as I wasn’t certain I was getting out alive. There is an air of a cellar or European brothel (from what people tell me) and this theme continues as I walk down to seal my fate.
Immediately feeling uncomfortable I spot Hemp and Soy products behind the counter and I don’t mean the good type of Hemp. I don’t know any of the right words, clearly out of my depth I call upon my «You’re Louis Theroux» coping mechanism and head to the juice bar station. Passing on my way a confusing choice of weird and wonderful (bad choice of words) selections. I know what juice is, not the whole process but I know how juice should look, so I’m good.
I arrive at the juice bar, thinking its fruit and veg chucked in a blender, that should be easy. I gaze up at the choices on the wall and ask for the first one I understand the ingredients of, ‘Transcendental’. The juice man asks a few questions, I nod, because quite frankly I don’t know all the lingo that the swampy-​dreadlocked clientele do, so just go with it. I stand and wait, after 5 minutes I’m told to seat myself and he will bring it over. Its juice, I could have grabbed the ingredients and wazzed them up myself by now.
I see myself to the free corner which resembles a dark corner of a basement, frantically texting El Food one over in the ‘Rocco so someone knows my last whereabouts. I quietly play with my phone and don’t make eye contact with anyone, deep down I have conceded the fact I may never escape Juiceff Fruitzil’s grasp.
After a 17 minute blending exercise my glass of pulp arrives, I diligently gulp it down. Taking note of how chewy it is and wondering how long you need to razz it in a blender to prevent this.

Food Done Right
When you finally find this place it would be understandable for you to assume it’s just another eaterie and yet what you have unknowingly stumbled upon is one of the highest quality establishments in Manchester. It’s underneath the Buddhist centre and that atmosphere is certainly subtly laced throughout the oaky features.
Its an interestingly karmic underground space, nothing too surprising but where the strength of Earth lies is in their chefs apparent talent. There’s many options but all of them follow the same ethos of healthy high quality and often locally sourced ingredients. Not only are you getting fantastic ingredients at a reasonable price, the food is very well put together. Think of each dish as that secret recipe your mother always uses, that you can never seem to re-​create.
Maybe food quality alone isn’t enough for you but I will mention that there is a distinctly opposite atmosphere here to the majority of upscale restaurateurs. That refreshing fact may appeal massively to you personally, like the name, Earth is very much down to Earth, no bullshit silver spoon service but you will be treated with warmth. When you start to weigh up all the small things that make Earth uniquely special you may start to see why many have become deeply attached to its homely world.
Overall I find this café highly competitive with many other options, often surprisingly via the ingredient quality which is consistently better than many «fancy» restaurants. Earth shows you that food can be healthy, tasty and locally sourced. Most five star restaurants aim for an unattainable standard, where as places like Earth set the standard for what the majority of great restaurants ought to aim for.
Ps
Definitely grab a raw cake to go they’re criminally delicious.

This lovely little vegetarian café is in the basement of the Buddhist Centre and serves up tasty food and freshly juiced fruit and vegetables at reasonable prices. We were only in for a light snack so I had the tasty wholemeal pastry sausage roll (vegan I think) for a mere £1.50 and a cup of coffee. One of our group had a vibrant looking freshly made drink made from among other things celery and beetroot. It was excellent apparently. I wish I’d had a taste! We got there as it opened first thing but I’d definitely like to return and try their Carribean lunches. Recommended!

I felt an urge for something healthy and not too heavy and remembered I was meaning to try Earth.
Having read the reviews I knew I could have some kind of combo of mains and sides but it was a bit confusing — kind of strange they don’t write it on a board anywhere! I think it’s right that you can get two «mains» and two sides and a side includes one of the salad options.
I got the very tasty mung bean curry and stuffed peppers along with some couscous and curry. I opted for a courgette salad for some greens although later wished I gotten the spicy carrot & almond one as that the courgette version didn’t have much flavour. Healthy though!
The smoothie I got was nice too, they make them with ice so not the greatest cold day option — lots of tea and soup to choose from though.
Only thing I was surprised by was the staff who seemed pretty unfriendly and reluctant to explain the system to people in front of me who weren’t sure what they could order — then kind of made out they were being stupid.

TL;DR — Great vegetarian food, great prices, slightly chaotic service.
We’d avoided Earth for a while, worried it may be full of unwashed hippies wearing hemp, but our stereotypes were wide of the mark. This is a smart and delightful vegetarian café which is much bigger inside than you would imagine from the exterior.
You line up at the counter and place your order which is plated up for you there and then. They do a £6 platter where you can choose four items, up to two of which can be «mains» and the remainder are sides. I went with cajun bean stew and fennel and white bean pie as my mains, served up with steamed vegetables and roast potatoes. It really was a great big plateful which, topped with gravy, was great value for £6.
The food itself was great too — the pie was incredibly tasty (far more than I ever imagined from the name!), the stew was spicy and even this roast potato connoisseur was impressed with their roasties.
So why only ³⁄₅? Well, despite the great food there were also plenty of rough edges. We tried to order our food together, but the counter staff seemed a bit disorganised and we ended up separated massively in the queue and had to pay separately — I only got through about 10 minutes after Mark. We also ordered drinks which took an age to come, and Mark was told his bowl of quinoa would be a few minutes but we doubt it would have come if we hadn’t gone and reminded staff about it.
But don’t let that put you off. The food is really, really good!

Vegetarian and tasty
What many people don’t know about are the many curry houses in the Northern Quarter where you can get three for a fiver on almost any day of the week. One of the most hidden of these gems is Earth in the basement of the Manchester Buddhist Centre, with a broader range of vegetarian entrees and side dishes. Fresh juices, communal seating, assorted desserts and drinks: Earth is an institution without peer in the city centre. Drop in but check days and times as this is a Buddhist Centre first, caterer second. Namaste.

This place is was exactly what I needed after a few too many drinks the evening before.
Their juices all sound amazing and picking the one you want to try the most is the hardest part, I nearly ordered two because I couldn’t pick, hehe.
Also the vegan cakes are devine. I tried the beetroot one (forgive me I forget the actual name) with homemade soy cream, big thumbs up!

Love this place — but if they ever opened on time (or looked at their opening hours 10−4…closed Sunday’s) and had all cups/lids…juices set up in time they would probably triple their revenue without breaking a sweat. Making it hard to eat food and have a job or busy day — were not all self employed yoga teachers… help the corporate vegans eat!

I love this place. No fuss, no frills, but amazing food that’s actually good for you and also tasty. Being in the Buddhist centre, it is also very calm and relaxing — even though I’ve never tried it at lunch time during the week! I would recommend it if you are out in Manchester during the day, and are after a fast, tasty and healthy lunch break that won’t break the bank. I love it there.

A regular eating spot for vegetarians and vegans and those who just enjoy good vegetarian food. I believe most of the food is vegan but the staff are quite happy to advise if needed.
It is a little bit confusing if you haven’t been before, being presented with a canteen style setup with a number of different hot and cold options and not an awful lot of labelling!
The standard here, unless you want soup, is to choose four items from both the hot and cold counters (for e.g. A lentil dal, roast veg and two salads) — as you can see you do sometimes find that what you fancy is a slightly odd combination of food, but variety is the spice of life and if you want to keep it simpler just ask for double helpings of something — and there is always plenty to choose from.
There’s always a number of utterly lush deserts on offer and you can get them packaged up to take away if you ask.
Overall a nice place for lunch with a mid size seating area in the back, welcoming staff and good food.

Here you’ll feel at home: Yes it is a restaurant and I ’ m supposed to talk about the food first, but what stroke me was how the waitresses were thoughtful and kind. It seems like you enter a complete different world here: situated in a place where there is not much light, the first impression can be surprising, but in the table room is a Buddha fountain that tells the contrary: it is a zen spot! The food is good, and I’ve tried it several times, there is not a lot of choice but there are different food every day, which is a good point for a vegetarian restaurant, it is not easy to get such a variety at home! Their side dishes or salads are not very tasty, I would advise you to take a hot dish. You can also order a vegan burger or a soup which I ’ ve never tried but seemed quite popular. Their juices are absolute fresh heaven and there is free wifi!

It’s safe to say that Manchester has become meat mad the past couple of years, you might even say there’s a carnivore craze, you also could add that… actually I think you get the idea of what I’m trying to say! But the thing is that it’s all so super tempting — and from when I used to have a steady diet of variable fresh homemade soup I’m now starting to think a burger or maybe a hotdog is a suitable daytime bite. So now it’s all about fighting that urge and finding out where the antidote is to make sure I get up to the 5 – 7 portions of fruit and vege I supposedly need each day!
I’ve got to say that I’ve been walking past Earth for 7 years and never gone in. Which is kind of a bit strange as I’ve been going to the buddhist centre to meditate all that time too… and it really does feel like I’ve been missing out!
Upon entering the smell of this vegetarian, mostly organic, all homemade onsite café is fantastic. There’s variety on offer such as curry’s, chilli’s (I had the mung bean one and it was fantastic) and Italian tray options. The main set up is that you can get a main and 4 sides (including salads) for £6 which is pretty good value for the amount of food you get.
They also do snacky items like the £2.50 Jamaican patties, which seem very popular as a queue was forming for the next batch but that will be a different meal for a different day.
Overall the café is a great place for lunch, tea, catching up with friends and just generally brining balance back to your diet and life. I felt really good after this meal, felt like I’d really treated myself and it may just help me get on the road to a healthier lunch time diet — now that is good news!

I visited here briefly whilst on a trip with uni last week. When we arrived we were a little confused what the deal was in terms of the menu, but when we asked they were very friendly and explained that you pick 4 items from the menu for £6. I had the dhal and like a veg roast.
I really think this place has the potential to be 4*, however it seemed to be lacking a bit of atmosphere even though it had other customers there, even a little music would solve this. I also think in the 4 for £6 menu, the salad option should consist of a few small amounts of salads rather than just one part.
It was lovely inside, and much bigger at the back than expected. And I do like places that offer a jug of water on the side to help yourself though. I do want to give this place a 4, but it’s just not quite as good as Egg in Liverpool, which is similar in the canteen style. I think there are small things they can do to gain that extra point… maybe I just went on a bad day.
I do want to visit again when I am next in Manchester to try the banana latte someone else mentioned and some cake, they looked lovely in the fridge.

Lovely little laid-​back café hidden away in the Northern quarter a short walk from the Arndale centre.
Nice variety of vegetarian food on offer in a canteen-​style setting and fresh smoothies and juices to wash it down with.
Staff are friendly and helpful and will cater for those with dietary requirements or intolerances/​allergies.
Well worth paying a visit to

Oh, Earth just gets more comforting every time I pop in. They’ve always got some fresh, wholesome, hearty special available, and it’s become routine that this is the place I visit when I want to pile my plate with hot deliciousness. This time round they had sweet potato pie, which was kind of like a cottage pie with a crispy top but all kinds of veggies on board too, and had a slight Thai flavour to it. Just all kinds of yummy. There was also a three-​bean chilli, always a favourite of mine, and sides of roasties and plantain. Plantain! I so rarely get to eat plantain. These were crisp, fluffy in the middle and done in long strips as opposed to the usual banana-​esque slices we’re used to seeing.
My mum opted for an Earth burger with a salad plate, and that had a bit of everything on it — homemade coleslaw, beetroot salad, houmous, all sorts of stuff. We shared our dishes and Earth kindly gave us side plates so we could chop and change. They let us have a giant jug of water for our table, and we had such a lovely cosy time it took us ages to leave. Next time I’m this side of town, I plan to dine at Earth and spend the best part of the day in the Buddhist Centre above where, Unilocalers have kindly told me, for a donation you can hang out as long as you like and use the kettle. Best stuff my backpack full of Twinings then, looks like I’ll be there for the long haul! Need to get me some reading done…

Earth Café is an absolute gem. It’s ethically sourced, pretty much entirely vegan and of course a price comes with that, but nothing feels better than leaving with a full stomach (really, no small portions) of food that’s about as healthy and untreated and untouched as physically possible. Oh and the veggie sausage rolls are gorgeous too.
A nice little hideaway that I like to keep quiet about but… what the hell. Go, enjoy!

Hidden away down one of the Northern Quarter’s numerous side streets, the Earth Café is the kind of place that doesn’t immediately jump out at you. Indeed, I must have passed it a million times before I finally decided to try it out for myself. But I’m very glad I did. This is a gloriously laid back little eatery which specialises in vegetarian and vegan cuisine. They also cater for specialist diets too, so it’s a great place to take someone who may be lactose intolerant or coeliac.
As one of the above commenter’s has noted, it is a ‘canteen style’ café, which means you have to choose from a wide range of delicious looking dishes from behind a hot plate. However, whenever I’ve been here, these have been a far cry from the sticky, dried-​up concoctions I’ve been served up at other places. They do some great curries here, and I’d even go so far as to say that their vegetarian lasagne is the best in Manchester City Centre.
The Earth Café also serves an excellent range of home made cakes, and some truly stonking smoothies. And they have free wi-​fi too, making it a great place to set up shop if you’re looking for a chilled out place to work for a couple of hours on a rainy afternoon.
OK, so it may be a bit hippy-​ish, but The Earth Café is great for both meat eaters and non meat eaters alike. Why not try it the next time you’re in the area?

Located in the basement of Manchester Buddhist Centre, Earth is a quiet and spacious veggie café where you can grab a hot drink or plate of hale and hearty food. They have different specials each day ranging from chillis and curries to jacket potatoes and quiches. The portions aren’t massive but the food is always hot and tasty and if you’re still hungry, they also sell three or four different puddings.
Occasionally you’ll hear a bunch of friends laughing and swapping stories in a corner but usually the environment is very zen with the staff almost tip-​toeing around. Personally, I prefer eating in venues with good music in the background but occasionally, I pop in for one of their amazing banana lattes made with fresh espresso, bananas, honey and soya milk.

Very hippy café with lots of healthy stuff. Im not into my healthy food but I was happy here because of the gorgeous wholesome deserts.
The staff here are really friendly and there is a great atmosphere here. To be fair when I tried the food I have to admit its the best healthy food I have ever tasted so well done Earth Café although I’m not entirely converted yet!

Not a strick veggie me, I eat fish… and duck. Anything in or near water really so I suppose that includes cows, pigs and sheep so no, I’m not strict.
Even so, I’d been meaning to pop into the Earth Café for while the first time I went.
I think it was all the talk of juice and health in the window as I’d been feeling a little guilty about the state of my diet!
And it really is a great little place, such a breath of fresh air from the gluttony of chains Manchester is pretty guilty of.
The place itself is modern but relaxed, always with a few book readers knocking about.
The menu is seasonal and fresh and can be ordered to go.
The menu is also strictly fair trade– so you can enjoy the taste of guilt-​free food!