No missed steak: Restaurant busier than ever after dumping meat to serve vegan food - and it used to be a steakhouse!

A steakhouse restaurant dumped meat from its menu to become the first 100 per cent vegan eatery in Blackpool.
Paul White from Faringo's Vegan Italian restaurantPaul White from Faringo's Vegan Italian restaurant
Paul White from Faringo's Vegan Italian restaurant

Faringo’s, based at the Kings Hotel on New South Promenade, is offering meat and dairy-free Italian food across the Fylde coast.

Owner Paul White said the change was made temporarily last June – with its roaring success leading to a permanent switch.

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The highly-rated restaurant began delivering three months ago, and recently signed up to fast food app and website JustEat.

It already has four-and-a-half stars out of five on review website TripAdvisor – with 72 per cent excellent ratings and 11 per cent very good – and five-and-a-half stars out of six on JustEat.

Paul, who has also recently given up meat for health and ethical reasons, said: “We have been busy throughout January and February – we have had to turn people away and turn the takeaway off at times.

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“People appreciate what we are doing. Last summer there was very little to choose from; most restaurants would not even offer vegan food.

“Now most offer vegan because they have seen our success, I suppose.”

Paul, 54, who runs the business with his wife Tina, said he advises carnivores – often visiting as part of a group when one or more is a vegan – to avoid the meat and cheese substitutes on offer.

“If you advise them which things to choose, then they enjoy it,” he said.

Faringo's is based at the Kings HotelFaringo's is based at the Kings Hotel
Faringo's is based at the Kings Hotel
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The hotel still serves meat during breakfast, but the kitchen is cleaned afterwards, with an extension already being built for a second kitchen. Paul said he is also preparing to open a vegan food shop in Highfield Road.

The menu at Faringo’s, where booking is advised on weekends, includes pizza complete with faux cheese and meat, mock duck in hoisin sauce, and seitan steak.

“As a vegetarian I sometimes find that I only ever get one choice, which is usually limited to risotto or pasta,” one customer wrote on TripAdvisor. “However, the menu and variety of food was fantastic.”