Lacto
Western
British
Breakfast
Non-veg
Serves meat, vegan options available. Donkey sanctuary with a restaurant serving breakfast and lunch with some vegan options available. Access to restaurant doesn't require going into/through the sanctuary. Open Mon-Sun 09:00-16:00. Restaurant, gift shop and visitor centre are closed on Christmas Day.
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- Outdoor seating
- Wheelchair accessible
- Accepts credit cards
- Free Wi-Fi
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Last update on 27 Nov 2025 by Guest
Update business info -
Added by chp on 24 Jun 2019
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16 Reviews
First Review by chp
HettyWillems
Points +114
Great place and food - Edit
The Donkey sanctuary is a fantastic place. It's well maintained and the people who work there a really nice and dedicated.
Read moreThe restaurant is large and there are a lit of vegi and vegan choices. I ate the vegi burger on a glutenfree bun and that was yummy... with chips and a small colesalad.
Pros: Supporting the donkeys, Nice views, Delicious
Guest
KittyAsAVegan
Points +632
Perfect day out - Edit
The work they do here is incredible, it’s easy to see that the Donkeys are happy and the staff genuinely care about their wellbeing. In the cafe they have a range of vegan options including a vegan ploughman’s lunch! I’ve never seen this on a menu before but it was delicious. A really wholesome day out where you can meet and pet the donkeys who are free to roam their fields. Must visit!
Read moreGuest
HelenFitzGerald
Points +50
Great food and helping the donkeys too - Edit
Well worth a visit even without food, but the vegan food offerings are great. The vegan garden burger was slightly spicy and made with peas and spinach. Came with vegan coleslaw and chips. Yum! Interesting vegan fillings for wraps and rolls - they’ve clearly realised just because you’re vegan a Green salad isn’t necessarily what you want! So nice to see more than one choice. Entrance to the sanctuary is free so all profits go to the donkeys. Adorable to watch them rolling in the sunshine whilst we were eating. Will come back again for both!
Read morePros: Great choice, Being able to see the donkeys whilst eating, Really tasty
Guest
KimBoo
Points +77
Lovely place for lunch or cake ☺️ - Edit
The vegan options are listed first on the menu 👍🏻🌱
Read moreThe Jaffa cake is vegan and delicious 🤤
Sandwiches are freshly made and really nice as is the soup and jacket potatoes. Lovely views from the cafe of the sea and donkeys 🫏 ❤️
Pros: View from cafe , Donkeys are lovely 🥰
Guest
susiehaha
Points +278
Good vegan options - Edit
I have eaten here a few times over the last year, most recently for breakfast, and have enjoyed the food every time. The breakfast price includes a hot drink and is good value compared with most other places locally. The large breakfast includes two veggie sausages, two hash browns, spinach, beans, tomato, mushrooms and toast. It was nicely cooked, nice and hot, and of good quality. Would definitely have breakfast there again. I have also had their veggie burger and chips, which was also tasty. FInally, during the East Devon food festival we attended an event at the sanctuary which included a two course vegan meal (presented on equal terms with a non-vegan option, not the usual afterthought). I can't remember exactly what we had, but it was absolutely delicious and definitely restaurant quality - the chefs can clearly cook to a high standard and it would be nice to see more such events.
Read morePros: Tasty food, Reasonable value, Lovely building surrounded by donkeys!
Guest
DawlishRed
Points +122
Great vegan options - Edit
Full disclosure: I am biased because I work here! However, I still think that the vegan options are fantastic.
Read moreIn the winter months, Wednesday is Pie day, and of the two choices, one is always vegan, as is the mash and gravy.
The all-year round vegan breakfast choices are great, and for lunch, there's always a made-from-scratch option. As of May, it's a brilliant roasted cauliflower and hummus flatbread. The chef genuinely cares about producing tasty vegan meals.
Naturally, the Sanctuary itself is brilliant, and those of us lucky enough to work here are blessed, but the restaurant is the icing on the cake (of which the vegan jaffa cake is the best!)
Pros: Vegan meals made from scratch, not bought in. , Lovely ambience, All in a good cause.
Guest
k1223a
Points +191
Such a great place! - Edit
Aside from the sanctuary itself (which is of course amazing!!) the café is also really nice. There’s plenty of seating and nice views, and the menu offers vegan options. The food is nice!
Read moreGuest
hungrybadger
Points +74
Vegan cake and menu items available in a gorgeous setting - Edit
The cafe is in the Donkey Sanctuary, you do not need to pay to park or to enter the sanctuary. There is an entrance to the cafe off the car park, and also from the visitor centre side.
Read moreIt's a large airy dining room with large windows overlooking the donkey fields and has views to the sea. It was clean and warm when we visited.
The vegan options included cake - I had chocolate orange jaffa cake cake, which was awesome, very rich and a decent size slice. There were also menu options for the sunday menu, breakfast and lunches.
Service is from the counter, we didn't have to wait and the people working there were happy and smiley and friendly.
Despite the setting, the prices were reasonable - it cost us £12 for two cakes and two hot drinks.
Pros: Amazing cake, Service with a smile , Donkeys!
Cons: Obviously serves animal products here , Not sure about public transport links, Our first table hadn't been wiped so we moved
Guest
charlotteeedunn
Points +458
Great cake - Edit
Only had a cake but it was lovely! There were many vegan options on the menu.
Read morethedonkeysanctuary
Thank you for your review, we appreciate all feedback. We're glad you had a lovely visit to The Kitchen and that you enjoyed the cake! We hope you visit again soon.
Read moreGuest
AndyImms
Points +20
Really enjoyed it - Edit
The range of options caters for vegans across breakfast, burger, sandwich, panini and cakes which is pleasant to see. What was nice to see was that the vegan option always was listed above the animal product based options on the menu.
Read morePros: Plenty of vegan options , Vegan option always above animal option on menu
Cons: Would be better if fully vegan
Guest
StephanieTucker
Points +332
Great Vegan burger - Edit
Love visiting the donkeys here & staff are lovely. They have vegan burger, sandwich, pasty & cake in the cafe plus vegan icecream in the stall outside.
Read moreI had the burger - mushroom, red pepper, avocado, tom & onion chutney with coleslaw & chips - it was really nice & reasonably priced. Their jaffa cake is really good (tried on a previous trip in March)
Pros: Several vegan options , Reasonably priced, Benefits charity
Cons: Not all Vegan
Guest
kend500
Points +24
Not vegan friendly - Edit
Gone worse. Used to be good
Read morePros: Vegan sandwiches would be good., Simplify ingredients. Pumpkin puree??
Cons: Expensive, Very restricted vegan options
StephanieTucker
I went on the weekend & there were a few options - Sandwich, burger, pasty, cake, and icecream in the stall outside too?
Read morekend500
Sounds good. No pasties or sandwiches when I went last year. Hope it's improved as I love going there!! Donkeys are amazing so food is secondary. Fantastic place
Read moreGuest
Lisa_B
Points +68
Donkey sanctuary Sidmouth - Edit
Amazing vegan cake options, we had vegan jaffa cake which was delicious, reasonable price & good tea, will definitely be bake for more.
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options , Delicious cake , They care for Donkeys!! 😊
Cons: None 😊
Guest
NadiaCox
Points +24
Fantastic Vegan Food - Edit
I had the vegan curry and rice. It was lovely. My husband had the vegan pasty and we all had chips and my so had a baked potato with beans. It was all very tasty. Good vegan options I would recommend this to anyone.
Read morePros: Good vegan options, Lots of space in the restaurant , Clean and tidy
Guest
chelseysrm
Points +126
Great breakfast - Edit
Came here for breakfast twice on our trip, had the full vegan breakfast and the breakfast bap which were both very good. Offers soy milk for drinks and vegan spread for toast. A couple of vegan cakes/flapjacks on offer too.
Read morePros: Clearly marked menu , Several vegan and veggie options , Lots of choice for GF
Guest
chp
Points +3611
Great food at a great cause - Edit
I won't say much about the Donkey Sanctuary itself (you can google it to find out how much of a good cause it is) but I will talk about the amazing new restaurant they have. You can sit by the windows, overlooking the donkeys playing in the fields and enjoy some food - including vegan dishes! There aren't many but they cater for both breakfast and lunch and the food is really tasty - I had a fantastic risotto (often meh but not here) and my partner a sandwich. It would be nice if they had more options but its a step in the right direction to now cater for vegans. Go see the donkeys and eat some great food!
Read morePros: Tasty food, Supports a good cause
Cons: Limited options
Guest
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