King's Lynn's only vegan restaurant Resist! Vegan Kitchen attracts foodies from the UK’s biggest cities as it's up for national kebab award

Meet Gareth Ellison, owner and chef at Lynn’s first ever exclusively vegan restaurant, Resist! Vegan Kitchen.

The former skateboarder and builder has been vegan for over 25 years and has expertise in making plant-based street food such as burgers and kebabs.

The restaurant owner said that around 70% of people who come to Resist! are meat-eaters who are wanting to try something new.

This week, Gareth invited Lynn News reporters taking part in Veganuary to try out some of the meals he has on offer.

Originally based in Peterborough, Gareth set up his business Resist! in 2016 and has won acclaim over the years, including being winners and finalists of the UK v Street Food Awards and in the top 10 of the British Kebab Awards.

In 2023, Resist! are back in the British Kebab Awards and this year, a vegan category has been added, although Gareth explained that he was happy to still be competing with non-vegan restaurants.

He said: “We’ve been doing these awards for three years now, our statement is ‘it’s as good as anything else’.”

After meeting his partner, he decided to relocate from Peterborough to Lynn.

Resist! has a growing fan base - including comedian Romesh Ranganathan who visited the Peterborough restaurant - with people travelling from as far as Manchester to come and eat at the restaurant on St James Street in Lynn.

“I’ve built a base of loyal customers,” said Gareth.

Resist! offers a variety of different burgers, kebabs and more which replicate the taste and texture of meat, from a 'Bacun Jheeze Burger' to a 'Chickun Shawarma Kebab'.

"I've tried and tasted my recipes hundreds of times in order to get it right," said Gareth.

The restaurant plans on hosting theme nights, including 'Wing Wednesdays' and Sunday Roasts as well as launching more gluten-free options.

He said: “There’s around 64g of fat in one of our vegan kebabs, whereas one with meat normally contains 700g of fat.”

The restaurant hosts themed food days, including ‘Wing Wednesdays’ and Sunday roasts, and they are looking to include more gluten-free options.

The food can be eaten in the restaurant or ordered for takeaway through Just Eat.

There are also plans to open a cocktail bar in the coming months.

So, what did the Lynn News team think of the food?

We were given four dishes to try which we split four ways, being the QTR Pounder with Jheeze (£13.95), a Standard Quarter Pounder (£13.95), the Resist! Legendary Doner Kebab (£14.95) and the Resist! Chickun Shawarma Kebab (£14.95).

All of the above when ordered would come with a side of fries.

The QTR Pounder with Jheeze was my personal favourite. It was so tasty and felt like eating a meaty burger with real cheese.

Editor Jeremy Ransome was in agreement, and said: “I love a quarter pounder and this was just as tasty and succulent as a normal beef one, with crisp salad and a lovely sauce.”

We were all well into our meals when Gareth brought out a fifth dish for us to try, the Hoisin Dukk Loaded Fries (£9.95) which was head of news Rebekah Chilvers’ favourite.

She said: “It was full of flavour and it was so tasty that I didn’t want to stop eating it, but I had to because I was so full!”

We all came to the same agreement that the food was delicious, the burgers had a meaty taste to them and the kebabs were full of different flavours.

The food was also well presented and we all admired the pink coloured bun that one burger was sandwiched in.

The fries which came with the food were crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside.

We were also given five different sauces to try: sriracha, chilli, BBQ, ketchup and mustard. These complemented the fries our food was served with perfectly.

We also enjoyed the variety of different soft drinks too, with flavours of sour cherry, grapefruit and black grape.

Jenny Beake’s standout dish was the Resist! Chickun Shawarma Kebab. She described it as: “Really tasty, it felt like I was eating a normal kebab, but without the meat which is even better.”

All four of us plan on making a return to Resist! in future.

If you want to pay a visit to Resist! Vegan Kitchen, their opening hours are: Thursday 4-9pm, Friday 12-10pm, Saturday 12-10pm and Sunday 12-5pm