Arapina - Vegetarian & Vegan Bakery — Restaurant in London

I have visited this bakery a few times and always felt awkward drinking my coffee there because of it's name. I have send 2 emails to the business without any response so I will explain my review. I recently visited Arapina Bakery in Greenwich and was deeply disturbed to learn about the origins and meaning of its name. While the pastries and service were decent, the establishment’s name—Arapina—is rooted in a harmful racial term that cannot be ignored.

In Greek, the word arapis (αράπης) historically translates to “black” but carries a derogatory, dehumanizing connotation akin to the N-word in English. This term has been used pejoratively against Black individuals, particularly in Mediterranean and Balkan regions, and its normalization as a business name is unacceptable. As a member of a diverse community like Greenwich, I am appalled that a local business would perpetuate such blatantly racist language, whether intentionally or out of ignorance.

A bakery’s name should evoke warmth and inclusivity, not historical bigotry. By retaining this name, Arapina Bakery is alienating customers, disrespecting the Black community, and contributing to the erasure of the harm caused by such slurs. It is deeply ironic that a business in such a multicultural area would choose to brand itself with a term rooted in racism. Of course the owners are trying to persuade us that it's name is coming from a chocolate cake but guess what? Even the chocolate took that name from the black colour so even this excuse is not good enough.

urge the owners to: Immediately acknowledge the offensive nature of the name. Commit to rebranding with a culturally respectful and inclusive name. Issue a public apology to the community, particularly to those impacted by this slur.

Until these steps are taken, I cannot in good conscience support this business, and I encourage others to reconsider patronizing it as well. Good food is never an excuse for perpetuating racism.

Change the...

Their range of baked goods is pretty good- I had their pistachio croll, which is a croissant-like roll filled with pistachio cream, topped with pistachio icing and crushed pistachios. The filling tasted like some sort of sweetened aquafaba whip (probably left over from their extensive use of hummus for their breakfast).

Their actual food is very disappointing. The vegan breakfast substitutes 2 slices of toast with scrambled eggs with toast smothered in very bad hummus. Both the colour and texture of the hummus was off- it was gritty (most likely made by blending canned chickpeas rather than removing the skin from boiled dried chickpeas) and contained lots of cumin and little to no tahini. I didn’t have a choice as to whether I could consume the ≈6 tbsp of the hummus on my plate as it covered both slices of my toast. They should instead substitute the eggs with scrambled silken tofu.

The sausages were very bad and seemed to be fried in olive oil, which is never a good choice as it’s a non-neutral oil with the smoke point so low that it just saturates the food and changes its taste instead of actually frying off.

I asked for the nicest smoothie and was given the capri, which was awful. The entire drink was overpowered by concentrated orange juice.

The coffee was pretty...

We chose this café due to the vast range of gluten-free options it boasted online. On arrival, we found out that this included many less items, and gluten containing products were placed directly next to gluten-free on the counter (with no barriers between them!). For me, this is not an issue, but for a person with celiac disease this would mean not eating, which is concerning, given that this café purports to be a gluten-free haven.

Apart from that, service was average. Servers were friendly, but the atmosphere was slightly too chaotic for the amount of people in the café. The coffee was served almost cold and mine and my partner’s food orders were served with more than 20 minutes’ difference. The gluten-free porridge was very tasty, as well as my partner’s breakfast croll. It is worth noting that the pastries looked delicious and there were a range of gluten-free and vegan cakes and cheeses available in a separate fridge, however the overall experience was not as I expected. They also offer all sandwiches on gluten-free bread, but again, it seems that there is a high risk of...