A café in Wales has crafted what is thought to be the UK's first Lion’s Mane burger, made with fresh Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Vegan chef Helen Wilson, from Ground, a plant-based coffee shop in Swansea, has partnered with fungi growers, Madarch Ty Cynan Mushrooms, to transform its functional mushrooms into this one-of-a-kind dish. For those of you interested, madarch is the Welsh word for mushrooms!

Lion’s Mane mushrooms are known for their potential cognitive health benefits, thought to include improved focus, reduced brain fog and stress relief. The mushrooms are hand-harvested in the neighboring county of Carmarthenshire and delivered fresh to the cafe, which opened in 2021 as a small takeaway serving speciality coffee.

"We started selling medicinal mushrooms in coffee early in 2023 and have watched interest and popularity grow in Lion’s Mane,” said Chef Helen. “I had been looking for a Welsh supplier of fresh Lion’s Mane for ages. When I found out it was being grown in Carmarthenshire I couldn’t wait to experiment with it and see if it could be made into a burger."

You could call Ground a groundbreaking eaterie. It launched as Swansea's very first plant-based coffee shop, with a commitment to serving coffee containing oat milk as standard - both for health reasons and to combat climate change. Since then, it’s continued to explore new possibilities in plant-based food serving such delicacies as plant-based VLT (a play on the BLT), immune-boosting lentil dahl and, of course, the latest addition to the menu, their Lion’s Mane, seitan and tempeh smash burger.

Chef Helen adds: “Our motivation is to produce food and drink that is not only good for people’s health but is also better for the environment and sustainability and a Lion’s Mane Burger produced in Wales, by us, is just this.

“Reducing or stopping consumption of animal products is the single biggest thing anyone can do to reduce their carbon footprint — this is what we are passionate about.”

Wondering what to expect from a Lion’s Mane smash burger? Made from a combination of finely-chopped Lion’s mane mushrooms, tempeh (fermented soy beans) seitan and top secret mix of 11 herbs and spices, the patties are double-cooked for tenderness before being served up.

High in protein and bursting with flavor, the burger is served in a vegan brioche bun with sriracha mayonnaise, pickles and tomato, and accompanied by roasted Welsh baby potatoes and a fresh salad.

Madarch Ty Cynan Mushrooms is a partnership between several Welsh culinary businesses including fungi grower Madarch Cymru that supplies Ground with Lion’s Mane mushrooms. It also grows a range of other culinary and functional mushrooms including Shiitake and Wood Oyster across three sites in Wales.

A spokesperson for the partnership commented, "Helen's creative Lion’s Mane burger, made with our carefully cultivated mushrooms, is truly inspiring. We’re thrilled that Ground has highlighted our mushrooms in such an inventive and delicious way, making it a standout vegan dish."