London’s vegan restaurants may have come a long way, but they’ve never forgotten their roots.
Gone are the days where wanting to avoid animal products meant that you probably wanted to avoid eating out altogether. Or when it was just a few brave pioneers opening up vegan restaurants in far-flung corners of London, with a heavy reliance on lentils. Now over half a million people aged 15 or over follow a vegan diet, and the food scene is taking note.
It’s not even that there are more exclusively vegan restaurants (although there definitely are); it’s also that chefs are quietly adapting their menus to include more vegan options. Of course, with more choice comes the immediate decision paralysis.
So, with the hope of making things a little easier – at least with choosing where to go – we’ve put together the most exciting vegan restaurants in London right now:
Mallow | Borough Market, Canary Wharf
Mallow started life as the vegan member of the Mildred’s family, before those restaurants went all-vegan, too. Clearly, they were onto something. And it won’t take you long to see why – Mallow’s inventive, varied and globe-trotting menu definitively proves that missing meat doesn’t mean missing out. There’s spicy pimento sosis (sausages) with an apricot harissa sauce; a hearty sweet potato laksa; indulgent ‘chorizo’ croquettes and roast beetroot with whipped ‘feta’ and hibiscus. And those fluffy pandan daiquiris… wow.
Details: Borough: 1 Cathedral Street, SE1 9DE | Canary Wharf: 12 Park Drive, E14 9ZW | Book Mallow
Pockets | London Fields
@secretstan
Believe the hype. Pockets’ falafel-stuffed, puffy Middle Eastern pittas offer the ultimate lunchtime gorge. Having drawn queues round the block with their original stall in Netil Market, the team have recently upscaled to their own permanent spot just up the road. It’s still takeaway only, but that’s for the better – this is a something best enjoyed sat in London Fields with zhoug and tahini dribbling down your chin, not in front of a load of strangers watching you from the table opposite.
Details: 367 Mentmore Terrace, E8 3RT | Takeaway only
Plates | Shoreditch
Plates is the first bricks-and-mortar site for the hit fine dining vegan supper club, and it’s been wildly popular since it opened. Like, ‘booked out for months’ popular. You’ll find it on Old Street, and inside, it all exudes a kind of minimalist earthiness, with mottled beige walls wearing a skirt of coffee-coloured banquette seating. This is undoubtedly the fanciest place to get vegan food in London – it’s tasting menu only, and there’s a huge amount of skill, labour, and love poured into every one of the delicate little dishes.
Details: 320 Old St, EC1V 9DR | Book a table at Plates
Holy Carrot | Notting Hill
Probably the chicest vegan restaurant in London, Holy Carrot recently made the move from a temporary space behind Harrods to a sleek, futuristic dining room right in the heart of Portobello Road. And they’ve picked up some new friends on their travels: chef Daniel Watkins (co-founder of the lauded Acme Fire Cult), who brings his experience to bear on a menu of flame-scorched, plant-based delights, and the team at The Bar With Shapes For A Name, who have stocked the bar here with their award-winning pre-batch cocktails.
Details: 156 Portobello Road, London W11 2EB | Book a table at Holy Carrot
Bubala | Spitalfields, Soho
One of our favourite restaurants in London full stop, veg-forward Bubala has both vegetarian and vegan menus – and the power to lure any non-vegan into its orbit, too. Plucking inspiration from the Levantine, it serves up hits like laffa flatbread with baba ganoush and curry leaf oil; smoked Jerusalem artichokes with miso; and crispy cubes of confit potato latke with toum (it’s like aioli, with the garlic dialled up to 1000).
Details: 65 Commercial Street, London, E1 6BD | 15 Poland Street, London, W1F 8QE | Book a table at Bubala
LD’s Kitchen | Hackney & Camden
The Saint Monday taproom is home to some real holy smokes: all-vegan BBQ courtesy of LD’s Kitchen. This vegan smokehouse cooks up a storm at both the Hackney brewery and its parent pub Our Black Heart in Camden (the heavy metal den with a surprisingly open vibe). Swing by the former for crispy southern wings wrapped in buffalo sauce or maple sweet mustard; head for the latter for the famous vegan brunch (where the wings come on pancakes or with Bloody Mary sauce) and Sunday roasts, with meat-free takes on chicken, pork and beef.
Details: 4 Warburton Road, London E8 3RR | 3 Greenland Place, London NW1 0AP | Find out more
Tofu Vegan | Islington, Golders Green, Spitalfields & Fitzrovia
Tofu Vegan Fitzrovia
Tofu Vegan – a temple to lip-smackingly spicy, salty, flavour-packed Chinese cooking – is entirely vegan (you’d never guess it from the name). Now boasting four popular vegan restaurants across London, their veg-elevating dishes like the sesame-laced hand-shredded oyster mushrooms sit alongside dishes with genuinely great meat alternatives, and of course the eponymous tofu makes appearances in its most perfected, crispy form.
Details: Book a table at Tofu Vegan
Tendril | Oxford Circus
Okay, full disclosure, Tendril is only “mostly vegan”. But that’s because they’re trying to attract the vegan-curious crowd, and show them just how good life on the virtuous side is. It’s the wildly popular solo project of ex-Chiltern Firehouse and The Dairy chef Rishim Sachdeva, and after years of critically acclaimed pop-ups, the place has finally put down permanent roots by Bond Street station. Whether ordering à la carte or trying the reasonably-priced ‘discovery’ tasting menu, you’re in for a hit list of flavourful dishes showcasing veg in their own right that will knock any meat FOMO right on the head.
Details: 5 Princes Street, W1B 2LQ | Book a table at Tendril
Naifs | Peckham
Naifs is the brainchild of ex-Vanilla Black chef Tom Heale and his partner Anne Stokes, who run a simple, no-frills kind of space in Peckham where they serve up beautiful & refined vegan food. The set menu currently comes in at a reasonable £33pp for a family-style five dish feast, with the option to add on desserts like chocolate mousse with date caramel. Drinks, meanwhile, run the gamut from natural wines to locally brewed beers, with some exceptional house cocktails thrown in to boot.
Details: 56 Goldsmith Road, Peckham, SE15 5TN | Book a table at Naifs
Black Cat Cafe | Hackney
If you’re vegan and you happen to cross paths with Black Cat Cafe, you’re in for nothing but good luck. It’s a friendly, unpretentious place that feels more like a community space over a restaurant. As well as a number of very simple wooden tables which run in strips down the middle (and which, should you choose to sit there, you’re likely to end up sharing), you’ll find a bookshop in the corner selling fanzines, political literature, and vegan cookery books. The all white-walls are also awash with multi-coloured flyers about the local area. Those trombone lessons you wanted to start… sorted.
Black Cat Cafe opens mid-morning so it’s perfect for a coffee and a vegan pastry, while later in the day they offer larger, heartier dishes like burgers, curries, lasagnes, pot pies, and pasta bakes. Top it all off with a vegan cookie or thick slice of cake for dessert, and you’ll probably be just about ready for a cat nap.
Details: 76A Clarence Road, E5 8HB | No bookings
Jam Delish | Islington
There’s a reason Jam Delish has found its way onto everyone’s Instagram feed over the past couple of years… it’s because it’s bloody delicious. Nestled in the heart of Angel, this independent, family-owned eatery serves up exceptional vegan food with Caribbean flair. You can expect Bajan ‘fish’ tacos that genuinely taste like actual white fish; as well as hearty Caribbean dishes like curry ‘goat’ and jerk ‘chicken’ skewers that don’t fall short on flavour. Heads up, portions are as big as the flavours here, so be sure to pace yourself.
Details: 76A Clarence Road, E5 8HB | Book a table at Jam Delish
Temple of Seitan | Camden & Hackney
© Charlie McKay
A cinderella story that saw a vegan street food stall grow into the city’s first entirely vegan ‘chicken’ shop. All the nostalgic classics are here: family-style tubs of sharing nuggets; sauce-laden burgers; hand-spun vegan shakes and more. The seitan (a kind of glutinous tofu) tastes like the real thing too – all of the flavour yet none of the guilt. The only downside is that we’re not the only ones to have realised that, so it’s not unusual to find a queue.
Details: Camden: 43 Parkway, NW1 7PN | Hackney: 10 Morning Lane, E9 6NA | No bookings
Mildreds | Soho, Camden, Dalston, Covent Garden, Kings Cross, Victoria
Mildred’s needs no introduction: it’s been a pioneer of vegetarian dining since 1988, now with six Mildred’s restaurants across the capital (plus two spin-offs, Mallow). In recent years they’ve switched from vegetarian to entirely vegan menus, bringing together globe-trotting dishes like spinach gyoza and chipotle ‘chorizo’ croquettes – but it’s their incredible vegan breakfasts that take top billing: banana butterscotch pancakes; Indian-inspired thali breakfasts; and Full Englishes with all the trimmings.
Details: See locations and book a table on the Mildreds website
Facing Heaven | London Fields
Facing Heaven (named after an upwards-growing chilli pepper) is run by Julian Denis, who was raised in LA by a Haitian & Puerto-Rican father, and a Portuguese mother. The unique blend of culinary influences that left him with is poured out into the menu at this cosily kitsch vegan restaurant in London Fields, with dishes like Macau-style baked oyster mushroom fried rice; spicy & numbing Jerusalem artichokes with careen chilli; whole sizzling aubergine; and Malta caramel & strawberry powder ice cream sundae.
Details: 1a Bayford Street, E8 3SE | Book a table at Facing Heaven
Club Mexicana | Soho, Shoreditch & Mayfair
Club Mexicana has gone from street food trader to pub resident to a pair of permanent restaurants: a hot-pink taqueria in Carnaby’s Kingly Court and the spacious Club Mexicana Shoreditch. Oh, and another street food stall in Mercato Mayfair, just so they don’t forget their roots. The Mexican-inspired all-vegan menu includes BBQ ‘short rib’ tacos with jackfruit and hickory smoked BBQ sauce; cheezeburger burritos; and fully loaded nachos with ground ‘beef’, guacamole and pickled jalapeños, all washed down with frozen margaritas. And on Tuesdays, you can scoff as many tacos as you can handle at their Shoreditch branch for £20. Vegan doesn’t always have to be healthy, right?
Details: Soho: Kingly Court, W1B 5PW | Shoreditch: Commercial St, London E1 6LT | Mayfair: St. Mark’s Church, N Audley St, London W1K 6ZA | Book a table at Club Mexican (Soho & Mayfair walk-in only)
Gauthier Soho | Soho
Gauthier Soho is an elegant, Michelin-recommended, hyper-inventive fine dining spot that just so happens to be entirely vegan. Chef Alexis Gauthier is vegan himself, so the dishes here are no mere afterthought – instead, you’ll be lavished with an exquisite tasting menu that both allows vegetables to shine in their own right and leaves room for innovation (his vegan ‘caviar’ is something else). Book in for the ‘Petit Dîner’ six course menu for the best value.
Details: 21 Romilly St, London W1D 5AF | Book Gauthier Soho
The Spread Eagle | Homerton
The Spread Eagle is London’s first entirely vegan pub, from the food and drink right down to the fixtures and fittings – and if there’s one thing they can promise, it’s a decent spread. The Sunday roast here is the stuff of vegan legend, from the beet wellington to the innovative slow-roast celeriac with ‘crackling’, but honestly you’re in for a treat any day of the week, from the Guinness mushroom stew with herb dumplings to the Korean crispy hen of the woods burger.
Details: Homerton High Street, London, E9 6AS | Book The Spread Eagle
Cookies and Scream | Holloway
If the thought of giving up butter and eggs horrifies you, head to Cookies and Scream. This all-vegan bakehouse has the goods to convince even the hardiest dairy fan, with gluten-free cakes, cookie ‘ice scream’ sandwiches, blondies, banoffee pies, peanut butter donuts, and er, ewoks (chocolate-coated cookie bars). If it’s been one of those days, treat yourself with one of the scream shakes, which blends brownies, cookies, ice scream and sauces together in one giant pint of joy.
Details: 130 Holloway Road, N7 8JE | No bookings
Andu Cafe | Dalston
Hidden amongst the bustle of Dalston’s Kingsland Road is Andu Cafe, a small but increasingly popular Ethiopian joint serving up tasting platters of traditional vegan food. Priced from just £11 a head, the platter comes loaded with six dishes, including a mix of spicy lentil and split bean stews, vegetable dishes like tikil gomen, and folds of injera bread to mop it all up. Plus it’s one of those rare BYOB restaurants that doesn’t charge corkage, making Andu hands down one of the best value vegan restaurants in London.
Details: 528 Kingsland Road, London E8 4AH | Book a table for 6 or more, or walk in/takeaway
Itadaki Zen | King’s Cross
There’s few things a trip to Japanese vegan eatery Itadaki Zen can’t fix. As the name suggests (itadaki means ‘to receive food’, and zen means ‘to fix’), the restaurant was built from a belief in the medicinal value of plants and plant-based food, both for your body and for your mind. And so, from their clean-cut wooden space in King’s Cross, they serve up a menu of all vegan Japanese dishes like their vegetable spring rolls, homemade kimchi, and mixed vegetable tempura. For drinks they have a very select number of wines and beer, as well as baekse-ju, an alcoholic rice-based drink boasting an impressive ten different oriental herbs. Sounds like it’s basically good for you.
Details: 139 King’s Cross Road, WC1X 9BJ | Book a table at Itadaki Zen
The Gallery Café | Bethnal Green
An independent, charity-run vegan cafe where – in addition to serving a selection of homemade wraps, salads and sandwiches, Nude espresso, baked goods and a rotating list of house specials – they host spoken word gigs; live music nights; book launches; film screenings and a number of other events. Which are also vegan.
Details: 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PL | No bookings
222 Vegan | Fulham
222% vegan and mostly gluten-free, this long-standing vegan restaurant is celebrating two decades of feeding happy punters at the top of North End Road Market. Chef-owner Ben Asamani has been vegan since his teenage years, and draws from influences across the globe to put together his own menu of satisfying bowl food, all made with fresh, natural and (where possible) organic ingredients.
Details: 222 North End Road, W14 9NU | Book a table at 222 Vegan
Courtyard Café | Kennington
Part of South London’s Jamyang Buddhist centre, the Courtyard Cafe is open to all and uses surplus food to provide free meals to those in need – so you never really know what’s going to be on the menu. Except vegetables. Pay it forward to sponsor their work, and enjoy an all-vegan feast, rustled up by volunteer cooks from Vauxhall’s sorely missed Bonnington Cafe.
Details: The Old Courthouse, 43 Renfrew Road, London, SE11 4NA | No bookings
So there you have it. London has vegan restaurants for special occasions; for community vibes; for righteous, raw platters and unabashedly filthy comfort food. The selection’s never been more bounteous. So if you’re thinking about signing up for veganuary this year… there’s never been a better time to turn over a new leaf.
Jonesing for a good brunch? Check out these excellent vegan breakfasts in London