Green Party: the best vegetarian and vegan dining in London
Gone are the days when the word ‘vegan’ would conjure up images of soggy tofu and sad salads. Today, London’s plant-based scene is thriving – and there’s a long list of restaurants creating something heroic from humble vegetables or offering pitch-perfect meat substitutes. Many are trailblazing the way for sustainability in the hospitality industry too, from the world’s first zero-waste restaurant in Hackney to a vegan Japanese restaurant hosting workshops on eco-friendly food in King’s Cross. Whether you’re a devout vegetarian challenging yourself to Veganuary, or just trying to be more conscious in your food choices, here’s our guide to the best vegetarian and vegan offerings around the city.
NORTH
1. Common Ground
A relaxed neighbourhood cafe in Finsbury Park serving an entirely vegetarian menu (with plenty of vegan options too), Common Ground uses local ingredients to create its globally inspired brunch plates and house bakes. Take one look at the sandwiches and pastries piled high in the window (this might include a spicy Thai seitan sub or Welsh rarebit croissant) and you won’t care that you have to join a queue to go inside. The decked back garden is a little oasis shrouded with plants and fairy lights that will make you forget you’re on busy Stroud Green Road – it’s a strictly laptop- and tablet-free space too, so you will quite literally switch off for an hour or two.
2. Rasa
Take a stroll down Stoke Newington’s beloved Church Street and you’ll know you’ve found Rasa when you meet a shocking pink-painted façade. This vegetarian restaurant, which specialises in South Indian cuisine, is something of a homage to founder Das Sreedharan’s childhood memories of his family’s vegetable plot in their home village in Kerala. The inside is just as pink as the exterior, but not enough to distract from the exquisite flavours and textures you’ll find on your plate. Don’t leave without trying a dosa – a thin pancake made from rice and black gram, stuffed with a variety of fillings such as spicy potatoes, lentils and coconut chutney.
3. Itada Kizen
Itada Kizen, just a short walk from Kings Cross station, is a vegan and organic Japanese restaurant, which also hosts workshops on sustainable food. The unassuming exterior means many London residents have probably walked straight past it many times, which is all part of the allure. Find all the usual Japanese favourites made using the freshest ingredients, from tofu spring rolls and spicy sweetcorn ramen to vegan calamari and veggie sushi. The set menu is perfect for those doing Veganuary who don’t know their tempeh from their tofu, and all desserts are sugar-free, which is particularly welcome post-festive season.
SOUTH
4. Naifs
Perhaps the best thing about Naifs, the relaxed vegan restaurant in Peckham, is there’s only one option for the main: a set meal of small plates that take inspiration from Greek meze. Not only are they delicious, but the format means diners can relax, putting their confidence in the family team running the show. The menu changes seasonally but you can expect dishes such as yellow split-pea fritters with green tahini and pomegranate mollases, or barbecued red-pepper kebab with parsnip skordalia, radicchio and harissa. Come with the people you love – and come hungry.
5. Mallow
From the same team behind vegetarian institute Mildreds, Mallow is Borough Market’s first fully plant-based restaurant. The rainbow-hued plates of food – from butternut dahi puri with fig chutney and thyme cardamom yoghurt to porcini chestnut croquettes with truffle aioli and leeks vinaigrette – are inspired by cuisines from all over the world. It’s the perfect escape from the bustle of the market where, in fact, most of the ingredients are sourced. As for the décor? It’s as colourful as the food, with large floral murals and sleek marble counters.
6. Persepolis
At Persepolis, a charming little cafe inside a Persian deli, you’ll find vegetarian interpretations of Iranian and Levantine food with a Peckham twist (eggs are scrambled with harissa and fried plantains, for example). It’s all about sharing here and everything is brought out as and when it’s ready. If there’s any chance you still have room after all the ‘small’ plates, the Turkish-delight sundae is a must – pieces of the chewy sweet are swirled in whipped cream and saffron ice cream and topped with rose petals and drizzles of rose cordial.
EAST
7. Lyle’s
Housed in Shoreditch’s iconic Tea Building, originally built as a factory for Lipton, Michelin-starred Lyle’s is not a plant-based restaurant but it does offer a separate, entirely veggie menu (every vegetarian knows the joy this brings). Here you’ll find refined dishes made using seasonal British ingredients, such as Delica pumpkin with whey broth or salsify, three-cornered leeks and brussels tops. The large, buzzy space is as clean and as stylishly simple as the food, with concrete floors, reclaimed-wood wine shelves, Windsor chairs and huge Crittal windows, which flood it with light.
8. Plates
Plates in Dalston was the first vegan fine-dining experience to hit London – and it will be sure to change your perception of what a plant-based restaurant can be. Inspired by chef Kirk Haworth’s personal health journey, it takes a green diet, it has lifted the green diet to new heights, combining a sustainable approach with an avant-garde style of cooking. The menu changes seasonally but you can expect hearty dishes that turn everyday ingredients into something special, like a ballotine of winter vegetables with sage stuffing, roast potatoes cooked in coconut fat, sticky parsnips, smoky sprouts, caramelised-onion gravy and redcurrants.
9. Facing Heaven
Fusing influences from Cantonese, Yunnan and Shaanxi cuisines, this vegan Hackney eatery is named after the Sichuanese ‘facing heaven’ pepper. It makes perfect sense when you tuck into the chilli-laced dishes, which turn typical vegan ingredients like tofu and cauliflower into something powerful. Facing Heaven takes a vibrant approach, not only with its food but also its interiors – the kitsch diner-style setting has black-and-white chequerboard flooring and neon lights, and a bit of 2000s indie blasting through the sound system isn’t unheard of.
10. Silo
Silo was born when the idea of not having a bin was proposed to chef Douglas McMaster. From that moment he worked on creating the world’s first zero-waste restaurant. Based in Hackney Wick, it has its own mill turning wheat into flour, a reaction to over-processed bread-making techniques. The team even churns their own butter and makes their own oat milk. Tables are formed from reconstituted food packaging, plates from plastic bags and crockery from crushed wine bottles. Although this is one to visit with meat-eating friends, it has a strong vegetarian offering. Our tip? The ice-cream sandwich is the perfect way to end your meal – it uses the same the bread and butter as in the first course, bookending the entire menu.
11. Andu Ethiopian
Andu Ethiopian is one of those ‘if you know, you know’ London jewels. Located on Dalston’s Kingsland Road, it was the first vegan Ethiopian restaurant to open in the UK and remains a frontrunner now there are ample popping up around the city. The small, cash-only, BYOB eatery offers a platter of six hearty stews – including zesty split lentils slowly cooked in flavourful berbere sauce, and chopped collard greens steamed with garlic and traditional spices. All come served on a large injera base, a thin and sour Ethiopian bread perfect for mopping up every last bite.
12. Club Mexicana
Club Mexicana has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a weekly supper club founded in 2014. Back then chef Meriel Armitage cooked a three-course menu of meat-free tacos from a Hackney cafe. Today, however, there are three outposts of her vegan Mexican restaurant, which you can find in Soho, Covent Garden and – most recently – Spitalfields. Here the menu features new dishes, including tacos served with tasty fish-, beef- and chorizo-inspired plant-based fillings. Start with the jalapeño-infused margarita and save room for churros with dark-chocolate sauce.
WEST
13. Manna
Manna is a cosy vegan restaurant and deli on a leafy residential street in Primrose Hill. At more than 50 years old, it’s one of the capital’s longest-standing vegan establishments, so it must be doing something right. The menus rotate to reflect British seasons and different cuisines from around the world, meaning each time you come back it can feel like a totally different experience. But don’t fret: you can always expect the likes of a nourishing Buddha bowl or comforting sausage and mash done the healthy way. If you’re too full for dessert by the end, pick up a freshly made vegan donut filled with seasonal jam from the deli to eat at home later.
14. Farmacy
As the name suggests, Farmacy champions the belief that food is medicine. Everything on the menu, then, is plant-based and free from refined sugars, additives and chemicals. Ingredients are grown on the restaurant’s own biodynamic farm in Kent and delivered weekly to the Notting Hill restaurant by electric van before becoming colourful plates such as jackfruit-loaded tacos and super-green soup. Even the cocktails feel almost guilt-free with the likes of a matcha caipiroska or a CBD-infused High Green gin concoction. Of course, the bright and beautiful setting is designed with reclaimed, untreated woods, natural-fibre upholstery and zero plastic.
CENTRAL
15. Bubala
Taking inspiration from the bold flavours and textures found across the Middle East, Bubala, meaning ‘darling’ in Yiddish, passionately shuns synthetic meat alternatives and instead works its magic with fruits and vegetables. Highlights, for instance, include skewers of charred oyster mushrooms seasoned with tamari, coriander seed and agave, while smacked cucumbers are brought to life with tahini and a chili crunch, and hummus is vibrantly accented with apricots and drizzled with jalapeño oil. Wash it all down with a glass of homemade sparkling gazoz, a sweet Turkish lemonade that will transport you away from Soho’s bustling Poland Street to a Middle Eastern paradise.
16. Native
Native is a zero-waste restaurant nestled within Browns Fashion’s flagship store on Brook Street. It champions ethical dining with a menu of seasonally led small plates, natural wines and foraged cocktails, served in the prettiest surroundings – the light, ivory space is accented with pastel hues, rattan chairs and fresh bouquets of flowers. Standout vegetarian offerings include celeriac in a Marmite beurre blanc with pickled walnuts, and Sussex halloumi with parsley honey and marjoram – and every dish has a recommended wine pairing.
17. Apricity
Another restaurant bringing ethical dining to Mayfair, Apricity strives to be as sustainable as possible in all facets, from responsibly sourcing from British suppliers to how it washes the dishes. To ensure the interiors match this ethos but are no less elegant, founder Chantelle Nicholson turned to architect firm Object. Place. Space, which specialises in designing sustainable interiors for hospitality spaces. The result: exposed concrete walls with beautiful cladding made from the old timber staircase, pendant lamps from recycled oyster shells and plenty of foliage hanging from the ceilings. For us, however, the real heroes are the side dishes: load your table with La Ratte potatoes cooked in brown butter and the mac ‘n’ roasted cauliflower kimcheese.
18. Tendril
“A (mostly) vegan pop-up restaurant”, Tendril in Soho was founded by chef and former carnivore Rishim Sachdeva (previously of The Fat Duck, Almeida, The Dairy and Chiltern Firehouse), who challenged himself to Veganuary a few years ago and never looked back. Now his focus is plant-led food that isn’t pigeonholed by cuisine or nationality, from crispy polenta and smoked tomato ratatouille to peanut sesame ramen with rice noodles, shallots and a beetroot fritter. It’s pet-friendly, too, for all the dog parents out there.
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