Vegan
Mallow is one of those 100% plant-based restaurants that you can easily bring your not-so-plant-based mates to. With its excellently thought-out and executed vegan dishes, it’s pretty tough to miss the presence of meat or dairy. Plus, the menu has also been designed to be as low waste as possible, with many ingredients like vegan feta and labneh to garden pickles and jams made on-site, as well as vegan wines and cocktails on the drinks list – bonus points there. While you can go down the starter and main route, we reckon sharing everything is the best way to eat at mallow, mainly because the small plates section is so good (especially the makhani mille feuille and their signature green oil gyoza). Other highlights include the green amok with five-spice tofu and the lahpet pilau. And make sure you save room for dessert, you won’t wanna leave without trying the chocolate caramel mousse cake. YUM.
Naïfs is a hidden gem on a quiet residential street in southeast London. The Peckham neighbourhood restaurant serves up a seasonal set menu and is one of only two vegan restaurants in the Michelin Guide – impressive. It’s also very reasonable, at £30pp for four knock-out dishes, sharing style. Our tip would be to save room for their desserts – we’re still dreaming of the Naïfs chocolate mousse.
TENDRIL
After a series of successful residencies and pop-ups, including a 2021 tenure at The Sun & 13 Cantons in Soho and a 2022 summer pop-up in Mayfair that kept on getting extended due to demand, Rishm Sachdeva’s (mostly) vegan Tendril has officially become a permanent fixture. And rightly so because this is where you’ll find some of the best plant-first cooking in town – Rishim is a dab hand with spices and makes clever use of texture to make the veggies really sing. The Discovery tasting menu is excellent value at just £45 and you get a very generous spread, including dishes like a silky cauliflower parfait, crispy potato terrine with fennel remoulade, smoked beetroot with spicy hoisin and sesame, crispy leek fritter with curry leaf aioli, chipotle mushroom with mushroom croquette and Rishim’s signature white bean spread, sweetcorn with charred wakame, and burnt Basque cheesecake. To match the menu, there’s a (mostly) vegan wine list made up of bottles sourced from low-intervention, European producers and a couple of options on tap, and cocktails crafted with ingredients from the Tendril kitchen.
EAT OF EDEN
If you’re after vegan food in Brixton, you wanna head to Eat of Eden, whose menu of Caribbean plant-based dishes has made them so popular that they’ve been able to expand with two more branches in Clapham and Lewisham. They’re known for their platters, which you can build yourself from the selection of curries, stews, rice and salads. Go for a mini platter (£13.95 for five items), an Eden platter (£19.50 for seven items) or a shared platter (£32 for 12 items) and settle into the Brixton Village patio (you might be here for a while). Expect affordable options and big portions – be careful not to fill up on the jerk jackfruit bites.
EDIT
Part of the booming scene of sustainable spots in the city, EDIT landed in Hackney with a plant-based, hyper-seasonal menu and carefully considered interiors. Named after the restaurant’s intention to cut out the overproduced, unnecessarily wasteful and single-use, EDIT aims to replace environmentally harmful practices with “the regenerative, the harmless, the natural and the wild”. To make up their daily changing menu, the EDIT team sources ingredients from small-scale farms, foragers and independent producers who use regenerative and minimal intervention methods with an emphasis on local produce. Expect a selection of modern British vegan dishes best paired with some of their low-intervention and local wines, beers and ciders.
WAVE
WAVE Stoke Newington is the second outpost of the cafe We Are Vegan Everything. As the name suggests, everything that WAVE serves is plant-based, without compromising on flavour. Expect the likes of the Breakfast Brioche (made with slow-roasted sweet cherry tomatoes, ‘edgy mayo’ aka kala namak tofu and watercress), the ‘Save the Salmon’ Bagel (made with marinated carrots, cream cheese, cucumber, dill and watercress) the gluten-free Mushroom Roll and baked goods. There’s also a selection of healthy, secret recipe milkshakes like salted tahini caramel and mint choc chip, and seasonal specials to keep an eye out for.
PLANT CLUB
If dietary requirements have you missing out on delish authentic Italian food, Plant Club is a restaurant to get on your list. Thanks to its owners’ Italian gluten-free and veggie backgrounds, Plant Club has crafted a menu of favourites from the cuisine that cater to intolerances while still tasting great – yes, it is possible. Their menu reads like a classic Italian trattoria, with arancini, pasta dishes such as gnocchi cacio e pepe, a range of pizzas with rice flour bases and the likes of tiramisù and gelato to finish. And, of course, there’s a list of organic wines to pair with your organic meal. Cin cin!
FACING HEAVEN
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
- Wednesday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
- Thursday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
- Friday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
- Saturday: 6:00 – 11:00 PM
- Sunday: Closed
Vegan Chinese spot Mao Chow has upped sticks and moved just around the corner – and become Facing Heaven in the process. And yes it’s still tiny, although at 28 covers, it’s double the size of the original spot. Despite the small size, it’s a fun vibe in there with brightly coloured yellow tables, black and white chequered floors, neon lights and a great soundtrack. Everything at Facing Heaven is still 100% vegan but founder Julian Denis has developed the menu to fuse Chinese dishes with his multicultural upbringing in LA, with Puerto-Rican, American and Portuguese twists shining through. Don’t miss the smacked cucumber, seaweed toast, dumplings in chilli oil made with ‘omnipork’,Chongqing cauliflower and the dan dan noods, and be sure to order a couple of MSG Margs to wash it all down with.
DESERTED CACTUS
Run by vegan influencer Esme, Deserted Cactus is a small cafe inside Holdrons Arcade that serves up hearty plant-based grub. The menu changes regularly but you can expect the likes of mac no cheese, southern fried jackfruit, three bean chilli, curry chickpeas, jerk tofu and coconut rice to make an appearance.
Halo Burger is the world’s first restaurant dedicated to the bleeding plant-based burger. They’ve taken the Beyond Burger and added their own secret seasoning, serving it up as a hamburger, cheeseburger, quarter pounder and Halo burger (two patties, onion, cheese and signature sauce), alongside a load of plant-based sides.
Afetr killing it on the festival and street food circuit, The Vurger Co finally went perm in Shoreditch in 2018. The restaurant serves up a full menu including the Tabasco Auburger, made from aubergines, chickpeas, red onion and vegan cheese, as well as the Classic, the Mexican and the MLT, packed full of baked mushrooms and rocket and topped with walnut and sundried tomato paste. Oh and there’s also the infamous mac’n’cheese and milkshakes.
THE SPREAD EAGLE
Being the OG 100% Vegan pub in London means the Spread Eagle have a lot to live up to. Thankfully, the food continues to be top notch and what’s decent is that they change their menu regularly in order to make the most of foraged and seasonal ingredients, with naughty veggie burgers being a menu mainstay from Head Chef Jamie Hetherington, who is at the helm of the vegan menu. Of course, their drinks (and interiors) are fully plant-based too and their rotating cocktail list is not one to miss. In warm weather they’ve got a space out back and one tip we’d give you is not to miss out on one of the best Sunday roasts in London, which you will find here, or you’ll regret it.
Going since 2004, 222 was doing vegan way before it was cool. Their all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet comes in at £11.50 and they do an a la carte menu in the evening, featuring the likes of seitan stroganoff, pumpkin and pine-nut risotto, egusi, and apple crumble.
Vegan fried chicken. Yep – it’s a thing. The “chicken” is actually made from seitan, which is wheat gluten deep-fried and seasoned just like the real thing. You can get it as a chicken burger, a wrap, wings and as a two-piece with fries, and they even do gluten-free nuggets too. Trust us, vegan or not, this meatless joint is worth the visit.
Running on Saturdays from 11am – 4pm, Soho Vegan Market, run by Street Food Union, is the place to go for vegan street food in central. With traders like Eat Chay, Young Vegans, Spicebox, Lime Hut, Planty Hugs and Jake’s Vegan Steaks, you can get everything from pies to cheesesteaks. You better go hungry!
For vegan recipes, check out Hello Fresh.
Hackney Downs Vegan Market, a collab between Fat Gay Vegan and Eat Work Art, is packed with hot food, drinks, cakes & sweets, and even vegan cheeses to take home. With regular traders like Cafe SoVegan and Vegan Delice returning each week – and a few spots for newbies – you’re sure to find something that tickles your vegan fancy.
Vegan Route is North London’s newest vegan market. From craft beer to wash down your street food from the likes of Little Leaf Food and Herbivorous to fresh produce to ethical clothes and cosmetics, they’ve got loads to check out. Bringing you new stuff every Sunday 12pm – 6pm.
Broadway vegan market is bringing you bomb vegan food – both to eat right there and take home – from 30 stalls (traders have included Club Mexicana, SpiceBox and The Dough Society), vegan wine and beer, and live music every Saturday from 10am – 4pm. Sounds like vegan paradise to us.