Taking on Veganuary this year? These are the dishes you’ll want to try
If you do want to rein it in a bit after the excesses of the festive season or you want to take on a new challenge, January is the perfect time to try cutting down on meat and dairy. Luckily going vegan, whether it’s just for the month or for the whole year, doesn’t have to mean eating leaves – unless you like leaves mind, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of salad.
The plant-based options available to us have improved drastically in recent years, and though veganism may not be trending in the same way it once was, there’s still an appetite for more thoughtful and considered consumption of animal products. There are a ton of Veganuary recipes out there that you could try, especially if you’re making a New Year’s resolution to cook more, but if you don’t trust yourself to be let loose in the kitchen, head out for one of these Veganuary specials instead.
Kolamba’s Vegan Set Menu
Modern Sri Lankan restaurant Kolamba is running vegan set menus, with three courses for £35, across both its Soho and Spitalfields locations. In Soho you can get Paniyaram, crispy fermented rice flour batter served with fresh chutneys; Kalu Pol Pumpkin with sides of Dhal, Beetroot Curry, Pol Sambol and Rice; and coconut Watalappam for dessert. At the newly opened Kolamba East, the menu includes Idli with Sambar, rice and lentil dumplings served with chutneys; Cashew and Broadbean Curry with Channa Dahl, Fried Okra and Rice; and Payasam, a spiced rice pudding.
Available at Kolamba Soho and Kolamba East throughout January 2025
Pastaio x Denai Moore’s Mango Coconut Tiramisu
Pastaio is kicking off 2025 with a limited-edition tiramisu series, where some of London’s best pop-up chefs and cookbook authors are putting their spin on the classic pud. Denai Moore, author Plentiful: Vegan Jamaican Recipes to Repeat is first up with her tropical take on the Italian dessert, featuring plant-based mango cream and ginger nut biscuits dipped in mango, vanilla and coconut milk.
Available at Pastaio throughout January 2025
Babur’s Veganuary Menu
Not content with doing a Veganuary special, Forest Hill’s Babur is doing a whole limited-edition Veganuary menu. You can feast on the likes of Kale Pakora Chaat, Tandoori Swede, Prunes & Palak Kofta, and Babool Gond & Lentil Tart.
Available at Babur from 9th – 30th January 2025
Cinnamon Club’s Veganuary Meal Kit and Cinnamon Kitchen’s Veganuary Menu
Both the Battersea and City branches of Cinnamon Kitchen are running a spesh Veganuary menu this January, costing £30 per person. In Battersea the menu features dishes like smoked sweet potato cake with roast butternut squash and tomato chutney; chargrilled cauliflower with spinach and nutmeg sauce; and spiced coconut rolls with palm jaggery sauce. In the City, you can get dishes like Punjabi samosa smash with curried white peas; root vegetable biryani with coconut raita and lemon pickle; and date & ginger pancake with coconut lime sorbet. And if you wanna get in on the Veganuary action at home, the Cinnamon Club has created a vegan meal kit, featuring bhel papdi chaat, mysore rasam, chargrilled cauliflower, grilled aubergine with sesame tamarind crumble, chola dal, Kerala sunshine rice and coconut kheer with chargrilled pineapple and quinoa crumble, ready to be finished and assembled at home, and you can order it here.
Available at Cinnamon Kitchen Battersea and City throughout January 2025
ROKA’s Mushroom & Asparagus Gyoza
Japanese robatayaki restaurant ROKA is putting a plant-based dumpling special on its menus for Veganuary this year. The kinoko to asuparagasu no gyoza are dumplings with a mushroom and asparagus filling and a spicy soy sauce for dipping.
Available at all ROKA locations throughout January 2025
Marugame Udon’s Veganuary Specials
Marugame Udon is a big supporter of Veganuary – 30% of the menu is vegan – so if you’re giving the plant-based life a go, you can head in for Creamy Kitsune Udon with sweet kitsune tofu, Sticky Yaki Udon Tofu, Tantan Mushroom with a rich sesame soup, Pumpkin Katsu Curry, Tofu Puff skewers, Green Gyoza, Sweet Chilli Tofu tempura and more.
Available at all Marugame Udon locations throughout January 2025
Hoppers’ No Marrow Varuval
Hoppers is taking one of its signature dishes and turning it plant-based this Veganuary. The No Marrow Varuval is a twist on the popular Bone Marrow Varuval, this time made with calabash that’s been marinated and simmered in the rich varuval sauce, giving you all the flavour of the original dish minus the meat.
Available at all Hoppers locations throughout January 2025
Flat Earth Pizza’s Veganuary Specials
Why do one Veganuary special when you can do three? That’s Flat Earth Pizza’s approach anyway as the pizzeria has added three new vegan pizzas to the menu. There’s a gochujang oyster mushroom, sesame, pickled spring onion and radish one; a tempeh bolognese, paprika onion, BBQ sauce and cashew crumb Sloppy Joe one; and the return of the black dal and spiced roast cauliflower creation, done in collaboration with DabbaDrop, which also includes a £1 donation to St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney.
Available at Flat Earth Pizza throughout January 2025
Shake Shack’s Crispy Shallot Menu
Shake Shack has brought its Crispy Shallot menu back for Veganuary – and February too. Running until the beginning of March, the limited-edition menu includes the Crispy Shallot burger, with a bespoke mushroom, onion and bulgur wheat patty made by Neil Rankin, smoky vegan cheddar, beer-marinated crispy shallots, lettuce and Dijonnaise; crinkle-cut fries topped with beer-marinated crispy shallots, Dijonnaise and spring onion; and a kiwi & starfruit lemonade.
Available at all Shake Shack locations until 3rd March 2025
Bone Daddies x En Root’s Tandoori Tender Bao
Instead of doing a collab ramen, Bone Daddies has gone for something a little different this Veganuary and teamed up with south London’s En Root for a collab vegan bao. The Tandoori Tender Bao is made with crispy tandoori oyster mushroom, carrot slaw, mango chutney, chilli, spring onion & En Root’s signature ‘Rajannaise’.
Available at all Bone Daddies locations throughout January 2025
Mildreds’ Sabor Los Angeles Menu
Mildreds may be a plant-based restaurant group but that hasn’t stopped them from doing a Veganuary special. The limited-edition Sabor Los Angeles menu is inspired by the Mexican connection to LA and the cultural fusion in the city, and features dishes like diosa verde salad with blackened sazón tofu steak; guajillo chorizo burrito with mushroom chorizo and chilli-infused red rice; and ube pandan tres leches.
Available at all Mildreds locations throughout January 2025
Boxcar Bar & Grill’s Vegan Sunday Roast
Going vegan doesn’t mean you have to miss out on a cracking Sunday roast. Boxcar Bar & Grill’s plant-based roast has a mushroom and beetroot wellington as the centrepiece, plus all the trimmings of roast potatoes, charred cabbage, roast carrots, Yorkshire puddings and plenty of portobello jus. And if you’re also doing Dry Jan, you can pair it with a Boxcar Sour (made with Everleaf Marine, green tea, jasmine and lime) or a Winter Spice (made with mulled spices, cranberry, rhubarb and lime).
Available at Boxcar Bar & Grill throughout January 2025
mallow’s Nikkei Vistosa Menu
mallow is mashing up Japanese and Peruvian flavours this Veganuary with its four-course Nikkei Vistosa menu. Feast on agedashi tofu in a vegetable broth; artichoke pineapple cactus ceviche; oyster mushroom anticucho with sazon amarillo rice; and sesame namelake with white chocolate matcha anglaise.
Available at mallow Canary Wharf throughout January 2025
