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Five of the Best Vegan Restaurants In London

Ellie Swain

Senior Contributor

It seems like every week a new vegan joint is cropping up in a fashionable district in London. Gone are the days of meat and two veg, nowadays it seems everyone and their mother is opting for a vegan diet, and London is catering to these shifts like no tomorrow. While most restaurants in London offer a vegan option or two on the menu, there are plenty of restaurants that are dedicated to dishing up delicious and creative vegan fare. We’re not just talking smoothie bowls. Foodies can indulge on vegan alternatives of everything from fried chicken to cheese-laden pizza. There are so many vegan restaurants in London that choosing where to eat can be a tad overwhelming. That’s where we come in to help. Here are five of our tried and tested favourites to fill your stomachs with vegan goodness.

Café Van Gogh, Brixton

As you enter the colourful Café Van Gogh in South London’s soulful Brixton, the first thing you’ll notice is the jazzy and vibrant art that adorns the walls. An ideal breakfast, lunch, or brunch spot, on sunny days, opt to dine alfresco in the courtyard to enjoy scrummy vegan fare in serene surroundings (for London, anyway!).

Offering a versatile menu full of ‘classic’ vegan dishes such as scrambled tofu on sourdough and butternut squash mac ‘n’ cheese, Café Van Gogh also dishes up more unique plates, such as the flavoursome jerk plantain.

The cosy café is also renowned as serving one of the best vegan Sunday roast lunches. Make the effort to leave your couch to remediate your hangover and you’ll be rewarded with a hearty portion of nut and butternut squash wellington dished up with all the trimmings.

Wulf & Lamb, Chelsea

You wouldn’t think Wulf & Lamb would be a dedicated vegan restaurant judging by the name. But when you discover the restaurant’s motto is ‘Run with the wolves, eat with the lambs’, it all makes sense.

Snug in the heart of upmarket Chelsea, Wulf & Lamb offers delightful vegan breakfasts as well as delicious and filling mains.

The menu boasts plenty of choices, with some of the standouts including the house Wulf Burger that consists of a seitan burger served with salad and cashew aioli in a brioche bun and the Chilli Non Carne. This is a smoky concoction of spicy mushrooms, lentils, and kidney beans teamed with cashew sour cream.

For vegan comfort food at its finest, opt for a stomach-warming pizza such as the chestnut mushroom and baby spinach option.

And don’t forget to leave room for dessert. The freshly baked coconut rum cake soaked in Caribbean rum and topped with juicy strawberries and whipped ‘cream’ is divine.

By Chloe, Various Locations

New York City’s favourite vegan joint recently cropped up in London, offering four branches in Covent Garden, Tower Bridge, Oxford Circus, and the O2 Arena.

Dishing up fast food style vegan fare, By Chloe’s famous burgers and salads not only taste delicious but look the part too. Don’t forget to snap a photo or two for the perfect Insta-shot for the gram.

Favourites on the menu include hearty guac burgers, quinoa taco salads, and sweet potato fries. These are comfort food dishes that are not only mouth-watering but are good for you too. And as well as being completely vegan, the restaurant is also an artificial flavour and preservatives free zone. That means even the beetroot ketchup and chipotle aioli are wholesome options.

The Covent Garden and Tower Bridge branches give a nod the to the classic dishes and flavours of the city, offering a special crispy tofu ‘fish ‘n’ chips’ and a royal roast consisting of roasted celery root, glazed carrots, Yorkshire puddings, thyme potatoes, green beans, and a dollop of rosemary gravy. And here’s not forgetting the scrumptious sticky toffee pudding served with coconut whipped cream that’ll send your taste buds into a frenzy.

Genesis, Shoreditch

In the heart of London’s trendy district of Shoreditch sits the pink-hued vegan restaurant Genesis.

Relax into the bubblegum pink sofas and feast on the vegan fare with influences from Thailand, America, and the Middle East. Rumour has it that the food is so good that vegans and carnivores alike keep returning for more.

For mains, indulge in the likes of the middle eastern bowl filled with roasted cauliflower, spicy chickpeas, brown rice, sweet potato, steamed kale, lemon tahini dressing, and a whole host of other exotic flavours.

The dessert menu offers dishes that are more classic but tasty nonetheless. These include the likes of an English style Eton mess served with aquafaba meringue, delicate coconut cream, vanilla, fresh raspberries and a drizzle of raspberry sauce.

Wave, Hackney

Another popular vegan joint is Wave in Hackney, the name standing for We Are Vegan Everything. With lush whitewashed interiors inspired by beachy Balinese vibes, Wave serves everything from soya-based freak shakes to lunchtime open sandwiches to fruit-filled acai bowls.

With trendy furnishings and even more impressive vegan food, Wave is an ideal breakfast, lunch, or brunch spot for those on a plant-based diet.

If you’re into sweet treats, go wild with the café’s overflowing freak shakes or indulge in the range of yummy baked goods.

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