The Best London Restaurants for Vegans

London is heaven for vegan epicureans. With over 160 vegetarians restaurants in the City alone, you can go to a new one every week for three years. By then of course a few more may have opened up.

OK so about me, vegan since the turn of the millenium and vegetarian for a few more years before, I've eaten in great vegetarian restaurants in Madrid, San Francisco, Paris, Munich, Glasgow, Kyoto, Sydney, Melbourne, and ok ones in a few more cities. I've organised the London Vegan Meetup group lunches for the past two years, and as well as enjoying dining I like to cook a little too. Oh yes and I once co owned an excellent vegan restaurant in Brisbane, Australia.

Indian restaurants figure pretty highly here, because in my opinion London has some of the best Indian vegetarian restaurants I've been to. I haven't been to India yet though...

So here is my considered opinion on the best places for vegans to eat in London. I'm going to try to limit myself to just must visit places...here goes.

Manna

Manna Vegetarian is perhaps the oldest vegetarian restaurant still established in London and is now completely vegan. A refreshing few minutes walk from Chalk Farm tube station, it has the sort of atmosphere conducive to special occasions. The food is always beautifully presented, and the menu always has some interesting ingredients and unusual things to try. Plenty of vegan options with the occasional vegan dish, there are usually also at least two or three desserts to choose from. Price wise I would put it in the upper middle class of vegetarian restaurants, but well worth every penny. If you haven't been to Manna, it could be the best in London, so find a friend and book now.

222

222 Veggie Vegan in West Kensington is an almost exclusively vegan restaurant, though they do have milk for coffees etc. I've been there a few times for dinner and the most times it has been just lovely, though once or twice I haven't been inspired by what I was served. I've also been a few times for their lunch buffet which is always tasty, healthy and fantastic value. Their ice creams are also some of the best in London, though share with a friend as they are super sweet. This place is what everyday vegan food is about, for me this is a good place for groups of friends, certain on getting a good meal without paying more than they need to. Price wise I'd rate this as middle class.

Vanilla Black

Vanilla Black near Chancery Lane Tube is the poshest vegetarian restaurant in London. A very vegetarian heavy menu, when I went we mentioned we were vegans when booking and they printed out a special list for each of us. The entree I had there (deconstructed puy lentil daal) was one of the loveliest things I have ever eaten, and the desserts were all magnificent. This is the most expensive meal I've had in London (not including drinks) but it was a work of art. Highly recommended, you just have to go there at least once. Also the area around it has some of the loveliest buildings in London, the Law Courts, Kings College, the law Inns of London, so go for a walk beforehand.

Sagar

Sagar has three branches, one in Hammersmith and two in central London, one just off Tottenham Court Road and the other in Covent Garden. I first went here on a friends recommendation for my birthday, and it was really wonderful. Of a group of eighteen with only two vegetarians, all my friends went away full and happy, some even returning later on their own, which is high praise from our flesh centric friends. The Dosa's are wonderful, the Onion Rave Masala one I find hard to resist. My recommendation is go with friends and share everything, after all that's how Indian food really should be eaten. Reasonably priced and wonderful cuisine, I wish I was there now.

Vita Organics/Vantra

The cheapest of the restaurants on this page, Vita Organics doesn't mess around creating web sites when they could be putting that energy into making a great vegan selection. Organic and Vegan, this oasis in Soho in the centre of London is the place I've eaten at perhaps more than any other in the city. This is also the only restaurant at which I have had a three course raw meal...which wasn't as good as their other offerings actually, but still a great experience. Magnificent juices, cakes, you choose and pay for dishes according to scoops, which can range anywhere from one to seven. Working class prices (particularly if you go at off peak times), this place is the deserved vegan staple of London. The people who founded it have also opened another restaurant, Vantra, just off Oxford Circus, so another one to check out.

SAF

SAF has two restaurants in London, one in Shoreditch and another in Wholefoods on High St Kensington. I'm lucky enough to have also stumbled across their deli in Munich, providing some delicious and much needed lining in my stomache on the way to Oktoberfest. When I went to their London restaurant my lovely friend and I ordered the tasting menu, which was interesting and delicious. When you start out with vegan, organic, raw (ish) food, prepared in wonderfully creative ways you can't go too wrong. The tasting menu is probably not the option for the budget conscious, and even if you don't splash out on that but have a couple of their wonderful (wonderful!) cocktails and a bottle or two of vegan organic wine, well it starts getting to 40 quid per head quite quickly. So price wise at the upper margin but well worth it, SAF is a wonderful enigma and you need to go.

Woodlands

Woodlands seems to be something of a controversial restaurant here in London as opinion seems mixed. In fact after taking a non veg friend there, he was going to revisit because he enjoyed it so much however the bad reviews put him off. Now I should say they have a few branches in London so it's possible they vary, but I've been to three now and it has always been simply fabulous. I've taken large groups of ten to twenty people there three times, as well as going myself a couple more, and it has always been not only great, but often sublime. They have a Thali there which includes a Dosa and an Uttupam, which is the best Thali I have ever had bar none. I also had a vegetable dumpling dish there once which was amazing. So I can only say go to the one in Piccadilly, order one of their Thali's, savour one of the best meals available on the planet, and be as mystified as me by the reviews. Price wise, you should get out of there under 25 quid.

After thoughts

OK I think I will end it there, perhaps I will come back and add more on reflection, but these would give one a wonderful week of eating in London. There are a number which might make it into this list after I eat there again, Rasa Indian in Stoke Newington was one of the best meals I ever had but not as good on the second visit, the Gate in Hammersmith is super cool and a great date place, but the food isn't quite as profound as I'd hoped and their vegan options aren't great, Mildred's in Soho serves up predictably great food but not being able to book a table makes it a difficult place to recommend, Beatroot, also in Soho is one of the best places for a quick lunch around, but eating out of a cardboard box isn't for everyone, if you are a cake fan Inspiral Lounge in Camden is your friend, Pogo's in Hackney for Sunday breakfast is absolutely perfect, Peking Palace in Archway is a wonderful place for those who like chinese style "mock" cooking, and Drummond St in Euston has two wonderful Indian restaurants in Chutneys and Diwana's with the latter just pipping the former for lunch buffet but the accolades reversed for dinner. My friend Salim thinks that Ravi Shanka's on the same street is the best Indian place in London, and I did once had a paper dosa there which made me ponder how it could be more perfect as I ate it. Then you have the amazing Tibit's off Regent St which is a fantastic buffet, and the latest of Aldo Zilli's restaurants, Zilli Green in Soho, serving up great vegan food, but sadly not great vegan pastas. I've limited myself to London as I know it well, but there's also some great restaurants outside of London, Demuth's in Bath, Terre a Terre and Food for Friends in Brighton are some which spring to mind, also great places to visit. Hope you get to some of these wonderful places, let me know what you thought.