5 WICKEDLY AWESOME PLACES FOR VEGAN FOOD IN LONDON, ENGLAND
With over 420 vegan & vegetarian restaurant options available, according to Happy Cow, vegan & veggie folks in London, England certainly have choice when it comes to their food. London has seen an increase of over 260% in the number of vegans living there in the past decade and this trend is forecast to continue into the future.
This means there are some pretty fantastic options available and we found 5 wickedly awesome vegan restaurants you MUST visit when you are next in London, England:
Unity Diner
PHOTO: Unity Diner logo
photo by Unity Diner
Opened on October 1st, 2018 by “Earthling Ed”, a vegan activist with a large following on YouTube, this restaurant is the newest on our list, but the buzz so far is that things couldn’t taste better.
Ed, with the help of a yet unnamed donor, started working on plans to make their non-profit organization, Surge, into a self-sustaining business and that is where Unity Diner was born.
PHOTO: Beautifully crafted vegan food at Unity Diner
photo by Unity Diner
This diner will host a delicious menu of vegan burgers & comfort foods - including seitan chicken, fish bites, burgers, salads, and desserts.
All of the profits from Unity Diner will go directly to an animal rights organization called Surge as well as the development of a new animal rescue sanctuary just outside of London by late 2019.
PHOTO: Vegan Co-Owner & Activist Ed Winters
photo by Unity Diner
"Unity Diner allows people to become an active part of creating a world where compassion towards all non-human animals is the norm.”
- Ed Winters (Co-Founder)
Black Cat Café
PHOTO: Black Cat Vegan Café Logo
photo by Black Cat Café
This 100%, non-profit vegan cafe opened in East London in 2013 and has been run as a cooperative since it’s inception. The Black Cat Café offers snacks, sausage rolls, samosas, full meals, coffee and more. There is also a large selection of items to purchase to take home if you don’t feel like eating while you are there.
PHOTO: Exterior of Black Cat Café
photo courtesy of Black Cafe Café
Don’t go expecting luxury as this place is down to earth, with mismatched chairs and tables. You’ll get an authentic experience with wickedly awesome food. That’s why we suggest visiting The Black Cat Cafe and letting us know what you think.
“We hardly ever follow recipes, we look at them take inspiration and then cook in our own way. We are so lucky to be living in London, such a multicultural city where you can take inspiration from authentic kitchens from all around the world”
- Black Cat Café’s website
Essence Cuisine
PHOTO: Essence Cuisine Logo
photo by Essence Cuisine
This consistently 5* rated restaurant (on Happy Cow) was opened in London in September 2017 and is part of an epic plan by entrepreneur, Bart Roman & plant-based chef, Matthew Kenney to bring their “80/20 lifestyle principle” to the world while providing everyone with delicious plant-based & sustainable dishes for each and every meal.
PHOTO: Delicious vegan tortilla wrap from Essence Cuisine
photo by Essence Cuisines
The original Essence Cuisine started as a pop-up in Belgium in 2014 and has now expanded to London and includes not only their main restaurant but also their “Essence Express” grab-and-go brand providing snacks, sandwiches and lunch items for those of us on the go.
PHOTO: Essence Cuisine Express Logo
photo by Essence Cuisine
There also is organic, cold-pressed juices, vegan wines and cold-pressed cocktails. Sounds like you could make this your go-to place every day of the week and try something new.
PHOTO: Grab and go items are available from Essence Express
photo by Essence Cuisine
“There is a misconception that healthy food isn’t as ‘tasty’ or decadent as unhealthy food. We challenge anyone to take a bite of our raw cakes, or raw pancakes and see if they feel deprived!”
- Matthew Kenney
PHOTO: The Spread Eagle Pub Logo
photo by The Spread Eagle Pub
Om Omm Ommm… Sorry, I’m chewing on my hand right now thinking of all the amazing pub food that I could eat at this 100% vegan pub.
This place offers a fun and exciting vegan experience in a traditional pub setting. That being said, the Mexican-influenced street food that is created daily by Club Mexicana, brings something unique to this space which is why this place comes so highly recommended. Their website says it all. “if you are looking for chickpeas and chia seeds, you’re in the wrong place”. Sounds like a tasty meal to me.
PHOTO: Interior of The Spread Eagle Pub
photo by The Spread Eagle Pub
And if all this isn’t enough for you, this pub offers 16 taps of vegan beer, yes vegan beer and they use aquafaba, instead of egg whites, to make some of the more popular old-fashioned cocktails each day.
As of January 2018, The Spread Eagle Pub became London’s first fully vegan pub with food, drinks, fittings and fixtures being plant-based and sustainably sourced, when possible.
Check out more about Club Mexicana here and get over to The Spread Eagle Pub to let us know what your favourite dish is.
PHOTO: Friends enjoying food and drink at The Spread Eagle Pub
photo by The Spread Eagle Pub
“At one point, you would’ve hidden that you were vegan; now it’s a case of being loud and proud. All of a sudden, you no longer feel meat eaters have the upper hand.”
-Meriel Armitage, owner
Temple of Hackney (Seitan)
PHOTO: Temple of Seitan Logo
photo by Temple of Seitan
Now that we’ve covered a diner, café, restaurant, & pub let’s finish this amazing food journey off with a great London vegan takeaway.
The Temple of Seitan (their Temple of Hackney location) is the perfect spot. It opened in 2017, and apparently has had a “queue” since opening. This joint is a classic “burger” joint with plant-based burgers, chick’n sandwiches, wings & strips as well as sides like fries, coleslaw and mac & cheese (yes, please!). Just looking at the photos online is making me hungry.
PHOTO: Burger and Fries from Temple of Seitan
photo courtesy of Temple of Seitan
And recently they just opened their first “proper restaurant” and have called it Temple of Camden, where they’ll include indoor seating and a much warmer way to line up to get your “wings”, “strips” and sandwiches than in the past.
PHOTO: Comfort foods abound at the Temple of Seitan including Mac & Cheez, Wings & Chick'n strips
photo courtesy of Temple of Seitan
“We are 100% in it for the animals so its always been the dream to offer something that appeals to everyone and is preferable to chicken itself. ‘We pride ourselves on being able to offer a product that eases the transition to veganism or to assist someone in cutting down.”
- Rebecca McGuinness, owner
So there you have it, 5 wickedly awesome and unique spaces in London England to find vegan food and drink.
Check out our interactive London England Vegan Spots Map here.
With all that choice on Happy Cow though, we couldn’t possibly have found all of the best, so we want you to let us know…
Where is your favourite London, England vegan spots to eat?
Got a city you think we should spotlight?
Send us an email to admin@veganvacations.ca and let us know.
Sources:
https://london.eater.com/2018/3/28/17167886/vegan-food-restaurants-london-explained
https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/breaking-earthling-ed-to-open-non-profit-vegan-diner-in-central-london
https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/510132/essence-cuisine-vegan-restaurant-to-open-in-shoreditch
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/14/spread-eagle-hackney-vegan-meat-free-food
https://metro.co.uk/2018/01/19/temple-of-seitan-announces-opening-date-of-new-camden-branch-7243934/?ito=cbshare
Updated: February 17th, 2020