Vegan friendly cafes and restaurants you really like in London

[Korn]

Here's a new version of the poll - with some recent additions.

[harpy]

Good idea to have a new one. If it isn't too late to holepick , Chutney's seems to be on there twice (unless there's two?) and I'm afraid Tibits has closed one of its London locations (the Westfield one).

[harpy]

My favourite tends to be the last one I went to unless it's really terrible of course. Am very smitten with Tibits at the moment, though it would be even better if were completely vegan.

[VeganMonkey]

I can't get enough of Tibits - I must be in there at least once a week! The staff are friendly and helpful and one or two are vegan, and it's got a really relaxed feel to it. I like that you can sit as long as you want and not feel pressured and it's a really flexible place to meet as some people can eat a big meal, some a snack, some nothing, some drink cocktails, some coffee etc. I just read Harpy's news that the Westfield one has closed - I really hope the Heddon St one doesn't go the same way as I'd be lost without it now (it's my suggested meeting place no matter who I'm seeing!)

[harpy]

I just read Harpy's news that the Westfield one has closed

It says that on their website - http://www.tibits.co.uk/e/guests/guestbook/

It seems Westfield isn't doing too well in general; it opened at just the wrong time didn't it? Regent St is a better locale, so fingers crossed.

[Marrers]

The Gate is down twice and GiGi Hut has closed down.

Shame about that branch of Tibits closing - it was making me more inclined to have a look at Westfield. Totally agree with VeganMonkey about flexibilty for a crowd who don't all want a big meal.

What is WANC?

[VeganMonkey]

What is WANC?

[milliemoo]

It's been a year since I’ve posted. I became overcome with message board shyness, but have been loitering for a while . I determined to beat this shyness!!!

I vote for Mildred’s and 222, both of which I've visited and loved.

I was looking for some recommendations of where to eat around Euston area. I'm off on holiday to Scotland (taking the sleeper train - very excited) and was hoping to grab a bite to eat before I head off (I don't think the vegan options - if any - on the sleeper train will be particularly exciting).

I had looked at Ravi Shankar or Diwana Bel-Poori House but seen some awful reviews about the service. I think maybe Chutney's might be a better option?

Any other places that might be worth visiting or that you guys recommend?

Many thanks

Moo

[Marrers]

You'd be better to ask on the London thread milliemoo.

(The people who'd know check it more often or might not have subscribed to this thread yet as it's fairly new. Harpy reviewed Chutneys on there very recently but depending on what time you are going Planet Organic on Torrington Street might be an option.)

[milliemoo]

Hello Marrers Many thanks for your response.

I will be looking to eat at about 7.30ish. I did a search on Planet Organic. It seems it's open till 9pm mid week, which would be ideal. It also seems that they sell Vegan wines? I might be able to pick a bottle up to take on the train with me (although I'm not sure how I will drink this with out glasses - I might look a bit strange just drinking from the bottle - I shall have to figure a way).

Kind Regards

Moo

[Marrers]

What is WANC?

Well I decided to look it up and found it appears to be defunct. It only ran one evening a month anyway (women only) but the last events on their website appear to be 2007 and the myspace page has not been logged on to since Feb 2008.
http://www.myspace.com/wanccafe
http://www.wanc-cafe.org.uk/

[Korn]

I've added some links to the various places inside the poll list itself. If any of you want to contribute with more web addresses, I'll insert them into the poll as well!

[harpy]

The address for The Gate is http://www.thegate.tv/gate2008/web/default.asp.
Riverside Vegetaria http://www.rsveg.plus.com/
Sagar http://www.gosagar.com/
Woodlands http://www.woodlandsrestaurant.co.uk/

You might want to de-list Eat and Two Veg as they are closed, either temporarily or permanently.

ETA but you could add Carnevale http://www.carnevalerestaurant.co.uk/ which is quite nice though it doesn't have a huge amount of vegan options.

EagainTA Blah Blah Blah http://www.blahvegetarian.com/ which is now more vegan-friendly than it used to be.

[Marrers]

Blah Blah Blah which is now more vegan-friendly than it used to be.

That's good too know, thanks harpy. (I remember having to ring to see what the one vegan option was but haven't been there for ages.)

[harpy]

Yes, I gathered last time I went they have a new chef so perhaps he's more into doing vegan stuff.

The menus on their site currently are the special Christmas menus and so not representative, but you'll see they do have more than one vegan thing per course (except for des(s)ert where there's only one, but IIRC that's one more than they used to have!).

[Korn]

Thanks for your info, Harpy - I just added your suggestion, and also Itadaki Zen:

[Linxie]

Has anyone been to ITADAKI ZEN? Is it open? The website just says coming soon

[Gwydion]

^ I was in the area on Saturday and managed to find it by fluke. After separating a man and his drill, was told they would be open "two weeks Monday".

[Linxie]

I'm quite excited to see the menu and give it a try. I don't work too far from there

[harpy]

Thanks for that fearless investigative work, Gwydion

I was under the impression that it had opened already because I thought I'd read one or two reviews online. They must have been written by someone with second sight

Anyway, I expect we'd all better hurry up and go there then! Please report back Linxie, if you try it soon.

[Sunkist]

Macrobiotic Cafe 100% Vegan cafe, http://www.macrobioticafe.com/index.html

Is well worth a visit, set in the heart of Primrose Hill. We had some tea and cakes which were nice, but they serve lots of mains, salads, soups, etc.
I liked the food and the fact that it was 100% vegan and Macrobiotic , but the only drawback was the limited number of seats available if you want to eat-in. I think they offer a take-away service also,

[harpy]

That's very interesting, Sunkist - at one time I read there weren't any macrobiotic places in Britain, is that still the only one I wonder?

Strangely, macrobiotic food seems easier to get in Paris than London.

[Sunkist]

That's very interesting, Sunkist - at one time I read there weren't any macrobiotic places in Britain, is that still the only one I wonder?
Strangely, macrobiotic food seems easier to get in Paris than London.

I thought maybe there were some non-vegan macrobiotic restaurants in London but this is the first vegan one I've heard of...apparently they are popular in Japan... are the ones in Paris vegan ?

[harpy]

I can't think of a vegan one unfortunately Sunkist - in fact the two that I can think of that seem to specialise in macrobiotic food serve fish, but they know what "vegan" is (they are les 5 saveurs d'Anada and Guen Mai). There are/were also a couple of vegetarian places that served some macrobiotic food - Le Grenier de Notre Dame and La Victoire Supreme du Coeur.

However I haven't been there for a few months and I see La Victoire Supreme du Coeur has turned itself into a non-vegetarian place with some vegetarian food, dammit http://www.vscoeur.com/

[Aerfen]

Thanks for the info Helen, but I do not live near London and will be out of the country on that day, anyway.

[Korn]

sadly the first Vegan London thread seems to have disappeared, which is a shame as it will have contained lots of useful info and reviews.

Vegan London, part 1

;-)

[Marrers]

I really, really searched this area for it too because I was convinced it would still be here - I must be losing my sight! Thanks Korn.

[karen_87]

Hi everyone, Im off to London tomorrow for my birthday and looking for somewhere nice to eat...Ive looked at Mildreds and it looks very nice. Can anyone recommend any other alternatives? Thanks

[beanstew]

Hi everyone, Im off to London tomorrow for my birthday and looking for somewhere nice to eat...Ive looked at Mildreds and it looks very nice. Can anyone recommend any other alternatives? Thanks

Tibits!

[twinkle toes]

a friend of mine took me out for dinner at vita organic the other night and i thought it was absolutely amazing! the food is great (and fairly cheap) and i just thought there was a nice atmosphere in there too, it was almost like having dinner at a friends house or something

[harpy]

Yes I like VitaOrganic too - it also seemed to go down quite well with omnivores I've been with, presumably because you can have salady things that don't seem too lunatic-fringe

[Hel]

Zilli Green isnt in the poll, also if routemaster is the vegan routes places, in the bus at soho im afraid that has gone now too

[Gwydion]

also if routemaster is the vegan routes places, in the bus at soho im afraid that has gone now too

Hi Hel.

Two different places luckily. Rootmaster is based near Liverpool street, Veganroutes was the bus stationed in Soho. Completely unconnected apparently.

[Miss_Vegan]

Hi guys,

Hope everyone is well.

I have been meaning to go to the vegan boutique Vx in Caladonian Road near Kings Cross Station since I became vegan. I finally went last week, and had a great time. Our dogs were welcome which is always a plus. My partner is not veg*n but was happy to take me there, I got a crazy rumours lip balm which is amazing, a Ms Cupcake cheesecake cupcake which was heavenly (!) some Bianco Vegourmet cheese, allowing me to have my first pizza in nearly a year yesterday, and a cute top with 'vegan' written on it in tattoo-style lettering.

With my veganniversary coming up next month, I wanted to try out a vegan restaurant, get dressed up, make a night of it. So was wondering if anyone had good experiences of one, or maybe just a fun vegan day out. Veganism is becoming more widely accepted by businesses, there's got to be some fun to be had here!

Love to hear from anyone who has had a good day/ night out in London and where they went.

[harpy]

Vx is lovely isn't it? I think they sometimes have their own dogs there too - did you see them?

Now that the main Saf in Shoreditch isn't there any more I think the poshest all-vegan place may be Manna, but I haven't been there for years so won't attempt to describe it...I think there may be some reports on the forum if you search though. 222 is not posh at all but I have had many fun evenings there and I'm sure they won't mind if you dress up

http://www.veganlondon.co.uk/eat/

[Miss_Vegan]

Firstly, sorry I posted this in the wrong place, still finding my feet in the forum.

Thanks for the link Harpy. I'll check it out when I have a spare minute.

Unfortunately there weren't any dogs at Vx when we went, but I'm sure we'll go again, so maybe next time. They let me try the top on, to make sure it fitted, my poor little Cavalier cried at the top of her lungs until I came back. I bet that has made us popular!! The guy there was very friendly, but didn't seem that into dogs. Which is fair enough.

Yeah, not so much looking for a posh place, I feel pretty uncomfortable in super posh places, with my lip piercing and all (!) but it's just nice to have an occasion to dress up a bit for.

[Troutina]

I recommend Manna! I also recommend booking...!

[harpy]

Would you say Manna was posh, Troutina?

[Troutina]

Would you say Manna was posh, Troutina?

I would say it was fairly posh - not to the same degree as Saf or Terre a Terre (Brighton) but you can wear a nice dress and it feels quite fancy!

[harpy]

Oh well, that doesn't sound too posh, you don't have to dress up to the nines for Terre a Terre if you don't feel like it.

They wouldn't object to Miss_Vegan's lip piercing would they?

[Troutina]

Oh well, that doesn't sound too posh, you don't have to dress up to the nines for Terre a Terre if you don't feel like it.

They wouldn't object to Miss_Vegan's lip piercing would they?

Oh no, not at all!!

[Miss_Vegan]

Hi guys. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Just wanted to update, my OH and I were in central London yesterday, so we popped in Vantra for a coffee and a bite. I had a 'Living Latte' which I thought was the only coffee they did, but it isn't. Not to my taste unfortunately, but the blueberry muffin I had was amazing. I didn't realise how much I had missed the simple muffin! Anyway, was sort a of canteen style in there, not so much the restaurant I was expecting, but that's ok. However, the staff were stressed and seemed really unhappy, made me feel like I was in the way. Maybe that's just me, but it has put me off getting dressed up and having dinner there. To be fair though, the food looked amazing. Great for an informal quick bite.

Ok, gotta run, just wanted to add that!!

[harpy]

Yes, I have found the atmosphere in Vantra a bit gloomy but I've only been a couple of times - perhaps they have cheery times as well! Must say I like both the food in the atmosphere in Tibits better but Vantra scores for being completely vegan of course. Must go and try the muffins.

[victoriangirl]

Why is Inspiral Lounge not on this list? Or maybe they changed its name but it is my favourite veg*n place on the planet. I go there every time I'm in London and feel like the happiest person alive. It is also such a great place to sit by yourself without feeling awkward. (if that makes any sense) Their tiramisu is heavenly! (I am not much of dessert person but this one made me go insane. I had 2 tiramisu's on 1 day!!)

[Marrers]

Yes, inSprial Lounge should be added. (Although I hate to tell you victoriangirl I think the tiramisu - my previous favourite - has gone downhill. I tried it twice recently and both times found it too horrible to eat which is really saying something for me, I don't ever throw cake away!

I'm surprised Manna has such few votes - perhaps it has only become 100% vegan since people voted (and we cannot vote again)

Pepperton, Red Veg, Rootmaster bus, V&M, Gigi Hut and (the main branch of) Saf have now closed down. Eat & Two Veg remains closed.

The long established Peking Palace and Mr Man (in Edgeware which wasn't listed) have both become branches of Loving Hut - both so much better than the first Loving Hut in Camden branch in my opinion. I think Futures has a new name.

I believe there is some doubt about how vegetarian some of the chinese buffet places are now (? meat or meat stock being used on the sly as well as some officially now serving meat too) but I don't know the details as I haven't been to any of them for a few years now. Hopefully someone else can update that list.