Today, two weeks have passed since I came back from a trip to London. Last week I wrote about traveling from Amsterdam to Londen by train. That’s a huge part of traveling sustainably. Another big aspect of a sustainable trip is the food you eat. Vegan food is the most sustainable food. That’s why I wanted to make a list of amazing vegan food in London. Here are some vegan restaurants in London that I personally loved. I experienced London as a vegan food walhalla!
This list is in alphabetical order. The sequence does not say anything about which place I loved most.
Bubala
Okay, apparently I lied about the sequence. It’s coincidence, but this restaurant is the place I love most. This place is my absolute number one in London. It’s not even entirely vegan, they offer some vegetarian food too. Usually, I prefer vegan restaurants, because that’s the diet I have. However, this place was so amazing that I can ignore that. Bubala offers middle-eastern food. We had some hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, flatbread, skewers, and much more. We did not try everything, but the things we did try were amazing! If you can only pick one restaurants: choose this one, trust me! And also: order the baba ganoush and skewer.
Accessibility: as far as I can access, this place is wheelchair friendly. There’s not a huge step at the entrance, the bathroom is on the same floor and it was really big too and there was enough room in the restaurant itself. I did not see any menu in braille.
Location: 15 Poland Street, London, W1F 8QE (this is the location we visited, but they have another one elsewhere).
Gallery Cafe
If you’re not British and you are visiting London, I think Gallery Cafe is definitely a must-visit. Why? They offer a typical British breakfast, entirely vegan. I personally love trying local food. It really makes you try new things and experience the culture. Gallery Cafe is a very cozy place and when the weather’s nice I think it might be even better, because they have a cute garden. The food is quite good, I find it hard to compare with anything else because I had never had a typical British breakfast before. But I did enjoy the food very much and was curious for more next time!
Accessibility: this place is not accessible to people using a wheelchair because there’s a huge stairs at the entrance. Maybe you can get in via a back entrance but I think that’s not okay. The bathroom can also only be reached by a stairs. I also did not see any menu options in braille.
Location: St. Margaret’s House, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green.
Govinda’s
This is a place I would recommend for lunch, not for dinner. Why? It has the feeling of a fast-food restaurant. There’s a counter where you can order something and the food’s ready within minutes. It’s all ready-made and they just serve it to you. Govinda’s is a place where they serve Indian food, a kitchen I personally adore. The food there is not the best vegan Indian food I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely good. My partner and I shared a ‘Govinda’s’, which is vegetarian, but I only ate the vegan food. Also, the food is quite cheap if you ask me. We paid about 14 pounds for a big lunch with two people and for one person that’s a big dinner. Good to know: they have a small yoghurt-ish vegan drink which is amazing, but unfortunately I forgot the name.
Accessibility: this place is not accessible to people who use a wheelchair. The tables are packed very closely together and there’s not much space around the counter. The bathroom is tiny and can only be reached by a stairs. I did not see any menu’s offered in braille.
Location: 10 Soho Street, London, W1D 3DL.
Holy carrot
I would describe this restaurant as very special. This is 100% vegan fine dining, if you ask me. I can really recommend the Sheppard’s pie, which is another typical British dish. Oh, and the bread with truffle butter! My partner and I also ordered some sushi and a dish with smoked eggplant. Those were not my favorites, but the flavors were really special. You can really tell that they base their food on plants, instead of any meat or dairy replacements. I personally love that, let’s make plants hot! The restaurant is also very cozy and chique. It was stacked full when we arrived there, which always is a good sign. But good to know: this was the most expensive restaurant we visited in London. It’s fine dining, so that’s not weird. But it’s good to know.
Accessibility: this restaurants is not accessible for people who use a wheelchair. The entrance has two huge stairs. I also did not see a menu offered in braille.
Location: Urban Retreat, 2-4 Hans Crescent, London SW1X 0LH
Korean BBQ and vegan
This place is amazing to go to if you want to have dinner with non-vegan friends. This is a restaurant which offers both a non-vegan and vegan menu. I am always conflicted about this, since I don’t want to financially support restaurants who serve dead animals. However, I have a partner who is non-vegan and we can’t only visit restaurants which are vegan. I have come to learn that it’s not good to push your vegan values on non-vegans. Anyway, about the food: it’s amazing! I had a dish of tofu, which was amazing. Simple, but amazing. Ah, and also make sure you try some gim! It’s an addiction of mine which I can really recommend haha.
Accessibility: this restaurant is not accessible to people using a wheelchair. I believe there’s a huge step at the entrance, if I remember correctly. Also, the bathroom is downstairs, which you can only get to by stairs. I also did not see any braille on the menu.
Location: 107 Whitecross Street, London, England EC1Y 8JD.
Mali Vegan Thai
There’s a lot of Asian food in this list. I personally love Asian food, so London is a great place for me to be. But it just stood out to me. Maybe it has to do with colonialism. Anyway, this restaurant serves Thai food. The menu is amazing, I found it hard to choose something. The dishes go from fake meat (they serve vegan duck here!) to whole-foods, so you can choose whatever floats your boat. I went with a whole-foods dish with eggplant. It was delicious! And quite a big portion. We had two main dishes with rice, one starter and two drinks and it costs about 55 pounds. We asked the waiter what his favorite dish was and that was the green curry. My dad ordered that one. It was a little too spicy for me personally, but other than that it was indeed good. The food is literally served within 10 minutes after ordering, so don’t expect to be eating here for a whole evening haha. It really depends on what you’re looking for, but if you want fast and delicious vegan Thai food, this is the place to be.
Accessibility: this place is not accessible to people using a wheelchair. The entrance is quite small and I think it has a step too. The bathroom is on the first floor and there’s no elevator. I also did not see any menu’s written in braille.
Tofu vegan
The name of this restaurant is not great, I have to admit that. It makes me feel like the food is very boring. But the contrary is true! Tofu vegan is a Chinese vegan restaurant with a huge menu. I personally do not love that, because it’s hard to pick anything. We ask the waitress which dishes we should pick and even she could not choose haha (but she was very friendly though!). We just made some random choices and it turned out great. I liked everything we got, but I would definitely recommend having the fried rice. As a vegan, that’s hard to find. At Tofu vegan they have some great fried rice with vegan egg and bacon! If you’re a sucker for Asian food, like me, visit this place. The restaurant is quite cozy as well!
Accessibility: this place is not accessible to people using a wheelchair. The entrance is really small and I think it has a big step too. The bathroom is on the first floor and there’s no elevator. I also did not see any menu’s written in braille.
Location: 28 N End Rd, London NW11 7PT (we visited the location in Golders Green, but they have two more elsewhere).
Wagamama
A restaurants like Wagamama in this list? A big chain? Well, yes. Wagamama has some amazing vegan food and they serve their food fast. Any Wagamama location is great for when you don’t have that much time to go dining, but you do want good food. Also, the Wagamama restaurants in London have a collaboration with Gaz Oakly, a vegan chef I am a big fan of. We tried his vegan egg, which was really special! I would recommend the vegan ribs and the fried greens as well, yummm. We went to a Wagamama location after we arrived in London, because arrived at 8pm and did not have that much time. The Wagamama restaurants are also great when you want to have dinner with non-vegan friends, because they do serve dead animals.
Accessibility: the restaurant itself is accessible to people using a wheelchair. However, they have tables and chairs which can’t be moved. I am not sure if someone who uses a wheelchair can join a table. Also, the bathroom which I used was very tiny and I did not see a special toilet for disabled people. I also did not see a menu offered in braille.
Location: 11 jamestown road, camden, London nw1 7bw (this is the location we visited, but they have many more).
About this list
That’s it for now! These were all the vegan restaurants in London that I personally love and would recommend. But remember: this list is never finished. I would definitely like to visit London again (even though Brexit makes that a little more difficult…)! And when I do, I will add new favorites to this list. For now, I hope you find this list useful and if you have any recommendations for me which I must visit, please reach out!
Yours sincerely,
Romee