O
h London. There’s no place quite like it. With
over 300 languages spoken and more than a
third of the population foreign-born, the bells of
Big Ben chime over this melting pot of a city. Brimming
with diversity, one can find all walks of life – including
different kinds of cuisine, allowing you to eat until your
heart (or stomach) is content.The UK has seen a boom in its meat-free population
in the past 10 years, with a 360% increase of vegans
in the country. This has led to the capital becoming a
paradise for vegans, and with a metro system (known
locally as ‘the tube’) that boasts 270 stations, you’re
never far away from a delicious meal at a vegetarian or
vegan restaurant.Eat!
When there are so many vegetarian and vegan
restaurants around, it’s possible to visit London and
never visit an omnivorous restaurant. A short walk
from Hackney Central station is the Temple of Seitan
that’s taken the capital by storm when it opened earlier
this year. A quick take-out place, Temple of Seitan
is a deep fried ‘chicken’ shop, where you can enjoy
some delicious fried wheat-meat without the guilt and
indulge in some vegan mac-n-cheese. If you’re still on
a junk-food run, why not get down at Holloway Road
station and head to Cookies and Scream, a vegan and
gluten-free ice-cream bar, and have a cookie-doughsalted-caramel ice-cream shake? You can also check
out Yorica in Notting Hill or Soho, whose vegan and
allergen-free fro-yo/ice-cream store will satisfy your
sugar cravings. For more sweet treats, head over
to Ms Cupcake’s vegan bakery for sweet treats and
cupcakes, located in Brixton.If you’ve managed to burn of the calories from all that
vegan fried ‘chicken’ and ice-cream roaming around
the city, head over to Mildreds for dinner. Originally
in Soho, this extremely popular vegetarian restaurant
(even with omnivores), has opened three additional
branches recently: in Kings Cross, Camden and
Dalston. For starters, I recommend their succulent
Gyoza dumplings, and for mains either their homemade
burger or creamy Sri Lankan curry, with a side of fries
and their homemade vegan basil mayo. They even
have a melt in the mouth gluten-free brownie, if you
have enough space left. Speaking of Soho, the popular
coffee chain Pret-a-Manger has opened an entirely
vegetarian and vegan branch here, along with another
in Shoreditch, if you want something lighter. If you
like a nice pint of beer with a heartier meal, check out
Soho’s Coach and Horses, London’s only vegetarian
pub – serving food and booze 7 days a week til late.
For a taste of China, it may be tempting to eat at the
non-veg friendly China Town in central London – after
your visit, simply take the tube to Archway and head
to Loving Hut for a fully vegetarian (and mostly vegan)
Chinese restaurant – the veggie chicken satay and
veggie sizzling butter chicken are phenomenal!London
Vegan Heaven On Earth
- John Harvey