The best vegetarian restaurants in London
For decades, vegetarian eating in London meant something hearty from a whole-food shop (invariably alfafa-ish and always impossibly earnest), or, if you went mainstream, another spirit-crushing plate of mushroom risotto. And then, almost overnight it seems, everything changed. The chefs got woke. Menus were re-written. A raft of cool speciality vegan London restaurants opened. New words entered the vocabulary: seitan, tempeh, to-fish. And just like that London became the culinary capital for meat-free meals. From soul bowls to Sunday roasts, we’ve put together a list of the best vegetarian restaurants in London.
Oliveira Kitchen
Best for: an imaginative, creative tasting menu
Brazilian chef E Amélio de Oliveira first opened the creative vegetarian restaurant Oliveira Kitchen on an unassuming, quiet street in East Sheen. Receiving glowing reviews from regulars and growing a following, the restaurant naturally outgrew the space and has since moved to a bigger venue on the busier streets of Shoreditch. Chefs prep plates in the circular kitchen, which takes centre stage on the ground floor modern dining room, while downstairs holds plenty more customers and will most likely be packed on a Friday and Saturday evening.
The seasonal menu will always centre around three critical Amazonian ingredients with substantial health benefits; these are açai (containing more nutrients than most superfoods), cupuacu (rich in antioxidants) and jaboticaba (anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory properties). There’s a real emphasis on producing high-quality dishes with organic ingredients sourced ethically and sustainably. Amélio works with farms and foragers who coexist with the natural world rather than take away from it. Skilful plates are designed using plenty of exotic flavours for a genuinely unique around-the-world dining experience.
We recommend ordering the tasting menu alongside the wine pairing. The nine courses are impeccably presented throughout. Staff knowledgeably explain all the ingredients used and the health benefits they provide. Stand-out courses for us were the sea buckthorn caviar and ceviche of açai hearts – orange bead-like berries containing vast amounts of vitamin C grown by the sea in Norway, alongside battered avocado and a slice of cupuacu flesh. With nine imaginative and delicious courses, served over a few hours, this special experience is one to remember. Sophie Knight
Address: Oliveira Kitchen, 80 Paul St, London EC2A 4NE
Website: oliveira.kitchen/shoreditch
Bubala
Best for: cutting edge veg
In Yiddish, the beautiful, historical language of Europe’s Ashkenazi Jews, Bubala means darling or sweetheart. It’s a word often used by doting grandparents, including those of Marc Summers, previously general manager at London’s Berber & Q, who, along with chef Helen Graham, has created this lovely Spitalfields restaurant in their honour. It’s a homely place full of good cheer and hearty cooking. Quietly vegetarian – there are, mercifully, no lectures on provenance or farming techniques – Bubala takes its cues from the Levant and the Maghreb, throwing in updated Ashkenazi staples such as doughy potato latkes with a confit-style makeover to create a modern menu that is still satisfyingly old-school. Take, for example, the ful medames, a flavour-filled fava-bean stew brought smartly up to date with lovage pesto, and the grilled cabbage loaded with tahini and nuts. Order the Bubala Knows Best £32.50-a-head set menu for a pocket-pleasing tour of the joint’s greatest hits.
Address: Bubala, 65 Commercial Street, London E1 6BD
Website: bubala.co.ukRead our full review in our round up of London's best restaurants.
Mildred's
Best for: old-school classics
The latest London vegan restaurant launches may grab all the headlines, but it is old-school vegetarian stalwart Mildred’s that is unobtrusively building the city’s first meat-free empire. Its latest outpost – following restaurants in Soho, Camden and King’s Cross – is an elegantly minimal, light-filled space in Dalston. All the enduring favourites are on the menu: the halloumi burger, the black-bean burger and, of course, the much-loved soul bowl – a quinoa and vegetable rainbow on a plate.
Address: Mildred’s, 45 Lexington Street, London WLF 9AN; Mildred’s, 9 Jamestown Rd, London NWL 7BW, Mildred’s, 200 Pentonville Rd, London NL 9JP; Mildred’s, 1 Dalston Square, London, E8 3GU
Website: mildreds.co.uk
The Gate
Best for: the vegocracy
Keeping pace with Mildred is The Gate, whose flagship Hammersmith restaurant has been bolstered by ones in Islington and Marylebone. Beloved of the vegocracy (Madonna, Gwyneth and Paul McCartney have all been spotted), The Gate’s beautifully presented plates taste as good as they look and, unlike a fair few of the nu-vegan offerings, are actually good for you. The Sumac Aubergine Schnitzel only just steals the show from the champion Green Dragon salad with glazed tofu, avocado, sweet potato, red cabbage, pak choi and sesame dressing (pictured above).
Address: The Gate, 51 Queen Caroline Street, London, W6 9QL; The Gate, 370 St John Street, London, EC1V 4NN; The Gate, 22-24 Seymour Place, London, W1H 7NL
Website: thegaterestaurants.comVegetarian-friendly restaurants
David LoftusRovi
Best for: vegetarian small plates
Derided as a fad when it first started but now accepted as the modern way to eat out, sharing small plates can sometimes be a bit of a trial for vegetarians who often find themselves slowly eating a single courgette flower while the rest of the table feasts on ham croquettes and ox cheeks. Thankfully, the second generation of small-plate specialists have righted this imbalance creating perfectly formed plates of vegetables that are often the most exciting things on the menu.
At Yotam Ottolenghi’s Rovi, one of Fitzrovia's best restaurants, all eight sharing plates are vegetarian and taken together they constitute a succinct little argument as to why you never need eat meat again. The celeriac shawarma might just be the most thrilling thing to eat in the whole of London, vegetarian or otherwise.
Address: Rovi, 59 Wells Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1A 3AE
Website: ottolenghi.co.uk/rovi
The Canonbury
Best for: vegetarian roasts in London
Over at the Canonbury pub (pictured above - the stuffed aubergine with chickpeas and tomato sauce) in the prettiest part of Islington, the leek, spinach and potato Wellington sits atop a great pile of brightly coloured root veg.
Address: The Canonbury, 21 Canonbury Place, Islington, London N1 2NS
Website: thecanonbury.co.ukRoux at Parliament Square
Best for: Vegetarian tasting menus in London
Until very recently it was difficult to really go to town as a vegetarian. Three courses were the absolute upper limit. And then all of a sudden you can barely move for tasting menus. The Goring does one. Pollen Street Social does one. But that twinkly-eyed genius of the pass, Michel Roux Jr has put together a belter at his eponymous Parliament Square restaurant. Expect plate after plate of tiny bundles of perfection: celeriac in consommé, pillow-soft gnudi, risotto with cèpes – and all the reverent hush and super-slick service that meat-eaters take for granted.
Address: Roux at Parliament Square, 11 Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AD
Website: rouxatparliamentsquare.co.uk
Xavier Girard LachaineLyles
Best for: a meal to remember
Of course, you don’t become one of the world’s best restaurants without making sure that you’re catering to everyone that comes through the door. At Shoreditch restaurant Lyle’s, chef James Lowe and his team write two new no-choice four-course evening menus every day: one for meat-eaters and one for vegetarians, paying equal attention to both.
Address: Lyle's Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6J
Website: lyleslondon.com