There's never been a better time to experiment eating veggie. Media food gurus
extol on a daily basis the virtues of ethnic food, it's in all the groceries
and farmers markets and probably on your local highstreet. Veggie
restaurants have always relied on ethnic ingredients, so where better to
discover tofu, seitan or plantain than by entrusting yourself to veggie
gourment chefs who draw on a larder of a thousand plants.
Whether you are veggie, vegan, a healthy eater, or dating one of the above,
prepare to be delighted. London's top 10 vegetarian restaurants create
riotously colourful, multi-textured, aromatic, herby-spciy,
melt-in-your-mouth fusions of the tastiest, and coincidentally healthiest
ingredients, from all over the world. Vegetarian food, boring? Not any more!
And then there are the puddings... As the media debate rages this month
about whether milk really is good or bad, you won't believe how sinful a
dairy-free climax to your meal can seem.
So, here are my top ten...
Central London
Eat & Two Veg
British and international vegetarian restaurant and extensive bar that
delights veggies and carnivores alike, the latter making up 90 per cent of
the clientele. There are fake meat dishes for under a tenner that you'd
never expect such as sausage and mash, burgers, Lancashire hot pot,
Schnitzel and shepherd's pie, as well as more expected fare such as Thai
green curry. Desserts include a fabulous vegan fruit crumble with ice-cream
that never saw the inside of a cow. Lots of fresh juices, smoothies and
cocktails. Open seven days from breakfast till late, and you should try the
weekend brunch or Sunday "roast".
50 Marylebone High Street (north end), W1U 5HN, tel: 020 7258 8595. Nearest
tube: Baker Street. Open: Mon-Sat 09.00-23.00, Sat 9.00-23.00, Sun
10.00-22.00. Smoking permitted. Free parking from 6.30pm nearby and all day
Sunday. MC, Visa, Diners, Amex.
Mildred's
Stylish vegetarian café-restaurant and take-away with hip young clientele and
a crowded and enthusiastic ambience. It can get quite noisy but is lots of
fun. The food is modern European with some Asian influences. Lots of healthy
Mediterranean or stir-fry, but you can also have a burger and fries. Many
main courses cost around £7 and are vegan, such as mixed mushroom, porcini
and ale pie or stir-fried Asian veg in sesame oil and teriyaki sauce with
ginger, marinated tofu and toasted cashews. The fennel and chickpea tagine
comes with date and pistachio couscous. Desserts include warm chocolate and
prune pudding with mocha sauce and vegan ice-cream; or tofu, banana, lemon
and coconut cheesecake with maple syrup and soya cream. No reservations but
you can have a drink at the bar at the front while you wait.
45 Lexington Street, W1F 9AN, tel. 020 7494 1634. Nearest tube: Piccadilly
Circus/Oxford Circus. Open: Mon-Sat 12.00-23.00, closed Sun. Cheques and
debit cards, but no credit cards. Small smoking section at front. Licensed.
North London
Green Note
Off Camden High St, this lively new restaurant-cum-music-venue has
performances most nights from folk to blues, roots, world and country, so no
need to go on anywhere after dinner. The menu is international tapas, a
platter for two £14.95, plus as many extras as you can eat, or a daily
special. Can get a bit smokey so it's for those who like bars. See website
for upcoming programme.
106 Parkway, Camden Town, NW1 7AN, tel. 020 7485 9899. Open: Tue-Fri 18-23.00,
Sat-Sun 12-23.00, closed Mon. Nearest tube: Camden Town. Licensed. Smoking.
Manna
Very classy international gourmet vegetarian restaurant. Great for a deluxe,
romantic dinner à deux with big menus and charming service. Luxurious mains
around £12 such as Thai red curry with oyster mushroom and tofu, or Fajitas
made with chickpea and smoky tofu platter. Stunning dessert menu includes
baked cheesecake with blueberry sauce, or their unique petits fours with a
plate of truffles, chocolates and small biscuits. The wine menu even
includes vegan and kosher.
4 Erskine Road, Primrose Hill NW3 3AJ, tel: 020 7722 8028. Nearest tube: Chalk
Farm. Open: Mon-Sat 18.30-23.00, Sun 12.30-15.00, 18.30-12.30. Licensed.
Peking Palace
London's biggest meat-free menu with 115 options will be a joy to
non-carnivores who have never known a level of choice that others take for
granted. The feast begins with a page of starters such as Peking dumplings,
then countless mains divided into soya meat, tofu dishes, curries and even
fake fish. Try the sizzling soya beef steak Peking style which is very
filling, fried soya fish in black bean sauce with olive, or Kung Po soya
king prawn, all around £5. Also deluxe vegan cheeseburgers. Non-alcoholic
wines and beers, or bring the real thing from the nearby organic
off-licence.
669 Holloway Road N19 5SE, tel. 020-7281-8989. Nearest tube: Archway. Open:
Mon-Fri 12.00-15.00, 18.00-23.00, Sat-Sun 18.00-23.00. No smoking. MC, Visa.
Rasa N16
Keralan and south Indian cuisine in trendy Stoke Newington amidst pink walls
and tablecloths with relaxing classic Indian music. Of the various Rasa
branches in London, this is the 100 per cent veggie one and great for
parties. Unusual starters such as plaintain in rice and chickpea spicy
batter. Main courses include curries and dosas for around £5, but it's the
side dishes that are surprising such as guava and avocado salad, okra fried
with shallots, or baby cucumbers with dry roasted cashews, coconut mustard
seeds and curry leaves. A four course Keralan feast is £15.50 each.
55 Church Street, Stoke Newington, N16 0AR, tel. 020 7249 0344. Nearest tube:
Stoke Newington BR or Bus 476 from Angel station. Open: Sun-Thu 18-22.45,
Fri-Sat 18-23.30. No smoking. Visa, MC, Diners, Amex. Licensed.
East London
Pogo Café
Completely vegan, mostly organic, the most right on Fair Trade café transforms
by night into a world restaurant with chefs from six continents. Main
courses only £6.95 include Mexican platter, burgers, detox salads, bangers
and mash, or the very filling jambalaya with black-eyed beans and tofu, a
huge hit with men with big stomachs who elsewhere might be tempted to sneak
a hummous kebab on the way home. Daily specials depend on whether the chef
is Italian, French, Japanese, Mexican, American or even an Aussie or Saffa.
Fans flock from the other end of London and exercise restraint on earlier
courses to save a spot for the best selection of vegan cakes and cheesecake
in Britain, and smothered in soya cream or chocolate sauce you really won't
be able to tell the difference.. BYO from the off-licence five doors down.
76a Clarence Road, Hackney E5 8HB, tel. 020 8533 1214. Train: Hackney Central
BR. 38 or 55 bus from central London. Open: Wed-Sat 12.30-21.00 (last order)
Sun 11-21.00, Mon-Tue closed. Cash or cheque only. No smoking.
West London
Riverside Vegetaria
A winner of the Vegetarian Society’s best restaurant award, on Kingston High
Street and overlooking the Thames. Romantic, candlelit, with classical music
and in good weather the glass doors are opened out onto the riverbank for
eating under the sky. The menu offers a culinary trip around the world with
main dishes around £8 including masala dosa, tofu marinated in teriyaki
sauce, or spicy Jamaican stew. There are further daily organic dishes and
specials on the huge chalkboard. A truly great vegetarian restaurant is
memorable for its desserts and Riverside has the biggest dessert menu in
Britain, many of them vegan such as baked figs with brandy, Organic and
vegan wines. Booking advised for weekends and outside.
64 High Street, Kingston-upon-Thames, tel. 020-8546 7992. Train: Kingston BR.
Open: Every day 12-23.00 (Sun to 22.30).Non-smoking downstairs.
Two Two Two
Head Chef Ben Asamani (pictured, right) previously ran the kitchens at Country
Life and Plant and now in his own restaurant offers outstanding, mainly
organic, international cuisine with Afro-Carib influences and vegan desserts
to die for. Main courses around £9 such as plantain, okra, falafels, tomato
salsa, baked aubergines, courgettes and crispy garlic bread (that's one
dish), seitan stroganoff or Broccolini di Parma pancakes stuffed with tofu
cottage cheese and pimento sauce. Desserts include pancakes with vanilla and
chocolate sauce.
222 North End Road W14 9NU, tel. 020-7381 2322. Nearest tube: West Brompton,
West Kensington, Fulham Broadway. Open: every day 12-15.30, 17.30-22.30.
Licensed.
The Gate
Top class international restaurant set in an artist's studio with modernist
leanings, with fantastic food and a great wine menu. Along with Manna it has
won more awards than the rest put together and is where you go to impress. A
mezze platter for two with a selection of all the starters is £12.50. Mains
around £10.50, could be wild mushroom rosti, mussamen curry or aubergine
teriyaki, but you can go for broke with seasonal specials like the autumn
six-course fungi menu for £35, the most opulent veggie dish in Britain but
less than half the price of dinner in many a non-veggie restaurant.
51 Queen Caroline St, Hammersmith, London W6 9QL. Tel: 020-8748 6932. Tube:
Hammersmith. Open: Mon-Sat 12.00-15.00, 18.00-23.00. Book at least 2 days
ahead at the weekend: hammersmith@gateveg.co.uk.
Visa, MC. Smoking allowed. Licensed.
Need to know
Alex Bourke is the founder of Vegetarian Guides, which he set up to map the
world for vegetarians and vegans. Vegetarian Guides publications include Vegetarian
London, Vegetarian Europe, and the latest Vegetarian
Britain 2006. Vegetarian London (£6.95) is available from
bookshops, Planet Organic, Fresh & Wild and mail order at www.vegetarianguides.co.uk,
tel. 020 7739 9499.
To get more information about National Vegetarian Week, log onto www.vegsoc.org/nvw.
