Vegan and Vegetarian

Posts tagged Vegan Restaurant London

London Veggie Spots

Mar01
2015 Written by maggie

Vegan Food in London

Had a lovely extended weekend in London and sampled some of my favourite eateries with a couple of new places, here is my round up.

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I will start with the two new places I tried,  Kin Cafe & Ethos.

Kin Cafe

I went here twice for breakfast and found it really good.  We tried the avocado on toast which was really great,  the home made beans on toast which is a more substantial meal,  tasty and fresh.  Jam on toast with some lovely cherry jam spread and nut butter.  We also had some cakes to take away which were delicious.  The menu is geared towards vegetarian rather than vegan,  but I really did enjoy the vegan options I had.  They do need to offer a vegan butter alternative which was my only negative about the place.  The cafe is clean,  friendly and welcoming staff.  It is not open on the weekends which is a shame as I would have visited more.

www.kincafe.co.uk

Ethos

I had just had lunch somewhere nearby and I thought I would try to find Ethos and scout it out for a visit the next day.   We ordered a coffee and asked if the hot chocolate could be made vegan, the staff had no clue about it, so I just ordered a coffee.  I then asked a different member of staff about the breakfast menu and what was suitable for vegans,  I was met with a blank expression and lack of care,  I was told that she does not work on the breakfast shift and had no idea.  Why did she not ask someone else I don’t know,  I asked another member of staff and got the same answer.  Upon leaving we thought we would look at the food to see what was on offer for vegans on the hot and cold displays.  The food has no covers so is open to the environment in the cafe,  I spotted a couple of flies buzzing around and landing on the food.  The food did look nice, I am sorry but the insects made me not want to even give it a go.  They need to work harder on customer service and do something about the flies,  yuk. Near Oxford Circus

My favourites

Manna 

Had a couple of really great meals in this all vegan restaurant in Primrose Hill.  Great for a romantic night out and a special meal.

Tibits

Buffett food with lots of vegan options.  Tasty filling food in a relaxed dining experience.  Just off Regent Street.  (Heddon Street)

Mildreds

Prepare to que.  This place is usually packed to the rafters.  We had to wait half and hour the first time and one hour the second visit.  Worth it though,  food is hearty and yummy.  Lots of vegan options.  Soho Lexington Street.

222 Veggie Vegan

Having a bit of a refurbishment, so it was a little hard on the lighting this time,  will be ok when they are finished.  All vegan and completely lovely food,  One of the best value places for vegan food.  West Kensington, London.

 

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged ,

Best Restaurant Vegan Pudding

Nov06
2012 Written by maggie

Vegan Pudding

At the end of October I spent a few days in London,  as usual I visited a few veggie restaurants which I will write about soon.  However I had to mention this first,  it is not often you get a nice vegan pudding,  it is usually ice cream or sorbets which are OK but I love cakes and puddings so I am often disappointed with the choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We visited Manna for Sunday Lunch which was lovely, but the star of the show was their Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding.  It was one of the most amazing vegan desserts that I have ever had,  it is also the best vegan dessert that I have had in a Veggie Restaurant.

The pudding had a rich flavour the sticky toffee sauce was sweet and heavenly and the sponge pudding was moist, light and just perfect.  I can highly recommend this pudding in Manna.  I am thrilled with this dessert.  If you are in London please try Manna because the food for vegans is probably the best you are going to get in the UK and this pudding is just divine.  I recommend that you book a table because they are often very busy.  All the menu is Vegan.

www.mannav.com

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged , ,

SAF Kensington

Sep22
2012 Written by maggie

Vegan Raw Restaurant London

When I last visited this restaurant I said I would not go back because it was so poor.  But I was in the area so against my better judgement I decided to go for lunch.  I wish I had not bothered.

I ordered a guacamole with some flax crackers and Paul ordered the dumplings for our starters.  Both of these tasted OK and were enjoyable.

It was the main courses that went wrong.  Because of my previous experience with this place I thought I would order something simple that you would think could not fail.  I ordered a wrap with quinoa and spinach with some cashew cheese,  what I got was a plate full of slop.  The wrap looked water logged,  the cashew cheese was non existent and the texture was just awful,  it was like it was defrosted and sat in moisture.  I complained to the waitress and she apologised and went off to get me another.  After waiting 15 minutes the waitress turned up with another one,  this was identical but had been grilled so the outside was hard,  but inside was the same sloppy mess.   I could not eat it.  They did not charge me for this,  the waitress was embarrassed.  

Paul went for the raw pizza,  he was not impressed it lacked flavour and the mushroom tasted like they came out of a jar.   The base of the pizza is like what they use for the raw cheese cake type product which did not suit for a pizza.  The waitress gave the impression that other people had not enjoyed this pizza.  Paul did try to order the weekend roast but it was not ready and was recommended something else, it was like the waitress knew the pizza would be bad and she tried to steer him onto something else but not forcefully enough to make him change his mind.

I think they are cutting costs and corners with the food,  it is such a shame because this restaurant has great potential,  but it seems like the owners do not care about the quality.

I will never go again,  I would rather eat my own foot.

This restaurant is based in the Wholefoods Market upstairs,   in Kensington, London.

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged , ,

Manna Vegan Restaurant

May30
2012 Written by maggie

Vegan Restaurant Primrose Hill, London

On my short break to London, we decided to go to Manna for Sunday Lunch.  I have been a few times to Manna and I have always found it to be a lovely place and a haven for vegans as everything they sell is vegan friendly.

We decided to go for it and ordered starters and mains with a dessert to share.  We left the restaurant feeling overfull but very satisfied with what we had.

For starters I had cashew cheese croquettes with a chilli jam dipping sauce.  The croquettes were really good,  the cashew cheese was coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried.  The crispy outer worked really well with the soft cashew cheese.  The chilli jam was not special and to be honest did nothing for me,  I think these croquettes would have gone better with a fig jam.  I really enjoyed these.  Paul has the walnut ravioli.  This was also really good,  the creamy sauce and sweet fig jam worked really well with the raviloi.  We were both really pleased with the starters.

For the main course we had the Sunday Roast Special of the day,  this had hazelnuts, chickpeas and mushrooms in the roast and served with fresh vegetables and a rich gravy.  This was pretty nice,  the roast was quite large and I struggled to eat mine,  but if you dont have a starter you will be fine.  The fresh vegetables were also very good, not overcooked and retained the bright veg colours.

For dessert we had a sweet Tahini Chocolate Dip with a shortcake and pistachio vegan ice cream.  This was not my cup of tea,  I prefer tahini as a savoury flavour,  but the ice cream was very nice.  Paul enjoyed it more than I did, but it was not his favourite.

I also had a house special fruit tea infusion with cinnamon with a shot of calvados,  this was warming and finished the meal off perfectly. Paul had a Whisky (he loves quality whisky)  Highland Harvest was the brand and he enjoyed it.

The restaurant is quite good value for money.  I would recommend that you book a table because it does get quite busy.

www.mannav.com

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged ,

Amico Bio Vegetarian Italian

May28
2012 Written by maggie

Vegetarian Italian Restaurant London

Recently I visited London for a short break.  We went to Amico Bio on a Friday night for dinner.  The restaurant is lovely and has lots of vegan options.  The owner is a vegetarian and is Italian, so the food does have an authentic feel to it.  The food I would describe as rustic and wholesome.  My only complaint about Amico Bio is the vegan dessert option.  I do not get why the vegan choice is so poor.

For starters I had the cauliflower fritters and Paul had the Bruschetta.  The fritters were very crispy and tasted really good,  cauliflower works great as a tempura.  The Bruschetta was fine,  when we have had this before they used a much nicer bread,  the bread on this was good but not that great,  it was a ciabatta firm bread,  whereas before it was more of a focaccia style bread.

For main course I tried the pasta with sage and pumpkin.  I actually enjoyed this,  it was very filling and whilst I enjoyed the flavour of the sage I did not like the sage leaves,  they were unpleasant to chew,  I put those to one side and the dish was lovely.

Paul had a seitan sandwich with salad and chips.  The sandwich was really good, the seitan was pleasant and worked great with the salad and chips.  The chips were a little bit soggy, but they were made from real potato and did taste quite good.

The dessert was not great,  Paul ordered the only vegan dessert that was not ice cream,  the apple crumble.  It was basically over cooked apple with some cereals on top that reminded me of wheat a bix, coated with dusted icing sugar.  The cereals were not crispy,  this was not crumble,  it tasted awful.  I do not understand how you get an apple crumble wrong, it is such an easy dessert to make.  I do not understand why they are not good at vegan desserts,  vegan chocolate cake is so easy to make.   sorry to go on but it drives me a little crazy.  Vegans like cake.

We had vegan wine and vegan beer which were great, with good flavours.  The menu is varied and offers some really good options for vegans.  It can get quite busy so I woud recommend that you book a table.  They are located in London near the Barbican Tube Station.

www.amicobio.co.uk

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged , ,

SAF Vegan Restaurant London

Oct04
2011 Written by maggie

Vegan Raw Restaurant London

On my recent trip to London we had lunch at SAF, a vegan restaurant based in the Wholefoods Market in South Kensington, London.

I really like this place,  the food is the best possible vegan food I have ever had,  the atmosphere is quite nice,  and the service is 10 out of 10.   It is a little bit pricey however I do think that it is worth every penny.

For starter I tried the detox salad which is basically a green salad with avocado, sprouts and seeds.  This tasted very fresh and was surprisingly filling.  Paul had the Pesto au Poivre which is basically a vegan cashew cheese with a sage pesto filling served with flaxseed crackers and salad leaves with a pesto dressing.  This tasted absolutely lovely,  the cheese is very tasty and the pesto really compliments the food,  the crackers are really light and crunchy.

For main course we both went for a Farinata Rustica, slow roasted vegetables and mushrooms served with a chickpea pancake topped with a tarragon white sauce.  My goodness was this good.  Wow,  the crepe (pancake) tasted divine and the filling with the tarragon sauce just worked so well together.  This was served with some pesto crunchy lettuce leaves which were also extremely good.  This whole dish was very filling.

The desserts looked so wonderful, but we were both absolutely stuffed,  I cannot wait to go here again.

Starters around £7 and main courses around £12,  all food is vegan and much of it is vegan raw.

Here is a link to more information about this restaurant.

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged ,

Farewell Otarian

Aug07
2011 Written by maggie

London Otarian  Closed

Sadly Otarian Vegetarian Restaurant has closed its London operations.   They are still in New York.

From their web site:

Dear London,

We are currently working to expand our eco friendly range and to improve our offerings to you. During this time of development, we shall not be functioning in UK. We realize this will come as a disappointment to all the Otarian London fans, but rest assured that we shall soon be bringing back a tastier, yummier Otarian experience that will make you forget that we were ever gone!!

You can catch up with us at our fully functioning New York stores anytime! If that’s hard on your schedule, visit us at our website, FB or Twitter pages and we will keep you updated about what’s going on with the Otarian way of life! Keep doing your best to save our planet, London.

We will soon be back to help you better, one delicious Otarian meal at a time!

Fingers crossed they will be back soon.

We need to support our veggie restaurants and eat out as often as possible or we will lose them.  I personally only eat in veggie dedicated restaurants, I do not trust restaurants who also serve meat because of the cross contamination which is bound to happen with the two together.  I hope this does not put anyone off opening a new veggie place.

Posted in 1. Observations, 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged , ,

SAF Vegan Restaurant

Jun30
2011 Written by maggie

SAF Veggie Restaurant, South Kensington, London

A wonderful vegetarian restaurant spot for lunch.  This is a sister to SAF in Shoreditch London which I reviewed in an earlier post.  I have been to both several times and I am nothing but impressed.

This one is located in the Wholefoods Market upstairs in the cafe section.  SAF takes up a large area.  On Kensington High Stret, you will not miss the massive wholefoods market.

The food is absolutely stunning.  Lots of choices most are Vegan Raw and some vegan hot dishes.    Last time I went we had a chickpea pancake with a marinara sauce and a Red Pepper Vegan Cheese savoury wrap.  They tasted great.  The chickpea pancake was one of the best dishes I have had here.

They used to do expensive lunches, but now because of their location they are offering some more options like the wraps at a lower price.

The food is just lovely, very fresh and delightful.  The desserts are really good, last time I tried their raw vegan berry cheesecake,  yummy.   Everything is vegan, they do good wines, juices and hot drinks.  It is so healthy and tastes amazing.

Highly recommend this restaurant.

Saf Kensington
+44(0)20 7368 4555
The Barkers Building
Wholefoods Market
London  W8 5SE

www.safrestaurant.co.uk

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged ,

SAF London

Jun18
2011 Written by maggie

SAF Vegan Restaurant Shoreditch London

Located in the trendy Shoreditch area of London.  A very modern restaurant that offers some stunning and very different dishes to the norm.  The dishes are all vegan with many vegan raw dishes.  I really like the food here I would go as far to say this is the best veggie restaurant I have ever eaten in.  The atmosphere is really nice with low lights and candles.  The staff are also very good and knowledgeable.

The dishes we tried included a raw beetroot and cashew cheese ravioli, spiced water melon and tomato dish served with cucumber/chive pearls, pad thai, green curry,  mushroom risotto and pearl barley risotto.

Last time I went we had a vegan cheese tasting plate for 2 and it was spectacular with a mix of their different vegan cheeses, crackers, fruit and more – one of our favourite ever vegan dishes.

Their cocktails are a real highlight.  If you get chance, try their Tipping The Velvet coffee cocktail (ask if it’s not on the menu) – stunning!

For desserts the chocolate and orange marbled ganache was stunning, i have tried their sorbets and ice creams it is all wonderful.

Sunday Lunches  After being blown away by their raw food and imaginative menu, we sampled the delights of their Sunday roast.  To be honest, initial visual impressions were not as good as expected – the gravy was puree thick and purple/grey in colour.  But the taste delivered in spades – which is what matters at the end of the day.

They have some amazing cocktails but they also do some fantastic tasting wines, beers and soft drinks including teas and coffees.

The pricing is what you would expect to pay in a nice restaurant in London but it is not over the top.

I cannot recommend this place enough.

This restaurant has a sister in the South Kensington area based in the wholefoods market.  I will review this one shortly.

SAF
152 – 154 Curtain Road,
Shoreditch,
London EC2A 3AT
Tel +44(0)20 7613 0007
www.safrestaurant.co.uk

Posted in 5. Restaurant Reviews - Tagged ,
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