Five days in London: All things vegetarian!
When we decided to visit London, even before we made our flight bookings, we made reservations at some of the restaurants that we absolutely wanted to visit! It came as an utmost surprise to us that almost all the places we went to had extensive vegetarian options, and very good ones too! So, obviously we wanted to share some of the delicious food we got to try and what better way to do it than to blog about it here. Enjoy!
SoHo and Covent Garden area
Dishoom
When we asked for London restaurant suggestions, almost all our friends suggested Dishoom as a must-visit spot and we now know why! This place truly understands authentic Indian food since the food is largely inspired by what is typically served in Mumbai and boasts a variety of North-Indian specialty dishes. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and also have an all-day dining menu. We went all out and ordered a whole bunch of things. We thoroughly enjoyed our scrumptious lunch here before heading out to see the The Cursed Child play.
Vada Pav (Aamchi Mumbai style) 
Okra fries
Hoppers
Hoppers is named after a fermented rice-based pancake bowl. Hoppers is made by pouring the batter into a mould and swirling it around to get the shape. It takes immense skill and precision to get both the batter and the dish right. The dishes at Hoppers are largely Sri Lankan but, they do have a few dishes that share similarities with South Indian (mostly Tamil & Kerala) cuisine. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, these hoppers knocked our socks off. This was one of the few places that did not take reservations for two people but we didn’t mind waiting. There are numerous English pubs, restaurants, and shops in the SoHo area for you to go around and check out if the wait time is too long.
Wahaca
Wahaca, a London taco chain is a great place to grab a quick bite. This place does not burn a hole in your wallet and has some tasty taco options. The cactus & courgette tacos are worth a shot! They have a good amount of vegetarian options and is also great for large groups.
Mayfair
Hakkasan
This Michelin star eatery is home to some of the best vegetarian Cantonese food. We had a late night reservation and we couldn’t believe how packed this place was when we got here. It was almost 11 PM so, we settled for small plates and couple of drinks. Everything we ordered tasted great but, our favorite was the fried tofu with vegetarian pol sambol (a Sri Lankan coconut seasoning made using grated coconut, red onions, and dried red chillies).
Fried tofu with pol sambol 
Morel mushroom and vegetable spring roll
Benares Indian Restaurant
If we had to pick one place that actually underwhelmed us during our trip, it has to be this one. We are not sure if it was because all the other places that we ate at were so good or if Benares was having an off-night. We contemplated if we wanted to mention about this place but, it is only fair that you get to read our honest opinions about places. Mind you, this restaurant holds a Michelin star too. It may have been an off-night but, this is certainly not one of the places we would recommend. We tried the Indian street food sharing menu and were not completely impressed by it. The saving grace was the impeccable service, dessert, and drinks.
Passion fruit chutney martini and Green Spice martini 
Samosas for appetizers 
Bhapa Doi, Rhubarb, Pomegranate, Pistachio Burfi
Camden Market
One-stop shop for all cuisines across the globe. We spent more than half a day in and around this area roaming around streets of food carts and ate to our heart’s content. Each street is dedicated for a cuisine from a particular region and there are multiple outlets to shop for trinkets too.
Olibabas
Having never come across fried halloumi cheese before, we were immediately intrigued to try it out. The fries are a combination of sweet, salty, and spicy. It was topped with yogurt, pomegranate pearls, sumac and red pepper flakes. Even though a bowl of this was a tad on the pricier side, the outrageous taste more than made up for it.
Ladle
Firstly a shout out to the guy who ran this food cart who was so friendly, welcoming and even gave out samples. Ladle follows the concept of international soups, stews, and curries that are topped over rice. The menu has vegetarian and vegan options, and our indecisiveness over which curry to pick led us into creating our very own vegetarian couple curry bowl over wild rice. We shared the Indian Maharaja Dal and the Sri Lankan curry and couldn’t pick a favorite! Wish we took an “after” photo of our clean bowl.
Borough Market
Gotta love the concept of food markets where you can walk around and eat all you want! That’s one way to work off some of those calories right? Borough Market is one of Britain’s most-renowned food markets and is home to places handling fresh produces, meat, cheese, bread, and multiple food stalls and restaurants. There was also a live cooking demo which was fun to see!
Padella
If handmade pasta is something you relish like we do, definitely check this place out. They have a long wait time but, the trick is to go after peak lunch time (11.30 AM to 2 PM). We went a little after 2pm and still had to wait for 15-20 minutes before we got a table. Their menu changes everyday and has a lot of vegetarian options. When we mentioned our dietary preference, our waiter was kind enough to mark up the menu.
We could have easily finished a couple more plates of pasta but we saved room to head out to Borough Market and get desserts there.
Fulham
Market Hall Fulham
The former Fulham Broadway station, just a few steps away from the current Fulham Broadway station is currently a vibrant food hall called Market Hall. From 4th of July block parties to Friday night DJs, this place makes you wonder if this place really used to be a train station. Reminiscent of its former glory, the ticket counters are still open and now hosts a bar serving some seriously delish cocktails and drinks.
The vegetarian and vegan options at this food hall basically paints a smaller picture of the amount of vegetarian food one can find in London.
Places in Market Hall with vegetarian and vegan options:
- Made of Dough – Pizza
- Fanny’s Kebab
- Kalifornia Kitchen – an all vegan spot
Our Airbnb was close to the Fulham station and this place was a life-saver for us to grab quick bites before heading out or winding down at the end of a long day.
Jackfruit tacos from Kalifornia Kitchen 
Vegan Falafel wrapped kebab and Persian fries from Fanny’s Kebab
Vegan wood fired pizza from Made of Dough 
Market Hall Fulham
On Mondays, they have £5 lunches at all the restaurants.
The market hall also has a fitness studio, an event space, and a rooftop. This concept has been applied to few other old broadway stations as well, in and around London.
Love Walk Cafe
What is a trip to London without some English breakfast. Even though the traditional English breakfast is not vegetarian, we got an eggetarian version of the same. A quaint cafe in the cobblestone streets of Fulham, Love Walk Cafe serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch consisting of traditional English breakfast, sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and coffee. They also carry gluten-free options.
Breakfast at Love Walk Cafe, Fulham 
English breakfast with toast, fried egg, baked beans, guac, and roasted halloumi cheese
That brings us to the end of our list of savory vegetarian restaurant places to eat in London. There is no dearth of vegetarian and vegan food options in and around London, and there are so many restaurants to explore that one trip is not enough to cover all these places. The memories that we have carried on from this trip is sure to tickle our taste-buds for a long time.
If you have read this far and liked our post, share it and let us know your comments! And, if you have restaurant recommendations for us, do let us know.
Also, hope you read our post about all the desserts we enjoyed during our visit to London.
