Vegan fast food has seen a huge surge in popularity on the London restaurant scene in recent years, here are some of our favourite spots.

123V by Alexis Gauthier

A vegan cafeteria from the plant-based pioneering chef. The chef behind London's vegan fine dining restaurant Gauthier Soho is behind this all-day restaurant - on the lower ground floor and outside terrace, of the Fenwick department store. Dine on more casual dishes from a menu of salads and plant-based bowls alongside daily specials and a regularly changing fixed price menu with dishes such as Welsh asparagus with lovage & peas and Big Fat Tomato ‘Cosmopolito’ with black rice & smoked pepper. There's also an all-vegan 12-seat sushi counter serving sushi sets and a seven-course Morimamé tasting menu. Gauthier has described 123V as 'a more approachable, casual vegan restaurant, which everyone can enjoy, every day'.

Bubala

The critically acclaimed Middle Eastern restaurant opened in Spitalfields in 2019 – a new Soho outpost is in the works - following a string of successful pop-ups and supper clubs. Head chef Helen Graham in the kitchen (previously of The Palomar and The Barbary) overseeing a menu with a distinct Middle Eastern focus. Signature big, bold and delicious dishes include halloumi with black seed honey and confit potato latkes with toum and Aleppo chilli; confit fennel with saffron and harissa and a fattoush salad topped with feta crumble and crunchy shavings of kadaif (a noodle-like pastry that’s native to the Middle East). The drinks menu feature wine on tap, as well as bottled natural wines, UK produced beers and Gazoz house sodas, a homemade seltzer combined with natural, locally sourced fruits, flowers, spices, herbs and syrups. Affordable prices, hip interiors inspired by the cafes of Tel Aviv and vibrant dishes from the cuisines of the Middle East, Israel and the Mediterranean, it’s no wonder Bubala has become such a hit. Pictured. 

Neat Burger

Lewis Hamilton-backed vegan fast-food group Neat Burger is ramping up its expansion in the capital, with claims to be 'the first international plant-based burger chain'. Ethical, sustainable and delicious, Neat Burger have a passion for all things plant based - grilling up a range of vegan burgers, hot dogs and sides. The debut site is just off Regent Street in Mayfair (with others dotted around London) and the burgers to choose from include The Neat, The Cheese and The Chick'n, while a plant-based hotdog is also available. Sides to accompany your burger or dog include skinny fries, sweet potato fries and tater tots (a deep-fried potato dish that’s a staple side in the US). The burgers at Neat are all made using Beyond Meat, a meat alternative which doesn’t use soy or gluten, and which is GMO free. On the drinks menu, you’ll find Just Water – the environmentally conscious water brand as well as a range of dairy-free, coconut and soy-based milkshakes. 

Wulf & Lamb 

Housed in the pretty cobbled street of Pavilion Road - just off Sloane Square (and now with a second site in Marylebone too), Wulf & Lamb offers a menu of 100% plant-based comfort food classics - overseen by Head Chef Franco Casolin, who previously worked for Vanilla Black fine-dining restaurant, which has served a vegetarian-only menu. The restaurant says its food is aimed at ‘ferocious herbivores and their friends’ with vegan alternatives to popular dishes such as a hearty seitan burger served in a brioche bun and topped with plant-based cheese, a spicy chilli ‘non’ carne served with a dollop of cashew sour cream and a vegan truffle mac n cheese and a side of kimchi. To drink, there are wines, Champagnes and gluten-free beers, while the alongside cold-press juices and non-alcoholic spirits. The restaurants are laid-back, unpretentious affairs, and even serve plant-based pizzas if you are looking for something more casual.

Mildreds

An iconic vegetarian and vegan restaurant, Mildreds have pioneered meat-free dining for over three decades, with their restaurant in Soho, and more recently the addition of Camden, King’s Cross, Covent Garden, Dalston and Borough Market. Expect punchy flavours, satisfying dishes, a dash of urban cool and a refreshing take on the conventional stereotype of vegan food. Offering a broad menu of internationally inspired food - with dishes like gyoza and marsala cauliflower and mushroom tacos and South Korean Bokkeumbap to Turkish Mercimek Kofte. The restaurant chain has also opened the doors of Mallow in Borough Market – a 100% plant-based restaurant - serving fresh and seasonal produce sourced direct from the traders and designed to be as low waste as possible. 

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London's best spots for vegan junk food