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London Hotels |
London vegetarian restaurants
Vegetarian restaurants near Victoria Station
* WILKINS
Vegetarian Cafe
Address: 61 Marsham Street - Victoria SW1
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7222 4038
* COUNTRY LIFE
Address: 3/4 Warwick Street, London W1B 5LS
near Regent Street
Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7434 2922
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7434 2838
E-mail: info@countrylife-restaurant.co.uk
Open: Monday to Thursday
11.30am-4pm & 6pm-10pm (doors close 9.30pm),
Friday
11.30am-2.30pm,
Sunday
11.30am-4pm
It is a leading, long-established vegetarian restaurant (both eat in and take away), specialising in vegan food, vegan dessert, savoury, breads, crispy salads, rice and pasta dishes and more. There is also a natural vegetarian food store.
By day it has a self-service buffet. The buffet is a pay-by-weight system, that ensures a fair deal for light eaters, and they also have set a limit on what you can pay for a plate.
From 6 pm, the restaurant provides a hot and cold buffet for a fixed price. Soup, dessert and drinks are additional options. Situated in the heart of the West End, it is a convenient way to start an evening out in London.
Reviews:
"The old Piccadilly Country Life closed a few years ago, but has resurfaced at new premises on Warwick Street. The basic concept - wholesome food at cheap prices in the centre of town - remains. the advantage is that you won't pay over the odds if you only want a bite. The main dishes change regularly. On our visit, we sampled a satisfyingly dense lasagne, with fresh pulses and nuts providing a bit of crunch. It is up to you to create a salad to your specifications, from a selection of raw vegetables, nuts, dried fruits and olives. The enthusiastic staff are very friendly. There is hardly any decoration, no alcohol or smoking is allowed and everything is kept immaculately clean, giving the place an ashram-like ambience." - Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide
"An excellent vegetarian buffet, with a good choice of hot dishes and salads. In the evenings, you can help yourself to as much as you like for a fixed price; during the day, you pay by weight. Either way, the value is superb. You can get an excellent three-course dinner for well under a tenner. (My only complaint is that the desserts tend to be a little unimaginative.) The restaurant is very central: just off Regents Street, and a few minutes walk from Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. The atmosphere is relaxed (no intrusive music, thank goodness) and the staff are friendly." - Veggie Heaven reader review
"Country Life's daytime buffet is the best you'll find anywhere. There's a vast array of the freshest salad ingredients for you to mix and match, plus homemade soups, bread, hot dishes and desserts. Incredibly, every single item is vegan. The choice is fantastic, the atmosphere calming and the prices are extremely affordable. The price is based on the weight of food on your plate but the most you'll pay is a set limit." - Veggie Heaven reader review
"A peaceful haven. 100% animal product free. Peace while you eat. We discovered Country Life while vacationing in England from Memphis." - Veggie Heaven reader review
"A favourite Central London vegan restaurant. Cafeteria style of helping yourself. The lunch time menu consists of an extensive salad bar (very good for raw fooders!) together with a selection of various hot dishes, breads, and soups. Cost of your meal depends on how much it weighs, with soup and desserts such as tofu cheesecake, apple strudel, and fruit salad, priced as extras. Organic fruit and vegetables used where possible. In the evenings there is a ceiling on the price of the main course." - Vegan London
* WOODLANDS RESTAURANT
Address: 37 Panton Street
off Haymarket
London, SW1Y 4EA
Neighborhood: Soho/West End
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7839 7258
Open: Monday to Saturday
Midday-2.45pm & 5.30pm-10.45pm,
Sunday
Midday-3pm & 6pm-10.30pm
Category: Asian/Pacific
One of three Woodlands restaurants in the London area, this one is stylishly decorated and inexpensive, and manages to look more upmarket than the other value eateries on Panton street, with warm yellow walls and contemporary coloured lights. Attracting vegetarian arty types, the menu will also impress Indian food lovers. While it features curries, the focus is more on the house speciality of dosas and uthappams. Dosas are like crêpes made from a batter of ground lentils and rice with a variety of fillings, while an uthappam is a sort of South Indian pizza. Both are delicious, and make a flavoursome change from curry, curry or curry, especially as some of the more mainstream dishes can be a little salty. There is a set lunch buffet during the week for around £6, and the outstanding thali extravaganzas cost around £10.
Vegetarian restaurants in the City & Barbican area
* CARNEVALE
Mediterranean vegetarian restaurant, take-away & deli
Address: 135 Whitecross Street
London EC1Y 8JL
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7250 3452
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7608 2504
E-mail: admin@carnevalerestaurant.co.uk
Open: Monday to Friday
10am-10.30pm,
Saturday
5.30pm-10.30pm
Carnevale is near the Barbican Centre in the City of London, close to the theatres, cinema and exhibitions at the Barbican. The nearest tube stations are Barbican (Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines), Old Street and Moorgate (both Northern line, City branch). The closest bus routes are 153 (Beech Street), 55 (Old Street) and 56 (Aldersgate).
The a la carte menu changes each week and provides a wide range of vegetarian dishes, including several vegan options. There's also a set menu offering 3 course or 2 courses and a drink for £12.50. A variety of sandwiches, salads and hot meals are available to take-away at the vegetarian deli counter. There's an extensive wine list including a wide selection of organic wines and champagne from across Europe.
Reviews:
"I make a point of eating in this restaurant every time I come to Britain - the food is delicious and the service is very friendly and efficient. I would recommend it to everyone - vegetarian or not!" - Reader comment from London Eating
"Although not a vegetarian, I do like vegetarian restaurants, especially if the food is high quality as well as inventive and original. Zen Palate (the Union Square one) in New York is one of my favourite haunts. Food: The menu, like the restaurant, is tiny. The preserved Lemon & Goats Cheese Tart was way too heavy on the lemon for my personal taste. Service: Friendly, polite, attentive, and likeable. Atmosphere: The restaurant is absolutely tiny. It is not cosy though: it feels cramped with just 10 - 12 people inside. No interior design to speak of. Value for money: Prices are fairly low to average, and the ingredients seemed fresh and of good quality. However, since I didn't like the food and the atmosphere, for me personally, not a good ratio." - Reader Comment from London Eating
"...for lovers of really imaginative vegetarian food, Carnevale is the tops" - London Restaurant Guide
"Carnevale is tiny but chic, so smart that a good number of diners never realise it is a vegetarian restaurant. Cooking capable of excellence, such as heart celeriac and horseradish soup or a spicy risotto with dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts." - The Independent
"Today's potato, tomato and wild garlic leaf takeaway soup was so outstanding I had to hunt down your website and email you. Wow, my tastebuds are still tingling! What a pleasurable lunch. Thanks"
- Deli customer comment, by e-mail
".... is a charming, quiet vegetarian restaurant, a rarity in a City full of flashy chains, distinguished by some of the best cooking, vegetarian or carniverous, in the area. The use and combination of ingredients is imaginative, and brings out the most delicate flavours. Lemon gives a tang to goat's cheese tart, passion fruit adds a sweet freshness to a sensuous chocolate mousse. I've had the most delicious artichokes I've ever tasted, in another of their savoury tarts. Excellent organic wine complements the food. The smallness of the interior space is off set by the tiny glass-roofed courtyard. Unspoilt by taped music, it's a natural meeting-place for talking to friends while savouring the food."
- Reader Comment from London Eating
"This intimate, unassuming place doubles up as a deli during the day. The restaurant - no bigger than the average bedroom, although there is a vine-covered patio with space for two tables - is through a door at the back. The Mediterranean-based menu includes dishes not normally associated with the herbivore's pantheon. Carnevale is a relaxed, romantic place, ideal for long, lazy summer evenings." - Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide
"It was an absolute pleasure to find somewhere vegetarian that felt sophisticated and grown up. The only downside was, having been a vegetarian all my life and being used to only one or two questionable vegetarian items on any menu, I momentarily lost all brain function when confronted by the vast array of dishes. I managed to get it back in time to order a delicious chestnut pasta with wild mushroom sauce." - Reader Comment from London Eating
"Carnevale is a great veggie restaurant and I have eaten in there a number of times during the day and evening. During the day the restaurant offers take away sandwiches and salads as well as homemade soups and hot meals and a sit down waitress service at the rear.
The menu isn't huge but I have never had a problem with choice - there always seems to be something for everyone and the food is always delicious.
The only downside is that Carnevale is tiny with only a few tables, but it is cosy and friendly and definitely worth booking in advance for both lunchtimes and evenings.
There's also plenty of good pubs and bars only a short walk away. I would definitely recommend it for a relaxed lunchtime or evening meal." - Reader Comment from London Eating
* THE PLACE BELOW
Address: St Mary Le Bow Church, Cheapside, London, EC2V 6AU
Nearest Tube: Bank (Central, Northern and Waterloo & City lines), St Pauls (Central line) and Mansion House (District and Circle lines)
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7329 0789
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7248 2626
E-mail: info@theplacebelow.co.uk
Open: Monday to Friday
7.30am-3.30pm
It is actually located in the Norman crypt of Wren's famous Bow Bells church (hence its name). In good weather they have tables and chairs out on Bow Churchyard, one of the best outside eating spaces in the City. St Mary Le Bow Church is in Cheapside, just near St Paul's cathedral. Enter by the main door of the church on Cheapside, and then follow the signs which guide you down the stairs on the left into the café.
It serves fresh food. The menu changes every day. The owner, Bill Sewell, has written 2 acclaimed cookbooks, featuring recipes which are served at the restaurant. The type of cuisine is eclectic, from different culinary traditions.
Reviews:
"Don't let the fact that this restaurant is vegetarian put you off! I love red meat, white meat, pink meat....any meat. But, the flavours in ALL of the dishes are bursting with such intense flavours that I defy anyone to say that they miss the flesh! The bread (baked on premises) is to die for, the soups are really excellent. The puddings remind me of Sunday afternoons, feeling full and dozing off on the sofa to old John Wayne films. Fresh juices (orange, Elderflower etc) are really fresh! The coffee is really good too (Illy Coffee is served) Yes, it is more expensive to eat there than...say....to buy a plastic pap roll from Benjy's, but I kid you not, it is so well worth it to break the bank once a month of so. The atmosphere is a bit Russian Workers Canteen (I imagine). Can be cramped and a bit uncomfortable, but the 1st taste will take your mind off it." - Reader Comment from London Eating
"The lentil and aubergines with balsamic vinegar and cream is one of the most irresistibly delicious combinations and a must see experience." - Reader Comment from London Eating
"Deep within the vaults of the huge St-Mary-le-Bow Church, this café offers a welcome escape from City life, as well as some very good food. There are two large rooms. The one at the back - with an arched ceiling sectioned by huge stone pillars, a long banquet table and an abundance of flowers - is the nicer. TPB is a deservedly popular lunch spot with City workers, either outdoors in Bow Churchyard or down in the crypt dining rooms. The dramatic setting of Norman domed ceilings and alcoves, enhanced by a classical music soundtrack, make for an unusual location in which to enjoy fresh vegetarian fare or just grab an Illy coffee and fruit salad for breakfast. The daily changing menu features leafy salads and a 'healthbowl' (organic brown rice, lentils, seasonal veg and a ginger and sesame dressing) through to red pepper and pesto quiche, and soups (split green pea and mint, say) with own-made bread. Hot specials are equally good; sweet potato and caerphilly pie was a nice balance of light, flaky filo pastry and rich, but not heavy, savoury filling, accompanied by just-right, non-soggy buttered greens. Eat-in between 11.30am and noon, or from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, and main courses cost £2 less. There's also a takeaway lunch counter for picking up filled ciabatta rolls, Comptoir Gascon pastries and divine Valrhona chocolate flapjacks." - Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide
"In a neat and convenient location (the crypt of Bow Church), The Place Below has some nice points. It's veggie and mixes up its menu every day; however, sometimes the food does not taste that special for the higher lunch prices you would normally pay for a sandwich from Pret." - Reader Comment from London Eating
"All in all we found The Place Below rather charming. The setting is divine, romantic even (certainly if the irreligiously entwined couple in the alcove were anything to go by). The cooking is simple, letting the flavours of the ingredients shine, and the littel touches (fresh flowers, jugs of water on every table) are enough to make the most dedicated carnivore overlook the lack of God's animal kingdom on the menu." - Food Illustrated
"Bill Sewell started the Place Below in 1989, and yes, it is a vegetarian restaurant, and yes, it is in the crypt of the St Mary-Le-Bow church. But persevere - all things considered, it has a splendidly low worthiness rating. Once you find the restaurant you'll see that it is split into two halves (wander into the wonderfully elegant Wren church and look for the staircase down to the crypt - it is hidden in a corner behind some blank display boards). The first room has the open kitchen at one end and acts as a coffee shop and servery. You choose from the daily menu on the wall, push a tray along the canteen style rails and the chefs will fill a plate for you. The menu is reassuringly short - if everything is freshly cooked, if the menu is seasonal, if prices are to be kept low, then a short menu is your guarantee. You pick up your food, pay and take it through to the dining room where there is an array of tables - the large, central, communal dining table being the only one with a tablecloth. The menu changes daily and things sometimes run out (another terrifically good sign). If you are interested, the restaurant can set things up so that you get sent each new menu by e-mail (contact info@theplacebelow.co.uk). The menu tends to follow consistent principles - there are a couple of soups, a hot dish, a quichey option, a salad of the day, trad puds and that's about it. The food is very good. It doesn't taste particularly vegetarian. Good use is made of fresh herbs. Seasoning is well-judged. A soup such as carrot and saffron is rich, has a good texture, and you get a big bowlful. Splash out on bread, which is very good indeed - nutty with a good crust and great texture. The Normandy butter is also delicious. The salad of the day can be triumphant - crisp green beans, a rich savoury dollop of wild rice, shredded carrot with sesame seeds, plenty of fresh leaves. Or how about a hot dish like the chilli-bean casserole, rich and light, a good spike of chilli and topped with a blob of very decent guacamole, served with bulgur wheat? The field mushroom, fennel and gruyère quiche is also well made, the base nearly thin enough to compensate for the leaden quality of all wholemeal pastry. Make a beeline for the home-made lemonade which is very good indeed. At the Place Below the cooking is of a high standard, prices are commendably low." - The Evening Standard
London, Friday 4th July 2008