London's best restaurants for vegetarian food
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By Guy Dimond and Natasha Polyviou
Posted: Tue May 13 2008
The top ten | Haute cuisine | East African | Indian | Thai | West End fast food
Nahm (© Michael Franke) Best Thai restaurants for vegetarian meals
Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, and many Thais observe a vegetarian diet during festivals. As a result, the veggie cuisine tends to be more sophisticated than in other south-east Asia countries.
Blue Elephant
Verdant foliage, bubbling streams and rock pools, glamorous waitresses bearing tempting morsels – and that’s just the bar. For the full tropical island effect book dinner in the opulent restaurant. A fully à la carte vegetarian menu gives many options, with the chilli heat thoughtfully indicated.
Blue Elephant, 4-6 Fulham Broadway, SW6 1AA (020 7385 6595/www.blueelephant.com) Fulham Broadway tube. Open Mon-Thur 12noon-2.30pm, 7-11.30pm; Fri 12noon-2.30pm, 6.30-11.30pm; Sat 6-11.30pm; Sun 12noon-3pm, 6.30-10.30pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £90.
Mantanah
The pride of South Norwood, Mantanah is worth crossing south London for. It might look no different from scores of other high street Thais, but the vegetarian menu is one of the most inventive in London, using combinations of aubergine, pumpkin, tofu and nuts with complex and layered spicing.
Mantanah, 2 Orton Building, Portland Rd, SE25 4UD (020 8771 1148/www.mantanah.co.uk) Norwood Junction rail. Open Tue-Sat 6-11pm, Sun 12noon-3pm, 6-11pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £60.
Nahm
The most celebrated Thai restaurant in London has a lunch menu inspired by street food (a bargain £26 for three courses), but vegetarian choice is a bit restricted; for the full fireworks visit in the evening. Then, a £55 per person vegetarian tasting menu brings a succession of dishes which showcase celebrated chef David Thompson’s mastery of what the Thais call rot chart – the correct balance of flavour, textures and seasonings.
Nahm, The Halkin, Halkin St, SW1X 7DJ (020 7333 1234/www.nahm.como.bz) Hyde Park Corner tube. Open Mon-Fri 12noon-2.15pm, 7-10.45pm, Sat 7-10.30pm, Sun 7-9.30pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £150.
The top ten | Haute cuisine | East African | Indian | Thai | West End fast food
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6 comments
The reason i posted was I was new to london and had huge difficulties finding nice restaurants where I (veggie) could eat with by best friend (total carnivore). I was hoping to get suggestions of specific places, which I didn't make very clear, because I literally had no place to start.
To expand on this there is a pub in Forest Hill which delicious food and was great for both of us. Ironically i can't remember the name but will post it later. i just tend to find that very meat centric restaurants can be quite dull for veggie choices and I would not want to impose my vegetarianism on my best friend.
I agree that a focus on veggie dining pretty much means that you actually force people into a niche of eating only in designated spots rather than having nice veggie food available elsewhere and totally agree that an article on sustainable/ethical dining would be interesting.
Thanks for the suggestion of Wahaca. I love mexican food.
The reason i posted was I was new to london and had huge difficulties finding nice restaurants where I (veggie) could eat with by best friend (total carnivore). I was hoping to get suggestions of specific places, which I didn't make very clear, because I literally had no place to start.
To expand on this there is a pub in Forest Hill which delicious food and was great for both of us. Ironically i can't remember the name but will post it later. i just tend to find that very meat centric restaurants can be quite dull for veggie choices and I would not want to impose my vegetarianism on my best friend.
I agree that a focus on veggie dining pretty much means that you actually force people into a niche of eating only in designated spots rather than having nice veggie food available elsewhere and totally agree that an article on sustainable/ethical dining would be interesting.
Thanks for the suggestion of Wahaca. I love mexican food.
Sorry to be picky, I don't general have an issue with meat eaters eating meat while enjoy my veggie food, and I ate meat for years, but if you guys bother doing a feature on veggie fine dining, which is great, it might be good to also include some thought on animal welfare more generally, which for me includes not recommending a place that also serves foie gras - like the Morgan M.
Have you tried eating just at a vegetarian restaurant, maybe? Or are the non-veggies adamant that they must have meat at every meal? If so, Most Indian, Chinese and Thai places are your easiest bet, as they generally have the most non meat dishes as well as a large sleelction of meat ones.
Perhaps Wahaca near Trafalgar Square / Covent Garden?
do you have any reccommendations for restaurants where vegetarians and non vegetarians can both eat well and eat happily together?