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London's top ten restaurants for vegetarian and vegan meals

Saf
BEST VEGAN
Part of an international chain with branches in Istanbul and Munich, Saf sets new standards for vegan and raw-food restaurants. US-based executive chef Chad Sarno presumably spends the rest of his time creating beautiful dishes for Hollywood starlets to trifle with, such is the artistry of his work. It’s almost a shame to eat dishes this pretty; and it’s even more remarkable when you realise these compositions, with their vivid colours, variety of textures and unusual flavours, are created from uncooked fruit and veg (only low temperatures are used to cook a few ingredients).

Seed sprouts feature as garnishes, carefully-placed drops of oil and balsamic vinegar help make the plates look like the work of a haute cuisine chef. The so-called ‘cheese’ courses are made from crushed nut-milk, and resemble moist halva; our ‘almond cheese’ had a remarkable texture and nut-milk flavour, nicely paired with thin wafers of shaved fennel bulb.

From the several dishes we tried, a pattern emerged; the balance of flavours leans towards the savoury or even bitter, and refined sugar isn’t used, not even in the desserts; agave syrup is used instead. Our non-dairy ice-cream was flavoured with maca, a fruit from the Andes, and had a texture that was in no way inferior to dairy ice-cream.

Far from being worthy or hairshirt, Saf is a strikingly good-looking bar and restaurant, airy and bright and filled with fashionable Shoreditch folk – and the cocktails are good, too.
Saf, 152-154 Curtain Rd, EC2A 3AT (020 7613 0007/www.safrestaurant.co.uk) Old St tube/rail. Open daily 11am-12midnight. Meals served daily 12noon-3.30pm, 6.30-11pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £75.
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Rootmaster
If you’re after a unique venue, this vegan eaterie housed in an old Routemaster double-decker bus is just the ticket. Diners have the reign of the upper deck, where a communal table, three individual tables and a diner-style bar make for an unsurprisingly cramped yet convivial ambience. The cooking takes place downstairs by bouncy, upbeat staff. The menu comprises dishes using both Asian and European influences, including umami-rich gyoza, and juicy stuffed mushrooms (life’s not too short, apparently). A hearty sweet potato, marinated tofu, and coconut curry was the best main course. If the sun’s out, take advantage of the tables out front.
Rootmaster, Old Truman Brewery car park, off Dray Walk, E1 6QL (07912 389 314/www.root-master.co.uk) Aldgate East tube or Liverpool St tube/rail. Open daily 11am-10pm. Meal for two with drinks and service: around £50.

Vanilla Black (© Ming-Tang Evans)

Vanilla Black
Vanilla Black has just relocated from York to the heart of London’s legal district, and the look and atmosphere is suitably sober: all our fellow diners were besuited. The menu echoes Modern European menus outside London, exploring influences from Indian to Japanese, but presented as smartly and tidily as a solicitor’s files. Shame the menu descriptions are no more reliable than a crim’s testimonials at the Old Bailey. A ‘vindaloo’ merely had some spice notes around mounds of baked sweet potato, with a moat of saffron risotto around the base. One dish our waitress described as ‘tasting just like gammon and pineapple’ didn’t – which isn’t a bad thing, if you’re not keen on gammon. In fact, the smoked duck egg had no perceptible smokiness, and the dominant flavour was not of pineapple, but of the excessive amount of salt used in the potato croquette. But most dishes were good, if not always excellent. The service is on the ball, and this is somewhere you can take a business colleague without having to fret about which dishes are vegetarian, because they all are.
Vanilla Black, 17-18 Tooks Court, off Cursitor St, EC4A 1LB (020 7242 2622/www.vanillablack.co.uk) Chancery Lane tube. Open Mon-Fri 12noon-2.30pm, 6-10pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £80. Set lunches from £21 for two courses.

The Gate
Brothers Adrian and Michael Daniel’s masterly meat-free operation occupies a light, airy attic space above a church in Hammersmith. Initially inspired by their grandmother’s Indo-Iraqi Jewish cooking, they’ve been going strong since 1989 and have published a couple of cookbooks on the back of the restaurant’s success. An easy, laid-back atmosphere presides in the dining area, but not so in the kitchen, where the chefs assemble carefully considered, inventive plates of food. Lasagne at The Gate is a triumphant affair of butternut squash and courgette layered with dolcelatte and served on sautéed French beans with chilli and watercress sauce. The rest of the menu has a global outlook (coconut-infused laksa with shiitake wontons; orange, strawberry and walnut salad), while desserts play it safe with simpler delights of the chocolate brownie or apple pie and ice-cream ilk. Whatever you choose will have been created with skill, flair and a sound understanding of the interplay between texture and flavour. Worth a journey.
The Gate, 51 Queen Caroline St, W6 9QL (020 8748 6932/www.thegate.tv) Hammersmith tube. Open Mon-Fri 12noon-2.45pm, 6-10.45pm; Sat 6-10.45pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £65.

Mouthwatering fare at Ottolenghi (© Britta Jaschinski)

Ottolenghi
Yotam Ottolenghi, whose column, ‘The New Vegetarian’, appears in The Guardian, owns this flagship café-restaurant, which caters well for vegetarians. At lunchtime choose from salads and main courses, which all abound with innovative flavours and texture combinations, and taste stunning; in the evening, the dishes and prices move up a notch. Simpler options might include red rice and quinoa with orange zest, caramelised onion, pistachio and rocket.
Ottolenghi, 287 Upper St, N1 2TZ (020 7288 1454/www.ottolenghi.co.uk) Angel tube or Highbury & Islington tube/rail. Open Mon-Sat 8am-11pm, Sun 9am-7pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £80.

Manna
This year marks Manna’s fortieth anniversary, and yet its menu remains one of the most modern and imaginative you can find. The choice changes frequently and draws its influences from around the world. At the moment the elaborate creations include chestnut mushroom knish (an eastern European pie) drizzled with beetroot yoghurt sauce, green vegetable korma served with mini poppadums and lychee-tamarind salsa and Creole sweet potato galette accompanied with fried okra and Monterey Jack cheese. Desserts are equally impressive – the restaurant staple of warm chocolate fondant is rendered irresistible with roast hazelnut ice-cream and a slick of whisky and butterscotch sauce. An overhaul of the decor has kept the understated wooden chairs and floors of old, and added trendy black-and-beige wallpaper. In addition to the main dining room, there’s a small conservatory area facing the street, ideal for more intimate meetings. Manna has matured into one of the most sophisticated vegetarian restaurants this city has to offer.
Manna, 4 Erskine Rd, NW3 3AJ (020 7722 8028/www.manna-veg.com) Chalk Farm tube. Open Mon 6.30-11pm, Tue-Sun 12noon-3pm, 6.30-11pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £55.

Eat and Two Veg
Eat and Two Veg satisfies any omnivorous urges without pushing you off the veggie wagon. The formula of vegetable protein and soya in various meat-like garb sounds like it came from a lab, but you’ll forget that when you’re biting into a double cheeseburger with mayo and ketchup dripping decadently down your chin.

The diner theme extends to the decor of the restaurant, but this being moneyed Marylebone it’s a glossy, classy kind of Americana with crimson banquettes, shiny counters and a serving hatch looking into the kitchen.

High points include the substantial salads brimming with fresh ingredients such as avocado, new potatoes, cherry vine tomatoes and sunny hard-boiled eggs. Hot options include schnitzel in a white wine and watercress sauce, Rendang (a type of Indonesian curry) with brown jasmine rice, and a nut roast on Sundays (some clichés just refuse to die).
Eat and Two Veg, 50 Marylebone High St, W1U 5HN (020 7258 8595/www.eatandtwoveg.com) Baker St tube. Open Mon-Sat 9am-11pm, Sun 10am-10pm. Meal for two with wine and service: £55.

Mildred’s
Invariably buzzing with a bright, informal crowd, Mildred’s is a good choice for a cheerful get-together with a large group. Don’t expect privacy if you’re dining à deux as tables are set almost indecently close together.

The menu dips into cusines from around the globe, offering up artichoke crostini with lemon aioli, a salad of beetroot, hazelnut and feta, and moreishly smoky babaganoush with chargrilled flatbread for starters.

The burger of the day with chunky chips is always popular (who said all vegetarians were health freaks?), and more unusual mains include cinnamony butterbean stew with cornbread, belly-filling refried bean burrito tempered with cool, creamy guacamole and fragrant orange and chickpea tagine served with fennel couscous.
Mildred’s, 45 Lexington St, W1F 9AN (020 7494 1634/www.mildreds.co.uk) Oxford Circus tube. Open Mon-Sat 12noon-11pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £65.

Saki
Although vegetarianism has a strong tradition in Japan because of Buddhism, shojin ryori – ‘temple cuisine’ – is virtually unknown outside Japan. Saki is planning to change this as they’ve just hired a new chef from a well-known shojin kaiseki (vegetarian tasting menu) restaurant in Japan. The new menu, which is in addition to the non-veg menu, starts on May 19.
Saki, 4 West Smithfield, EC1A 9JX (020 7489 7033/www.saki-food.com) Barbican tube or Farringdon tube/rail. Open Mon-Fri 12noon-2.30pm, 6-10.30pm; Sat 6-10.30pm. Omakase shojin menu for two with drinks and service: around £160.

Blah Blah Blah (© Ming-Tang Evans)

Blah Blah Blah
Eclectically fitted out (think kitsch icons and crayons on tables), bohemian BBB brings a touch of character to this nondescript stretch of Goldhawk Road. What’s on the menu? You could start with grilled skewers of halloumi marinated in Indian spices, or go vegan with aubergine timbale layered with mushroom pâté. Move on to verdant risotto studded with peas, broad beans, asparagus and chives, or fill up on gastropub-style root vegetable pie served with fat chips and onion gravy. Still got room? Classic cheesecake with cranberry compote caters to big appetites, and mango ice-cream sprinkled with pistachios, almonds and cardamom is a lighter option. A fun, chatty ambience completes the experience.
Blah, Blah, Blah, 78 Goldhawk Rd, W12 8HA (020 8746 1337) Goldhawk Rd tube. Open Mon-Sat 12.30-2.30pm, 6.30-10.30pm. Unlicensed. Meal for two with service: around £55.

The top ten | Haute cuisine | East African | Indian | Thai | West End fast food