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London’s best restaurants for vegetarian food

You'll find curry houses, chilled out cafés and classy vegetarian joints in Time Out's best meat-free restaurants

Leonie Cooper
Sarah Cohen
Edited by
Leonie Cooper
Written by
Sarah Cohen
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It's a treat to be veggie in London, and there are plenty of fantastic vegetarian restaurants, cafés and street-food stalls that cater to those who want to feast without the flesh, but still scoff butter, cheese and eggs. Read on and you'll find down-to-earth veggie cafés, meat-free curry houses, healthy restaurants and swish spots that'll convince even hardened carnivores to give peas a chance. We've even included a few places that aren't fully veggie, but offer a great vegetarian menu, like outdoor BBQ spot Acme Fire Cult.

Recommended: Go fully plant-based with the best vegan restaurants in London.

The best vegetarian restaurants in London

  • Restaurants
  • Vegetarian
  • Soho

Middle Eastern food has always been good for veggies, but this spot takes it to the next level. You'll find exhilaratingly rich brown-butter topped humous, meaty mushroom kebabs, and deep-fried latkes that are full of heft and crunch. Go with friends and work your way through as much of the all-winner menu as you can.

  • Restaurants
  • Vegetarian
  • Angel

Located opposite Sadler’s Wells, this branch of veggie innovator The Gate puts on a breezy modern face with pendant lights, bare black tables and bare wooden floors. Share a meze platter (salty feta fritters, mushroom ceviche, featherlight artichoke tempura) or plunder the global carte for aubergine schnitzel, raw pad Thai or wild mushroom risotto cake. The original branch is in Hammersmith, and has been there since 1989.

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  • Restaurants
  • British
  • Dalston

A live-fire restaurant from chefs Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins which is all about being simple, sustainable and collaborative. They use beer by-products like yeast and grain from the brewery next door in ferments and hot sauces, and even though it's a BBQ joint, vegetables are the stars of the show (though there is some meat on the menu, which is worth keeping in mind if you're a die-hard vegetarian). Leeks are charred until the layers softly fall apart and are then covered with a vibrant green pistachio romesco sauce, while grilled cauliflower comes with plenty of pickled red onion, chopped mint leaves and jalapeños.

  • Restaurants
  • Vegetarian
  • Bethnal Green

With heritage grain bases as well as ethical providers and growers, Flat Earth's veggie pizza is as wholesome as they come. Toppings include kimchi fiorentina with house-made kimchi, Somerset mozzarella and cheddar, Cacklebean eggs and beetroot crumb as well as the 'Hackney hot', with sweet pickled beetroot, cheese, chilli and hot salsa. There are vegan options too. We love the cauliflower, butter bean & tahini option, as well as their sloppy joe with tempeh bolognese and paprika onions.

https://media.timeout.com/images/105972774/image.jpg
Leonie Cooper
Food and Drink Editor, Time Out London
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  • Restaurants
  • Indian
  • Stoke Newington
  • price 1 of 4

With its distinctive pink paint job and dedication to Keralan vegetarian cooking, the original Stokey branch of Rasa broke the anglicised curry-house mould in 1997 – and it’s still going strong. Get stuck into the chilli and onion rava dosa, the beetroot and spinach achadi or the wonderful moru kachiathu (a turmeric-infused, sweet-sour yoghurt-based dish involving mango and green banana). Outstanding value.

  • Restaurants
  • Vegetarian
  • Shoreditch

With its adult-only policy (sorry kids) and seasonal black truffle menu, this place is peak sophistication. Combining its owners Brazilian and Italian heritage, the menu is diverse and inventive, with the likes of mangara (banana tree flower) in whiskey barrel-smoked sea salt, and 'forest floor calamari' made of wild kaong seed in tempura, showcasing how much vegetables have to offer in the hands of these masterful cooks.

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Rovi
  • Restaurants
  • Middle Eastern
  • Fitzrovia
  • price 3 of 4

Situated on the backstreets of Fitzrovia, Rovi offers a feast of fermented dishes cooked over fire with everything from Levantine-style cuisine to Japanese tempura and dashi dishes. The dessert menu has something for everyone, from black cardamom ice cream to pumpkin fritters, helping further transport you through European, Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine, with a menu catering to vegetarians, vegans and even your omnivore plus ones.

Kin Café
  • Restaurants
  • Vegetarian
  • Fitzrovia

With its offer of pleasantly retro veggie and vegan cooking served in quiet, soothing surrounds on Foley Street, Kin certainly has plenty to recommend it. Come here for pick-me-up breakfasts, coffee and cake in the afternoon or working lunches on the go – think salads, sandwiches, stews, quiches. 

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Bühler and Co
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Walthamstow
  • price 2 of 4

A Scandi-chic veggie café serving a creative global menu and Climpson’s coffee in serene surroundings, Bühler + Co is primarily a brunch spot, serving apple crumble French toast, bulgur cakes and meatless fry-ups. A slice of the good life in Walthamstow.

  • Restaurants
  • Indian
  • Wembley

An Ealing Road landmark, this huge canteen-style outfit is a real hit with local Asian vegetarians – and other streetwise punters. Gujarati and South Indian dishes abound, but top choices include vegan pani puris, masala dosas, punchy chilli paneer, Indo-Chinese hakka noodles and zesty sambar. There are loads of chutneys and salads too, while desserts such as creamy shrikhand finish things off nicely.

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  • Restaurants
  • Iranian
  • Peckham
  • price 1 of 4

This colourful, crowded and charmingly bonkers café is a favoured haunt for Peckham local veggies. Meze and wraps form the bedrock, but the menu plunders Iran, the Levant and North Africa for inspiration (adding some local tweaks along the way). To finish, go for the hot paklava meltdown or the divine Turkish delight sundae with Afghan green tea on the side.   

  • Restaurants
  • Global
  • Notting Hill

Farmacy sells ‘clean indulgence’ to an eager audience of moneyed Notting Hillbillies and aspirational hedge-fund wives. It’s a happy, joyful, free-from kind of place (no dairy, no sugars, no additives), with plant-based treats ranging from clean curries to macro earth bowls. Even the most virtuous dishes taste luxurious, especially when eaten in such chic surroundings.

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Sagar
  • Restaurants
  • Vegetarian
  • Hammersmith

Popular with students and aficionados of South Indian vegetarian cuisine, Sagar has gained renown for its keenly priced, homely cooking, with five outlets now running across the capital. The King Street original is an attractive, smart-looking venue serving a please-all regional menu spanning everything from steamed idli dumplings and bhel puris to dosas galore, uthappams (lentil pizzas) and assorted veggie curries.

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