Restaurants

The clamorous street market outside Beatroot sets the tone for this bustling, on-the-go lunch spot. A constant stream of Soho’s stylish and stylishly dishevelled lines up for takeaways (Beatroot’s stock in trade), but there’s also a handful of tables in nursery-bright colours. Choose a container size (small, medium or large, priced £3.70-£5.70), and the staff of international hipsters will cram it full of healthy fast food. Hot choices include lentil shepherd’s pie topped with creamy mash; chunky moussaka; vegan sausage rolls; and stir-fry with brown rice. These can be a little bland, but the salads are much better: try citrus-dressed carrot batons with pumpkin seeds; beansprouts jazzed up with tahini vinaigrette; or beetroot with toasted sesame seeds. Labels on the counter would be helpful, so that staff don’t have to repeat the food descriptions to each customer. Vegan desserts include an earnestly hippyish hemp-seed flapjack, and there’s even a crop of wheatgrass behind the till (though, thankfully, the smoothie list features plenty of virtuous recipes that don’t include it).

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008