Here are the places that I visited on my trip to South London during June 2016. Short description of each restaurant follows the video!
Veg Bar – Brixton
Well hasn’t Brixton smartened itself up over the last decade? It’s now a rather funky hip place to hang out especially with many restaurants around offering vegan food. A perfect spot perhaps for this all vegan restaurant which is a short walk away from Brixton station in the direction of Herne Hill/Tulse Hill.
It’s a funky night time spot that is open late at the weekends. There is a buzzing atmosphere. You can get vegan alcoholic drinks and have a great meal and time with friends. The menu is not massive but the dishes are good. The burger is great and is a huge portion with so many layers that it all starts to fall apart when you try to eat it with your hands. You can eat it with a knife and fork though, even if eating a burger with cutlery might feel a bit of a strange thing to do in Brixton. The chilli dog burger is another amazing dish especially if you like your food with a bit of a kick.
They do a deal where you can get a meal and a dessert for £15 which we thought was a pretty good bargain although the desserts are a bit hit and miss. We ordered a peanut butter shortbread thing which was too hard to eat – but when we mentioned this it was placed with a very decadent Oreo Cheesecake. That was so good it definitely it made up for the previous error.
Brixton is a great place for a night out. Swing by this place and get a good feed before moving on to what could even be an all-nighter in this now trendy area of South London.
Ms Cupcake – Brixton
This place is for any vegan who has a sweet tooth. They sell a large assortment of 100% vegan cupcakes which all taste absolutely gorgeous. Try the popular Ferrero Rocher one. They do a deal where you can get four cakes for a tenner. Treat yourself!
As well as the cakes they have fridges full of things like fake meat burgers, vegan cheeses and cooking ingredients. Lots of dry snacks, vegan candies and chocolates all available as well. They are a small shop with a small area for sitting and they are just around the corner from the station.
Campbell’s Canal Café - Camden
This is the former Inspiral Lounge which I reported on in my last London blog post and despite closing down and reopening with a new name, everything remains the same. Dishes are extremely good, include things like an amazing vegan burger with fabulous chunky chips or try the Asian Seitan with vegetables. Desserts rock as well. Great place to sit out on the lock with music that goes on in to the night. Open late and serves alcohol. Our only disappointment is that we noticed that they do sell cow’s milk in coffees for those who request it. Not a good sign for somewhere that claims to be all vegan but it would seem they apparently have a roaring trade from non-vegan coffee drinkers stopping through that they don’t want to lose.
Vantra Vitao – Tottenham Court Road
Excellent fully vegan restaurant in a central location near Tottenham Court Road. A narrow, dimly lit place but a sort of romantic place to sit even with being squished up quite close to other diners. It’s very popular and you may have to wait for a table if you don’t book, not sure if they take bookings or not. The food is buffet and you pay by weight, the cost doesn’t work out too bad. They also do a lunch box size for those wanting to take away. The dishes are all vegan and some of them are raw. They range from all kinds of interesting things such as salads, curries and mushroom cheese things all of which I can’t name. Food is healthy, tasty, and filling. Desserts are just as good.
Vanilla Black – Chancery Lane
My only disappointment from my trip, this place was a let-down for me. They are in a good location near Chancery Lane and they are an upscale restaurant. For the price, which is £40 for three courses, you’d expect to get a very decent feed. I didn’t. The starter was what you might expect for a starter but the main course was so small it was a joke. It was even smaller than the starter. The taste was pretty good but not so good to make up for the sheer lack in size. I could have eaten three or four of them and I don’t have a particularly big appetite. The dessert was good, also could have been bigger. Even with the few slices of bread we were given to share I still left feeling hungry.
They are also vegetarian rather than vegan, although they do provide a completely vegan menu.
Vegan Hippo - Soho
This wonderful little café is situated in a very convenient location in Soho. They sell all kinds of interesting dishes such as a huge classic vegan breakfast, museli bowls and and Polish Pierogi. They also sell lunch items as well as desserts, snacks to take away, drinks and coffees. They are also open early in the morning and they are a truly great place to have breakfast.
Pato Lounge - Orpington
This restaurant is not vegetarian or vegan let’s make that clear, but if you are in this part of South East London – which is actually in fact Kent - you are going to be far from spoiled for choice. You would have to travel pretty far to find even a vegetarian restaurant or anywhere that will label vegan options.
So when we stumbled across this place that has an entire vegan menu we were thrilled. It’s not just a few dishes, its starters, mains and desserts! We tried many of the dishes such as the soup, the vegan breakfast, the museli bowl and the veggie burger with sweet potato fries. All of which were great.
There is also a great atmosphere at this large and popular restaurant in the middle of the high street. They are open long hours and they sell cocktails, wine and soft drinks. They do kid’s meals and gluten free meals making it a place to accommodate everyone.
We were so grateful to find somewhere that clearly labelled so many vegan items right out here in Orpington.
