London's best vegetarian restaurants
Okay, so you’ve bitten the bullet – or perhaps the celery stick – and decided to go veggie. Or maybe you’re just trying to impress somebody with your animal welfare credentials. Either way London’s late night underworld of dodgy fried chicken shops and unsanitary burger vans is now off-limits. And the pile of artery-blocking grease cunningly disguised and marketed to humans as the harmless sounding ‘kebab’, is a definite no-no. Still, fear not. Not only are there plenty of vegetarian options open to you that don't involve ropey pasta or the waft of patchouli oil, but there are also plenty of places that your meat-eating friends’ll like too.
Best for converting a carnivore
The Garden Café
Open: Tue–Sun, 10.30 –17.00pm;
Food: Tue–Sun, 12–16.30pm;
Main course: risotto, with salad and bread 4.75 pounds
Best for non-hippy eats
Manna Vegetarian Restaurant
Open: Mon–Sat, 6.30pm–11pm; Sun 12.30pm–3pm & 6.30pm–10.30pm;
Food: Tue–Sun, 12pm–4.30pm;
Main course: Tortilla espanola, average price per head 25–35 pounds
Best for taking a veggie on a date
Mildreds
45 Lexington Street, W1
020 7494 1364
Tube: Picadilly Circus
If you’re looking to push a lettuce leaf around a plate with that special someone, before washing down the lentils at a West End watering hole, you could do worse than Mildreds. Yes, the staff – most of whom seem to be wannabe posh tottie pretending they’re slumming it waitressing – do spend most of their time hanging around the kitchen talking about their boyfriends or 'how cute' the new guy is. And yes, you could easily end up passing through a short passage full of Soho trannies to get there. But at Mildred’s they do serve large portions of big chunky chips and other hot, filling, sometimes spicy food that leaves you feeling in the mood for, well, we'll leave it to your imagination. And if that doesn’t impress, and the lime and raspberry meringue hasn’t worked, then you could always splash out £250 for one of the prints of Blackpool that oddly, decorate the walls.
Open: Mon–Sat, 12pm–11pm
Main course: porcini mushroom and ale pie £7.95
Best for getting your five portions
Indian Veg
92-93 Chapel Market, N1
020 7837 4607
Tube: Angel
There are two reasons you can get five portions of fruit and vegetables at this place. Firstly it’s an eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet and secondly, it’s so blimmin cheap (£3.50 for the buffet). Granted, with all the potatoes bulking out the dishes, you’ll need to really pick your way through the meals to get at the veg that’s good for you, but Indian Veg is a bit of an institution that is a little off the beaten track in more ways than one. It’s tucked away at one end of Islington’s, Chapel Market and this unpretentious café is a virtual shrine to vegetarianism. The walls are covered in a mixture of eulogies to the supposed benefits of a vegetarian diet – apparently it helps prevent everything from piles to cancer – and surprisingly, pictures of national beauty queens that have visited the place. What’s even odder is that many of the clientele look like they could afford much more. You get what you pay for, but it’s still got to be the cheapest in London.
Food: Mon–Sun, 12pm–11.30pm;
Main course: Indian buffet £3.50
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