London is a city known for its dynamic food culture and is where you can find some of the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the country. Our Plant Based specialist at Classic Fine Foods, Ash has compiled a list of some of his favourite vegan restaurants in London, all of which are Classic Fine Foods customers. These restaurants use a wonderful selection of plant based products we sell at Classic, from vegan brands such as Tindle, Redefine Meat, Julienne Bruno and Beyond Meat.
Gauthier, Soho (W1D 5AF)
Gauthier is the world’s first primary sustainable and 100% plant based fine dining restaurant. It offers refined French cuisine, using only plant-based and sustainable ingredients. This means they can keep their carbon footprint extremely low.
Photograph @gauthiersoho
Gauthier is run by the award-winning French chef, Alexis Gauthier. When Alexis decided to go vegan in 2016, he worked to combine his classical French training with his natural creativity to reinvent French gastronomy; to be plant based.
Alexis has said about the future of vegan fine dining; “I am a classically trained French chef who held Michelin stars for 12 years and the thought of someone like me being vegan would have been insane five or ten years ago. But now the world is waking up. This is the future."
What is on their menu? Gauthier restaurant offers a ‘petit dinner’ and ‘grand dinner’ tasting menu with an option of wine pairings for each course. Some stand out dishes include crispy butternut tatin with cardamom, miso and white chicory and the fat English plum with pear ice is a wonderful dessert option.
By far our favourite dish is the ‘kind juniper game’ which combines a slow-braised Redefine Meat flank with celeriac, pumpkin, pear and red wine. Redefine Meat is a truly unique product that offers the total experience of meat that gratifies every on every level. With a course yet tender texture and rich meaty flavour, it really caters to every sense. The Redefine Meat Beef Flank also cooks similarly to animal meat, so there is no compromise on the dishes you can create with it.
Photograph @gauthiersoho
Mildred’s, Various Locations
First opened in 1988, Mildred’s has become a staple in the landscape of vegan and vegetarian dining in London. It now has 6 branches located across London. Mildred’s offers a variety of cuisine options, all suitable for vegetarians and vegans. From Korean to Sri Lankan to Southern American, there is something for everyone!
Photograph @mildredsrestaurants
Mildred’s isn’t just great for vegans. As they use Tindle Vegan Chicken in many of their dishes, it makes it easy for anyone who isn't familiar with vegan or vegetarian cuisine because they can easily find something that looks familiar to them on the menu. Tindle is a highly versatile and easy to use plant base protein, which gives you endless possibilities to create!
What is on their menu? Some of our favourite dishes include Amba Tindle chick’n* kebabs marinated in mango with butternut cranberry rice, tahini and tomato shaata, sweet potato leek tortellini with porcini cashew cream and a delicious dark chocolate pudding with chocolate stout sauce and honeycomb ice cream, which you would not believe is vegan.
Photograph @mildredsrestaurants
Café Van Gogh, Oval (SW9 6BE)
Café Van Gogh is a 100% plant based café and restaurant that uses only seasonal and sustainable ingredients in their dishes. With a menu that changes every 6-8 week, Café Van Gogh attracts customers with new and exciting brunch, lunch, dinner or Sunday lunch options.
Photograph @cafevangoghldn
As a not for profit social enterprise, Café Van Gogh is committed to helping both the environment and local community through serving delicious, sustainable food.
What is on their menu? On their evening menu, Café Van Gogh serves a wonderful starter of beetroot carpaccio with Julienne Bruno superstraccia, candied seeds and basil sauce. Using only natural, plant based ingredients, Julienne Bruno offers a vegan Stracciatella cheese that has the creaminess and fresh milky flavour you would expect from a dairy cheese.
Other popular dishes include a celeriac schnitzel with mushroom sauce, watercress and crispy capers and the ultimate vegan Sunday roast; nut, beetroot and chickpea wellington, served with roast potatoes, braised red cabbage, garlic and ‘Honea’ carrots, Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy.
Photograph @cafevangoghldn
123 V, Bond Street (W1S 1RQ)
Situated in the terrace of Fenwick’s, 123 V was also opened by Alexis Gauthier of Gauthier, Soho. His mission here was to offer a more relaxed plant based dining experience. With an extensive menu influenced by a wide variety of cuisine influences, 123 V brings vibrancy, creativity and tastiness to vegan cuisine.
Photograph @123vegan_w1
What is on their menu? 123 V offers an extensive sushi menu which includes dishes such as Korean spiced vegan tuna roll with avocado, pickled cucumber, spring onion and zingy miso, and for dessert, an indulgent Tres Leches cake with fresh mango and lime.
The dish that stands out most for us is the Beyond Meat California burger served in a house bun with vegan cheese, onion, lettuce, pickles and special sauce. Adored by vegans and non-vegans alike, the Beyond Meat burger patty is the ultimate plant based beef patty alternative. The patty is made from pea protein, which gives it its distinctive rich meat flavour and succulent texture.
Photograph @123vegan_w1
Unity Diner, Spitalfields (E1 7AL)
Based in Spitalfields, East London, Unity Diner is London’s biggest plant based American-style diner and cocktail bar. Unity Diner has a clear mission, to make delicious food to satisfy their customers and help make a positive change for animals and the environment.
Photograph @unitydiner
Known for its relaxed, laid back atmosphere (it is even dog-friendly!) , Unity Diner has become a popular spot for customers who fancy hearty American cuisine with a plant based twist.
What is on their menu? Unity diner offers some simple yet delicious dishes including fried Padron peppers, sautéed vegan chorizo topped with crumbled feta and a rich chocolate and caramel cake served with “not your honey” comb, chocolate swirls and grated chocolate.
Our favourite dish however has to be their take on the 80’s classic, Tindle Chicken Kiev stuffed with garlic butter, served on paprika dusted chunky fries and a side of garlic greens. Unity Diner has chosen Tindle plant based chicken for this dish as it is easy to mould and has a wonderful succulent, juicy texture even after frying.
Photograph @unitydiner
So there you have it. A comprehensive guide to the vegan restaurants in London. We hope this post has given you some inspiration of the plant based products you can source from Classic Fine Foods and the dishes you can create with these for your own customers.
Discover our full range of plant based products here.
