if you are a vegan hanging out in london, don’t rush over to neals yard salad bar in covent garden. the vegetarian and vegan-friendly cafe sounds like a total win with loads of vegan baked goods, animal-free entrees and a whole juice bar…but when we went, the service was slow and the food was rather meh.

while the cafe is mostly vegetarian, they do have a few vegan options including a vegan pizza. if you read this blog, you know how much we fucking love pizza, so we had to give that a try.

vegan pizza with corn, tomatoes, olives and garlic mayo.

the menu said the pizza came with corn, tomatoes, olives and a vegan mayo type sauce. i assumed the toppings would be in a similar ratio, but when the pizza arrived it had four slices of tomato, four olives and about FOUR CANS of corn on it. seriously, so much corn.

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if you go to london, be sure not to leave without hitting up camden market. the open-air market has been going on since the 70s, draws about 100,000 people each weekend, and is packed with tons of cool stalls, shops, pubs and restaurants. whether you want a pair of wacky socks, a purse, a whole new wardrobe or just some shit that glows in the dark…you can find it at camden market. definitely go on a saturday or sunday, it will be pretty crowded, but at least everything will be open. and after you work up a massive appetite from all that shopping, drop by and grab some vegan lunch from camden lock’s falafel queen.

camden market...shopping makes vegans HUNGRY

the 100% vegetarian falafel stand is located in the middleyard section of the camden lock market and appears to be all vegan as well. i didn’t see any dairy products or eggs on the menu. the falafel queen is open on weekends from 10am until 5pm and serves up pipin’ hot falafel sandwiches, fresh salads, crispy chips and cold drinks. oh, and the falafel balls are cooked right there on the spot as well, super fresh!

falafel queen: pita bread with salads, tabuli, corn, hummos, tahini, warm chickpeas, and chili sauce. £4.50

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222 veggie vegan is a 100% vegan restaurant in west kensington, a rather nice area of london. they offer a daily lunchtime all-you-can-eat buffet for just £7.50, and an a la carte dinner menu every evening. i’ve never been to the lunch buffet, but have been in the past a couple of times for dinner and have overall been pretty pleased with the place. our last visit, however, left a lot to be desired.

we hit up 222 veggie vegan on a monday evening at around 6pm, and although the place wasn’t that busy, it took us forever to be noticed by the waitress. the entire place was being taken care of by just one server, and she seemed pretty flustered and miserable. when we finally got her attention, we ordered everything at once. an appetizer, two main dishes, and one side dish.

bean and tofu pancake: black eye bean and tofu pate wrapped in a wholemeal pancake, topped with tomato chunks and vegan cream sauce.

the appetizer arrived almost immediately and was definitely the highlight of the meal. the bean and tofu pancake didn’t taste like a pancake at all, more like rolled up and fried tofu scramble with a delicious sauce and a vegan sour-cream-type condiment. it was really beautifully presented and tasted great; we thought we were in for an awesome meal.

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for vegans who find themselves in london on the hunt for a quick meal, i highly recommend popping into one of the many itsu shops located around the city. itsu offers japanese-style light fare including sushi, soups and salads that as they say on their website is “full of goodness & won’t make you fat.”

while the menu at itsu has a lot of icky fish on it, they do have some great vegan options that are a welcome break from all the heavy chips and curry i’m used to consuming while in the uk. we always make sure to hit up itsu at least once when in london for their delicious dumpling soup…we even like it so much, we figured out how to make it at home here in los angeles.

itsu dynamite vegetable dumplings with miso broth. £4.95

when ordering the dumpling soup off the menu, be sure to specify that you want it with miso broth. the miso broth is vegan, while some of the other soups at itsu contain bonito (fish). although you can’t see them in the picture, the vegetable dumpling soup comes packed with fresh vegetables including spinach, mushrooms and bean sprouts, all atop a big pile of fat udon noodles and stacked with plump and juicy vegetable dumplings and crunchy seeds. everything that’s shoved into this soup is fresh and amazing, my only tip would be to eat the dumplings first because if they get too soggy they start to disintegrate. this stuff is so bloody yummy, it will have you wondering why you haven’t been eating it every day for years. seriously, so simple and so good.

in addition to a really stellar vegan soup option (don’t forget to specify that you want vegan miso broth!), itsu offers a damn good salad.

hip & healthy: avocado, itsu salad, tenderstem broccoli, itsu rice with chives, soy pumpkin seeds, beetroot angel hair and shallot dressing. £4.25

the hip and healthy is packed delicate leaves, perfectly prepared vegetables, hearty seeds and even fluffy white rice. it’s seriously a produce lover’s dream…all so fresh and tasty. while the vegetable dumpling soup with miso broth is by far the best thing i’ve ever tried at itsu, the hip and healthy salad is a perfect choice if you don’t want to stagger out with half a gallon of liquid in your belly.

to sum it up, itsu is a great choice if you are looking for a nourishing and tasty vegan meal in london. it’s one of our regular uk haunts, and i always feel energized and guilt-free, even after eating a ton. the japanese have got the healthy and simple food down. eating this food will make you feel so good, you won’t even miss the fried and greasy chips or oil-filled indian food.

one thing to look out for, if you are eating in and not getting your food to go…be sure to hit up one of itsu’s SHOP locations, not one of the RESTAURANTS. the shops are quick with a vegan-friendly menu and have cute little booths to eat at. the restaurants are larger and offer a mainly fish menu, with the soups and salads only available for takeaway. basically don’t bother with the restaurants. check out the itsu website for all the shop locations…they are seriously scattered all over london. the pix in this post are all from the piccadilly shop. address and hours below.

so hit up itsu! because as they say, “you can eat lots without guilt, sorrow, and pain”! woo!

itsu
167 Piccadilly
London W1J 9EG
T: 020 7495 4048
F: 020 7495 4645
Mon to Fri: 10am – 8pm
Sat & Sun: 12pm – 5pm

Last autumn we spent a nice, long veganific weekend in Manhattan. Despite our penchant for fine dining on that trip, we saved the best for last and paid another visit to Maoz at its Union Square location. Located right in the heart of Sunday-farmers-market-urban-chic on the cusp of Chelsea and Greenwich Village, and a few blocks north of Soho, Maoz is very well located for a lot of foot traffic. And, with the Union Square Park literally over the street there’s somewhere pleasant to eat your food – weather permitting.

Of course, on our recent London trip, we had to re-visit the Maoz location on Old Compton Street in Old Soho (where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola). This outlet is sandwiched (no pun intended) right in between an adult book store (of the most racy kind!) and an exotic lingerie shop – of equally (of not more) raciness, but to be expected in Soho. It’s just seconds away from Piccadilly Circus, Carnaby Street and the West End Theater District, but as there’s no picturesque park outside I’m glad it has some inside seating — unlike the Manhattan outlet.

maoz in london

I can report that the food experience is almost entirely the same in London as it is in Manhattan. Omnivores tell me that they enjoy ordering a Big Mac in different cities around the world as they taste the same. With Maoz (already crowned as a potential MacDonald’s of vegetarian food) the same holds true.

maoz falafel sandwich with hummus and unlimited salad bar. ...before going back for more toppings!

The premise is pretty straightforward: you get a warm, fresh pita pocket, and they put hummus, falafel or both into it. From there you can help yourself to an array of incredible vegetables – from the exotic (curried cauliflower) to the mundane (shredded carrots) as many times as you like (that’s another advantage of the London location – you can go back and grab more toppings without walking back into the store and feeling like a thief!). You can add on a range of condiments (mostly vegan) including spicy sauces, tahini, vinegars etc. for a truly healthy and personalized treat.

maoz refillable salad bar

Maoz is a great invention indeed, I’m glad they have outlets centrally located in two of my favorite cities, and it’s funny that I used to chill in London during the eary 80s, right in Soho, and then a few years later I spent a lot of time in Manhattan in the late 80s, right in the Gamercy Park/Union Square district. Of course, there were no Maoz there then. Bummer.

If you plough your way through the world’s MOST FUCKING ANNOYING WEBSITE EVER to find the locations, you’ll see that more are planned to open in the near future. Sadly nothing obvious on the West Coast or in LA, but I live in hope as there’s a franchise application on the site! Hopefully somebody will drop a few bucks to open an outlet in LA. I was thinking Westwood, 3rd St. in Santa Monica or even The Grove would be great locations.

maoz vegetarian
43 Old Compton St
London, W1D 6HG, United Kingdom
+44 20 78511586

if you find yourself in england jonesing for some fast food, you can always count on red veg. they deem their fare “proper fast food”, and they are absolutely right—the sloppy little diner has two locations, one in london’s soho and the other in brighton, and both serve up quick and tasty american-style classic burgers and hot dogs that don’t disappoint. the brightly lit interior, along with cheap tables and chairs, and food served in greasy paper sleeves make red veg feel like all the fast food joints back home in the states, with one catch…red veg is 100% vegetarian, and everything on the menu can be veganized.

mushroom vegburger

on our recent trip to the uk, my husband and i stayed in brighton for one night. the only evening we spent there was a rainy one, and to be honest, all we wanted to do was huddle into pubs that were located very close to our hotel. when we finally drank so much that we needed sustenance to continue, we wandered over to red veg, the closest vegan-friendly restaurant that was open after 8pm. we found ourselves in a neat little cafe full of vegan junk food…complete with punk rock posters on the wall and blaring loud music coming from tiny speakers. the staff was cooler-than-thou but very friendly, and most importantly very knowledgeable about veganism.

my husband got the mushroom vegburger pictured above, and he absolutely loved it. it came out in record time, and was pretty cheap. i don’t remember exactly how much, but i remember it being more than reasonable. the picture doesn’t look that appetizing, i know, i know…but this is really just fast food. nothing fancy, just cheap awesome fast food…except, we can actually eat it due to the lack of dead animal bits. the patty was really decent, and the mushrooms were well cooked. we’d totally order this again.

vegwurst with caramelized onions

i went with the vegwurst and carmelized onions with loads of hot sauce. the frank was pretty small, but whatever, it tasted good. the onions were delicious and perfectly sauteed, and the hot sauce topped it all off nicely. now while this dog was nothing to write home about (not everyone can be the frankenstand), it definitely filled the void and reminded me of old school fast food fare that i haven’t had in well over ten years.

fries

we topped everything off with an order of fries to split, and they were great. total thin fast food fries, red veg has got the formula down! and they even served them with a side of vegan mayo! um……..mayo on my fries?!!?!?! oh, you crazy brits!

so if you find yourself in brighton on a stormy evening and need to dry off with some easy burger joint cuisine, check out red veg. they won’t let you down. i assume the london location is just as good, if not better, because it was the first one they opened.

americans should definitely hit up red veg when in england. it will remind you of all the cool burger places that you can’t eat at back home. go get vegetarian fast food, it’s the way of the future!

red veg
brighton
21 Gardner Street, Brighton, BN1 1UP
Telephone: 01273 679910
Monday to Saturday 12 noon until 9pm
london
95 Dean Street, London, W1V 5RB
Telephone: 020 7437 3109
Monday to Saturday 12 noon until 10pm
Sunday 12 noon until 6.30pm

UPDATE 12/07/09: sadly eat and two veg has shut down. 🙁 this sucks. read update here.

i have dined at loads of vegetarian/vegan restaurants in london, and one of my all-time favorites has to be eat and two veg. we go there at least once (usually twice) on every trip across the pond, and each visit leaves us loving it more and more. the trendy west end eatery has fashioned itself after an old school american diner—big red booths, a galvanized steel interior and neatly-dressed chefs (with white hats and all) make this place total 50s throwback heaven. big diffy is, while they serve up home cookin’, it’s all meat free and refreshingly healthy.

take for instance the full english breakfast…you know, the standard british morning meal filled with animal bits that almost every pub, diner, and cafe sells. well, eat and two veg offers a slap-up traditional-style breakfast as well, except it’s all either vegetarian or vegan. we of course opted for the vegan version, which came compete with grilled tofu, baked beans, toast and an array of hearty vegetables.

big vegan breakfast: tofu, tomato, mushrooms, beans, spinach and 2 toasts. £5.95

from looking at this picture, you may be thinking that this meal looks simple/boring/easy-to-make-at-home. let me tell ya, it was none of those things. this dish was exceptional. from the perfectly seasoned tofu, to the plump tomatoes and well sauteed mushrooms…everything was perfect. not to mention the excellent and insanely spicy fresh spinach, along with the crispy toast. if you ever go to london, don’t leave without trying this. it gives you the chance to enjoy the traditional english breakfast in all its vegan glory. you fucking deserve it.

to be fair, eat and two veg only has a few vegan options on the breakfast menu, the big breakfast pictured being one of them. if that doesn’t look good to you, you may want to skip the morning menu. the main menu has even more tempting vegan offeringsl…so you kind of have no excuse not to visit them.

plus, it’s not just about the food. all around eat and two veg is fucking immaculate and gorgeous. the service is great, the atmosphere is stunning and the ingredients are all top notch. they’re located in a really swish but quiet part of the west end called marylebone…just steps away from baker street station. go there.

eat and two veg
50 marylebone high street
london, w1u 5hn
020 7258 8595

Let me take you back to May 1992. Early one morning I arrived at my place of work in Camden Town, London to see my best friend and colleague of many years standing outside smoking a cigarette. The puffing away wasn’t surprising (heck, everybody smoked then, including me) but the fact that he was sobbing into a handkerchief was of some concern. Upon careful questioning, he told me that his childhood and adult icon, Marlene Dietrich, had passed away the evening before. If you could have seen Michael’s apartment back then, you could not have missed the carefully framed Dietrich posters adorning the minimalist walls, upstaged only by provocative paintings entitled things like “nude male in the snow” and “a man. studied from multiple angles.”

So there I was, in the early 90s with my devastated, vegetarian, gay best friend and colleague who really needed to be cheered up. I decided I was going to take him somewhere really nice for dinner, and set about researching a good place for us to go. I eventually settled on The Gate which at that time was one of very few vegetarian restaurants in London and wasn’t too many tube stops from our place of work. Not only that, The Gate had just won a national award and had been voted the “best vegetarian restaurant in London” as it has many times since.

Yeah, it was expensive, but it’s not every day that Marlene Dietrich passes away so I decided to splurge and treat Michael to a dinner he would not forget. Several courses, a number of beers and two bottles of wine later he was much more pleased with himself and life in general, as was I. To this day, I don’t recall what food we ate, but it was absolutely sublime. Probably not vegan, but I was just a vegetarian then, so the mere fact that stuff wasn’t made with chicken stock was more than enough for me.

the gate interior

Fast forwarding 17 years to last week, the wife and I happened to be in West London where The Gate is located, and I couldn’t resist wandering past to see if we could get a table. After all, the place would probably be packed at 7pm but it would be nice at least to see inside and remember the old days (The Gate is located in an old community hall/church that was tastefully reconstructed for high-end dining, so the architecture alone is worth a visit).

Well, we arrived and the place was empty. There was even some music playing loudly from the kitchen that was turned down just after we walked in. Let’s not forget, the UK is in a major recession now and so $75 a head upscale restaurants probably are not that popular. Regardless, we were seated at a tiny two-top table, served warm bread and handed two large menus (which if opened up together were actually larger than our table) that were stuffed full of amazing sounding dishes.

It was only after extensive scanning of the options on the menu that we discovered (after ordering a $50 bottle of wine, I might add, after which it’s impossible to leave a restaurant) that the amazing sounding stuff all had milk, eggs, cheese, cream or yoghurt in them. There were only three vegan options on the menu, one of which was an appetizer. OK, so it was a vegetarian restaurant, and had I been one, as I was 17 years ago, I would have dined like a king. Again. HOWEVER, The Gate is NOT for vegans. Don’t go there if you’re vegan. The dairy glorification on the menu of “home cultured yogurt” and “creamy sauce” was enough to make me fly back to LA and get a bad noodle salad from Pure Luck.

So, we ordered what we could and enjoyed having this cavernous restaurant to ourselves. The appetizer was a plate of steamed new potatoes and miscellaneous vegetables that was perfectly cooked and well presented. Our main dishes were Red Thai Coconut Curry and Sweet Potato Tortillas which were of high quality and extremely tasty. However, the limited vegan options and exorbitantly high prices ($23 for my coconut curry, and that’s with an exchange rate advantageous to the dollar) meant that we left feeling ripped off (the total bill was just under $100), and still hungry.

excellent new potato appetizer from the gate.

meh and pricey tortilla dish from the gate.

blah expensive curry from the gate.

The Gate certainly isn’t what it was all those years ago, probably because I’m older, a vegan, drink less and don’t have a recently bereaved friend to console. Although I’m not entirely to blame – The Gate makes no apologies about being vegetarian and clearly caters to vegans as an afterthought. If you don’t eat animal products, this is definitely a place to skip.

the gate. don't bother.

UPDATE 1/23/11: apparently, now the wagamama soba noodles now contain egg…even though they are still listed on the vegan section of the website. according to UK vegans, now you’ve gotta order the below dishes with udon or rice noodles, NOT SOBA NOODLES in order for them to be vegan. this might vary by location, so please let your waiter or waitress know that you are vegan when ordering to avoid any mix-ups!

on our recent trip to england, we were completely overwhelmed by all the vegan options london had to offer. there were so many vegetarian restaurants, way too many to try, and even the chain restaurants and pubs had animal-free offerings. on our first day there, i received an email from a london reader named paul, who’d read about our trip and had a list of places for us to check out. at the top of his list was wagamama.

if you’ve been to london, you’ve probably seen several wagamama restaurants, the pan-asian inspired chain noodle bars are on practically every corner. i was so stoked to read paul’s email and learn that they had plenty of vegan dishes on the menu. our first two nights were spent in a lovely pub in richmond, which happened to be just a 15 minute walk away from a wagamama location. kismet! i went to their website, and found they even have a whole list of everything on the menu that’s suitable for vegans. score!

we pored over the vegan online menu, decided what to order and headed out for a wagamama feast. we started with the raw salad, which was excellent.

raw salad: a combination of mixed asian leaves, thin cut mooli, carrot, spring and red onions. garnished with fried shallots and served with wagamama house dressing. £2.90

while the raw salad was simple and cheap, it was probably the best thing about our dinner. seriously, so so so so so good. everything was just super fresh and went really well together. plain ingredients can taste amazing when very well prepared.

next we got the saien soba, which was decent. i would probably try something different next time…i mean, it was pretty good but didn’t wow me.

saien soba: wholewheat noodles in a vegetable soup topped with stir-fried courgettes, asparagus, fried tofu, red onion, leeks, shiitake and portobello mushrooms, mangetout, beansprouts and garlic. seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil and garnished with sliced spring onion. £7.50

this dish was pretty salty, and a little bland, but all the fresh vegetables and delicious tofu made up for it. it did taste a little like something i could make at home, though.

lastly, we ordered the yasai chilli men. very spicy and very delicious.

yasai chilli men: stir-fried courgettes, white and portobello mushrooms, mangetout, green and red peppers and fried tofu in a sauce made from chillies, ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes, lemongrass and sweet red peppers. served with wholewheat noodles. £7.50

the yasai chilli men was awesome. the sauce was tomatoey and sweet, kind of like pasta sauce…and it was all very hot. i got it without the peppers, and it was still covered in tons of vegetables. there were so many different flavors going on in this dish, and they all went together so well. nam nam nam.

so, if you are ever in london and need a no-brainer vegan dinner, wagamama is a great place to hit up. no matter where you are, you are probably very close to a wagamama, so it makes for a great emergency meal. be sure to check out all their vegan options online, or ask your server. the staff seemed pretty knowledgeable about vegan stuff when we were there.

the food is decent, the prices aren’t high, and the service is quick. thanks to reader paul for the tip! i know i will be back at wagamama again in no time.

UPDATED JAN. ’11: apparently rootmaster is now closed/on hiatus as of this month, which is very sad. let’s hope they don’t go the way of eat and two veg (RIP vegan full english breakfast!), and shut down completely. it’s always gutting to see a meatless restaurant close its doors. we’ll miss you, double decker bus restaurant! please come back soon. x

recently, my husband and i took a trip to the uk and realized that london is overflowing with vegan-friendly restaurants. the selection in london is even better than it is here in los angeles, and most of the food there is out of this world. while we tried a lot of places, none were quite as special or uniquely british as rootmaster in elys yard. the 100% vegan restaurant cooks and serves its food in a disused double-decker routemaster bus, with the seating upstairs and the kitchen below.

an important piece of london heritage and introduced in 1956, the routemaster was an open platform bus that passengers could board and alight in between stops. however, due to safety concerns and a bunch of lame excuses, the iconic bus was discontinued in 2005. luckily the folks over at rootmaster preserved one of the old buses really well and inside it they gave me the chance to do something just as cool as ride around london: eat vegan food!

everything the rootmaster served up was absolutely fantastic. the menu isn’t that huge, but i was happy knowing i could eat anything on it because it’s all animal-free. we started off with some edamame, along with a portion of bread & oil.

edamame: blanched in the shell, lightly sprinkled with coarse sea salt. £3

bread & oil: fresh bus baked bread accompanied with extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar. £2.5

i never imagined in my life that would eat something called “bus baked bread”, and that it would be so flippin’ tasty! they actually baked that bread fresh, right down stairs in an oven in the little bus kitchen. absolutely amazing. it was so crispy on the edges, and fluffy and warm inside, really top notch. good, fresh bread is hard enough to come by in normal restaurants; now i know those places have no excuse. if a freaking bus can do it, they should be able to as well! the edamame was also lovely. warm and salty goodness, all around the table on a cold london day.

as a main, we wanted to try the burger, but the waiter told us it wouldn’t be ready for around 30 to 40 minutes. oh well, at least the guy was honest! some places will just make you sit there for an hour and never tell you there’s a delay in the kitchen. we didn’t feel like waiting, so we went with the picante tofu and teriyaki stir fry instead.

picante tofu: large chunks of organic tofu with broccoli in a spicy tomato and rich creamy sauce. served with organic brown rice. £6.5

the picante tofu was great, although it’s mostly covered up by rice in the photo. underneath all that fluffy rice, there are huge chunks of tofu and broccoli covered in a really spicy tomato sauce. it was so creamy as well…it reminded me of the sauce on penne ala vodka. the vegetables were really fresh and crisp, and the tofu was thick and juicy. it really shows when restaurants use high quality ingredients. the dish was so good in fact, it made me glad there was a delay on the burger.

the teriyaki stir fry was also excellent. again, rootmaster used really fine ingredients and fresh vegetables, making for a most delicious meal.

teriyaki stir fry: asian market vegetables, cashew nuts & locally made organic tofu, wok seared in an a la carte teriyaki sauce. served with organic brown rice. £8.5

the asian vegetables were all very delicate and tender, and the tofu was soft and well-marinated, but crispy on the edges from being cooked up in the wok. they work fucking wonders in that bus kitchen, i’m telling you! they are baking up bread and wok searing vegetables, not to mention throwing together these amazing sauces! i mean, HONESTLY. how the hell do they make such good food on the first floor of a bus?

so as you can tell, overall, our meal was awesome. the only bad thing about rootmaster is we only got to eat there once. seriously, i cannot wait to return. they also have a whole wine list and dessert menu we didn’t even get to try out! (when you are trying to visit 100 pubs in 14 days, drinking wine at lunch is forbidden.)

i highly suggest that if you find yourself in london, you give this place a try. not only is the food delicious and entirely vegan, but you get to dine in a little piece of london history. the restaurant even moves a bit from side to side, just like a real bus, when the waiter brings your meal up the stairs. plus, it’s located in the old truman brewery, right across from rough trade east; so you can get the satisfaction of eating in an old bus AND where they used to make beer at the same time, then do some record shopping afterwards.

everything about this place is lovely, charming, and extremely special. i feel pretty lucky to have eaten at rootmaster.

rootmaster
elys yard
the old truman brewery
hanbury street
london
e1 6ql

07912389314