Dishoom

7 Boundary Street

We visited dishoom for breakfast. Rob’s family goes often and not just for breakfast but we had never come along before. Rob ordered The Vegan Bombay which is like an English fry up but with an Indian twist and I had the vegan akuri which is just like a tofu scramble. The food was good but I must admit I was a little jealous of Rob’s order. Unfortunately his plate wasn’t really gluten intolerant tummy friendly so not for me but maybe for you – it really was very good. Next time I am going to try their date and banana porridge, yum! I definitely won’t change my drinks order though because Dishoom’s vegan masala chai is divine. So good in fact that we brought their tea blend home with us.

WAVE – We Are Vegan Everything

11 Dispensary Lane, Mare Street

We had been to Wave before, you can see our first visit here, and were looking forward to going back. It is a lovely vegan cafe in Hackney tucked away from the hustle and bustle in a little alley. Everyone in Rob’s family used to love their vegan lox bagel but since we first visited they’ve changed the recipe and now I think we’d rather come here for a hot drink and some treats. That’s not to say that the food is not good but it’s not what we remember from those first visits. The cakes and cookies however as good as ever and I really enjoy their turmeric latte. The atmosphere in this place is something special as well. It is not the typical London interior but rather reminiscent of Bali or at least how I imagine Bali having looked at many photos on Pinterest, ha! Basically it’s a little oasis to chill out in with a cookie in one hand a latte in the other.

Unity Diner

60 Wentworth Street

If you are vegan yourself and are going to visit one place on this little list of mine then this should be it! Unity Diner is a non-for profit all vegan restaurant created in association with Earthling Ed. For those of you who don’t know who Ed is he’s a vegan activist and content creator with an inspiring and thought provoking youtube channel. He also started a Surge sanctuary with lots of rescued farm animals. The profits from the restaurant goes towards animal rights work and the sanctuary as I understand it which would have me going as often as I could if I was living in London. Good food and helping better the lives of animals all in one sounds ideal to me.

Sometimes when we imagine a non-for profit place we don’t imagine a place like Unity Diner but something smaller and less exciting. I am happy to say that this place is in a great location, has a lovely interior, seats many people, has lovely staff and does both great drinks as well as food. It appears you can have it all in London and that what makes me so excited!

The food is classic dishes and diner fare but with a vegan twist of course. I thought the food would be heavy and a bit greasy reading the menu but it was actually super fresh and didn’t feel heavy at all! The best thing we had were there tofish bites. They are a starter take on the kind of fish you would get with a regular fish and chips order but made from tofu and they were sooo good. Apparently tthey won a prize for this creation and I can see why because the taste and texture were something else. Definitely a must try like our waiter recommended!

We also had the caesar salad which was delish as well as a vegan “lobster” roll made with mushrooms and their grilled corn on the cob. Next time we’re going to try a burger for sure because everyone around us were ordering them and we’ll definitely order the main version of their tofish and chips. We hear desserts are good as well!

Side note: Just opposite Unity Diner you can find another vegan place serving Scandinavian food called Dauns. We went in quickly just to check it out during our visit but hope to return to try their Sunday roast with a Scandi touch next time! You can also buy some Swedish groceries here.

Clapton Country Club

Unit J2, The Tram Depot, 38-40 Upper Clapton Road

Clapton Country Club make a good vegan Sunday roast and is tucked away down an alley making it a lovely place to enjoy a Sunday afternoon. The outdoor seating was buzzy and very nicely set up with tables that can seat many and the indoor space was actually super nice. It was a huge room with very high ceilings and lovely rustic long tables and there was even live music! When it comes to the food basically everyone but me had their vegan wellington and were very happy with their choice and I had the quinoa stuffed butternut which was okay but nothing to write home about as such. To be honest I’m really there for the roasted potatoes and veg drenched in gravy anyway and those were delicious!

Mallow

1 Cathedral Street, Borough Market

Mallow was a place that I had heard lots of good things about all over the internet and was really intrigued to visit. It is in some way connected to the Mildred’s restaurants which we’ve always enjoyed visiting when in London, it’s been one of our go to’s really. So we had high expectations for Mallow which is located in the bustling Borough Market. Unfortunately we didn’t love the food we had at Mallow but I can definitely recommend the mocktails and the mushroom tempura. The latter is worth a visit alone and had a delicious dipping sauce made with passion fruit. It sounds odd but tastes oh-so-good! I can also recommend the creme brulee with pistachio crumble and apricot on the side. Again that was really good so all in all it was a little hit and miss. Some things were very good and some things just didn’t live up to the expectation really.

The restaurant space in itself is really lovely and the light in the upstairs dining hall is fabulous. I don’t want to think that some of our experience food-wise was representative of Mallow as a whole and I would still like to recommend it for it’s lovely location, space and those delicious mushrooms.

Tofu Vegan

105 Upper Street and 28 N End Road

Rob’s brother and his wife booked this place for us to visit one evening and they’ve got good taste! This place has some seriously delicious dishes and I can recommend anything with mushrooms. The stir fried water spinach makes another great side dish but I think the sliced “fish” in hot chili oil took the prize for both best and most original dish. It reminded me of mackerel in terms of the texture and richness so if you were ever a fatty fish lover then this is the dish for you.

By the time we left the Islington spot was positively heaving with people so I think it’s safe to say that this place is worth a visit and you won’t regret it!

Plates

538 Kingsland Road

Plates is another spot Rob’s brother and his wife took us all to and again it was one of the best food experiences from our visit. We had a five course tasting menu as is custom at Plates and it didn’t disappoint. The menu changes with the seasons and I hope we can visit again some time to enjoy the plant forward creativity of chef Kirk Haworth. The menu is also gluten free from start which of course suits me and my sensistive stomach very well so to all my gluten intolerant and vegan friends out there this is definitely a place for you!

Our favourite dishes from our visit was a potato dish with seaweed caviar and crispy shallots which really reminded me of Swedish traditional flavours as well as the dessert with vanilla, strawberry, rhubarb and matcha that came like a little cloud bursting with jammy goodness on the plate. It was both a feast for the eyes and palate!

Groceries to Check Out

To finish this post of recommendations I just want to mention some places you might want to check out for goodies to take home or just browse for foodie fun. Personally I always enjoy visiting chains like Planet Organic and Whole Foods because we don’t have big speciality food stores like that in Sweden and it’s so exciting to see all the vegan and gluten free foods and try some too.

I also really enjoyed browsing more local organic shops like Figs and Grain on Broadway Market where you will also find lovely independent book stores as well. The Saturday market is also lovely here and you can enjoy all sorts of yummy street food as well as buy the best olives from Borough Olives. We also enjoyed a visit to the Victoria Park food market on a Sunday where again there’s lots of great street food as well as ingredients to cook at home. We had a delicious Venezuelan arepa from La Pepia during our visit and don’t miss out on checking out I Am Nut Ok vegan nut cheeses.

In addition I always love to visit asian grocer Longdan to check out all the different noodles and sauces. They even had vegan steamed buns ready to pick up as a snack which Rob would have loved to have if he wasn’t so full from all the other food we’d already eaten on the day we walked into the shop. Next time!

With that said I think I’ve exhausted my tips for this time but luckily there are many more guides on the internet to find more vegan delights in London. And they really are many at this point! We always enjoy our time eating our way through the city and we hope you will too if you go.

Malin x