London & environs: Vegetarian Food
[This section is in the earliest stages of development: 20 July 2002]
London is the one place in the world, in my experience, where eating out as a vegetarian is easy, and being a vegan encounters fewest problems. For all I know, there may be more vegetarians in London than in the rest of Europe put together. It is with regret, therefore, that I present here only a handful of places in which I have eaten in London. Due, as usual to my inefficiency at remembering / recording details
Ambala Sweet Centre, on the north side of Drummond Street, near Euston Railway Station, is an Indian sub-continent vegetarian take-away. All of the freshly cooked savouries are vegan, but none of the Indian sweets is vegan. If you are in luck, and can digest deep fried battered vegetables, there are excellent samosas, vegetable pakora, aubergine pakora, potato pakora, cauliflower pakora and chilli pepper pakora. The opening times are good, although I have never quite fathomed them. Recommended.
Across the road from Ambala are two south Indian vegetarian
restaurants. I have eaten most often at:
Diwana (Bhelpoori House), 121-123 Drummond Street, Euston, London NW1
2HL
tel: 0171-387-5556 (but does not accept bookings)
Daily: 12:00-23:45.
There are several vegan-suitable items on the menu, although it is not always
easy to work out which they are. None of the portions is huge. Quantity, and
variety, is made up by selecting various side dishes, many of which are vegan.
Prices are cheap to moderate. Service is often lightening fast (especially
downstairs), and sometimes rather slow. Local (office workers and residents)
clientele, very busy mid-evening. The ground floor is suitable for ambulant
disabled people, and some tables are okay for wheelchair users; however,
toilets are a problem. Recommended.
Ravi Shankar is close by at 133-135 Drummond Street, Euston, London NW1 2HL; tel: 0171-388-6456. Open daily, certainly in the evening. Easy to eat vegan. As I recall, access for disabled people and wheelchair users is not quite so good, but manageable with a little help. I cannot remember where the toilets are.
Chutneys is close by, a little further on down the street, back on the south side, is another vegetarian Indian food restaurant. Last time I was there (on a Sunday evening), there was an all-you-can-eat buffet for a reasonable, although not cheap, price. The food was good, and the staff appeared to know what food was suitable for vegans. The wheelchair access is not bad, although I cannot remember where the toilets were. The staff were friendly to my daughter.
Moving south towards Covent Garden, there are two focuses: around Neal's Yard, and around Covent Garden Piazza. There have long been many vegetarian and partly-vegetarian restaurants in both areas. As with all restaurants, they come and go, but these are the streets to wander if you are looking for somewhere you've not yet tried. In Covent Garden Piazza itself, or in the streets close by, there is always a Cranks, or some such salad place. My experience of these places is that they are extremely cramped (therefore disabled access is appalling) and over-priced (no doubt their rent and rates are astronomical). I prefer to take-away (unless it's raining). However, vegan is not much of a problem, if sometimes somewhat uninspired.
World Food Cafe, First Floor, 14 Neal's Yard, London WC2H 9DP; tel:
0171-379-0928
Mondays-Tuesdays: 12:00-17:00
Wednesdays-Thursdays: 12:00-20:00
Fridays-Saturdays: 12:00-17:00
Sundays: closed.
Vegetarian restaurant with an excellent selection of vegetarian dishes from
around the world. Easy to eat vegan: e.g. Middle Eastern mezze (felafel,
hummus, tabbouleh, salad). The ambience is very lively. I think that it is a
lunchtime-only place. Access for disabled people is hopeless, because it is up
a long flight of stairs. (One of the toilets has the most amazing water cistern
that is well worth seeing!)
Not far away, in Chinatown, but I can never remember which street, is a Greek (or is it Turkish?) restaurant called The Olive Tree. Some of the food is vegetarian, and some of it vegan. It is very tasty, and not expensive. Disabled access is reasonable.
Further into Soho, near Soho Square, is a vegan takeaway. [Fanfare.] Unfortunately, I can't remember its name. [Fanfare fades.] I shall check it out on my next visit to London.
Out to the west of central London, is/was an upmarket vegan
restaurant:
Gardners 511, 511 Fulham Road, London SW6 1HH; tel: 0171-381-1411.
The food was excellent, with a choice of main courses, side dishes, sweets and
drinks. Prices matched quality and ambience (i.e. more expensive than
'alternative'-type restaurants. Wheelchair access was good, but I can't
remember about toilet facilities for disabled people.
Further west again, and convenient for having visited Kew Gardens or
Richmond Park, is a vegetarian restaurant: Richmond Harvest, 5 The
Square, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1DT; tel: 0181-940-1138
Mondays-Saturdays: 11:30-23:00
Sundays: 13:00-22:00
A range of international vegetarian and vegan dishes. Downstairs, so disabled
access poor.
Not far away is The Riverside at 64 High Street, Kingston, Surrey (tel: 0181 546 7992). I have not visited it, but my sister has, and enjoyed the experience.
Further west (well beyond London, really), is Reading. Here there is the Cafe Iguana at 11 St Mary's Butts (surely this should be Buildings?), Reading (tel: 0118-958-1357). The food is Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/Mexican, with salads. The atmosphere is young and politically-alternative, with quite loud music: not really the sort of place to take grannies. They will do take-outs (if pushed a little) which is what I did.
