Where To Go For a Vegan Brunch in London
By
12 months ago
Start your weekend right at these plant-based hotspots
Most good brunch places offer a plant-based option nowadays – but it’s the fully vegan restaurants that really pull out the stops when it comes to meat-free cooking. Gone are the days of bland toast and limp pancakes: nowadays you can find an excellent vegan brunch in London, with a handful of innovative restaurants offering twists on classics. Here we highlight some of the best, from cosy cafes in Hackney to vegan fine dining in Knightsbridge.
Best Vegan Brunch in London 2024
- Plants by DE, Mayfair
- Holy Carrot, Knightsbridge
- WAVE, Hackney
- Farmacy, Notting Hill
- Wulf and Lamb, Chelsea and Marylebone
- KIN Cafe, Fitzrovia
© Safia Shakarchi
Plants by DE
Ella Mills is a true icon on the vegan food scene. What began as a personal website for documenting plant-based recipes has grown into a hugely successful food brand, complete with an app, products, cookbooks, and most recently: a restaurant in Mayfair. Everything on the menu is entirely vegan, and there’s a great brunch offering featuring some of Ella’s most popular dishes. Go savoury with creamy truffle mushrooms or harissa garlic butter beans on sourdough, or satisfy your sweet tooth with a stack of vanilla pancakes. Pair with a fresh juice or smoothie – our top pick is the date and almond shake, made with medjool dates, almond butter and cacao.
18 Weighhouse St, London W1K 5AH, deliciouslyella.com
Holy Carrot
Proving vegan food certainly doesn’t have to be boring is Holy Carrot, nestled within wellness hub Urban Retreat in Knightsbridge. The pretty eatery serves excellent plant-based cuisine inspired by different places all over the world, offering everything from sushi to cocktails and afternoon tea. There’s also a Sunday brunch featuring a selection of twists on classic brunch dishes: truffled scrambled tofu with tempeh bacon, a ‘smoked salmon’ bagel, and apple and cinnamon pancakes topped with coconut and pecan nuts. If you’re feeling like more of a lunch, there are small plates of tofish and chips, heritage tomato ceviche, and buffalo ‘wings’ (oyster mushroom). Whatever you go for, be sure to finish on a sweet note with a dessert: there’s miso caramel sponge cake, Sicilian lemon tart, and eclairs with pistachio and coconut cream. And if you’re nursing a hangover, blow the cobwebs away with the Holy Mary: Holy Carrot’s answer to a Bloody Mary made with Sapling vodka and house spiced tomato juice.
2-4 Hans Cres, London SW1X 0LH, holycarrot.co.uk
WAVE
Friends Cait and Soph launched WAVE (We Are Vegan Everything) on Mare Street in Hackney back in 2019. Their aim was, in their words, to create a: ‘little oasis where you could put your feet up, feel like you were on holiday and eat delicious, simple and nutritious vegan food without having to leave all of your non-vegan friends at home.’ And that’s exactly what they achieved. WAVE is a pretty café with an industrial-chic vibe serving an all-day menu of plant-based fare. Breakfast-wise, choose from dishes like the Brekkie Bowl, made with scrambled tofu, roasted tomatoes, smokey BBQ beans and hummus, or raspberry pancakes topped with cashew ice-cream and golden syrup. For something lighter, there are smoothie bowls, packed with nutritious ingredients like maca powder and CBD – and drinks-wise, we’re sold on the peanut butter coffee.
11 Dispensary Ln, London E8 1FT, weareveganeverything.com
Farmacy
This Notting Hill gem is a haven for vegans – but even the most carnivorous of diners will find much to love here. The brainchild of Camilla Fayed, who has a passion for natural farming and eco-minded cooking, Farmacy is a chic spot complete with a glitzy central bar and lush foliage throughout. It offers one of the best vegan brunches in town, with all dishes made from organic, plant-based ingredients – many of which come from the restaurant’s biodynamic farm in Kent. Think falafel waffles topped with beetroot hummus and puffed chickpeas, buckwheat pancakes, and a twist on the Full English featuring BBQ jackfruit ribs, roasted portobello mushrooms and smoky beans. For extra nutrition brownie points, pop one of the ‘farmaceutical’ shots or adaptogenic lattes on the side.
74-76 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5SH, farmacylondon.com
Wulf & Lamb
‘Run with the wolves, eat with the lambs’ is the motto for vegan restaurant Wulf & Lamb, which has two outposts: one in Chelsea’s pretty Pavilion Road, another on Chiltern Street in Marylebone, both focusing on plant-based versions of comfort food classics. For brunch, that looks like: American pancakes topped with vanilla cashew cream, shakshuka made with tofu, and paprika smoked chickpeas on toast. Pair with fresh juice and matcha lattes before heading out for a spot of afternoon shopping.
243 Pavilion Rd, London SW1X 0BP (Chelsea) and Chiltern Place, 66 Chiltern St, London W1U 4EJ, wulfandlamb.com
KIN Cafe
Tucked away in Fitzrovia, KIN Cafe doesn’t shout too much about the fact it’s plant-based: instead it reels people in by the promise of seasonal, creative dishes, which just happen to be (mostly) vegan. The eatery is centred around a love for the planet: it chooses suppliers that positively impact the world, and supports the Born Free Foundation, which helps care for wild animals in their natural habitats. Food-wise, you can enjoy acai bowls, waffles with caramelised banana and peanut butter, or weekend specials like the KIN Benedict: sliced avocado, tenderstem broccoli and a vegan option of sesame tofu.
22 Foley St, London W1W 6DT, kincafe.co.uk
