London has one of the most varied plant-based dining scenes in the UK, with everything from neighbourhood cafés and vegan fried “chicken” to ambitious tasting menus. The best vegan restaurants in London depend on what you want to eat, where you are staying, and whether you need a fully vegan kitchen or simply strong plant-based choices. This guide focuses on places that are currently operating and useful for visitors as well as Londoners.
Quick Answer
London’s strongest vegan choices depend on the meal: Mildreds is a reliable all-day option with several central locations, Plates is a standout special-occasion tasting-menu experience, and Temple of Seitan suits casual vegan fast food. For brunch, Dishoom and Mildreds both offer clearly identified plant-based choices.
Last checked: October 1, 2026. Dates and figures were verified against official sources.
Key Takeaways
- Mildreds is completely plant-based and has convenient locations including Soho, Covent Garden, King’s Cross, Camden and Victoria.
- Plates and Gauthier Soho are the clearest choices here for a longer, special-occasion tasting-menu experience.
- Dishoom is not a vegan restaurant, but it has a dedicated selection of vegan dishes for mixed-diet groups.
- Temple of Seitan focuses on indulgent vegan fast food, while Dauns offers a very different Scandinavian-inspired café experience.
- Several restaurants that still appear in older London vegan guides have closed, so current information matters when planning a meal.
| Restaurant | Area | Best for | Dining style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mildreds | Multiple London locations | All-day vegan dining | Casual restaurant |
| Gauthier Soho | Soho | French-style fine dining | Plant-based tasting menus |
| Plates | Shoreditch | Special occasions | Vegan tasting menus |
| Dishoom | Multiple London locations | Mixed-diet groups and breakfast | Vegan-friendly Bombay café menu |
| Dauns | Spitalfields | Something different | Vegan Scandinavian café |
| Temple of Seitan | Camden and Hackney | Burgers and comfort food | Vegan fast food |
Top Vegan Restaurants in Central London and Nearby
If you are sightseeing in central London, start with restaurants that are easy to fit around Soho, Covent Garden, King’s Cross and the West End. Mildreds is especially practical because it combines a fully plant-based menu with several locations, while The Gate remains a long-running option for travellers willing to head west to Hammersmith.
Mildreds
Mildreds has been part of London’s meat-free dining scene since 1988. According to the Mildreds restaurant history, the business became completely plant-based in 2021 and now operates locations including Soho, Covent Garden, Camden, King’s Cross and Victoria.
The menu is broad rather than tied to one cuisine. Current dishes draw on Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and European flavours, which makes Mildreds useful for groups that want plenty of choice without checking every dish for animal products. Soho and Covent Garden are particularly convenient if you are combining dinner with West End sightseeing or theatre.
The Gate
The Gate is another established name in London’s plant-based restaurant scene. Its original Hammersmith restaurant has welcomed diners since 1989 and focuses on seasonal vegetable-led cooking in a more relaxed setting than a formal tasting-menu restaurant.
Hammersmith is west of the main tourist centre, so The Gate makes more sense when you are already visiting that part of London or want a meal away from the busiest West End streets. Its seasonal approach also means individual dishes can change, rather than remaining fixed throughout the year.
The Best Vegan Brunch Spots in London
Vegan brunch in London ranges from full cooked breakfasts to pancakes, tofu dishes and Indian-inspired morning plates. Mildreds is a strong choice when you want a fully plant-based brunch, while Dishoom works well for groups in which not everyone is vegan.
Mildreds for a Fully Plant-Based Brunch
Selected Mildreds locations serve breakfast or weekend brunch alongside their main plant-based menus. Current brunch dishes include options built around scrambled tofu, vegan sausages, potatoes, mushrooms, beans and plant-based pancakes, so you can have a substantial cooked breakfast without needing substitutions from a meat-based dish.
Because opening times and breakfast service differ between branches, choose the location that best fits your plans rather than assuming every Mildreds follows the same schedule.
Dishoom for Bombay-Inspired Vegan Breakfast
Dishoom is not exclusively vegan, but its dedicated vegan menu gives plant-based diners considerably more choice than a token side dish. At its Borough café, the vegan breakfast selection includes the Vegan Bombay, Vegan Akuri and Chole Puri, with breakfast served until 11:45am.
This is especially useful for mixed groups because vegan diners can order from clearly identified dishes while other guests use the wider menu. Dishoom also warns that it cannot guarantee its food is completely free from cross-contact with allergens, so tell staff about allergies rather than relying only on a vegan label.
Vegan Fine Dining in London
For a special occasion, London now has plant-based restaurants built around multi-course tasting menus rather than simply adapting a conventional menu. Plates in Shoreditch and Gauthier Soho are two of the most distinctive choices, but they offer different styles: Plates is contemporary and ingredient-driven, while Gauthier draws heavily on French fine-dining technique.
Plates London
Plates at 320 Old Street is one of the most significant recent additions to London’s plant-based dining scene. In 2025, it became the first vegan restaurant in the UK to receive a Michelin Star, with chef Kirk Haworth building the menu around vegetables, fruits, fungi and other plant ingredients.
For September through November 2026, the official Plates booking information lists an eight-course Signature lunch menu at £109 per person and a ten-course Discovery menu at £125. Dinner is dedicated to the ten-course Discovery menu at £125 per person. Reservations are released in seasonal booking windows, and tables can be difficult to secure.
Note: Plates states that it cannot accommodate nut, soy or allium allergies because those ingredients are used frequently across its menu. Contact the restaurant before booking if anyone in your party has dietary restrictions beyond veganism.
Gauthier Soho
Gauthier Soho is a strong choice for diners who want classical French technique without animal products. Chef Alexis Gauthier’s current plant-based menus include a longer Grand Dîner and a shorter Petit Dîner, both structured as multi-course tasting experiences.
The restaurant is at 21 Romilly Street in Soho, making it convenient for a special dinner in central London. Its current schedule has dinner from Tuesday to Saturday and Saturday lunch, with Sunday and Monday closed. This is a restaurant to reserve rather than treat as a spontaneous walk-in meal.
Hidden Gems and Less Obvious Vegan Restaurants in London
If you want something beyond the best-known central restaurants, London has smaller vegan businesses built around more specific cuisines. Dauns is particularly distinctive because it applies a fully vegan approach to Scandinavian comfort food rather than burgers, bowls or conventional modern-European dishes.
Dauns in Spitalfields
Dauns describes itself as a fully vegan Scandinavian-inspired café, deli and bar. It is at 77 Wentworth Street in Spitalfields, close enough to Liverpool Street and Brick Lane to include in an East London day without making a separate cross-city journey.
The Scandinavian focus sets it apart from most other vegan restaurants in London. Expect the concept to lean toward Nordic-style comfort food, open sandwiches, baked goods and café dishes rather than imitation fast food. The current opening schedule runs Tuesday through Sunday, with Monday closed.
Another useful option outside the busiest central streets is The Gate in Hammersmith. Its long history and seasonal plant-based menu make it more suitable for a sit-down meal than a quick sightseeing stop.
Vegan Fast Food in London
London’s vegan fast-food scene is strongest when you want familiar comfort food rather than a vegetable-led tasting menu. Temple of Seitan remains one of the clearest examples, specialising in seitan-based alternatives to fried chicken, burgers and loaded sides.
Temple of Seitan
Temple of Seitan grew from London street-food trading into a dedicated vegan fast-food business. Its menu includes the Temple Burger, seitan chick’n pieces and wings, wraps, fries, mac and cheese, loaded sides and plant-based shakes.
The current Temple of Seitan locations list dine-in and delivery restaurants at 43 Parkway in Camden and 10 Morning Lane in Hackney. Both are listed as open daily from noon until 10pm.
Camden is the more convenient branch for many visitors because it can be combined with Camden Market, Regent’s Park or a North London itinerary. Hackney suits an East London day and is closer to neighbourhoods such as London Fields and Dalston.
Vegan Desserts in London
You do not need to rely on a dedicated vegan restaurant to find good plant-based desserts in London. Vegan doughnuts, cakes, ice cream and restaurant desserts are now widely available, although several bakeries named in older guides are no longer operating.
Crosstown Vegan Doughnuts
Crosstown is not an entirely vegan business, but it maintains a substantial plant-based range. Its current vegan doughnut selection includes plant-based sourdough doughnuts in flavours such as Tongan vanilla, cinnamon sugar and rotating filled or glazed varieties.
Crosstown says vegan doughnuts are available across its stores, with the full plant-based range stocked at selected locations including Marylebone and certain London markets. Its vegan and non-vegan products are produced within the same wider operation, so anyone with a serious allergy should review the current allergen information rather than treating “vegan” as an allergen-free guarantee.
Restaurant Desserts
Mildreds is also convenient if you want dessert as part of a full vegan meal. Its dessert menu changes, but the advantage of a completely plant-based restaurant is that you do not need to separate dairy-free items from conventional cakes, creams or ice creams.
Fine-dining restaurants such as Gauthier Soho and Plates build dessert into their tasting-menu experience, making them better choices when dessert is part of a longer special-occasion meal rather than a quick bakery stop.
How to Choose the Right Vegan Restaurant in London
The best choice depends on your plans more than on a single restaurant being “best” for everyone. Choose Mildreds for an easy all-rounder, Dishoom for a mixed group, Plates or Gauthier Soho for a special occasion, Dauns for something less typical, and Temple of Seitan when you want quick comfort food.
- For central sightseeing: Mildreds Soho or Covent Garden keeps travel time low.
- For brunch: Mildreds works for an entirely plant-based meal; Dishoom gives mixed groups more flexibility.
- For fine dining: Plates and Gauthier Soho offer structured multi-course menus.
- For casual food: Temple of Seitan is built around burgers, chick’n and sides.
- For an unusual cuisine: Dauns brings Scandinavian flavours to a vegan café format.
- For dessert: Crosstown has a broad vegan doughnut range across London.
Pro Tip: For a short London visit, choose restaurants near attractions already on your itinerary. A great vegan meal in Soho, Covent Garden, Camden or Spitalfields is usually more useful than crossing the city solely because an older guide called somewhere a must-visit.
Exploring London’s Vegan Food Scene
London’s plant-based dining scene now covers far more than one style of food. You can have a tofu-based breakfast, Scandinavian café lunch, seitan burger or Michelin-recognised tasting menu without leaving the city.
The most important change from older vegan restaurant lists is that the scene moves quickly. Several once-famous businesses have closed, while newer restaurants have become major destinations. Build your plans around places that are currently operating, then choose by neighbourhood, meal type and whether you need an entirely vegan kitchen.
If you eat vegetarian food as well as vegan dishes, you can also see this article on homemade cottage cheese. Cottage cheese contains dairy, so it is vegetarian rather than vegan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some popular vegan restaurants in London?
Popular current choices include Mildreds for casual all-day dining, Plates and Gauthier Soho for tasting menus, Dauns for Scandinavian-inspired food, and Temple of Seitan for vegan fast food. Dishoom is also useful for mixed groups because it offers a separate selection of vegan dishes.
Are all of these London restaurants completely vegan?
No. Mildreds, Plates, Gauthier Soho, Dauns and Temple of Seitan are centred on vegan or entirely plant-based food, while Dishoom is a mixed restaurant with dedicated vegan choices. Crosstown sells both vegan and non-vegan products, although it maintains a substantial plant-based range.
Can vegan restaurants in London accommodate food allergies?
Some can accommodate certain allergies, but vegan does not mean allergen-free. Nuts, soy, gluten and sesame are common in plant-based cooking, and cross-contact may occur. Plates specifically says it cannot cater for nut, soy or allium allergies, so always give the restaurant your exact allergy requirements before eating.
Do vegan restaurants in London require reservations?
It depends on the restaurant. Reservations are particularly important for tasting-menu restaurants such as Plates and Gauthier Soho, and Plates releases tables in booking windows. Casual restaurants may be easier to visit without extensive planning, although busy central locations can still fill at peak times.
Are there good vegan restaurants in central London?
Yes. Soho, Covent Garden, King’s Cross and nearby central neighbourhoods have strong plant-based options. Mildreds has several convenient branches, Gauthier Soho provides a fine-dining option, and Dishoom has central cafés with dedicated vegan dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Where can I find vegan fine dining in London?
Plates in Shoreditch and Gauthier Soho are two clear options for vegan fine dining. Plates offers seasonal tasting menus and became the UK’s first vegan restaurant to receive a Michelin Star, while Gauthier Soho applies classical French technique to menus made without animal products.
Sources
- Mildreds: restaurant history, plant-based status and London locations.
- Dishoom: current vegan menu, breakfast dishes and allergen guidance.
- Plates London: current September–November 2026 tasting menus, prices and booking information.
- MICHELIN Guide: Plates becoming the UK’s first vegan restaurant to receive a Michelin Star.
- Gauthier Soho: current plant-based tasting menus and service schedule.
- Dauns: vegan Scandinavian concept, address and opening schedule.
- Temple of Seitan: current London dine-in locations and hours.
- Crosstown: current vegan doughnut range and availability across London.
