My partner Will and I were recently in London for a short vacation.  I was in charge of finding the food.  We stayed at Griffin House Holiday Apartments, where we had the upper apartment.  It was really nice to have an apartment of our own to come home to and Ben and Nic were wonderful hosts.  They also have a fabulous dog named Barney.

Our first night in London we ate at the Bonnington Cafe, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Vauxhall.  The cafe is a co-op and there is a different cook every night, each with their own style/specialties.  We didn’t know what to expect from the food, but were pleasantly surprised.  We especially loved the stuffed mushroom – a large portobello cap filled with sundried tomatoes, spinach, tofu cream and sunflower seeds. Delicious!  You make a reservation by emailing the chef directly.  They write the reservation names on slips of paper and place them on the tables, so when you arrive you just find your table.

The Old Post Office Bakery is in Clapham, only a few blocks away from where we stayed. It became a regular morning stop.  All of their breads are vegan and they had at least one vegan cake option as well.  The organic fruit buns with pieces of apricot, date, and sultanas, quickly became a favorite.  As did the vegan chocolate cake.

Griffin House is near Brixton and we ended up there for many of our meals. Brixton is being gentrified and has recently become a bit of a hot spot, especially for food. Brixton Village Market has a number of restaurants and shops, several of which have vegan options. Vegans should be prepared for a lot of meat and fish market stalls as well.  😦

Senzala is a French style creperie with a Brazilian twist.  They have a small selection of vegan crepes, called galettes.  We loved the Rosa Squash (with butternut squash and zucchini) and the Dujhan (garlic mushrooms, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, and spinach).

 

We ended up at Oracle’s, a sandwich and juice bar when we had a food emergency. We honestly didn’t expect much from our sandwich, but it turned out to be amazing. We split an Avocado Healthy Bite sandwich with avocado, spinach, and hummus. It was easily the best hummus sandwich I’ve ever had.  The hummus was nicely spicy and the bread was really good.

One of our favorite places turned out to be Ms. Cupcake, an entirely vegan bakery. So good we had to go back for more. We ended up splitting 6 cupcakes and couldn’t possibly pick a favorite. We tried the Chocolate Mint, Black Bottom, Lemon, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Banana Chocolate Chip, and Tiramisu.

Also in Brixton, but a little further from our place, was Vegbar, “South London’s first 100% vegan, restaurant, bar, and late night vegan speakeasy”. Friendly people and solid food.  We especially enjoyed the Seitan Wings and the salted caramel, choco-pecan cake.  Head downstairs for live music.

Our final Brixton food stop was Negril, a Jamaican restaurant with a small selection of vegan items. The staff were super friendly and the pumpkin curry was delicious!

Stay tuned for Part 2 where Will and I venture outside of Brixton and Clapham!