When it comes to vegan options, London has it all. Pretty much every fast food restaurant has at least a couple of vegan options. Grab a falafel wrap from a street vendor, grab a vegan chicken burger from Burger King or go to a solely vegan fast food chain. Below is an in-depth list of the best vegan fast food in London.
To be transparent, four of the five recommended fast food places below are fully vegan, the other is vegan friendly. I debated excluding one of the picks because of this, but it’s just that delicious that I had to make an exception for this blog post. If you are vegan, or interested in trying more vegan food, and are visiting London this is the blog post for you.
WHAT THE PITTA
Located in the heart of Brick Lane, What the Pitta is a Turkish fast food chain that has four locations across the UK (Camden, Brighton, Brick Lane and Manchester). They are one of the only solely vegan kebab restaurants in London, which makes them all the more unique and appealing to vegans searching for a hefty, yet rather cheap fast food option. What the Pitta’s locations offer eat-in services as well as takeaways from the counter or online through delivery apps like Deliveroo.
Serving the very best vegan kebabs in the UK, What the Pitta’s house-made kebab seasoning is lathered onto soya chunks in the shape of kebab meat and put on the grill until cooked to perfection. The vegan doner meat, or whatever filling you choose, is placed onto a rather thick homemade Turkish-style wrap that is then covered with fresh salad and their in-house vegan tzatziki. All in all, What the Pitta’s offerings are bound to fill your cravings no matter what option you pick. There is the delicious Chick’n Gyros, Doner Chipbox, Falafel wrap and so much more.
TEMPLE OF SEITAN
Temple of Seitan is the UK’s king of fried vegan chicken. Known for their catchy name, all their vegan chicken dishes are made with seitan, a food made from gluten. Seitan is very common as a meat substitute as it’s packed with protein and can be easily seasoned to taste like many different dishes. Camden and Hackney are home to the mini chain’s only dine-in restaurants, while Cambridge, York, Edinburgh and Liverpool all serve takeaway.
Temple of Seitan have a vast menu full of different vegan chicken burger and meal combinations. Their freshly made seitan pieces are shaped, battered and then put into the deep fryer, resulting in extremely crispy seitan fillets. Based on your choice of which burger to have, they glaze the vegan chicken fillets and place them in a burger bun packed with lettuce, pickles and vegan ranch mayonnaise. But that’s not all they offer, as aforementioned seitan can be seasoned and cooked in many ways, as you can get a classic quarter pounder patty made with seitan. Temple of Seitan is seriously delicious, it’s a must if you’re seeking vegan fast food in London.
THE VURGER CO
Just like Temple of Seitan, The Vurger Co cook up American-style vegan fast food. Based in London, Brighton and Manchester, Vurger originated at food festivals and markets before becoming the first crowdfunded vegan restaurant in London. This unique origin story is reason alone to be interested in trying Vurger out, but when you taste their food for the first time you’ll instantly know why they have a loyal fanbase who helped will the first restaurant into existence.
The centrepiece of Vurger’s menu is their Ranch, Buffalo and Hunny ‘Chicken’ burgers which are their takes on classic American chicken sandwiches. The vegan chicken fillet is placed in between two sides of an extremely soft bun which is then doused with their house made sauces. They also have vegan beef and vegetable burgers for those seeking something different. But what makes Vurger stand out is their sides and milkshakes. Grab a portion of tater tots, 50/50 fries (potato and sweet potato) or a portion of crispy vegan chicken nuggets along with their iconic Biscoff or Banoffee milkshakes to round out a perfect, indulgent vegan fast food meal in London.
THE ATHENIAN
Want to find some great vegan Greek food in London? Look no further than The Athenian, this vegan friendly chain serves up delicious vegan gyros and ‘chickn’ in their sumptuous homemade pittas. They have four dine-in locations across the UK, with three of them being in London. White City is their West London location, Victoria as their more central restaurant and Shoreditch is their hip East London spot, while they also have a strand in Bristol for those who are visiting the city.
The Athenian’s menu is 50% plant-based and thus, have a lot of options for those craving some tasty vegan Greek food. Their wrap selection consists of four different types of fillings; vegan gyros, tomato croquettes, courgette fritters and ‘Chickn’ gyros. All the wraps come with the option of having their signature vegan Athenian sauce which is to die for as it pairs perfectly with all the aforementioned fillings. Also, you can’t go wrong with a Skepasti or a loaded box, which is basically a disassembled wrap with extra gyros and a 2oz pot of the sauce of your choice.
NEAT BURGER
Rounding out our list of the best vegan fast food in London is Neat Burger, which is the biggest chain of the lot as they have restaurants in the UK, US, Italy and UAE. Backed by celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Lewis Hamilton, Neat Burger offers healthier vegan fast food than most big international brands, while also being enticing for those curious about vegan food.
The London-based branches have a wide range of tasty and indulgent burger options with some great sides and shakes to go along with your meal. There are eight burgers to choose from, along with a New York-style hotdog and a grilled ‘cheez’ sandwich. As for sides, you can order buckets of vegan chicken nuggets, crispy cauliflower wings, corn ribs, tater tots or their new BBQ brisket loaded fries made from pulled mushroom ‘beef’ mixed in BBQ sauce. Fancy something sweet? Neat Burger’s ‘Chocolate Brownie Mudslide’ and ‘Caramel Cookie Crunch’ milkshakes are must tries, along with their churros which are covered in cinnamon sugar.
There are so many vegan fast food options available in London, but this blog post hopefully gives you a good idea of some of the hottest spots to visit during your stay in London.
This is the first of many vegan food blog posts to come on Ben Abroad, we have plenty of Vegan content coming up along with already released European travel posts.