The trip I got addicted to vegan cheese fries.
Just like last year, my mom and I made a short trip to London between Christmas and New Year’s to eat good food, watch The Nutcracker and go second hand shopping. We usually go to all the same restaurants when we’re there, because I’m the kind of person who tries something new when I have to, and if it’s good, I’ll choose the same thing next time. This time though, we tried a couple of new places, and I’ve found several new favourites:) In this post, I will share with you the best food moments from our London trip.
- Neat Burger: https://neat-burger.com/#menu
This place we found by accident. Mom and I were walking towards a second hand store on a small street named Princes Street, which crosses Regent Street, and we happened to see a cute little shop that said “Neat Burger”. The theme was all pink and green, and to be honest, it looked kind of vegan, so I suggested we just walk in and have a look. We were both still a little full after breakfast, but decided we must try the Vegan Cheese Fries and had a Chick’n Burger to go with it.
So this was all yum-yum-in-my-tum-tum, and I certainly left Neat Burger with a renewed sense of hope for the future of vegan cheese. By the way, the Chick’n Burger was amazing. It was super crispy and is by far the best imitation of chicken I’ve ever had. Both of these dishes got the approval of a non vegan (my mom), who said she would not have guessed these were plant based. 🙂
The burger was £7.49 and the fries were £2.99. Adding cheese to the fries was £1, and that was totally worth it. The fries were essentially drowning in vegan cheese sauce, just like they’re supposed to. This meal was not at all an expensive one, and it was definitely the best vegan fast food I’ve ever had. Out of six, this place was definitely a 6+.
You can find Neat Burger at number 4 Princes Street, London.
2. Frankie and Benny’s: https://www.frankieandbennys.com/
We went here shortly after arriving in London, late on the evening of December 26th, and most restaurants were closed as we roamed the streets searching for dinner. After having entered at least five other restaurants and either found out they were closed or that their vegan options sucked, we walked by Frankie and Benny’s. I’d seen it before, but never eaten there, so I guess it was high time. We walked in to this New York style diner with some Italian vibes as well and sat down in a booth. I ordered the Vegan Spaghetti Mushroom Bianca and Vegan Cheese Fries. The pasta was pretty good, but the cheese fries were out of this world. Also, this was the first time I ever had vegan cheese fries, so yeah, big moment. B-)
The pasta was £9.99 and the fries £2.99. Not crazy expensive, but crazy delicious;) I give the pasta a four and the fries a six, so the average for Frankie and Benny’s will be 5 out of 6.
3. Pret a Manger: https://www.pret.co.uk/en-gb
My all-time favourite. Every single time I’ve been to London (about eight times), we’ve gone here several times. They always have fresh, delicious food, and lots to choose from, and with a great vegan selection. It’s not a fancy sit-down and order restaurant, it’s more of a deli where everything is pre-packed and you gather everything you want and pay for it. Of course, you can eat it there, there are lots of seats:)
The Almond Butter Acai Bowl and Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookie are my favourites, and I’ve had both several times over the last couple of years. These are must-eats for sure; the cookie especially if you love chocolate, and the acai bowl if you think chocolate cookies are a bit too much. Of course they have sandwiches, baguettes, toast, croissants, fruit bowls, porridge (for breakfast) and a bunch of other things as well. Pret a Manger is everywhere in Central London, so don’t worry, you will get a chance to try these:)
Also, Pret is not expensive. The cookie was £1.69 and the acai bowl £2.99.
Pret has a special place in my heart, so it would be wrong to give it anything other than a six:)
4. Leon: https://leon.co/menu/all-day/
Leon is amazing. We have two restaurants in Oslo, and it is by far the one restaurant I pay the most frequent visits to. They have lots of vegan options, and they’re all delicious. The menu is a little different in the UK, so I always try the new things there. For this visit I have hardly any pictures, so you will just have to trust me. If you’re a vegan, you MUST try the Jack Wings with Baked Fries and Vegan Aioli. It’s heaven.
For a healthier option you can choose the Brazilian Black Beans or Lentil Masala<3
And btw, students get a 20% discount at Leon if they show their student cards, so make sure to bring yours if you have one:)
Leon’s not expensive either: the Jack Wings are £3.95 and the baked fries with aioli included are 2.45. The Brazilian Black Beans were also £3.95. These prices are without the student discount, so yeah, pretty good deal to be honest:) Leon is one of my favourite places here too, so it gets a five out of six from me.
5. Whole Foods
Whole Foods is technically a grocery store, but they also have a deli sort of thing where you can eat whatever you want; they have everything from hot pizza slices to sushi and falafels with hummus. I’ve tried vegan pizza slices and vegan sushi there before and they were both awesome. This time I got a wide range of different things from the buffet and brought a little cashew camembert with me back to the apartment. Most of the packaging at whole foods is bio degradable, recyclable and whatnot, and they also have a huge selection of vegan groceries. It is a little expensive, so if I were to live in London, I would certainly not buy my weekly groceries at Whole Foods.
Whole Foods gets a six from me because their food is awesome and every visit to this store is a new and exciting experience for me because of their awesome vegan selection. There is really nothing like it here in Oslo. My favourite Whole Foods store is right by Piccadilly Circus at 20 Glasshouse St, Soho, London.
6. Itsu: https://www.itsu.com/
Our last stop was Itsu; an Asian style fast food chain with restaurants all over London. We visited the one at the airport and had an amazing pre-flight meal.
The sushi was awesome and so were the salads in the boxes. I don’t remember the prices, but I doubt it’s difficult to find them online. We really enjoyed this meal as it was a lot lighter than all of the fast food we ate during the trip. Itsu gets a five from me, so if you like asian food, definitely check it out:)
7. Comptoir Libanis: https://www.comptoirlibanais.com/restaurants/south-kensington
Comptoir Libanis is not surprizingly a Lebanese Restaurant. They serve a wide variety of mezze and other things.. we usually eat vegan mezze though. This is the place we go late after seeing The Nutcracker in Royal Albert Hall. Last year we ordered the Vegan Mezze Plate, but this year we weren’t too hungry, so we went with a plate of falafels, hummus and Lebanese potatoes. Delicious. Must-visit. I think they have several restaurants around London… Oh, and no pictures of the food here either. It disappeared before I got the chance to photograph it. Wonder how that happened.
Comptoir Libanis gets a six from me:)
And here are a few pictures of Carnaby Street decorated for Christmas (?) with Project Zero stuff hanging in the air… some kind of protect our oceans thing:)
That was it for my first review of vegan food in London (I’m sure there will be more in the future;)) and yes, I am aware that I’ve only given fives and sixes, but that is because the food truly was awesome. Also, at many of the places we had food I knew was awesome from before.
Thank you for reading my post (even if you didn’t read everything) and I do hope you enjoyed it. I look forward to writing to you again soon!
