It’s Veganuary
Hello January! We can’t believe we’re in a whole new year – where did 2022 go? As ever and after a period of excess, January is dominated by conversations around health, sustainability, and generally being more socially aware – that’s right, from whichever angle you’re taking – Veganuary is back. We’ve rounded up our favourite vegan offerings, with something for everyone, to save you the hassle of searching and researching.
Breakfast champions and cult favourites, The Breakfast Club, are going big this Veganuary. The No Meat On Berwick Street campaign sees one of the business’s flagship cafs go fully veggie and vegan this month to celebrate new partnerships with La Vie and Redefine Meat. Alongside two Veganuary specials, The Breakfast Club is revamping its entire vegan and veggie offering to run across the entire estate of 13 cafs. A long-standing mantra of the ‘little yellow cafs’ has always been ‘we built this city on bacon rolls’ – but who said that bacon had to come from a pig? It is 2023 after all.
Pret received a lot of press at the tail end of last year around it closing a number of its Veggie Pret stores. It’s nice to see, in spite of these closures, that Pret continues to evolve its meat-free options. Within its new menu, Pret has teamed up with VioLife to include a vegan ‘cheeze’ in two of its dishes. Personally, we’re most excited for the Spicy No’Duja Toasted Focaccia. The new menu launches on 10th January.
Mildreds is often credited as the restaurant that brought vegan to the mainstream in London. The original Soho restaurant is still a local staple and the business has since grown to open sites in Borough Market, Camden, Covent Garden, Dalston and Kings Cross. Although the restaurants have expanded to include vegetarian offerings, they have a dedicated Veganuary menu that is inspired by the Vietnamese lunar new year which has all the normal Mildreds trappings of flavour and innovation showing that vegan doesn’t mean compromising.
Who said vegan has to consist of just boring salads and tofu? Oowee delivers on its promise to be big on flavour, bringing vegan fast food to the forefront. With sites in Brighton, Bristol, Brixton and Dalston, vegan lovers and meat eaters alike can expect to enjoy next level juicy plant-based ‘beef’ burgers, fried chik’n, and delicious dirty fries. BRB we’re just busy drooling over our screens right now.
Yard Sale Pizza & The Romesh Spesh
We love pizza and we love to laugh, so this ‘slightly left-field but makes total sense’ collab is one we have our eyes on. Yard Sale Pizza has teamed up with vegan Sri-Lankan comedian Romesh Ranganathan to launch The Romesh Spesh available for this month only. Fully vegan and bursting with Sri-Lankan flavours, this pizza also does good with £1 from every pizza sold being donated to CALM charity. Sign. Us. Up.
SpiceBox is a bit of a local hero that flies under the radar for most but is in the centre of ours. Independent and local with options spanning dine-in, delivery, and cook at home, SpiceBox is not intentionally vegan. Offering a fresh spin on curry house classics, that we promise pack a punch, this restaurant is seriously EPIC. We can’t wait to see this business grow (not least because some of us have a serious journey to reach SpiceBox.
If you want colour, vibrancy, and delicious fresh flavours then look no further than Turtle Bay. Bringing more than just Caribbean food to the UK, Turtle Bay offers a slice of island sunshine to these grey January days. While Caribbean cuisine may evoke thoughts of jerk meats cooked over a barbecue on a beach to set taste buds tingling, Turtle Bay’s chef Collin has created a vegan menu that won’t leave guests feeling as though they’ve missed out.
Team TFR has an insatiable sweet tooth, so no listicle from us can be complete without a solid ‘dessert’ option. Crosstown, creators of handcrafted gourmet doughnuts, has a year-round Vegan offering that brings their USP of dynamic flavour pairings to life. Veganuary specials include a Rhubarb & Jasmine doughnut, Pistachio & Raspberry dough bite, Blood Orange doughnut, and Strawberry Cheesecake doughnut. YES please.
We love supporting small businesses when we can and this modern Caribbean, 100% vegan restaurant deserves a place on the list. Offering a variety of plates that honour traditional Caribbean flavours through meat-free alternatives, diners can expect Jerk “Chicken Wings” on the bone (made from sugarcane) and “saltfish” tostones. Even for the die-hard carnivores, this is not one to miss out for those looking to add variety to their diets.
London is full of independent, healthy vegan restaurants and since it launched in 2004, the ethos of 222 Vegan is to offer delicious food that is good for you. Their Seitan Strogonoff has received rave reviews and keeps people coming back for more but if you’re looking for something simpler, their 222 Fresh Burger is made from asparagus and petit pois and served on house-baked GF bread. Whether you’re on a health kick or would just like to try something a little different that what you’re used to, head to 222 Vegan.