In the spirit of consciousness expansion, I wanted to share a few recommendations for black and ethnic minority-owned vegan restaurants in London. I’ve been vegan for over three years now and it was the best decision I ever made for my health, skin, reverse-ageing, karma and spiritual ascension process. If anyone has any to add, please feel free to message me!
First, I wanted to introduce Andu Cafe on Kingsland Road – Ethiopian Cuisine – perfect authentic experience and super healthy – ayurvedic AF. It’s super filling and friendly, I often go by myself and just chill and connect with the food.
Next up, and also along the lines of conscious consumption but with a luxury twist is Beza, based in Elephant & Castle. Founder Beza tells us that “vegetarian and vegan food in Ethiopian culture can be traced back to the introduction of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church – one of the world’s oldest religious bodies. The church rules that every Wednesday and Friday, people must not eat meat, consume dairy or any animal products.
In Ethiopia and surrounding countries, vegetarian and vegan ingredients are grown locally and cooked by restaurants the very same day. This creates dishes that are full of flavour and freshness.”
I loved getting to know Beza and her cuisine is incredible, and the architecture of the space makes for a really awesome experience.
In this list, I also wanted to include my Soho favourite – Vantra Longevity. As with the above examples, every vegan mouthful they produce is handmade in their kitchen to promote maximum health and longevity. It’s an ayurvedic space where they have a free events space, and mind-glowingly delicious buffet selection menu and array of freshly made juices and teas. We stan.
This brings us to Sagar, which is 99% vegan – I hope they fully detach from the less than 1% of dairy that they use and bring themselves into the future – they’d grow their fan base so much with full vegan offering, but with patience in mind, I wanted to include them because their vegan dishes are literally incredible.
Their chefs are from Udupi, a small town in the coastal region of the Western Ghats, about 60km from Bangalore in Karnataka. The town is a knowledged centre for authentic South Indian Cuisine. Udupi chefs are renowned for the cooking of traditional South Indian vegetarian food. There are four restaurants in London too which is great, so definitely check them out!
Ok, and I know this has been super healthy so far, so let’s visit F1 legend Lewis Hamilton’s Neat Burger which is literally the best junk food vegan experience I have ever had. Based just off Regent’s Street in London on Princes Street, Neat Burger is the “first plant-based sustainable burger chain of its kind” and it lives up to all the old school, patriarchally brainwashed ideas of what “good” should taste like.
With Neat Burger there is no excuse for McDonalds-genre of violent institutions in the utopian future we have ahead of us.
If you are into experimental fusion cuisine, check out Vegan Yes on Brick Lane which serves organic vegan food, made from the fusion of Italian and Korean cuisines. Obsessed. They also host healing workshops, and have a really exquisite drinks offering.
I also discovered All Nations Vegan House Dalston which is serves Caribbean vegan food on the Hackney Vegan landscape, and also sells sea moss drinks which are delicious and black seed oil.
For over ten years, Chef Atrika has been preparing healthy Vegan dishes with a Caribbean twist. Using Caribbean staples, herbs and spices, she creates a menu that is frequently changed and includes daily specials.
Hope this helped and you will visit these places or order on Deliver / Uber etc. during the pandemic.
Stay woke, stream NEO 10Y.