Author: Eleanor Sterling
Eleanor Sterling
Eleanor Sterling is London Reviews’ editor for plant-based, vegan and vegetarian dining. She has tracked the rise of London’s plant-led restaurant scene from its early specialist outposts to the current generation of vegan pizzerias, plant-based diners and vegetable-focused fine dining rooms. Her work focuses on whether vegan venues stand on their own culinary merits — not just as alternatives to meat — and on the pricing, sourcing and sustainability claims that London’s plant-based operators make.
Eleanor Sterling reviews The Gate Hammersmith — Adrian and Michael Daniel’s 1989 vegetarian fine-dining original on Queen Caroline Street, still the founding reference for modern British vegetable cooking.
Purezza Camden review by Eleanor Sterling: the UK’s first vegan pizzeria, 48-hour sourdough, cashew-and-almond house mozzarella and the Four Cheese verdict.
Club Mexicana Spitalfields is the only fully vegan Mexican sit-down restaurant in central London — birria tacos, mezcal flights and a mirror-ball in a converted Victorian bank. Our 2026 London Reviews verdict scores it 4.6 / 5.
Bonnington Cafe in Vauxhall is London’s longest-running co-operatively run vegetarian restaurant — opened 1981, still rotating cooks nightly. Our 2026 London Reviews verdict scores it 4.5 / 5.
Andu Ethiopian Vegan Cafe at 528 Kingsland Road has fed Dalston for over a decade on the radical proposition that fasting cuisine is one of the world’s best vegan traditions. Our 2026 London Reviews verdict scores it 4.6 / 5.
What the Pitta! Camden is the original vegan döner kebab counter in the UK — a 2020 British Kebab Awards winner. Our London Reviews verdict scores it 4.5 / 5 in 2026.
222 Vegan Cuisine on North End Road has fed West London since 2004 — chef Ben Asamani’s quiet Italian-leaning plant-based menu still scores 4.3 / 5 in our 2026 London Reviews verdict.
Itadaki Zen at 139 King’s Cross Road is Europe’s first organic vegan Japanese restaurant, a quietly extraordinary kitchen scoring 4.6 / 5 in our 2026 London Reviews verdict.
The Vurger Co Shoreditch is the East London restaurant that made vegan fast food respectable. A thorough London Reviews look at the menu, mylkshakes, prices and the politics behind one of the city’s most consistent plant-based operators.
Ethos at 48 Eastcastle Street is one of central London’s most established vegetarian restaurants — a pay-by-weight buffet a short walk from Oxford Circus. London Reviews scores it 4.4 / 5.