Mallow Borough Market Review 2026: London Bridge’s Prettiest Plant-Based Dining Room Has The Best £38 Tasting Menu In Central London

This Mallow Borough Market Review by London Reviews is the most thorough independent assessment available of the bigger, bolder sister to Mildred’s — the all-day, sustainably-minded plant-based dining room that has anchored the south side of Borough Market since November 2021. We’ve drawn on TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Google reviews, Time Out, Design My Night, FLO London, HappyCow, Square Meal, the restaurant’s official menus and direct reporting.

Last updated: 15 May 2026. London Reviews is editorially independent. Mallow did not pay for, sponsor or pre-approve this review.

Looking for an honest Mallow Borough Market review? This is the most thorough Mallow London review you’ll find anywhere in 2026 — covering the Mildreds-group plant-based pedigree, the all-day menu (breakfast, brunch, small plates, mains, tasting), exact pricing, the iconic Borough Market location, the team’s seasonal sourcing ethos, what real diners actually say across every major review platform, how it compares to Mildred’s Soho and Holy Carrot, and whether the £38 tasting menu is one of the best plant-based deals in central London. Spoiler: yes.

Mallow Borough Market at a Glance

Why Mallow Borough Market Matters

When the Mildreds group opened Mallow in November 2021, the brief was simple: take everything Mildred’s had learned over 33 years of running London’s most beloved vegetarian restaurant and build a bigger, bolder, more daylight-friendly sister concept in one of the most touristed food destinations on earth — Borough Market. The site they took, on Cathedral Street, has views of Southwark Cathedral on one side and the Market on the other. Open from 9am to 11pm every day. Two floors. An outside terrace. A team genuinely committed to seasonal sustainability.

It worked. Mallow has become one of the busiest plant-based restaurants in London. The queue at brunch on a Saturday can run thirty deep. The £38 tasting menu has become a regular fixture in the “best-value plant-based London” conversation. And the breakfast and brunch programme is one of the strongest plant-based morning offerings in the city — a slot Mildred’s never quite owned despite being open from 9am too.

We’re reviewing Mallow because it occupies a niche its siblings don’t. Mildred’s Soho is the central-London casual evening room. Gauthier Soho is the special-occasion fine dining. Plates Shoreditch is the Michelin commitment. Holy Carrot is the Notting Hill date night. Mallow is what plant-based dining looks like when it works from 9am to 11pm in the heart of the city’s food district — accessible, all-day, properly serious about sourcing, and properly fun.

Location and Getting There

Mallow sits at 1 Cathedral Street, on the south side of Borough Market, with the Market’s stalls a 30-second walk away and Southwark Cathedral immediately opposite. The site is a converted Victorian commercial building with floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground floor, a smaller mezzanine upstairs, and a small terrace facing Cathedral Street that becomes the destination seat in summer.

By Underground and Rail

• London Bridge (Jubilee, Northern lines; National Rail) — three minutes’ walk south. The closest and busiest option.
• Borough (Northern line) — five minutes’ walk south-west.
• Monument (Circle, District) — eight minutes’ walk north over London Bridge.
• Bank (Central, Northern, Waterloo & City, DLR) — ten minutes’ walk north over London Bridge.

By Bus

The 17, 21, 35, 43, 47, 48, 133, 141, 149, 343 and 521 all stop within a five-minute walk on London Bridge or Borough High Street.

The Neighbourhood

You’re on Borough Market. There is no better neighbourhood in London for a pre-dinner amble. The Market’s traders run Wednesday to Saturday with reduced trading on Tuesday and Sunday. Pre-dinner drinks at The Globe (the pub on Bedale Street), post-dinner cocktails at the bar of Da Terra for serious cocktails, or The Anchor & Hope on The Cut for a proper post-meal pint. Tate Modern is a ten-minute walk west along the Thames. Tower Bridge is a ten-minute walk east.

First Impressions and Atmosphere

You walk in and the first thing that registers is the light. The Cathedral Street windows let in enough natural light that breakfast and brunch service feels like sitting in a Mediterranean trattoria; by evening, with the candles lit and the warm bulbs on, the room shifts to date-night warmth. The aesthetic is what Design My Night called “London Bridge’s prettiest plant-based restaurant” — exposed brick, marble counter, terrazzo flooring, low-hanging brass pendants, blue-velvet banquettes along the windows. Pretty without being twee.

The crowd shifts with the day. Breakfast skews local: City workers grabbing brunch before a 10am meeting, hospital staff from Guy’s coming off shift, the occasional pre-Tate Modern tourist. Lunch is busier and more touristy. Early evening is locals. By 8pm the room is full and the noise level is medium-buzzy. The Saturday-evening sitting is the loudest; the Sunday-evening sitting the calmest. There’s a small bar at the back that does a respectable cocktail; the upstairs mezzanine is the table to ask for if you want a quieter dinner.

One sentence on the vibe: the most cheerful plant-based dining room in central London, and one of the only ones where the room itself is worth visiting on a weekday morning.

The Kitchen: Mildreds Pedigree, Mallow Identity

The kitchen carries the full institutional knowledge of the Mildreds group — thirty-three years of running London’s most beloved vegetarian dining room, scaled up and applied to a different setting. The head chef rotates between Mallow and the Mildreds sites, which means the menu reflects the same sourcing relationships, the same fermentation programme, the same in-house dairy-substitution kitchen, the same commitment to no fake meat. Vegetables are the main event.

What Mallow does differently is the all-day format. Breakfast and brunch are full kitchen efforts rather than holdovers from the night before. The full English breakfast (£20) is the strongest plant-based all-English in central London — house-made tofu scramble, charred mushroom, “bacon” rashers cured in-house from coconut and tamari, smoked beans, sourdough toast, the works. The pancakes (£12 with seasonal compote) sell out by 11am most Saturdays.

Sourcing leans heavily on the Market itself. Mallow’s relationship with the Borough traders — Turnips for vegetables, Bread Ahead for sourdough, Spice Mountain for the spice rack — runs daily. The seasonal menu rotates around what the Market trades that week, which is the kind of sourcing that newer plant-based restaurants try to fake and Mallow doesn’t have to.

The Menu

Breakfast and Brunch (9am–11am weekdays, 9am–3pm weekends)

• Full English breakfast — £20. The flagship dish. House-made everything.
• French toast brioche tiramisu — £12. Brioche soaked in coffee-and-mascarpone-substitute, dusted with cocoa. The viral dish.
• Scrambled tofu in pitta — £10. The portable option; the office-worker’s favourite.
• Pancakes — £12. Plant-based buttermilk, seasonal compote, vegan butter. Sells out.
• Eggs benedict — £15. Hollandaise made with cashew cream; muffin from Bread Ahead.

Small Plates (£3–£10)

• Pita — £3 (with one of three house dips)
• Hummus — £8.50 (with paprika oil, house pita)
• Spanish escalivada — £10 (charred peppers, courgette, aubergine, olives)
• Beetroot tartare — £9 (with smoked yeast, capers, sourdough crumb)
• Crispy buffalo cauliflower — £8 (with ranch dressing)

Mains (£14–£20)

• Mushroom Wellington — £18. The dinner-table centrepiece. Puff pastry, mushroom duxelle, port jus.
• Mac no cheese — £14. The kitchen’s house cashew-cheese sauce. Properly indulgent.
• Vegan moussaka — £17. Layered aubergine, lentil ragù, plant-based béchamel.
• Seasonal risotto — £16. Rotates: spring pea and asparagus; autumn wild mushroom; winter butternut.

£38 Tasting Menu

Five courses driven by the kitchen, rotating seasonally. £38 per person — the best-value plant-based tasting menu in central London. Includes a small starter, a soup or salad, a pasta course, a main, and a dessert. Wine pairing available at £25 (small but well-judged).

Desserts (£6–£10)

The chocolate fondant (£9) is the dessert that anchors most orders. The seasonal pavlova (£8 — aquafaba meringue, macerated berries) and the lemon tart (£7) are the alternatives. The vegan basque cheesecake (£10) is the late-night order.

Dietary Accommodation

100% vegan. Most dishes can be made gluten-free with prior notice (24 hours). Severe nut allergies require pre-flagging — cashew cream is used in several dishes. Children’s portions available; the team is properly informed about allergens.

Drinks Programme

The wine list is concise (about 50 bottles, almost all vegan-certified) and well-priced (£28–£75 mainly). Strong Italian and Spanish sections reflect the Mediterranean lean of the food. The by-the-glass selection is generous. Wine pairing for the tasting menu is £25.

Cocktails run £10–£13 — sensible for the postcode. The “Cathedral Spritz” (cucumber gin, elderflower, prosecco) is the bar’s signature. The “Borough Negroni” (Aperol-leaning) is the alternative. Non-alcoholic cocktails £6–£8, including a properly considered tomato-water Bloody Mary that’s the Sunday brunch staple.

The beer selection is small but well-curated — three Borough Market microbrewery taps and a couple of vegan-certified bottles.

Pricing and Value for Money

Mallow is one of the best-priced serious plant-based restaurants in central London. The £38 tasting menu in particular is properly excellent value — comparable plant-based tastings start at £60 (Holy Carrot) and climb to £130 (Plates).

Our assessment: The £38 tasting menu is one of the strongest plant-based offers in London full stop. The à la carte stays under £55 per head with a cocktail, which makes Mallow properly competitive with non-vegan Borough Market neighbours. The brunch is the genuine sleeper hit — at £25–£28 per head it’s the best plant-based brunch in central London for the money.

What Diners Actually Say

TripAdvisor (4.5/5, 600+ reviews)

Properly strong. Five-star reviews skew local and repeat. “Best brunch in Borough Market”, “didn’t realise it was vegan until halfway through”, “the full English is unreal”. Negative reviews are rare and usually about wait times for walk-ins on busy Saturdays.

OpenTable (4.7/5 verified diners)

The most reliable number. Food 4.7, service 4.8, atmosphere 4.7. OpenTable diners particularly love the tasting menu.

Google Reviews (4.6/5, 900+ reviews)

Common phrases: “the prettiest restaurant on Borough Market”, “best vegan brunch in London”, “Mildred’s energy in a daylight setting”, “didn’t expect this much from a vegan place”.

Professional Critics

Time Out lists Mallow in its top 10 plant-based London. Design My Night calls it “London Bridge’s prettiest plant-based restaurant”. FLO London ran an extended positive review focused on the brunch. The Bruges Vegan’s February 2025 visit gave the kitchen a properly warm course-by-course write-up. Square Meal lists it in the Borough Market essentials round-up.

What Diners Love Most

1. The full English breakfast. The signature dish. Reviewers say it’s the best plant-based all-English in central London.
2. The French toast brioche tiramisu. The viral brunch dish. Properly clever, properly indulgent.
3. The £38 tasting menu. One of the best-value tastings in London full stop.
4. The room. Light-filled, pretty, properly designed.
5. The Borough Market location. The Market’s stalls are a 30-second walk; reviewers love combining the two.
6. The Mushroom Wellington. The dinner-table centrepiece, large enough to share.
7. The cocktails. Properly priced, properly made.
8. The all-day flexibility. Breakfast to late dinner without leaving — rare in central London.

Areas for Consideration

1. The Saturday brunch queue. Walk-in waits at peak (10am–12pm Saturday) can reach 45 minutes. Book ahead.
2. The upstairs mezzanine is via stairs only. Wheelchair users should request a ground-floor table.
3. Some dishes are richer than they look. The mac no cheese and the moussaka are properly indulgent — share them.
4. The cocktail bar is small. Friday-evening waits can be ten minutes during peak.
5. Late-night kitchen closes at 10pm. Plates and Holy Carrot serve later for after-theatre diners.

Who Is Mallow Borough Market Best For?

✅ Strongly recommended for:

• Plant-based brunch — properly the best in central London.
• Tourist visits combining Borough Market and a sit-down meal.
• Date nights that want a relaxed, beautiful room.
• Groups of 4–8 sharing small plates.
• The £38 tasting menu as an introduction to serious plant-based cooking.
• Office lunches in the City and London Bridge.
• Vegans and vegetarians visiting Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe or Tower Bridge.

⚠️ Less suitable for:

• Late-night dining after 10pm.
• Walk-in Saturday brunch without a booking.
• Large groups over 12.
• Diners requiring full step-free access above the ground floor.

How Mallow Borough Market Compares

Verdict: Mallow is the daytime sister to Mildred’s, the casual cousin to Plates and Holy Carrot, and the cheapest plant-based tasting menu in central London. For brunch, Mallow wins outright. For Borough Market visits, no other plant-based option comes close. For an introduction to the kitchen’s full ambition, the £38 tasting menu is the smart order.

How to Book Mallow and Insider Tips

1. Direct via mallowlondon.com — the most reliable.
2. OpenTable — useful for points.
3. Walk-in — possible at the bar mid-week; risky on weekends.

Insider Tips

• The £38 tasting menu is the smart first-visit choice.
• Book brunch by 9am or after 11.30am to avoid the Saturday queue.
• Sit on the terrace in summer — Cathedral Street view, Southwark Cathedral opposite.
• The full English, the French toast tiramisu and the Mushroom Wellington are the dishes to know.
• Sunday evening is the calmest sitting.
• Tell the kitchen if it’s a special occasion.
• Combine with a Borough Market visit — the Market trades Wed–Sat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mallow Borough Market in London 100% vegan?

Yes — Mallow Borough Market has been fully plant-based since opening in November 2021. Every dish, sauce, bread, dessert, wine and cocktail on the menu is vegan and certified.

How much does dinner at Mallow Borough Market in London cost?

The £38 five-course tasting menu is the best-value option (£45 per head with service and a glass of wine). À la carte averages £45–£55 per head. Brunch at £25–£28 per head. Service charge 12.5%.

Where is Mallow Borough Market in London?

1 Cathedral Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9DE. Nearest Tube: London Bridge (Jubilee, Northern) — three minutes’ walk. Borough (Northern) is five minutes.

Is Mallow Borough Market related to Mildred’s in London?

Yes — Mallow is the sister concept from the Mildreds group, which has been running London’s vegetarian dining scene since 1988. Mallow opened in November 2021 as a bolder, daylight-friendly, all-day-format extension of the Mildreds philosophy.

What are the signature dishes at Mallow Borough Market in London?

The full English breakfast (£20), the French toast brioche tiramisu (£12), the Mushroom Wellington (£18), the Spanish escalivada (£10) and the £38 five-course tasting menu.

Does Mallow Borough Market in London serve brunch?

Yes — Mallow serves brunch every day from 9am, running until 11am on weekdays and 3pm on weekends. The plant-based full English and the French toast brioche tiramisu are the standout dishes.

Is Mallow Borough Market in London wheelchair accessible?

The ground floor and the accessible toilet are step-free. The upper mezzanine is reached only by stairs. Wheelchair users should request a ground-floor table at the time of booking.

How does Mallow Borough Market compare to Mildred’s Soho in London?

Both are Mildreds-group plant-based restaurants. Mildred’s Soho is the 1988 original, in central Soho, à la carte all day, £42–£52 per head. Mallow is the bigger, daylight-friendly Borough Market sister, opened 2021, with a £38 tasting menu and a stronger brunch programme. Mallow’s tasting is the best-value plant-based tasting in central London.

Can you walk in to Mallow Borough Market in London?

Walk-ins are welcome at the bar mid-week. Weekend brunch and dinner walk-ins can mean 30–45 minute waits. Booking is strongly advised.

Is Mallow Borough Market good for tourists in London?

Yes — Mallow Borough Market is one of the best plant-based options for tourists visiting Borough Market, Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe or Tower Bridge. All four are within a 15-minute walk.

London Reviews Verdict on Mallow Borough Market

Mallow is the proof that the Mildreds group still has its eye in. Thirty-three years after Diane Thomas and Jane Muir opened the first Mildred’s on Greek Street, the team has built a daylight-friendly, all-day, Borough Market-anchored plant-based restaurant that does brunch better than anyone in central London, sells the city’s best-value plant-based tasting menu, and has one of the prettiest dining rooms in SE1.

The £38 tasting menu is the headline. Plant-based tastings start at £60 at Holy Carrot, £75 at Gauthier and £109 at Plates. Mallow at £38 isn’t competing on the same axis as those venues — but it’s also not pretending to. It’s making the case that proper plant-based cooking can exist at the price point of a mid-range omnivore restaurant and still be worth the trip.

The brunch is the sleeper hit. The Saturday queue is real for a reason. The full English at £20 is the best plant-based all-English in central London. The French toast brioche tiramisu is the most-photographed dish in any Mildreds-group venue.

Our recommendation: book the £38 tasting menu on a Sunday evening when the room is at its calmest. Sit at the terrace in summer or on the mezzanine in winter. Order the wine pairing at £25 — it’s properly generous. £75 per head all in. The most enjoyable plant-based dinner in central London for the money — and one of the smartest first visits for anyone testing whether modern vegan dining is worth taking seriously.

Related London Reviews

• Mildred’s Soho Review
• Plates Shoreditch Review
• Gauthier Soho Review
• Holy Carrot Review
• The Gate Hammersmith Review
• Da Terra Review
• Dishoom King’s Cross Review
• All Hotels and Restaurants Reviews

Summary: Our Mallow Borough Market Review

Disclaimer: This Mallow Borough Market review is editorially independent. Sources: TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Google Reviews, Time Out, Design My Night, FLO London, The Bruges Vegan, HappyCow, Square Meal, the restaurant’s official menus. Prices and opening hours accurate at publication.

Have you eaten at Mallow Borough Market? Share your experience in the comments below, or submit your own London review.