Welcome to our home country, England! Though we are based in the north of the country, we are big fans of visiting the capital, London - and know that for many of you this is a great travel destination too! Now, if you've been checking out our London blogs, you'll know that it is almost impossible to give a comprehensive list of the best places to eat vegan in London - because they are so numerous, with new ones opening all the time! Honestly, if you're looking for vegan food in London there will be something just around the corner, and whatever you fancy you're sure to find it in plant-based form!
With this in mind, we really wanted to focus on the classics. And, when you're visiting London, surely you want to get your hands on some traditional British food! And that's where we come in! British food is quite heavy, we've relied on it to warm us up in the winter and power us through lots of manual labour in the past - but that doesn't mean British food is boring, oh no! If you're looking for the pinnacle of British gastronomy, the highlight of a British foodie's week look no further: we're going to tell you exactly where you can get your hands on an authentic English roast dinner, made completely vegan! If you fancy some more British food once you're done, we have tips on some incredible vegan fish and chips, as well as plant-based soft serve ice cream in London too!
But wait, what exactly is a roast dinner?
Whether you call it a roast dinner, a Sunday lunch, a Sunday dinner, a roast... or anything else for that matter, in the UK the roast consists of a few main components and then some variants alongside it. And it is legendary.
The central component of the roast dinner is roast meat (or in many cases for veggies and vegans, a nut roast or roasted mock meat). This is always served alongside potatoes: usually these are roast potatoes, but often mashed potatoes can be served as well or instead of the roasties. Then comes the vegetables: often you'll find carrots here, and roast parsnips too - but the vegetable choices come down to personal preference and whatever the cook has to hand... think broccoli, leeks, peas, swede, green beans, kale, the list goes on. If it's a vegetable, it can be served on the side of a roast dinner!
If, like us, you're from the north, the chances are you'll also want a Yorkshire pudding with your roast dinner! This is essentially a cup made of batter and roasted in the oven, which makes them go crispy on the outside while remaining soft and fluffy on the inside. I love to fill mine with parts of the meal and eat them all together. Finally, the dish is topped off with gravy (the more north you go, the thicker the gravy will be!) and some people add sauces like bread sauce, cranberry sauce, and mint sauce on the side, depending on their meat and personal preferences.
Where did we try a vegan roast dinner in London?
Both Mike and I absolutely love roast dinners. Though we don't cook them ourselves too often (with all those components they take a long time, and can be quite expensive to make) we love the treat of devouring one on a Sunday - or any other day of the week, really! So our love of this dish meant that we had very high standards... thus it took us a long time to find a roast dinner in London that met our requirements!
For us, a vegan roast dinner really needs to have some proper mock meat, and be served with a plant-based Yorkshire pudding too. There are plenty of roasts across London that contain either one or the other of these components, but it took us almost a year of checking before we came across a place that served a fully vegan roast with both mock meat and a Yorkie! And that place was The Black Heart pub in the super cool and edgy district of Camden. This pub plays host to LD's Kitchen, the creators of what we were hoping would be our perfect roast dinner. It's almost an understatement to say that we were beyond excited to check this place out.
So come on - tell us all about the roast dinner! How did it taste?
First of all, I should say that before Mike and I stopped eating meat, we both had a favourite roast dinner. My favourite was roast chicken, while Mike's was roast pork. So you can imagine our excitement when vegan versions of both of these were available on The Black Heart's menu! (Also available was a vegan steak, for those plant-based beef lovers among you!)
Obviously I ordered the vegan chicken roast, while Mike ordered the vegan pork one. Both roasts came served with roast potatoes, garlic greens, roasted sweet potato, swede mash, leeks, carrots, spinach, and a Yorkshire pudding, with some thick Guinness gravy for pouring! Honestly, these sides and vegetables were some of the most luxurious we've ever had on a pub roast: there was so much flavour in every area of this plate, and so much thought, care and attention had gone into creating a dish to ignite the tastebuds. From the garlic greens to the basil in the mash, from the mustard in the leeks and the fennel in the carrot glaze, there was absolutely nothing bland or boring about this roast. A massive highlight for me was that Yorkshire pudding, which was exactly as I remembered from before I was vegan (I make plant-based ones, but they are never this good!) The potatoes are usually my favourite bit of a roast dinner, but there was so much deliciousness here that it was really hard for me to pick a favourite this time - the title may actually have to go to that gravy which was so thick, so smooth and so delicious.
But wait - what about the mock meat? Well it was so unique that I have reserved a paragraph just for talking about the mock meat alone! Again, LD's Kitchen had packed their imitation roast meats with flavour. The mock chicken even came with imitation skin and a garlic and rosemary glaze: it was thick, with the slight toughness of meat that isn't often well replicated in vegan meats. It was super tasty - and actually ended up being Mike's favourite out of the two meats, even though it was the one I ordered! Likewise, I actually preferred Mike's plant-based roast pork! Marinated in maple mustard, this vegan pork had a nice sweetness, with the soft yet slightly chewy texture that really resembles that of roast pork. With an extra flavour boost from some garlic and thyme butter, this roast pork was really something special. It also came with vegan crackling (a traditional part of a roast pork dinner) but this - like regular crackling - was a little hard for us to eat!
How much did the roast dinner cost - and was it worth it?
Though it might initially sound a little on the pricey side at £18 per roast (approx. €21.04 or $22.60), the cost can be explained by the incredible standard of the food we were served, as well as the location we ate in. London is notoriously expensive for food, especially speciality dishes like this. And with all the flavour, so many components, and the uniqueness of a vegan roast with all of our favourite roast ingredients, we thought that the price of this really wasn't too bad.
We were so impressed with LD's Kitchen at The Black Heart pub from the moment we walked in. The staff here are so kind, friendly, and charismatic - from sitting with us to explain the menu, to checking that everything was perfectly to our requirements, we were left feeling very well cared for the whole time we were there. The Black Heart is a really inclusive place too, and in this super cool pub there's so much to look at while you're waiting for your food. We would absolutely go back to The Black Heart for a vegan roast again and again, and really recommend you try it too!
Have you tried a vegan roast dinner in England? Or elsewhere in the world! Where did you go and what did you think of them? Let us know in the comments below.
Recommendations
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Where should I stay?
The UK is full of options for hotels, B&Bs, hostels, caravans and apartments. When it comes to somewhere to stay in London, it can be hard to know where to start.
If you're looking for a lively and well-equipped hostel, I have stayed at Generator London, and really liked its convenient location. The staff are friendly and the bar is really fun at night too!
If you'd prefer the comforts of a hotel, London House Hotel has a rare 10/10 rating across the board, with its convenient location, cleanliness, friendliness, security and value for money all really impressing the people who have stayed there.
Tours & Experiences
One thing you might know about us is that we love to see a city from up high: whether from an observatory or a cathedral, if it has an impressive skyline view, we're there! For a really novel way to see London from above, why not brave The London Abseil? Or if that's not quite for you, why not try one of the top-rated Viator tours below?
Please note that the experiences in the widget to the left are chosen by Viator, not us. Please make sure that any food or animal experiences are ethical and in line with your own requirements!
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