Temple of Seitan on Parkway: what to order and when to go
Vegan fried chicken at 43 Parkway, NW1, open 11:00 to 23:00, with order-by-tablet and the Jazz Cafe a few doors along.
By Only Camden Editorial
43 Parkway, NW1 7PN. Open 11:00 to 23:00 every day according to its own ordering site, so check before you go. Budget about £10 to £20 a head. No booking system turned up, so treat it as walk in.
Temple of Seitan is a fully vegan fast-food restaurant on Parkway, about 250m from Camden Town station. The menu is seitan fried chicken fillets, burgers, wings, wraps, loaded fries, mac n cheese and shakes. The seitan is made from wheat gluten, tofu and spices, which is why the texture is closer to chicken than anything you would pull out of a bean.
What to order
The prices below are Uber Eats delivery prices, so in the restaurant they may differ. Treat them as a guide.
- Nashville Hot, £11.95. The brand says it was the most popular vegan item on Uber Eats in 2019. Start here.
- Temple Burger, £12.95. The straight version. Burger meals are £13.95.
- Wings, £10.95, or the Two Piece, £10.95, if you want the fried chicken fillets plainly.
- Animal Loaded Fries or Doner Loaded Fries, £9.95 each. Share one between two and you have a decent base for a night out.
- Mac N Cheese, £5.50 and Temple Tots, £4.50. Both rate well with delivery customers.
- Temple Shake, £5.95. One HappyCow reviewer mentions an Oreo version.
One reviewer on HappyCow says the seitan is best in a wrap, which is worth trying if the burger bun is not your thing.
How ordering works
Reviewers on Tripadvisor describe putting your own order in on a tablet or phone rather than at a till. One found it pricey for what it was: two fillets, fries and water came to £15. Another liked the self-service setup and called it a good fit for dinner before a show. Opinion is mixed overall, so go for the fried chicken and burgers rather than a long sit-down meal.
Squaremeal shows shorter hours than the restaurant’s own ordering site, so check the day you are going.
When to go
It is a natural pre-gig stop. The Jazz Cafe is a few doors along on Parkway, so you can eat, walk and be in the queue. No source gives queue or quiet times for this branch. A guess: eating before the evening rush and the doors-open crowd gives you a better chance of a table.
A bit of history
The brand began at vegan festivals and street food markets. The first shop opened in Hackney in 2017, at 10 Morning Lane, and the brand calls it the UK’s first vegan fried chicken shop. Founder Rebecca McGuinness is from Melbourne and, according to Vice, worked as a legal secretary with no formal cooking background. The recipe was adapted from the US chef Skye Michael Conroy. A sit-down Camden branch followed in 2018, and the restaurant later moved to Parkway. Hackney is the original, not Camden.
McGuinness has told Meat Free Monday that the brand keeps dish names familiar and does not push the vegan label, so non-vegans feel welcome. That fits the menu: it reads like a chicken shop and eats like one.
For after: the Jazz Cafe
The Jazz Cafe is at 5 Parkway, NW1 7PG, an intimate live music venue with a capacity of around 350. It has its own restaurant, and listings include Saturday night house music at 22:30. Check the listings for the night you are going before you plan around a specific show. If you would rather wander, Camden Lock Market on Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AF, is the daytime alternative. Visit London gives usual hours of 10:00 to 18:00, though trader hours vary.
More detail: Temple of Seitan’s own story, HappyCow reviews, Jazz Cafe listings on See Tickets.
