Vegan Camden: where to eat plant-based in NW1 and NW5
London’s original vegan restaurant has a branch four minutes from Camden Town station, the UK’s largest vegan restaurant is on Parkway, and a few doors down they fry seitan until 22:00. Where to eat plant-based in Camden.
By Only Camden Editorial
Camden is the easiest place in London to eat vegan without trying. Parkway alone has the country’s largest vegan restaurant and a seitan fried chicken counter within a few doors of each other, Jamestown Road has a branch of the restaurant that started it all in 1988, and Kentish Town has a café that dropped every animal product in 2017. Here is where to go, from breakfast to a late pizza.
Mildreds, Jamestown Road
Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 21:00, Friday 12:00 to 22:30, Saturday 10:00 to 22:30, Sunday 10:00 to 21:00. Mildreds calls itself London’s original vegan restaurant, open since 1988, and its Camden branch at 9 Jamestown Road, NW1, is four minutes from Camden Town station. It runs from breakfast at the weekend through to a full main menu, with a separate dessert list starring its famous vegan tiramisu. There is a Taste of Mildreds menu and a kids’ menu. It is dog-friendly, has outdoor seating and step-free access. If you are taking a non-vegan, this is where you convert them. Details on mildreds.com.
Purezza, Parkway
Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 22:30, Sunday 12:00 to 21:00. Purezza started in Brighton in 2015 with the aim of making the best vegan pizza going, and its Camden restaurant at 45 to 47 Parkway, NW1, is, it says, the largest vegan restaurant in the UK. Hot Dinners calls it London’s first vegan pizza restaurant. The menu is Italian-led, and Time Out flags the Oreo pizza for pudding. Purezza also runs plant-based cheese and wine evenings at its Cheese Cellar in Camden: see purezza.co.uk for dates.
Temple of Seitan, Parkway
Daily, 12:00 to 22:00. A few doors along at 43 Parkway, Temple of Seitan does the vegan answer to the chicken shop: fried chick’n burgers, wings and wraps, with tots, fries and coleslaw on the side, as Time Out describes it. Dine in, or order delivery from its site. It is the fastest good vegan meal in NW1 and the one we send people to after a gig.
The Fields Beneath, Kentish Town West
Weekdays 07:30 to 16:00, Saturday 08:00 to 17:00, Sunday 09:00 to 16:00. The Fields Beneath at 52a Prince of Wales Road, NW5, opened in 2012 and went entirely plant-based in 2017. Most of the food is made from scratch, the coffee comes directly from Costa Rica, and Hot Dinners notes local, seasonal cooking and natural wine. It is a daytime café: come for breakfast or lunch, not dinner. More on thefieldsbeneath.com.
Vegan options elsewhere
You do not have to eat at a vegan restaurant to eat vegan in Camden. A few dishes worth knowing:
- Three Uncles, Hawley Wharf: the Cantonese roast meat counter does a mushroom and pak choi bao for £5.50.
- Roger’s Kitchen, Camden Road: Time Out lists a vegan curry alongside the jerk chicken and curry goat.
- The Stables and the Lock: the market food stalls change often; ask at each one, because most have a plant-based dish.
Vegan brunch and coffee
Breakfast is where vegans usually get the short straw, but not here. Mildreds opens at 10:00 on Saturday and Sunday with a breakfast menu. The Fields Beneath opens at 07:30 on weekdays, with everything on the counter plant-based. Over in Primrose Hill, Greenberry at 101 Regent’s Park Road offers a vegan version of its jumbo oat porridge, which is £7.50 on its brunch menu, so a mixed table can still go to the neighbourhood favourite.
Why Camden does this so well
The short answer is time. Mildreds has been cooking vegan food in London since 1988, long before plant-based was a supermarket aisle, and Purezza brought its Brighton-born vegan pizza to Parkway after opening its first restaurant in 2015. Add a market full of independent food traders and a crowd that has never been shy of trying something new, and you get a part of London where vegan is normal rather than a special request. The practical upshot for you: you can book a table for eight with mixed diets at Mildreds or Purezza and nobody has to settle for the side salad.
A vegan day in Camden
- Breakfast: The Fields Beneath at 07:30, or Mildreds from 10:00 at the weekend.
- Lunch: a bao at Three Uncles, then a walk on the canal.
- Dinner: pizza at Purezza; book on Friday and Saturday.
- Late: Temple of Seitan until 22:00.
Our tip: Parkway is the street to remember. Purezza and Temple of Seitan are neighbours, Regent’s Park is at the top, and the Jazz Cafe is at the bottom, so you can eat, walk and catch a gig without crossing the high street.
