Best Vegetarian Restaurants in London

Ethos serves a global menu including unique, homemade BBQ 'ribs' and Hyderabadi Scotch eggs that should appeal to all, even the meat eaters among you. Catering for vegans and vegetarians, Ethos is a meat-free restaurant where you pay-by-weight. Presenting dishes from around the world, they serve everything from your morning coffee to seasonal salads for lunch, through to spicy curries, hearty Tuscan stews and creative cocktails for post-work dinner and drinks. Other dishes include Thai corn fritters, Colombian crema de Aguacata soup, and Lebanese green bean and tomato salad, loubieh - see, we told you it was a global menu. If you've still got room for pudding, try indulgent cake balls, a lemon and raspberry posset or gevulde speculaas biscuits - a Dutch-inspired dessert. On the drinks menu are juices, cocktails and wines, coffees and speciality teas. Contemporary interiors are decked out in silver birch trees and neutral whites and blues with gold accents, airily lit through floor-to-ceiling windows. Ideal for allergy sufferers and those who eschew gluten in all its guises, Ethos offers a wide choice of clearly labeled gluten free, dairy free and vegan options.

Established in 1988, Mildreds is a Soho institution that has gone from strength to strength, worth a visit whether you're vegetarian or not. They have a rare ability to translate the latest culinary trends into inexpensive, unusual, meat-free dishes and service is brisk as well as friendly. To give you a taste of a typical menu, you might find a fine mixed mushroom pie, along with great Vietnamese soups, Japanese gyoza and a Moroccan chickpea tagine. All dishes are made using organic ingredients where possible, cooked to a high standard and come quickly. Tables are in high demand in the narrow, bustling dining room which is frequently filled with noisy chatter; there's often a queue but people watching at the bar while you wait makes the time pass relatively painlessly. All of this makes Mildred's one of our favourite places to lunch in Soho.

One of the best vegetarian restaurants in London, The Gate Hammersmith has been going strong since 1989 and the owners, Adrian and Michael Daniel, have since gone on to open branches in Islington, Marylebone and St John's Wood. The food is sublime, even non-vegetarians agree, with seemingly simple ingredients elevated to innovative and tasting dishes. Tempting options on the ever-changing menu include avocado and beetroot tartare, aubergine teriyaki, a vegetable tagine and the incredibly moreish roasted and spiced sweet potato wedges. Even the wines are vegan, organic, biodynamic and natural - made without animal fining agents like gelatine, chitosan or isinglass (made from fish bladders). The only shame of it would be to leave The Gate to the vegetarians.

With interiors designed by Tricia Guild and the expertise of Rolf and Marielle Hiltl, owners of the Hiltl Restaurant in Zurich, this vegetarian restaurant offers something a little special. This is the fifth such restaurant from Swiss brothers Daniel, Reto and Christian Frei who already run similar set-ups in Zurich, Winterthur, Berne and Basel. And a second London branch can be found in Bankside. On entering this Heddon Street restaurant, the 'food to go' salad bar is the centrepiece, with large white bowls full of tempting salads made using quality, gluten-free ingredients like quinoa, millet and buckwheat. Alternatively, you can choose from a variety of hot dishes which cover a good range of cuisines from Asian and Indian to Mediterranean. With seating both inside and out, there's the option to eat in, al fresco or take away.

The Wild Food Café is a superb vegetarian restaurant offering an array of raw dishes, with daily changing options that include salads, sandwiches and main dishes. Options include the Wild Pizza, with a base made from dehydrated almond and butternut squash; the Wild Cult Sandwich, filled with cashew and coconut mozzarella and young coconut 'bacon'; and the Wild Masala Dosa, with Bombay-style sweet potatoes, hemp seeds and raw cultured chutneys. The desserts are a real highlight with raw chocolate, lemon and white chocolate tarts proving that pudding can taste devilish but be sin free. There's also a selection of fresh smoothies and juices, herbal teas and even organic beer, wine and cider. The dining room is huge, airy and overlooks the beautiful Neal's Yard, providing a quiet oasis in the centre of town. A second Wild Food Cafe can also be found in Islington.

Born out of a desire to offer something more exciting than a pasta bake, vegetable curry or halloumi kebabs, Vanilla Black specialises in experimental, flavoursome vegetarian cuisine. One of London's only fine dining vegetarian restaurants, the high-end eatery offers a regularly changing menu of innovative dishes such as jacket potato cake with curried scraps and tamarind; warm mushroom pate with lemon and rice; and nutmeg custard with burnt kohlrabi and cured yolk. For dessert, expect intriguing options like crispy spaghetti with pine nut brittle and basil and liquorice panna cotta with bergamot curd and coriander. With chocolate brown banquettes, wood furnishings and dimmed lighting, the classic dining room is a classy affair and beautifully contrasts the forward-thinking menu. All in all, this is one of London's most unique places to dine.

Part of the growing move towards a more plant-based diet, Wulf & Lamb, nestling on a pretty mews behind Sloane Square, is a haven for healthy food fans. The menu is entirely plant-based. From the chili'non'carne - made with mushrooms, beans and spiced rice - to the Wulf burger (spicy bean and vegetables instead of a meat patty), everything has been made meat-free by head chef, Franco Casolin, formerly of Vanilla Black. There are also salad bowls, wraps and sandwiches when you have less time to spare. Choose from chargrilled broccoli with colourful radishes, coronation cauliflower in a wrap or the New York Reuben on rye with sauerkraut. Dairy-free, gluten-free and egg-free pastries, vegan cakes are among the options at this bright, welcoming, casual cafe with 70 covers, inside and out.

A sustainable urban garden on the King's Cross development site, The Skip Garden puts construction workers' big bins to green use. Built on one of the largest development sites in Europe, the garden serves as an educational platform for local children, young people and business employees with an organic garden of wild flowers, vegetables and herbs along with beehives and chicken coops. The fruit and vegetables are sold to local cafes and restaurants as well as being used in the Skip Garden Kitchen, which serves up seasonal treats likes salads made, healthy juices and homemade cakes.