The Green Room

GREAT FOR: Vegan burgers and bottomless brunches

Located just behind the National Theatre, The Green Room offers a perfect blend of al fresco and indoor dining. The menu has something for everyone including wood-fired pizzas (there are two veggie and two vegan options) and an excellent vegan burger consisting of a beetroot, lentil and peanut patty with vegan cheese, spring slaw and a chimichurri mayo. For every vegan burger sold the restaurant donates £1 to the Streetsmart homeless charity. 

The Green Room is known for its Saturday bottomless brunch, which offers lots of great vegetarian options (try the spicy shakshuka to clear away any cobwebs from Friday night). Sunday lunch is also popular and vegans get to join in the classic roast experience with the option of a special vegan wellington served with all the best trimmings. 

Vegan Afternoon Tea at Marriott County Hall

GREAT FOR: An all-vegan special occasion treat

Just because you’re vegan doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself to an opulent London Afternoon Tea experience! The suitably grand Library at the London Marriott Hotel County Hall looks out over the river to the Houses of Parliament and has a fantastic vegan Afternoon Tea menu in addition to their classic Big Ben Afternoon Tea.

The vegan Afternoon Tea includes a selection of pastries, finger sandwiches and homemade scones served with a choice of loose-leaf teas (try the Library’s own blend, made exclusively for the hotel) or for an extra cost free-flowing English sparkling wine.

Mumbai Mix at Kerb

GREAT FOR: Casual vegetarian pre-theatre dining

Pop-up and street food collective Kerb's dining space at the National Theatre offers an interesting selection of independent street food eats, including Bad Boys Pizza Co and the all-vegetarian Mumbai Mix.

Mother and daughter trio Mohini, Dimple and Deshna mix Indian and East African influences in the quick and easy Mumbai Mix menu. Choose from a thali (a traditional platter of curries and daal served with cumin spiced rice, cucumber raita, pickle and chapati) or try a filling Mumbai Toastie with grilled paneer and their special Mumbai masala. Bulk it all up with a choice of sides including crispy bhajia fritters.

Wahaca

GREAT FOR: Colourful Mexican dining with a view of the river

Wahaca South Bank is one of the quirkiest locations of this acclaimed Mexican restaurant chain with a fun setting inside a transformed shipping container that sits on top of the Southbank Centre.

The restaurant offers fantastic vegetarian and vegan options, including a set menu for two that gives you a taste of all of their greatest hits. Favourites include the tacos filled with plantain, halloumi or smoky ancho chilli mushrooms and the fantastic crispy cauliflower. The moreish guacamole is also a big hit as are the black bean and cheese quesadillas, or try the 'Wahaca-mole' made from fava beans, coriander, lime, nuts and seeds.

Limin' Beach Club

GREAT FOR: Sweet and spicy Caribbean flavours

Limin’ Beach Club is South Bank’s very own Trinidadian café-bar located inside the Gabriel’s Wharf courtyard next to Oxo Tower. Vegetarians will be happy to learn that much of the traditional cuisine of this region is plant-based meaning there’s no shortage of interesting dishes to choose from.

The Doubles – a flat bread sandwich made with curried chickpeas and dressed with spicy chutneys and coriander sauces-  is considered the unofficial national dish of Trinidad. Also try the authentic Saheena (vegan spinach fritters) or classic corn chowder. The perfect accompaniment is of course a Caribbean cocktail, made with Limin’s very own signature rum.

Okan

GREAT FOR: An intimate and authentic Japanese experience

Tucked inside the grand County Hall building behind the London Eye is Okan, a tiny and super atmospheric canteen serving up traditional Osakan street food. The miniscule space is styled like a traditional back alley cookhouse that owner and founder Moto Priestman remembers from her youth in Osaka (booking is recommended!).

Okan's 'Japanese Tapas' menu is almost entirely made up of vegetarian or vegan dishes. Standouts include the onasu (ginger aubergine cooked in soy and honey) and the sweet-savoury isobe yaki that combines mochi with seaweed and soy sauce. Okan also specialises in the famous Osakan street food Okonomiyaki – a savory pancake cooked on a teppan and served with a range of sauces and pickles. 

The Garden Cafe

GREAT FOR: The best of contemporary British cuisine

The Garden Café is one of the finest contemporary British dining restaurants on this side of the river. Tucked away in an elegant modern space in the courtyard next to the Garden Museum (opposite Lambeth Bridge), it is led by Myles Donaldson, a former head chef at the acclaimed Noble Rot restaurant and at Spitalfields' iconic St. John Bread & Wine. Donaldson’s menus change constantly to reflect the best locally available seasonal produce.  

Daily there’s a choice of three starters and four mains with at least one of each being a vegetarian dish. Always inventive and brilliantly executed, this is a great place to enjoy the innovative and exciting new British cooking styles that London has become famous for.

Ping Pong

GREAT FOR: A huge choice of vegan and vegetarian dim sum

Ping Pong, set over two levels at the Southbank Centre, has one of the biggest dim sum menus around. There’s a dedicated menu especially for vegans packed with rolls, baos, dumplings and bowls, while the standard menu also has tons of vegetarian options. Tofu features prominently and there’s some inventive use of plant-based meat and fish alternatives such as EatPlanted’s ‘mock pork’.

If you want to try a bit of everything the set menus are great value, and don’t miss out on the weekday half-price dim sum deal from 3pm to 6pm. There’s also bottomless brunch available on a Saturday and on Sundays unlimited dim sum brunches.

Pizza Express

GREAT FOR: Pizza and pasta for everyone

For something to satisfy every diet and appetite, you can simply never go wrong with one of the UK’s most popular pizzeria chains, Pizza Express. The South Bank branch is located just behind the Southbank Centre making it ideal for a consistently reliable pre- or post-theatre meal.

There’s a dedicated vegan menu and it’s packed with options including a dozen different vegan and vegetarian pizzas and calzones. Pizza Express’s famous dough balls now also come in a vegan version and for dessert, there’s a vegan ginger and pumpkin cake on the menu.

Southbank Centre Food Market

GREAT FOR: Plant-based cuisine from around the world

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday this lively market at the Southbank Centre presents more than 20 different stalls serving up tasty street food from across the world. Delicious vegetarian and vegan options abound and there’s always something new to try.

Favourites include Sandhya and Gaurav’s popular dosa stand Horn OK Please and The Indians Next Door for excellent veggie samosas and biriyani. Vegans will love the all-vegan Ethiopiques stall - try their super filling ‘House Special’ piled high with salads, leafy stews and injera. 

Other standouts include Pad + Sen for a great vegetarian Pad Thai, Levant Kitchen for generous servings of falafel and Lebanese salads and Pochi, who serve three different vegan versions of their signature Japanese rice bowls. For dessert you can find vegan cakes and cookies at Galeta Bakery.

*Take note the market is open year-round except for January (reopens first weekend of February)