Excellent Vegan Food in London

Okay, I have to admit that a lot of other European countries need to look towards London when it comes to vegan food. They have really stepped up the dining out vegan game! Holy moly! Everywhere I went there were good vegan options, and at a good price point as well!
I was thoroughly impressed!

So today I’m sharing three restaurants that I fell in love with while on my latest trip to London.

The Diner

397 Strand, Covent Garden, London WC2R 0LX, UK

My good friend David introduced me to this place, and I will be forever grateful, and never worried about having to go hungry while in London ever again.

It’s a 50s style diner, and they have their very own vegetarian/vegan menu, packed with delicious meals that will make it hard for you to choose.
I ate there twice and tried both the Triple Tacos, and the Mac and Cheese. Both were equally as delicious! It’s the perfect place for hungover/comfort food, no matter if you’re craving something sweet or something savoury.

Highly recommend!!

Find out more on The Diner’s website here!

Pizza Express

You can find Pizza Express all over London, but I went to the one right next to London Bridge. So, what made me go there? I had seen them advertise a vegan pizza, and that made me curious! I do love a good pizza!

So I took myself out on a date to Pizza Express. They had two or three different vegan pizzas to choose from.

I ordered the Vegan Giardiniera:

Artichoke, closed cup mushroom, red onion, and black olives, with tomato, vegan mozzarella alternative and garlic oil, finished with fresh parsley on a Romana base.

It’s the best vegan pizza I’ve had so far! So much flavor, crunchy base, and that vegan mozzarella it was absolutely delicious!

I paired it with a glass of rosé wine and had a wonderful me-date right next to the London Bridge.

If you’re a pizza lover, then definitely give the Pizza Express’ vegan options a try! You can thank me later😉

Find out more on the Pizza Express website here!

Ethos

Image from the Ethos website.

48 Eastcastle St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 8DX, UK

Ethos is one of those restaurants that I just stumbled upon while strolling through the streets of London. I actually almost walked right past it, but I’m so grateful that I didn’t.

It’s a beautiful restaurant with a very open, but warm atmosphere. They make vegetarian/vegan food and desserts, and a lot of the dishes are glutenfree as well. The concept here is that you take a plate and fill it with whatever you like (buffet style) and then they weigh it to find out how much you should pay.

I tried a little bit of everything, but my favorite was probably the lasagne, broccoli & cauliflower fritters, and their hummus. But there’s so much to choose from, both cold, hot, sweet and savoury. There’s something for everyone!

I made the mistake of having too much dinner so that I didn’t have room for any of the tasty looking desserts! You may learn from my mistake and try to contain yourself a little so there’s a little bit of extra space for the sweets and cakes afterward. I sure will next time😜

Find out more on the Ethos website here!

As if I didn’t miss London enough before I started writing this, now I miss it even more and I’m hungry as well!

Let me know if you’ve tried any of these restaurants, or if you have any recommendations for other restaurants with good vegan food in London❤️

Holy Doughnut!

Those who know me (or have been following me for a while) knows that I have a love for doughnuts. But finding vegan doughnuts isn’t always that easy, and sometimes not that tasty.

April last year I found a vegan doughnut at Vegabond in Amsterdam that was truly amazing, but today I think I found the one that outranks that one.

I was walking down the south bank from London Bridge to London Eye, and when I came to Blackfriar’s Bridge, there was a big sign with a picture of a doughnut, and underneath it the beautiful word “vegan” was written as well.

I had slept in, and hadn’t had breakfast yet, but I knew I wouldn’t be able let this opportunity pass. I headed in to the station and found a little Doughnut Time shop in the wall. They had doughnuts on display and two of them were vegan. I’ll be honest, I stood there for way too long trying to choose between the two, but finally ended up with the one called Ice Ice Bae Bae (vanilla buttercream, vegan cookie pieces, chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chips)! They gave it to me in a cute little turquoise box, and I walked away smiling like a little kid.

I had planned on saving it for after I had found my breakfast, but it turns out that I have zero self control, so I ended up sitting down on a bench by the River Thames, sun on my back, and with a box of my biggest craving on my lap.

Unfortunately, there’s no picture of me actually eating this thing, because trying to eat this beautiful big piece is messy and needs two hands, but if you want a mental image, just picture an enthusiastic ginger Cookie Monster that it’s hard to tell by facial expression if she’s actually eating or having an orgasm!

You’re welcome! 😂

This was a delicious treat that turned into a party in my mouth! Should I have had breakfast first? Probably! Do I regret it? Absolutely not!

So, if you find yourself in London and craving a vegan doughnut, then find your closest Doughnut Time and go at it!!

You can thank me later 😜❤️

We Went to London!

Leander and I have taken some smaller trips together over the years, but we’ve never actually had the opportunity to travel by plane anywhere, just the two of us. So for Leander’s 11th birthday this year, I booked us a trip to London.

We were going to do the Harry Potter Studio Tour, but unfortunately, that was sold out by the time I was able to book our hotel and plane tickets. So we will just have to go back I guess 😝

So where is the London vlog, you might wonder? Well, I did film a little bit during the trip but decided pretty quickly that there wasn’t going to be a vlog for this trip. The main reason for this was that I wanted the London trip to be about Leander, and for him and I to have some really good quality time together. And if I’m focusing on getting as much good content as possible for a vlog, then my mind would often be elsewhere than on being mindful of all the experiences we were having together.

So what did we do on our trip? We walked around the city a lot, sat down at cafés, ate yummy food and cakes, spent some time at Hamley’s, did a little bit of shopping, had fun in the hotel swimming pool, got to meet some wonderful people, went to the science museum and we stayed up late, eating candy in our hotel room.

But the thing that I take away from the trip that was the most wonderful, was all the time we spent talking about life and thoughts. I’ve always said that the best way to really get to know someone is to travel together with them, and I do believe that Leander and I got to know each other even better than we already did throughout this trip. It’s so easy to get caught up in the hectic everyday lifestyle, and we probably don’t take as much time as we should to actually just sit down and talk about our feelings and experiences, but while we were away, we really did get the time to do so. There was no rush for anything, and we just had a wonderful time. Even when getting soaked in the rain, or when Leander was so tired on the evening of our first day that he walked like a drunk person, we still smiled, laughed and talked so easily.

It is also so fascinating to me to experience how he’s growing up so extremely fast. And he constantly takes me by surprise when he’s wording these really profound thoughts that are running through his mind. But even though he’s getting closer and closer to becoming a teen, he still finds the joy in toys and playing, which is something that I think is so important!

And he’s so funny and entertaining my little guy!

It’s so wonderful, but also scary at the same time, to watch him finding himself and taking on the world.

Solo traveling with kids is a little different from when I do travel completely alone though. There are a lot more breaks, earlier nights, and a bit more planning. But it was such a joy, and I do hope that I get to travel more with my little man in the near future.

Not only because I think it’s an absolutely wonderful way for us to get quality time together, but also for us to personally grow through traveling together. Some of the most vivid memories I have from my childhood are the adventures I went on with my family. We didn’t have to travel far or by train, but it was something about just getting out of the comfort zone of home, and try new things and explore new places.

And that is something I wish for Leander to have plenty of; ADVENTURES!

 

London was an absolute treat, and as I’ve mentioned before; London always feels like coming home! It brought me so much joy to share that with Leander, and it was just a pleasure to watch him fall in love with the same city.

London, thank you for all the wonderful memories we got to bring back home❤️

Took this photo as we were landing at Oslo Airport Gardermoen. Fall, you sure are pretty😍

 

 

 

 

London – Short and Sweet

Let me tell you about my short and wonderful trip to London last week! It all started after a night of no sleep (because going to bed at 1-2 is useless when you have to get up at 3.30) and the regular wonderful travel nerves. Left my apartment at 4.15 am with my backpack on and headed for the bus to the airport.

Everything ran as smoothly as it possibly could, and at 7.38 am my Ryanair flight to Stansted was ready for takeoff. Sleep took a hold of me for most of the flight, and even though I love Ryanair for always being on time and having very affordable tickets, I certainly wish that they were easier to sleep on. Who sits with such a straight posture for an entire flight? Luxury problem, I know. I managed to fall in and out of sleep anyways.

A couple of hours later I was on British ground and headed for yet another bus. On previous trips to London I’ve taken the Stansted Express into town, but as I found that the bus was much cheaper, I decided to give that a go instead. The bus was comfortable, had free wifi and was a lot easier to sleep on. So I sneaked in another hour or so of sleep there as well and finally felt rested and ready for a busy day.

It was a rainy and grey London that met me when I got off the bus, but that wasn’t going to wear me down. The reunion was still filled with love and joy. I spent a few hours just walking around the city, soaking in that feeling of being home. The city, the people and the creative vibe of the place makes me walk around smiling like a crazy person.

After a few hours of walking around and getting lost on purpose, I found a sweet little café where I had some coffee and did some much needed writing. Typing came much easier than it had for quite some time, and I wasn’t at all surprised. Traveling really makes my creativity thrive and I wish I had the time and the money to do much more of it.

A few hours of writing passed by and I really got some good work done on my novel, and then I found my way to St. Christopher’s at the Village, the hostel where I had booked a bed. It was close to London Bridge, so extremely easy to get to and the staff was absolutely wonderful! I got the top bunk in a 33 bed dorm. Connected to the hostel was Belushi’s Bar, a very nice bar with a good atmosphere and cheap drinks for everyone sleeping at the hostel. I ended up sitting there to write for a while before I put my Surface away and ended up having a few beers with an Australian who was also traveling by himself.

I really enjoyed my stay at St. Christopher’s Inn and I will definitely stay there on my next visit as well!

The next morning I had to check out by 10 am. and the fact that I had forgotten to drink water before I got to bed hit me quite hard. Got a good walk in, some food and a coke, and I finally beat the hangover. After that I found my way to Victoria Station, sat there and did some more writing while enjoying a snack, and then it was already time to head back to the airport for my flight home unfortunately.

It was a very short, but much needed trip. I enjoyed every minute of it (well maybe not the short period of time where I felt horribly hungover), and hopefully I will be able to sneak in another one of these writing trips again soon! It does wonders for my creativity and for my happiness! The only downside is that now I just want to travel even more. Bitten by the bug, yet again! But I’m not going to complain about that. The traveling will happen in time, and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to experience such a short and sweet experience in a city that I love and have missed.

London baby, I’ll be back soon!