Where to Find the Best Vegetarian Burgers in London
Burgers, Burgers, and More Burgers
Can you ever really get enough of them? They’ve got everything you need for a well-balanced meal. Carbs, protein (the vegetarian kind), salad. They are the perfect answer to your nutritional needs. And, of course, you’ll find a plethora of outstandingly delicious vegetarian burgers in London (otherwise known as the food capital of the world).
In the last ten years London has become nothing short of burger mad. Once synonymous with chains like Burger King and McDonalds, what qualifies now for a great burger could not be further from those places in terms of quality (no offence to McD’s or BK we love your new, albeit belated, efforts to cater to veggies).
The salacious appetite for the Big Mac but better began an explosion of new burger spots opening everywhere. All that burger hysteria finally climaxing in burgers dipped in actual gold leaf. A sure sign that you’ve taken what was once a good thing too far.
Burger Utopia
London is a utopia for all the food and there are many covetable and more fashionable cuisines that are gaining attention over here. But the humble burger – pure joy, topped with joy, and sandwich between more toasted joy, can never be challenged. It is a food category with roots deep in our hearts, all the way back to those birthday parties at the local McDonalds. Plus, they carry a huge potential for creativity as a base for endless, outrageous flavour combinations.
Everybody has their go to favourite, whether that’s a mind-blowing plant-based patty or a crunchy deep-fried chicken alternative. These restaurants will deliver you unforgettable burgers. And the sides usually aren’t too bad either.
We don’t mess around when it comes to burgers and our list shows it. As usual for MARVED only the absolute best of the best has made it on here. Serve up a patty with even a hint of mush, or an accompaniment with a touch of sogginess and you shan’t make the list.
REMEMBER:
Vegan options
Your carnivorous friends will also find options here
Patty & Bun 🌱 🍗
Patty and Bun have had vegetarians firmly in mind since the beginning. Initially unleashing their unbelievably rich yet morish burger consisting of a fried mushroom fritter stuffed with garlic parsley butter and cheese sauce – which is phenomenal if not obscenely messy. The tarragon mayo a particular stroke of flavour genius.
Since those early days they have come leaps and bounds in their veggie offerings. Running headfirst into the explosion of vegan food of late and dishing out some excellent plant based alternatives to their burger classics. The vegan “hot chic” burger is nothing short of miraculous. And who can forget those salty, herby, rosemary fries. YUM. They even serve them loaded with vegan brisket.
Temple of Seitan 🌱
The OG vegan fried chicken and considered the UK’s first vegan fried chicken shop (what a title to hold). From the first day of opening their shop in Hackney, East London it was never without a long queue as hungry, desperate vegans and veggies got their first hit of vegan fried chicken.
But it was the convincing taste of their vegan fried chicken and its uncanny resemblance to the real deal that kept those queues coming back long after the hype died down. Their chicken burgers are some of the best you’ll find out there and their toppings are the traditional, dirty, saucy naughtiness that you crave from a chicken shop. We wouldn’t judge you if you washed one down with one of their equally good ¼ pounders.
Mildreds 🌱
Everything is always tasty at Mildreds. Especially the burgers. They have a regularly updated burger list to keep you on your toes and make sure you’re trying new taste experiences with each visit.
Usually, we don’t advocate for bean burgers. We had enough of the mushy disappointments before the vegetarian (mostly vegan) revolution began and we don’t encourage going back to those days. But Mildreds will blow all your preconceived notions back to the past with their menu favourite Polish burger. Made of white bean, beetroot, and dill topped with pickley cabbage and gherkins it isn’t always on the menu but when it is, make sure to snatch it up.
Hache 🌱 🍗
Sometimes your pesky carnivore friends will not indulge your ethical ways by eating at a vegetarian only burger joint. At least not every time. When the time comes to compromise places like Hache save the day. Carnivore friendly but with a lot of thought put in for the veggies and vegans.
As of writing this they have five burger options for vegan/ vegetarians. Mostly starring the increasingly popular Symplicity burger which they’ve called an “alternative to the current plant based ‘meat’ market.” No diss from us that ‘meat’ market has certainly made our BBQ’s better but it’s nice to mix things up. Delicious food for all.
Honest Burger 🌱 🍗
A chain, but a good one. They are serious about quality and consistency and it’s evident when, no matter how many times you go back, it always tastes as good as the first time.
Not to knock their original wholesome and tasty veggie fritter, Honest really landed on the veggie map as one of the first restaurants in the UK to trial the now iconic Beyond Meat burger. Thus changing how vegetarian Londoners measured up their burgers forever. They are dedicated to serving good veggie/ vegan options. Including vegan bacon ketchup – the veggie alternative of the condiment you did not know you desperately needed.
Shake Shack 🌱 🍗
Another chain, but it’s extraordinarily difficult to ignore a burger that has been stuffed with cheese, fried and served melted. It’s even more difficult not to list said burger when it tastes so good.
Perfectly compact it fits in your hand neatly enough to chow down in just a few crispy, silky, flavourful bites. They’ve recently added a vegan patty to their menu if you prefer getting as up close and personal to the real deal as possible with your morals intact. Also crinkle cut cheese fries, need we say more?
Oowee 🌱
Vegan fast food at its finest. If someone had told us ten, twenty years ago that a vegan burger would taste this good, as good as any meat burger – we would not have believed. But Oowee is here to squash us non-believers.
Aside from the excellent name that’s just downright fun to say, the burgers are outrageously good. Special shout out to the double smash burger for making all the formerly McDonald’s double cheeseburger loving, now fully reformed vegetarians, dreams come true with an even better animal friendly version. We know this is a post about burgers but if you don’t get the waffle fries, you’re insane.
Neat Burger 🌱
As close to peak 90’s fast food dreams as you’ll find in the vegan world. All that grease loaded goodness with zero guilt. Sorta. Everything is beautifully packaged and wrapped – completely Instagram friendly. But the real joy here is the sheer selection on offer. If after years of ordering the only meal on option to you at any given restaurant you might fray at the edges just looking at the menu.
Lots on offer, lots to digest – literally. Imagine living in a world where you can walk into a fast-food restaurant and order a fish-filet burger sans fish. Not a bad time to be alive. Sure they might not be quite as cheap as your local Micky D’s but you’re saving the world going here. Sorta.
