Chalk Farm, Vegetarian Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: Now fully vegan, this 1968-vintage Primrose Hill outfit can claim to be Europe’s oldest veggie restaurant, and is still co-owned by musician Roger Swallow of the Albion Band, long-time resident in LA. The food has had its ups and downs over the decades and is nowadays mostly (if not uniformly) rated “enjoyable and tasty”, even by reporters “neither vegetarian nor vegan”. It closed for major refurbishments in summer 2019.

“They succeed in making vegan food interesting!” at this successful chain, founded in Soho in 1988 and which is no longer merely veggie but since 2021 fully plant-based. “While packed and buzzy in set-up, it’s nevertheless a good destination for a healthy stopover” according to the many who commented on it in this year’s annual diners’ poll: “as a meat-eater, I was taken under sufferance but impressed!”. In May 2024, they added a new branch near Victoria coach station.