We have definitely moved past the point where requesting a “veggie burger” meant you were given a mushroom between two slices of bread (thank goodness). Though there are still some questionable Veggie burgers out there, the majority, particularly in London, are absolutely delicious. I’m a sucker for a great Burger and with so much choice in London I decided to put together a little comparison test. A lot of these places are recommendations from other websites and articles and I’ve ranked them out of 5 for both visual appeal and taste. I also tend to go for places that are potentially less well known or not chains, so hopefully there are a few you may not have ventured to just yet. Let me know if you try any of these, or you think of a restaurant that could rival my favourites!

Just as a disclaimer, I am very aware that if I tried to sample every veggie burger in London I would be eating burgers for the rest of my life. This is a small sampling of places I’ve heard about and simply stumbled across and I have only included the best of the best from the places I have visited.

So with only 2 weeks to go until the Timeout #battleoftheburger, here you are, my 5 favourite veggie burgers in London so far!

The Green Room behind the National Theatre

The Green Room is part of the National Theatre and offers a restaurant alternative to the very delicious Espresso Bar inside. This is located behind the National and a great spot to eat before seeing a show. I arrived around 5:30pm as I had a meeting at 6, it was very quiet when I arrived but filled up relatively quickly, so see if you can book especially if you’re there on the weekend.

Their veggie burger is on the menu as:

The Green Room veggie burger with beetroot sauerkraut & crushed avocado

The patty is made from sweet potato and chick pea, which works really well and contrasts against the purple beetroot and green avocado beautiful. I enjoyed this burger a lot but it was slightly spicier than I had anticipated and was also a little dry and there isn’t much to it in terms of sauce.

Visual 5/5
Taste 3/5

Beer + Burger in Willesden Green

Unless you live in NW London you may never have heard of it, but Beer + Burger is one of my favourite places to catch up with friends and grab takeaway when it’s just been one of those days. The staff are lovely who work there and they have a whole wall of fridges of beer, which are all different and interesting and I have had a lot of fun choosing beers based on the most ridiculous name or funniest image.

They used to have a veggie burger on the menu which I would get all the time and then in January their guest burger that month was a vegan burger. This was so popular that it ended up replacing the veggie burger and is actually even more delicious. I obviously asked how they made their delicious patty but it’s actually so interesting that I’m just going to leave it to you to ask yourself. Essentially it’s a quinoa, mushroom and spinach patty with pickled daikon, vegan ranch dressing and aubergine.

Visual 4/5
Taste 5/5

Butchies fried chicken at Summer of Sound on the roof John Lewis

Now you’re probably reading the menu thinking “is she really about to recommend a veggie burger from a fried chicken shop?” yes, yes I am.

For anyone who has been to Butchies you will know it’s in Shoreditch, which means they’re pretty much legally required to have a vegetarian option which is delicious. Now they have a great chicken menu for you meat eaters out there, but it’s also a great place to go with friends simply because they have delicious food for everyone.

I haven’t actually been to the restaurant in Shoreditch, I discovered Butchies at John Lewis’ pop up summer rooftop garden called: Summer of Sound on the roof. Unless I’d been there myself I wouldn’t believe someone who told me how pretty and relaxing it was on top of a John Lewis opposite Bond Street station. We visited at around 4:30pm on a weekday, which was pretty perfect timing as it became very popular in the evening. As well as a Butchies, they also have a Fever Tree gin and tonic bar, which is just everything you need for the summer in London.

Their burger is a halloumi burger, called the Freddie Murcur-v (love a good pun). It seems this isn’t on the normal menu in Shoreditch, but this burger is Butchies fried halloumi, pickles and chilli infused honey (chilli infused honey tasted just as delicious as it sounds). Such a nice burger and a really nice collection of wines as well as the nearby gin bar. The location is actually a plus on this occasion, particularly when it’s sunny!

Visual 3/5
Taste 5/5

Mildred’s

I had been recommended Mildred’s many times before attending for my friend’s birthday dinner. I had read lots of reviews about it being very small and often too crowded to get a seat. It is definitely small, but we had pre-booked the party room which meant that this wasn’t a problem. Generally the bill was quite expensive BUT the ‘chicken’ burger was incredible.

Normally I am not a fan of burgers that replicate the texture of meat, however this burger is done particularly well and tastes a lot like korma. I definitely would recommend booking here, it is totally worth it for the deliciousness of these burgers.

Visual 4/5
Taste 5/5

Vurger Co.

Finally, heading to Shoreditch I visited Vurger Co. which is actually entirely vegan. Firstly, they serve milkshakes, which is already an extra point in my books. Their special that day was a lotus biscuit shake, which was incredible. I also have to give a lot of points to their sweet potato fries which were perfect!

Now for the burger, I opted for the Auburger which was an aubergine, caramelised red onion and Tabasco chipotle chickpea patty with pickled red cabbage, gherkins, tomato, cheese and cumin mayo. I chose it for obvious reasons, which is that is sounds incredible.

I’m going to say it was a pretty good burger, and what I loved about it was the sheer amount of flavour going on all at once. Generally their burgers are a little spicy, which I quite liked, and they are huge and affordable so it is really worth visiting if you’re ever in Shoreditch.

The Classic and Holy Habanero were also tried by my friends and they both really enjoyed them. The restaurant are also pretty good for gluten free options and it’s relatively quiet on a weeknight so you can quite easily get a table and not feel as though you need to rush.

Our meal came to around £15.00 each, which included a burger, milkshake and shared sweet potato fries (two between three of us).

Visual 3/5
Taste 4/5

I have been slowly putting this blog post together since the end of May, so it is probably a good time to publish. I know there are so many places that were on my shortlist to try (Byron Burger & Leon for their chain vegan burgers which I have heard good things about and some smaller restaurants and pop ups such as Biff’s Jack Shack and Farmacy). I am looking forward to continuing sampling the best veggie and vegan burgers London has to offer, so any contributions you have are more than welcome.

Kayleigh