Clean eating shows no signs of disappearing in London. From Egyptian street food to raw, organic bowls, here are six healthy restaurants that you have to try in Covent Garden.
Not only are the folks at Farmstand committed to creating eco-friendly and sustainable food (all their produce is sourced from the UK, they don’t sell bottled water and they endeavour to use only compostable materials for their packaging) but it’s all incredibly healthy too. The menu is gluten-, dairy- and added sugar-free and includes breakfast and lunch options like coconut porridge, rainbow slaw, buckwheat with salsa verde, and fava beans with roasted peppers and pumpkin.
Koshari Street is famous for its koshari, an Egyptian national dish made of rice, pasta, lentils and chickpeas topped with onions, tomato sauce and spices. As well as being very flavoursome, koshari is vegan and both low in calories and fat. And if you get a salad to go on the side, you up your fruit and veg even more.
Raw and plant-based food is the focus at Wild Food Café, found in Neal’s Yard. They haven’t let those parameters dampen their creativity though as the kitchen draws influence from all over the world, so you can find dishes like watermelon gazpacho, raw pizzette and wild banoffee pie. Yes, you can have dessert and still feel virtuous.
As you’d guess from the name, the speciality at Neal’s Yard spot 26 Grains is grains. The breakfast porridges, made with either almond or coconut milk, contain all manner of good things like nuts, spices, seeds and fruit, and they look beautiful too – this is definitely the place to Instagram your breakfast. They also serve savoury bowls and health conscious hot drinks including turmeric and matcha lattes.
Formerly known as Salad Pride, Neal’s Yard Pride is all about simple, natural and nourishing food. It’s a plant-based spot and everything is dairy-, gluten- and refined sugar-free. The drinks menu contains organic juices, shots, smoothies and a range of super-lattes. As well as a selection of salads and soups, you can build your own bowl using everything from roasted celeriac to buckwheat and fermented cardamom carrots.
You wouldn’t necessarily expect an in-house restaurant at a top West End hotel to serve up health-conscious food but that’s exactly what you get an Indigo at One Aldwych. The entire menu is gluten- and dairy-free, something head chef Dominic Teague has done without compromising on taste and produce. It may not be vegan or plant-based – you can still get dishes like beer battered day boat fish and organic Rhug Estate lamb rump – but Indigo proves that gourmet and gluten-free can go hand-in-hand.
