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Whoever said vegetarians had to be healthy? The king of the messy comfort food exists in vegetarian form, so don’t hold back. As the burger scene in London grows alongside a decrease in meat consumption, expand your burger horizons and give these veggie burgers a try.

Byron’s Portobello mushroom veggie burger

Byron

Byron deserves an outstanding award for its treatment of the veggie burger, giving vegetarians a choice of burgers. The menu offers a grilled Portobello, mushroom, and goat-cheeseburger, or a bean patty with Byron sauce. This place really knows how to use its vegetables, for both these options are served with roasted pepper, baby spinach, tomato, red onion, and aioli. The goat’s cheese alternative adds an unexpectedly creamy taste to the mushroom base while the Byron sauce is unique – try both.

Various locations around London.

Wrapped Veggie Burger with Fries

Tommi’s Burgers

Escape London’s chill and bundle up in this small and cosy burger joint, where a delicious veggie burger awaits you. The veggie burger is one of only four options. This burger is a mixture of various vegetables packed together in a patty-like creation that crumbles apart as you bite into it, revealing ingredients like corn, a unique inclusion. You can indulge here in the ‘offer of the century,’ which includes the burger, fries, and a soda for a very reasonable price. Other drinks available include milkshakes in all the usual flavours, as well as coffee. Alternatively, you can opt for various beers and wines. When your burger is ready, do not forget to play around with the creative sauces they offer.

Tommi’s Burgers, 30 Thayer Street, London. W1U 2QP, UK

Tommi’s Burgers, 342 Kings Road, London, SW3 5UR, UK

Interior of Brixton Joint

Honest Burgers

This veggie burger, baptised the Fritter, is simply delicious. Honest Burgers, now open in nine locations around London, had a humble beginning as the brainchild of two friends who originally wanted to open one modest venue in Brixton. The fact that it then greatly expanded is testament to the quality of its food. This burger is made from a curious—and splendid—combination of cauliflower, tomato, sweet corn, shallots, spices, coriander, and cucumber yogurt, because only vegetarians are creative enough to have yogurt in a burger and completely pull it off. Honest Burgers has had a strong focus on providing utmost quality from the start, visible in the fact that all the vegetables in the Fritter are sourced from local markets. Rosemary-salted chips that come with every burger, and gluten free buns are also available.

Various locations around London

Patty & Bun

Patty & Bun’s veggie burger, also known as the Portobello ‘Dig It’ Mushroom Burger, is superb. It is made of a braised field mushroom fritter, garlic parsley butter, melted Parmesan cheese, coleslaw, lettuce, tarragon mayo, and brioche. The mushroom is a trusted veggie replacement for the patty and its flat-griddled consistency is enhanced by the soft creamy mayo and crispy lettuce. The interior of the restaurant has brick walls, hanging light bulbs, and wooden booths, giving a Brooklyn-like chic atmosphere.

Patty & Bun, 54 James Street, London, W1U 1HE, UK

Patty & Bun, 22/23 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7PD, UK

Bleecker St.’s Veggie Burger

Bleecker St. Burger

Bleecker St. offers an excellent tofu burger. Far from bland, the tofu here is crispy, a result of having been deep fat fried and then generously dipped into sweet buffalo sauce. This burger food truck knows what it’s doing: coming from the streets of New York it hopes to seduce Londoners with its simple, yet delicious burgers. The veggie burger, one of only four options, is completed with lettuce and American cheese. Supplement your veggie burger with Bleecker’s simple yet innovative mix of fries with sweet potatoes—all hand-cut, with their skins left on.

Follow them on Twitter for current location

The Sebright Arms Pub

Lucky Chip

Food Stand, British

The vegetarian burger at the Lucky Chip street stall includes Portobello mushroom, aubergine, roasted pepper, cheddar, ginger sweet chilli and aioli. It is called the Woody Harrelson, named after the actor who plays Haymitch in the Hunger Games and who, most importantly, is a staunch vegan and environmentalist. The burger is definitely worthy of such a namesake. Lucky Chip care about good food: it took owner Ben Denner three months and 70 bakeries to settle on the buns he now uses. The atmosphere and service is friendly and inviting.

Shake Shack

Restaurant, Market, British

Veggie Burger from Burger Craft
Courtesy of The Burger Craft
Shake Shack’s branch in Covent Garden knows just how to create the perfect veggie burger to match its buzzing and fun locality. Called the Shroom, this veggie burger can claim distinction through its purity and quality. The Portobello mushroom after which the burger is named—crisp-fried, breaded, and generously filled with melted cheese—is balanced by the freshness of the lettuce and tomato, and the sweetness of the one and only Shacksauce. The experience, for which you will have to wait in a long, yet worthwhile, queue, would be incomplete without one of the joint’s famous shakes, but customers can also choose from various offers of wine, beer, custard, and of course fries. Shake Shack deserves distinction for its attempts to focus on the community despite being an international chain – it is all-natural, with some options location-specific so as to utilise local ingredients, and it also donates a small portion of its sales to the Dragon Hall Trust, a community centre for disadvantaged youth, families, and elderly. Not even pets are excluded from Shake Shack’s philosophy: treat your dog to some gourmet dog biscuits as you tackle the Shroom.

Burger Craft

For those who would love to indulge in a veggie burger in a cosy and comforting ambience, Burger Craft is ideal. Rather than having an independent place of its own, Burger Craft has permanent residency in four traditional London pubs: The Green Man, The White Ferry House, The Crown, and The Exmouth Arms. Grab a pint and enjoy the burger, called Pleasured by Veg, which contains the creative mixture of a caramelised garden vegetable patty, a beetroot slice, mozzarella, tarragon mayo, and rocket, all served in a fresh, soft, and glazed brioche. A choice of fries or hash browns is included in every order. The service is friendly and very quick.

Various locations around London

Brixton Market

Bukowski Grill

Bukowski’s Vegetarian is made from organic black beans, roasted butternut squash, fresh herbs, and spices, and is served with tomato, lettuce, red onion chutney, and mayonnaise inside a toasted brioche. Extra cheese, either Colton Basset Stilton or Double Gloucester, will enhance the experience for only an extra pound. Bukowski disappoints only in its lack of vegetarian fries—all of them are fried in beef dipping. The Vegetarian is big, delicious and sloppy: proper, old-fashioned comfort food. You’ll also find home made condiments, including both organic ketchup and mustard.

Bukowski Grill, Unit 10, Market Row, Brixton Market, London, SW9 8JX, UK

Bukowski Grill, Unit 61 BOXPARK, 4-6 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6GY, UK

About the author

Alyssa Erspamer is a student at UCL specialising in anthropology and German. She grew up in the US, near Boston, but has Italian roots. Her humble wish is to explore the whole world one day and to live on a farm, but in the meantime she settles with wandering around London and sharing a flat.

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