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.

“So much better now it is fully vegan and more adventurous with its food” (“a wonderful range of plant-based dishes from around the world including Central America and the Middle East”) – this long-established meat-free chain started with its “old favourite” Soho branch (est 1988) and has mushroomed in recent years to include five locations in all. “Tables are crammed in” and the sites can get “extremely busy”, but its offering is reliably “tasty and interesting”.