This trip to London was extra special because it was a long-awaited adventure I finally took with my mom. We’ve both been to London before, but for nearly ten years we’d talked about going together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Les Misérables — a musical that means so much to both of us. I’ve been seeing it since I was four years old, and I was even lucky enough to watch the 25th anniversary performance at the O2. This trip blended all the things we love most: sightseeing, London’s energy, and nights filled with musicals.
Now that I’m vegan, I tried to fit in as many good meals as possible. Our schedule was pretty packed, and my mom isn’t quite the foodie I am, so I couldn’t explore the food scene the way I normally do. But everything I did manage to try was delicious, and I’m excited to share my favorites below.
And for the record — I did have a vegan Wellington somewhere (location withheld to protect the guilty), and it was genuinely one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. That one is staying off the list completely. 😅
Below is the view from our AirBnb in Earls Court, Kensington, London.
The Troubadour: This pub was just a short walk from our place in Earl’s Court, and I’d looked it up before the trip because it has such a rich music and cultural history. Founded in 1954, it was around during what I think were the most electric decades — the ’60s and ’70s. Legends like Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Paul Simon all played here, which immediately made me want to step inside.
I wouldn’t go out of my way for the food, but for a beer or cider and a relaxed place to hang out and chat, The Troubadour was the perfect little stop.
Notting Hill
Our first full day was dedicated to exploring Notting Hill, then heading up to Abbey Road Studios, and finishing at Camden Market. It ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip, and we packed in so much. We walked north from our place to Notting Hill — about 45 minutes — and it was such a beautiful walk. The path took us along the edge of Holland Park, and we eventually made our way to Farm Girl for breakfast.
Farm Girl: This ended up being one of our favorite restaurants of the entire trip. They have a mix of vegan and non-vegan options, which worked perfectly for my mom, and everything we ordered was exceptional. I got an oat-milk rose latte, and even though it was breakfast, I had to try their coconut “bacon” BLT. It was so unique and honestly one of the standout bites of the trip.
The service was incredibly kind too — our server even brought me a free slice of their vegan banana bread, which made my whole morning. Farm Girl has a few locations around London, but if you’re already in Notting Hill, it’s absolutely worth a stop.
From breakfast, we wandered down Portobello Road toward the market. Portobello Road Market is famous for a reason — it runs daily with different sections open on different days, and there’s always something to see. We browsed vintage stalls, fresh produce stands, clothing vendors, and all the little bits and pieces that make markets so fun to explore.
Portobello Road Market website
Along Portobello Road, we stopped into a pub for a quick coffee and cider, and as we headed back out, I randomly stumbled upon the blue door from Notting Hill, the movie!
I’d actually seen the door once before, but on my last trip it had been painted black with white columns. This time, the owners had brought it back to its classic blue!
Camden Market: Camden Market is up in Camden Town, north of central London, and it’s such a fun spot for foodies. It’s partly indoors and partly outdoors with tons of food stalls and little shops mixed together. It’s the kind of place you walk through and just snack as you go.
My mom wasn’t really into it, so we didn’t stay as long as I would’ve liked. She didn’t want to eat, so I grabbed some veggie dumplings and fried rice with spicy chili oil and kept it moving.
Central London
Mali Vegan Thai: London has such a mix of food from all over the world, and on my last trip I had some of the best meals ever. This time, I wanted to try as much as I could. In Kensington we found this tiny vegan Thai spot called Mali. It was small, packed, and honestly pretty good. I ordered the massaman curry (my favorite), and my mom got the Khao Soi — the northern Thai dish I actually tried earlier this year in Chiang Mai.
Hyde Park: One morning we headed over to Hyde Park and just walked around for a while. The weather the whole trip felt like perfect fall — cloudy, a little chilly, but never rainy — and it made the park feel so peaceful.
Walking away from the park into the city!
Ave Mario: I found this spot for lunch before our first show, The Mousetrap — the only non-musical we saw on the trip. This place was such a great find. It’s much bigger than it looks from the outside, totally packed, really lively, and just a fun place to grab lunch.
They only had a tiny vegan menu (one pasta and one pizza), but the pizza was phenomenal. Easily in my top three vegan pizzas ever. The base was pumpkin with this incredible vegan burrata-style cheese, plus basil and hazelnuts. Oh my word — unreal.
Les Mis!
The Ivy: Before we went to Les Mis, we stopped at The Ivy. It’s a bistro with a bunch of locations around London, and they had a plant-based burger on the menu, so I was immediately in. The inside was really fun, our server was fantastic, and it ended up being the perfect place to grab dinner before the show. Plus, it’s an easy walk to a lot of the theaters.
The Rubens at the Palace: We booked high tea here because the location was perfect — right across the street from Buckingham Palace (the side, not the front) — and they offered a great-looking vegan high-tea menu. High tea is something my mom and I have done together since I was young, so it’s always a special part of any trip we take.
I honestly cannot recommend The Rubens at the Palace enough. We had this oversized loveseat by the window where we could people-watch the whole time, and it was such a perfect little moment in the trip. We each had our own tea tier since we were enjoying different menus, and everything just felt really thoughtful and well done.
The tea room.
My vegan tea menu.
The Rubens at the Palace website
Big Ben!
Mildred’s: So I was really excited to try Mildred’s, which is a fully vegan restaurant with a few locations around London. We went to the one closest to the Hamilton theater. I’d seen other vegan bloggers rave about their chicken Caesar sandwich — it always looks so good — and their whole menu just looked incredible, so this was high on my list.
Below is a photo of the chick+n Caesar burger — literally incredible!
My Mom got the Kiri Hodi curry.
The Hamilton theater!
Covent Garden Market: If you have the chance, definitely go. It’s right in central London and has shops, little art stalls, and a few cafés. There’s always so much happening in the area — you can walk around, browse, grab a coffee or tea, and just enjoy the energy. It’s a fun spot to wander through.
Colonel Saab: Indian food is easily in my top two favorite cuisines. I love it and I crave it all the time. Since curry is such a big part of food culture in the UK, I had to get at least one good curry while we were there. If it were up to me, I would’ve had Indian food three times that week, but my mom isn’t as into it, so I only got one shot.
I found Colonel Saab while we were in Covent Garden, and it happened to be really close to our afternoon show, The Producers, so it worked out perfectly.
Lahpet West End: Before our last show of the trip, Mamma Mia, we went to this Burmese restaurant in the West End. It was such a great little spot, and I’m a huge fan of Burmese food. We started with the vegan version of their famous tea leaf salad — truly one of my favorite salads ever. It’s packed with so many goodies and flavors. We also got tofu fritters to share.
For my main, I ordered a creamy tofu curry with rice noodles. Everything was very good and ended up being the perfect dinner before the show.
Cotswolds
On our last day in England, we decided to get out of the city and explore the countryside. We booked a driver and did a tour through the Cotswolds. It felt like we were on the same route everyone else takes because each town was pretty busy, but I’m still really glad we did it. I originally wanted to rent a car and choose our own path, but my mom wasn’t comfortable with driving out there, so having someone who knew the area made the day a lot easier.
We stopped in Burford, Bibury, Stow-on-the-Wold, Lower Slaughter, and Bourton-on-the-Water. The Cotswolds was beautiful, and I wish we had been able to see even more of it. The only downside was seeing how crowded some of these tiny towns have become. In Bibury, tourists were literally standing at people’s front doors taking photos and even grabbing their door handles. It just felt a little sad.
Burford: We started in Burford and walked the few blocks of the main down town. It was quite chilly that morning and we had been misled to grab coffee on the way into town at Starbucks and I was so disappointed becuase there were so many cute coffee shops. I always love to support local and so I wished we had known what to expect in this first town and wish we had time!
Here was a very old cathedral we stumbled upon in town.
Bibury: This town was tiny. There was like 1 coffeeshop as the only store I saw. At least where we were. There was a river and a walking path but really just tourists standing around. This was our least favorite and it felt more like we were intruding on these people’s once quaint town and their lives.
Stow-on-the-Wold: This was such a great town with a lot more to see and do. One of the highlights was St. Edward’s Church, which has a side door that’s said to have inspired J.R.R. Tolkien when he created The Lord of the Rings. That door is supposedly the inspiration for the Door of Durin, which I really loved to see in person.
The Porch House: We also grabbed lunch at a pub called The Porch House, and they actually had a vegan option — a falafel-style burger that totally worked for me. And their local cider was amazing!
Lower Slaughter: This was a very small town, paired with Upper Slaughter nearby. I learned that “slaughter” in Old English means a muddy place or wetlands of sorts, which makes the name make a lot more sense. The area was beautiful and quiet, with not much going on. We were only there for about 30 minutes, just enough time to walk around, look at the homes, and take in the scenery.
Burton-on-the-Water: Our fifth and final stop. This was a great last place as everything was centered around the square. There was shopping and restaurants and just people hanging out everywhere. We stopped into numerous shops and grabbed some ice cream. I found a free chocolate flavor, which was such a win. I really liked this town; it might have been my favorite of the Cotswolds stops.
Well, that sums up my trip to the UK. London is such a fabulous city, and I loved getting the chance to spend more time there — especially seeing all of these musicals with my mom. We had a really great week, and I felt so grateful that we were able to make this trip happen.
Until the next Foodie Travel….Cheerio!