Vegetarian restaurants that have come and gone

[Sherwil16]

I saw the thread asking about restaurants in London and started thinking about veggie restaurants in London from the 70s onwards when I first became vegetarian. These sprang to mind immediately
Manna in Erskine Road
Raw Deal off Baker Street
Food for Thought Neal St
Some more will come to me, but I'd really appreciate any that you can recall. Most of the old ones have closed or turned into vegan pretend meat places.

Oh! I assumed it had been swept away by all the redevelopment. Maybe I’ll venture into its bowels again!

@FortunataTagnips I remember that- we lived near the Air studios in Hampstead at the time- grotty tiny flat- fab location- this was one place we went a fair bit as well as little Bay in West Hampstead- as both were cheap!!

Hockneys in South Croydon in the early 80s

A bit of googling has thrown this up (before the time of anyone here, I'm guessing ).

Another, very sad, vote for Wholemeal Cafe in Streatham. I loved that place, I think it had been there since the 70s. The menu apparently completely unchanged.

Not London but Demuths in Bath was brilliant - used to love going with my mum as a fancy treat, saw Sue Perkins in there once too 😄

I'm not from London but I did my Masters there about 10 years ago and I ate at Govindas in Soho the Hare Krishna place a few times and enjoyed it. In Edinburgh Henderson's was the place back when I was younger, its went away for a while but I think it is back now. I'm sure in Glasgow there was a place called the bay tree which now serves meat but used to be Veggie.

@Crikeyalmighty The Little Bay! Astonishingly cheap.

The Egg is still going and still lovely!

A bit of googling reveals that the Indian vegetarian place on Hanway Street was Mandeer — and it shut in 1998 😢.

I'm not veggie but I went to Mildred's, maybe 10 + years ago for my birthday. It was one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. And they had divine gluten free desserts.

The original Hendersons in Edinburgh shut during Covid but the grandson (I think) of the original owners revived it in a new location. The new one is great, though I used to love the canteen style of the old one - the new one is more restaurant-like.

@Theydontknowaboutus Yeah I was just looking at the website. It does look very nice but like you say the old refectory 70's style one was cool and a wee bit more affordable. I'd go there as a nice treat but it is quite expensive thee days which to be fair so is everywhere else. I will certainly try it soon though.

Another,person who loved Demuths in Bath. Such a beautiful setting as well.

There definitely used to be a vegetarian cafe at the Mary Ward Centre- sad to hear that the cafe has closed.

Mildred's is still good but I did prefer it before it became a chain. I never liked the Gate that much!

There used to be a lovely vegetarian restaurant in Paris called Piccolo. I went several times as a student when a cheese baguette was pretty much the only veggie offering in the city. I seem to remember it changed hands, appeared on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, and closed shortly after. 😂

I also remember Cranks and still have my cookbook.

I have multiple Cranks cookbooks that I probably haven’t cooked from since the 90s but couldn’t bear to get rid of. They’re seminal!

Vanilla Black - the restaurant that converted carnivores.

Yes, the Friends' House cafe opposite Euston is lovely, though not much ramge.

The vegetarian cafe in Machynlleth is still there and looked full and thriving when I passed it last summer. We used to go with my grandparents in the 80s.

Wasn't Earth Exchange the forerunner of Green & Blacks, or something similar?

Anecdotally they seem to be struggling, several, both long standing and more recent upmarket openings have closed in the past couple of years here and reopened as mixed restaurants. I think the issue for restaurants is that because you are vegetarian, it doesn't mean your dining companions are.

I don't remember the name but we used to go to health food cafe in Machynleth, Wales in the late 80s. I always wished they sold chips. And I remember all these posters about vivisection and fur coats covered in blood and stuff all over the walls. Nearly made me not eat meat. I did go veggie for a couple of years in my teens so maybe it worked!

The veggie place in Machynlleth was called The Quarry Pot. DBro lived in Mach when I was a teen, we spent many hours there. I
think it's moved to be the cafe at Centre for Alternative Technology up the road in Corris.

Tibits disappeared during covid.

@FortunataTagnips it was- we are our way through the menu as it was one of the few places we could eat out-supplemented by the Chinese you mentioned and west end kitchen !! I'm not veggie though so I was fine. I do like really good vegetarian food though which is why I'm reading the thread-