With the growth of a whole host of food bloggers, adjoining cafes and restaurants, London is fast becoming a mecca for healthy foodies. The following are among the brightest jewels in the green crown of London that demonstrate healthy eating is not just about kale and quinoa.
1. Wild Food Cafe, Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden
Photo by Imogen marshall
Quirky in both location and feel, the atmosphere of this happy, hippy cafe is all-welcoming. With customers crammed shoulder to shoulder, businessmen next to older yogis next to teenage girls, it’s as fun a place as you’ll get for lunch. Perch yourself on the end of the bench to people-watch the courtyard below and the restaurant around you.
The food too is a real treat, combining comfort and health-food; the burgers and pizzas come highly recommended (and don’t worry no glutens, sugars or dairy products in sight). But leave room for dessert or you will be missing out, and that’s a fact.
2. The Good Life Eatery, Sloane Avenue, Chelsea
Photo by Imogen Marshall
About a five minute walk from the Chelsea thoroughfare on the Kings Road, around lunch time this unassuming lunch spot boasts a rapidly growing queue, siphoning off businesswomen, yoga bunnies and shoppers alike. Cramped as the space may be – elbows are required if you want to grab a table – it’s well worth the wait. These sizeable bowls filled with good-eats are not your usual stock quinoa bowls or courgetti.
The pad thai formed from carrot noodles and shredded cabbage is a treat for the senses and if you’re not full after that there’s a whole host of mouthwatering baked treats (gluten and dairy free of course), alongside cups of raw takes on Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, mousses and juices (delicious but bound to burst the bank before long).
Given its immense popularity, it’s easy to see why a new expansion in Belgravia is a shrewd business decision.
3. Nama, Talbot Road, Notting Hill
Photo courtesy of @namafoods on Instagram
If you haven’t seen their raw blueberry cheesecake somewhere on Instagram, then you’re not a true health follower. Spotlessly clean and white inside, Nama stands up to its name as a raw oasis in the throng of the Notting Hill crowds, serving lunch Monday through to Thursday.
Whilst everything on their menu is sublime, the sharing plates are best as a true pick-me-up and filling treat for two at lunch; boasting a menu consisting solely of vegan, organic, wheat and dairy free foods, you’ll leave both sated and basking in the glow of your own health kick.
4. The Mae Deli, Seymour Place, Marylebone
Photo courtesy of @the_mae_deli on Instagram
Newly opened by the poster girl of health foods, Deliciously Ella, this is a wonder of a cafe as soon as you get through the door – trust me, this alone will take at least ten minutes with the crowds that flock to this hidden treat everyday. Off the beaten track it may be, but with an ardent following Ella and her husband have created a paradise for health-conscious foodies that is sure to stand the test of time.
Go for a plate of three or more different salads and you’ll be able to sample a whole host of different delicacies that changes frequently and will make you want to come back again and again, just to make sure they’re all as good as the plate you had yesterday…
5. Tanya’s Cafe, Ixworth Place, Chelsea
Photo courtesy of @tanyaschelsea on Instagram
You’ll walk away from Tanya’s feeling well and truly cleansed, glowing from the refueling of organic, vegan and raw products. The juices and nut milks may be pricey, but boy are they worth it, so go on treat yourself, or come in after 4 pm for a superfood cocktail… and while you’re at it book into one of the wildly popular supper clubs, they’re bound not to disappoint.
6. Ethos, Eastcastle Street, Fitzrovia
Photo courtesy of @ethosfoods on Instagram
Found within a few minutes walk of Oxford Circus tube station, this restaurant is set back from the hustle and bustle of the earnest shoppers. This restaurant is a buffet affair, where food is costed by weight – but be warned as with the addition of hot foods a plate can quickly rack up the pounds. However, the restaurant offers something a little different and unique from the other fast food eateries around the main shopping area, so it’s definitely worth the few steps more to feel truly wholesome.
7. Ceviche, Frith Street, Soho
Photo courtesy of @cevicheuk on Instagram
Whilst not strictly a health food cafe, this Peruvian restaurant will satisfy even the most hardcore of health fanatics. Boasting a menu crammed of raw and delicious fish, though vegan this is not, delicious and fresh it is. Lunchtime is a far more relaxed affair than the evening and well worth the trip.
8. Hemsley + Hemsley, Selfridges, Marylebone
Photo courtesy of @hemsleyhemsley on Instagram
The Hemsley sisters are taking the health-world by storm, boasting 2 cookbooks, 1 TV show, 1 wildly popular spiraliser (there was a waiting list of several month for this bad boy) and now a cafe. Tucked away in a corner of the Body Studio in Selfridges, this really is a secret worth keeping our hands on, with a menu containing a select collection. Coming highly recommended; the buckwheat noodle salad, with a side of kimchi and why not follow it with a dairy, sugar, wheat-free chocolate-chip cookie, go on you know you want to… You need the fuel to carry on shopping after all.