Vegan London: Roasts, Modern Caribbean and Bagels

There are many different sections that define modern British food. One of these is breakfast, the “full English” is the archetypal breakfast of London. Greasy spoons and working-class cafes are still typical fixtures of the bustling streets. Pub food also dominates modern British cuisine from the gastro pub to packets of pork scratchings in public houses to your more modern taprooms. Pub food is what the people of London thrive on and is integral to an area’s drinking culture. Then there is the roast. The Sunday dinner is Britain’s most celebrated food tradition. With a centrepiece of roasted meat, it’s almost always served with roasted potatoes, a range of seasonal roasted vegetables, and most iconically gravy. With that said London is a melting pot of different cultures and now offers some of the best Chinese, Mexican, African and Indian food. In this blog post, I will be talking about modern Caribbean food in Islington, Spanish tapas in Stoke Newington, breakfast and brunch in West Hampstead and Kentish Town respectively and finally the best roast dinner I’ve ever had located in Camden.

Founded in 2020 by siblings Jordan and Chyna, Jam Delish is an independent family-owned Caribbean vegan restaurant and cocktail bar located in Angel, Islington. Combining their love for plant-based food with their grandparents’ authentic Caribbean roots, they identified a gap in the market for authentic, modern Caribbean vegan cuisine. Modern Caribbean is not a cuisine that I have sampled much previously so as soon as I looked at the menu I knew I had to try as much as I possibly could while I was there. With offerings such as Grilled jerk pepper aubergine, “saltfish” sushi, “oxtail” chow mein as well as Caribbean fried “chicken” and Jamaican gravy you and spoilt for choice when visiting Jam Delish. On this occasion, we ordered the Bajan fried “fish” tacos, the jerk “pork” belly tacos and the curry “goat” with rice and peas. I must say, I was absolutely blown away by the food that we were presented with. The “fish” tacos consisted of three soft-shell tortillas, Bajan fried “codfish”, sweet peppers, okra, onions, lettuce and plantain crisps all topped with Caribbean tartar sauce. As a tartar sauce lover, this Caribbean tartar sauce was mindblowing and brought the whole taco together perfectly. I have no idea what the “codfish” was made up of, but I do know that I would definitely order it again. Similarly, the three “pork” belly tacos were made up of chargrilled jerk “pork” belly, sweet peppers, Caribbean slaw, pickled red onion, green salsa and crispy onions. Once again I couldn’t even tell the "pork” belly apart from real pork. Finally, we ate the curry “goat” which was served with rice and peas, Jamaican sweet potato, Caribbean fried cabbage and fried ripe plantain. As a bit of a skeptic when trying new cuisines Jam Delish wholeheartedly won me over to Modern Caribbean and I am counting down the days until I can sample even more of their menu.

Brunch and Breakfast are the most important meals of the day. Breakfast to see you through the morning and brunch as a treat just because you’re hungry. That’s why when in London I visited BUNS in West Hampstead and The Fields Beneath in Kentish Town. With a menu first created in 2014, BUNS now holds two branches in the neighbourhood of West Hampstead, both being based on the motto “Eat, Drink & Smile”. Alongside award-winning burgers, BUNS offers plenty of vegan and vegetarian options garnished with colourful buns, and 40% of their menu is dedicated to veganism! When at BUNS we ordered the vegan breakfast. Beyond plant-based patty, avocado, hashbrowns, mushrooms, grilled tomato and beans served with a colourful toasted bun. I was more than happy with the selection and it went beyond my expectations. The Fields Beneath opened in 2012 and instantly became part of the Kentish Town community then in 2017 they dropped all animal products from their menu becoming 100% vegan. The Fields Beneath has a regularly changing menu of fresh sandwiches including hoisin mushroom brioche, BBQ jerk jackfruit brioche, chilli crisp aubergine ciabatta and even a tofu egg and yolk sauce bagel with a sausage patty, cheeze and garlic butter. However, when we visited we went for the Thai tofish brioche and the oyster mushroom 'pastrami' bagel. Both were so packed full of flavour that they carried me through for the rest of the day.

Black Pig with White Pearls is an authentic Spanish tapas bar nestled in the cosy atmosphere of Stoke Newington. Starting out as a pop-up restaurant Black Pig with White Pearls has come a long way since their humble beginnings and has now become an established restaurant in the area. The atmosphere inside is cosy and welcoming and the menu is just as exciting. With a specific vegan a la carte and sharing menu you know you’re in safe hands. On this visit, we started with the pan con tomato and then moved on to the patatas bravas, two of my personal favourite tapas dishes and certainly did not disappoint. We then ordered the croquettes del dia, empanadillas stuffed with ratatouille, piquillo peppers stuffed with mushrooms and the tortilla da patatas with chickpea flour. Did we need all of this food, no. Did we absolutely eat it all and love every second of it, yes. Recently, after 12 years as Black Pig with White Pearls, they have decided to rebrand to Si Hombre a Spanish/Jamaican fusion restaurant.

Finally, in this modern British journey through food, we arrived at the roast dinner. Quite possibly my favourite meal and none do it better than LD’s Kitchen. I’ve had a lot of roasts in my time, possibly more as a vegan than I ever did as a meat eater and this one blew all of them out of the water. Created during the COVID-19 pandemic by Lianna Davis, LD’s kitchen opened up in The Blackheart serving dirty mac n’ cheeze, southern fried mock chicken wings and some of the best-looking waffles you have ever seen. But today we are here to talk about the gluten-free roast ‘pork belly tofu’ marinated in a maple syrup sauce with garlic & thyme butter and vegan pork crackin’. As well as the beef-style steak made from seitan and mushrooms marinated in red wine and chargrilled with sage & garlic butter. Both are served with garlic & rosemary roast potatoes, collard garlic greens, roasted sweet potato, swede & basil puree, creamy mustard spinach & leeks, mapel & fennel glazed carrots and a crispy plantside Yorkshire pudding and served with a southern-style Guinness gravy. Ever since I ate this meal, no roast has truly lived up to it and I genuinely have been looking forward to when I return to LD’s and The Black Heart to eat this again.