Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated April 30, 2012.
Update May 25, 2019: This restaurant closed in 2015.
Original blog post:
Food for Thought is one of my favourite restaurants in London. I’ve had lunch there many times when I lived in London in the late nineties/early noughties, and I made sure to stop by when I vacationed in London last December.
Food for Thought is a “vegetarian restaurant, take-away & catering service.” They’re located at Neal Street, around the corner from Covent Garden, a favourite tourist destination.
The restaurant is very popular with Londoners. As it’s quite small with only a few tables, patrons start to queue in front of it before it opens at noon every day. At Food for Thought, it’s counter service only, and you can’t book a table in advance. No credit cards, it’s cash only.
The menu changes daily, and it’s available online. There are pitchers with free tap water, if you’re thirsty and don’t want to order a drink. All the dishes are vegetarian and there are also always several vegan options, which are clearly labelled on the menu. Many of the dishes are free of wheat and gluten.
I ordered a “sweet potato and black bean Jamaican bake” (£4.90) and a slice of wholewheat bread (£0.30).
At Food for Thought, you can even get vegan desserts, which is something that not all vegetarian restaurants offer.
If you like the food, you can buy their cookbook at the restaurant. It’s also available at Amazon through their Websites in the UK and the US (“New Food for Thought”).
Address: 31 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9PR
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 12:00 noon – 8:30 PM, Sunday 12:00 – 5:30 PM; closed on December 24-26 and January 1st.
Phone: +44-(0)20-7836 0239
Website: no longer in service