When the sunshine decides to make its “special guest” appearance, walking through the streets of London can be pretty inviting.
If you like a mooch around the city, Covent Garden is the melting pot of quirky places in the capital. It is fulfilled with restaurants, bars, shops, theatres, arts performances in the street and its good vibes attract tourist from all over the places.
Popular markets of Covent Garden
You probably heard of the Covent Garden Market building, famous construction dated from 1654. It rapidly grew, and more and more stalls were being placed around the square where it is placed. The Apple Market is also a famous building in the area. Popular for its fruits and vegetable stalls. Also offering handmade jewellery, prints, beautiful craftwork.
Built only in 1904, The Jubilee’s market is also a local gem. It’s a famous spot to find antiques, delicious food and craft made products.
Despite being popular stops, it’s in the hidden streets of Covent Garden that are spotted the best things to do.
I just can’t get enough of Covent Garden and there is always something new to be explored in the area. In my last visit to this part of London, I had a look (and a taste) at the vegetarian gastronomy at this quirky are of the city.
Plant-based hot spots of Covent Garden
Places like the Seven Dials – a group of (guess what? seven) streets where are located independent bars, restaurants and shops to all kinds of public and pockets. The greatest thing about this area is browsing it carefully to find the most amazing hidden gems. One of these gems is Neil’s Yard, where my gastronomic adventure for the day in Covent Garden had started.
This is a must-to-go tiny courtyard where some of the greatest vegetarian establishment is placed, the Wild Food café. This plant-based restaurant was a lovely surprise spot. It has a sense of community with communal seats. I have visited the Wild Food for a quick bite on my way to visiting Google building.
As soon as I entered in the place, I could notice how popular it is. It was nearly packed. Despite being a small capacity restaurant. It was able to accommodate quite a lot of people. The staff is super chilled as well the public visiting it.
I just loved the vibe straight away. The food is outstanding. I just had a small portion of baked sweet potatoes, which was delicious. I just had a taste of Wild Food’s menu. But I can’t wait to go back for the full experience.
From the café, you can have a nice view of the whole courtyard itself. Neil’s Yard has become its history of success in 1970 when the entrepreneur Nicholas Saunders started a bulk Whole Food warehouse.
He was a visionary and activist that transformed Neil’s Yard in one of the most iconic spaces in London when thinking about alternative businesses. His history and curious researchers with drugs can be found on his personal website.
After spending the whole afternoon on Google building learning about digital marketing, I was ready for more vegetarian meals in the area.
Walking back to Seven Dials, I head to another gem of plant-based eating, the New York’s famous restaurant By Chloe, that recently arrived in London with a lovely branch in Covent Garden too.
The restaurant offers veggie comfy meals with a bit of twist. Visiting By Chloe was on my bucket list for ages. I was dying to try its fish and chips and that was have ordered, of course.
By Chloe’s fish and chips comes with crispy tofu, chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce. It was a nice surprise to try tofu as a substitute to fish. Loved it. And the beet trout ketchup was a nice bonus. I like the concept, food and décor at By Chloe. And I would come back for more plant-based meals in Covent Garden.
