Brunch in a Royal Borough
PLEASE NOTE: since this was written, the owner of the cafe has been convicted of animal cruelty. Read the update here: http://tinyurl.com/qy6qatz
If you ever find yourself waking up in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with a rumbling belly, you won’t have far to travel for a hot vegan breakfast.
Just a quick stroll toward the Holland Park end of the area will reward you with a plant-based meal from Down to Earth on Kensington High Street.
Down to Earth Kensington
If you know anything about this part of London, you will be aware of how expensive it is to live, drink and eat in Kensington. Down to Earth is no exception. Our vegan fry up was delicious but carried the hefty price tag of £7.50. That might not seem like a huge figure to some readers, but the food on the plate was not piled high.
There was a lot of what appeared to be Taifun vegan sausages, coupled with a bit of pepper and mushroom. This was topped with two slices of house-made ciabatta. My meal was tasty however I felt there was an over-reliance on the sausage. I would like to see the sausage reduced in favour of cooked greens or even some beans to bulk the meal out.
Vegan breakfast
The restaurant doubles as a deli and there is a decent selection of vegan items available, including Vegusto cheese and inSpiral kale chips. The interior is spacious and light. I highly recommend booking and asking for a window seat as Kensington is a hotspot for people watching in London. On the downside, I discovered the hard way that a Sunday morning hangover doesn’t mix very well with the large number of families frequenting the cafe with small children.
Attractive & spacious interior
The Down to Earth menu contains an impressive selection of vegan options and a huge range of fresh juices, so I am definitely up for making a few more trips. I am especially tempted by their raw and gluten free mains.
Visit Down to Earth online
I’ve found Down to Earth to be very hit and miss – when they get it right, it’s amazing, when they get it wrong, it’s almost inedible (I’ll eat pretty much anything that is in front of me). What they lack in service and staff attentiveness, they make up for in comfort and pleasantness of surroundings. Long story short, I agree with everything you say.
[…] recent post about the vegan brunch at Down To Earth in London reminded me of a trip earlier this year to Cafe Kino in Bristol. This was my third trip […]
Sean I will send you what my husband wrote about our recent experience there, for your interest, basically we totally agree with the previous comment from greatveganexpectations, about service/staff attentiveness (lacking, yes very much so!) and food (some very good, but parts inedible). We could only give them 4 out of 10 and for most veggie places we have been to we would not score that low, most places from me tend to get at least a 7! Interesting it looks like you had a better experience than we did though! Maybe we went at a bad time of day when they did not really think they would be expected to deal with customers (we were the only ones!)
[…] My original review of Down To Earth is here. […]
Food hygiene was dreadful …the main fridge hadn’t been operating for 3 months and there was no process for incoming goods > expiry date on the shelves, so product was sold well past it’s sell by date. Khadid Undre wasn’t aware of the different between celery and pak choi and had no comprehension of health food. There’s a real lack of authenticity on pretty much every level, and the chandeliers and black satin chairs are far (far) from down to earth. Disappointing.