New vegan kicks

UPDATE: This cafe has now closed!

Have you been along Oxford Street in central London lately? Longstanding businesses are being turfed out as the area gets dissected by the Crossrail tunnel project currently tearing up that part of the city. Shops are closed or closing and it is a sea of discount retailers mixed with scaffolding.

It’s a bit of a sad visual but something good has come of this messy situation. London just got a new vegan cafe!

All the upheaval in the area has made way for enterprising types who are keen to get a foothold on the busiest shopping street in the UK. This seems to be exactly what the owner of Mella Cafe has done.

Show up to 73 Oxford Street and you will probably think you have taken a wrong turn. An unassuming shop front houses a bureau de change at street level, but it is when you take the humble stairwell downstairs that you get to the good stuff.

This underground room has been transformed into a series of stand-alone shop units featuring fashion, food, books and more. The centre hosts live music on weekend nights and signs advertise in the hope of filling  a few of the empty units.

But the star of this unique shopping location is the Mella Cafe. We enjoyed some incredibly tasty hot food during our visit, including a slice of gorgeous vegan pizza. You can choose your own plate size (£7 or £10) and the staff will fill it up with a selection from the day’s hot food offerings. Everything on my plate was superb.

A separate menu sits on the wall showing extras and bite-sized snacks that can be ordered on their own.

The venue advertises as being open seven days a week from 10am but I’m not too sure about how reliable that is. We sent a friend down last week and she returned saying it was closed. Hopefully they can keep it going for a while. I’m sure if London vegans got behind this endeavour, we would see Mella serving up tasty and nutritious food for a while to come.