I noticed something today that left me feeling a little deflated.
Holy Carrot has opened a new location in Spitalfields Market, just a short walk from Liverpool Street station in central London. Some of you will remember that Holy Carrot first made waves with its Knightsbridge restaurant, a fully vegan dining destination that proudly showcased plant-based food in a refined and creative setting.
But the days of their menu being fully vegan appear to be over.
Read more below.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Knightsbridge restaurant and I truly enjoyed it. The food was clever, beautifully presented, and full of flavour. It felt special to sit in a space that treated vegan cuisine with that level of care and ambition and it’s rare that we get that sort of elevated dining experience as compassionate diners.
Fast forward to today and I happened to walk past the new Spitalfields location which is just about to open. Curious to see what they were offering, I stopped and took a photo of the menu displayed throught the window. Unfortunately it appears this new location will be serving a few non vegan items including a pizzetta with a filling described as baked egg-cheese.
I have to admit this came as a big disappointment.
Many vegans have supported Holy Carrot (Knightsbridge and then Notting Hill) precisely because it was positioned as a vegan restaurant. When a venue builds its reputation and customer base on that foundation, it creates a certain level of trust and loyalty within the community. People seek out those spaces not only for the food but also for the comfort of knowing that everything on offer aligns with their values.
When a restaurant shifts away from that model, even slightly, it can feel like something meaningful has been lost. There are already countless restaurants in London where vegans must scan menus carefully and ask questions about ingredients. Fully vegan spaces remove that. They provide a sense of ease and belonging that is hard to replicate elsewhere.
It is disappointing to see a venue that once stood firmly in the vegan camp introduce non vegan options. Eggs and dairy contribute to animal suffering just as much as meat does. As a matter of fact, eggs and dairy often lead to prolonged suffering.
I am sure the new Holy Carrot site in Spitalfields Market will attract plenty of diners and the plant-based dishes may still be impressive. But for vegans who celebrated the restaurant as a proudly vegan dining destination, this change may take some of the shine off. I’m not about to rush in.
How about you?
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Hi – Thanks for this post. I was so excited about this new branch opening in Spitalfields – so much easier for me to get to. But now I feel that rather than gaining a vegan restaurant we are losing one, as I no longer wish to support the Notting Hill branch either.
The sad thing is that the Notting Hill branch seems to have an innovative and ground-breaking chef – and I am assuming that whoever the head chef is at the new place just is not up to maintaining this high standard without the use of animal products. If this is the case I would ask why open another restaurant? Or maybe the principles were never there in the first place and the owners were just chasing the vegan trend.
So in short if around that area I will be visiting Unity Diner, Tofu Vegan, Dauns – or any of the amazing vegan establishments already there. I will not support a place that is so disrespectful to its loyal customer base and moves backwards.