Mildreds

Mildreds has been serving vegetarian food on Lexington Street since 1988, long before plant based eating was fashionable, and the room still fills up on a Tuesday night the way it did decades ago. It has since grown into a small group with branches across London, including Kings Cross, Camden, Dalston and Marylebone, but the Soho original remains the one most people mean when they say they are going to Mildreds.

The menu changes regularly, built around a specials board alongside a core of steady favourites: a rich mushroom and ale pie, a spiced lentil burger with sweet potato fries, and a Thai green curry that has barely left the menu in years. Starters run to tempura vegetables and a changing soup, and puddings stretch to a dense vegan brownie with ice cream and a rotating cheesecake. A short wine list and a handful of cocktails cover the drinks side, though most tables stick to water or soft drinks with their food rather than treating it as a bar stop.

The room itself is small, bright and a bit chaotic, with close set tables and an open kitchen at one end. It is not a place for a quiet conversation, more a place to squeeze in and share plates while staff move fast between tables. Lunchtime trade skews towards office workers grabbing a quick plate, while evenings bring a slower crowd who linger over the wine list.

Portions can feel modest for the price, and dishes occasionally arrive blander than the description promises, a common gripe among regulars who have eaten here for years. Waits without a booking are normal, especially at weekends, since the original branch never expanded its floor space to match its popularity, and tables are turned quickly once you are seated, which some diners find brisk rather than relaxed.

It remains one of the few vegetarian restaurants in London that reads as a proper night out rather than a health food stop, which is why it has outlasted most of the trend driven openings around it, and why the newer branches have never quite displaced the affection people have for the Soho original.

Practically, it sits a short walk from both Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road stations, which makes it an easy stop before or after a night in the West End, and the kitchen is generally reliable about catering to vegan, gluten free and other dietary requests without treating the request as an inconvenience. Groups of more than four should call ahead, since the room struggles to accommodate a party that size without notice, and the narrow layout means prams, wheelchairs and larger bags can be genuinely awkward to manoeuvre between tables.