More vegan restaurants in London to benefit vegetarian Indians

LONDON has been named the most vegan-city in the globe and has now more number of vegan restaurants, a latest ranking showed.

The data will be welcome news for Indians with vegan and vegetarian food habits, who visit the British capital or reside in the city.

According to studies, 31 per cent of Indians are vegetarian and India has more vegetarians than the rest of the world put together.

HappyCow claims to be the largest vegan and vegetarian restaurant guide in the world.

London became the first city on its list to reach 100 vegan-friendly restaurants in 2017.

Currently, there are 125 vegan restaurants in a five-mile radius within the city, and there are 152 fully vegan restaurants spread across London.

HappyCow’s list of world’s top 10 vegan-friendly cities include London, New York City, Berlin, Los Angeles, Toronto, Warsaw, Portland, Bangkok, Tel Aviv, and Prague.

HappyCow said in its survey: "Veganism continues to become a mainstream lifestyle in London, and this city takes veganism to a new level."

It further added: "Veganism continues to be one of the UK's fastest-growing lifestyle movements, and this is certainly reflected in London's massive vegan scene."

Studies have shown that the number of people who follow vegan lifestyle is on rise. According to Vegan Society's larger survey, there were approximately 600,000 vegans in the UK last year, equivalent to 1.16 per cent of the British population.

The HappyCow list ranks cities based on three factors, including the number of vegan restaurants in a five-mile radius in the most vegan restaurant-dense area in each city, the number of vegan, vegetarian, veg-option restaurants in the same five-mile radius, and vegan restaurant count to population density.

The list also includes the British capital’s various vegan restaurants such as La Fauxmagerie, the UK's first vegan cheese shop, PickyWops, and others.

HappyCow said: "New York vegan chain By Chloe continues to expand with two UK branches in Oxford Circus and Covent Garden, offering English classics like shepherd's pie and tofish and chips. Vegan formula one racing champion Lewis Hamilton opened the first location in London of a vegan burger chain called Neat Burger."

Global chain Pizza Hut added a full vegan menu, whereas KFC will trial vegan or vegetarian chicken in the UK.