Best Vegetarian English breakfast in London for the Selective Flexitarian

A Full English breakfast is one of the UK’s culinary gifts to the world.  If you are not familiar with this dish it usually consists of bacon, sausages, eggs, grilled tomato and mushrooms, baked beans and occasionally  black pudding (a type of blood sausage). All that meat is now off the table with my new meat philosophy and shift towards eating less meat in general. Luckily there are plenty of places that now serve a Vegetarian Full English which is basically the standard Full English with the meat omitted and sometimes replaced with a plant-based sausage or other meat-like formation.  There are also plenty of places that serve a Vegan English breakfast where the eggs are replaced with scrambled tofu.  There are a lot of options in London for full vegan breakfast, that will be a later post…

Recently I was in London and I had a craving for an English breakfast.  Luckily I like the vegetarian version which I make for myself at home sometimes with free-range eggs that satisfy my requirement for all animal products to come from a responsibly raised source.  While it is easy to find a place that serves Vegetarian English breakfasts it is harder to find those that also have free-range eggs.  Luckily for me a place with walking distance from my hotel in London sold a version with free range eggs so I thought I would check it out.  The Sawyers Arms is a typical old-school London pub located right across the road from Paddington Station.  It’s a great place to have a beer and soak in some London pub atmosphere.  On their menu they actually do a good job including a number of vegetarian options and even some vegan ones as well.  Their breakfast menu has free-range eggs all over it.  So I thought I would try out their ‘Veggie Full English’ since I was craving a fried egg.

The Veggie Full English at Sawyers Arms, Paddington, London

Unfortunately they didn’t have the plant-based sausage but I was OK with that as they can be hot or miss I really wanted the eggs and the rest, can’t beat the English fried hash browns!  The dish was tasty and couldn’t beat the price of £6.95, but I did leave thinking it was missing something and made me think were there better options in London.  I started to do some research for places in London that offered a vegetarian option with free range eggs – this would be the true representation of a Selective Flexitarian English Breakfast. There are literally thousands of places offering vegetarian breakfast, less that also have free-range eggs and I looked for places that had interesting ingredients, something a little different than the standard.

The Table Cafe (Southwark)

The Green Goddess: Avocado, veggie beans, spinach, roast tomatoes, herby mushrooms &

sweet potato wheels with grilled sourdough ; can also add organic eggs. The avocado and sweet potato wheels sound interesting.

Mildreds – Kings Cross

Big Brunch: scrambled Clarence Court Eggs or tofu, vegan sausage, slow roasted tomato, oak smoked house beans, roasted tarragon mushroom, toasted sourdough

Only served on the weekends. What attracted me were the Clarence Court eggs, these eggs are free-range and heritage breed, their website has a lot of information. The tomato, beans and mushroom versions are an interesting spin on the standard offerings.

The Gate Restaurants (Marylebone, Islington, Hammersmith)

Full English: mushroom & bean sausage, hash brown, smoked tofu bacon, homemade baked beans, wild mushrooms, roasted tomato, Sourdough toast, fried eggs

Menu states that all their eggs are free-range and organic. What attracted me was the smoked tofu bacon and mushroom and bean sausage.

Polo Bar (City)

Vegetarian breakfast:  Bubble&Squeak, 2x free range eggs, roast tomato, roasted mushrooms, hash browns, baked beans, bloomer toast

One of the biggest attractions here is that they serve breakfast 24hrs a day! Perfect after a long session at the pubs or clubs.  Also of note is that they state that their bacon and meats are all grass-fed (except pigs don’t eat grass) and Red Tractor assured, this is a standard that all produce must originate from the UK and be traceable, all animals must of treated humanely and free of hormones and antibiotics.  There is a lot more information on their website.

Apres Food Co. (Barbican)

Vegetarian Breakfast: Aprés hash, poached eggs, thyme roasted field mushroom, slow roasted tomatoes, avocado, wilted spinach, watercress, a toasted slice of our homemade bread, with homemade ketchup or brown sauce

Almost all meat and dairy on their menu is free range and organic sourced from small English farms, the eggs come from Cornish St Ewe. The Apres hash is made from sweet potato, caramelized onions and spinach.

Now I realize that not everyone that reads this blog lives in London or may get the chance to go to London.  But what I think we can get from this post are some ideas on how to make an imaginative Selective Flexitarian English Breakfast of your own as a special treat.  I most certainly will be trying some of these options out myself!

Why become a Selective Flexitarian?

Since I started this journey of eating meat from responsible sources (pasture raised, grass fed, free range, heritage breed, all natural, cage free, no hormones, etc) there are some economic and logistical consequences that arise. Firstly it is quite expensive to buy responsibly raised meat, either from the supermarket or a farm. Meat from a factory farm is less expensive since they grow their animals faster using hormones and non-natural diets. Also by cramming these animals into confined spaces they get more return per square foot. These factors and many more result in factory farms being able to produce relatively inexpensive meat so people can afford to eat meat every day if they want. And most people want to eat meat every day, I was one of them for most of my life. Raising animals on pasture or truly free range is labor intensive and more expensive just like organic vegetables are more expensive than non-organic. If you make the decision to only eat responsibly raised meat then you need to make a choice. Spend more money on meat or eat less meat. Seems obvious right?

If all factory farms were banned today the smaller farms that raise animals the right way could not produce enough meat for everyone. Meat prices would go up and would become a luxury item just like it was 60 years ago before factory farms really took hold of the farming industry.  So there are some options here for the consumer that believes that factory farming is wrong.  The most obvious one is to become vegan.  There has been a large conversion of people to veganism in the last 10 years and the realization of the practices that occur at factory farms has contributed greatly to this shift.  Being a vegan in 2020 is still a lot of work and a big commitment.  The other option for me is to become what I call a “Selective Flexitarian”.  Flexitarian is an actual word in the dictionary (adopted in 2012, so not sure why the spellcheck keeps saying it is a spelling mistake) and is defined as : “one whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish”.  If you google flexitarian a lot of articles will come up and it is closely tied to the Reductarian movement which is aimed at reducing the amount of meat in people’s diets due to concerns with animal welfare and the environment.  A lot of vegans may say that eating some meat is cheating, I kind of agree, and I don’t think I am ready to give up meat completely.  Also, for me if the meat is not raised responsibly then it is really cheating, hence the term ‘Selective Flexitarian’, if one is to eat meat then it should be selective from a responsible source.

So now I want to be a ‘Selective Flexitarian’ what does that mean?  For me it means finding responsible sources of meat which is eaten on occasion, while the rest of the food I eat should come from vegetable or plant-based sources.  The majority of my blog to date has focused on the responsible meat part of the journey; looking for farms, food brands and restaurants that meet the criteria.  There has been a steady shift to find more plant-based, vegan or vegetarian meals in my week, going forward I will be writing more about the second part of my conversion!

Beeside Balcony – farm raised on the beach in Del Mar

If you ever find yourself in Del Mar, CA and looking for a place for dinner or lunch you should try Beeside Balcony.  The restaurant is quite small  and the menu may be limited for some but the two times I have been here have been a fantastic experience.

From their website:

“Beeside Balcony is a hidden gem in old Del Mar, CA with a relaxed seaside chic décor where guests enjoy ocean views from the covered outside balcony. During cooler weather, Beeside’s got you covered with amazing patio heaters and an intimate inside dining room. The menu is chef-driven with every dish made to order and features New American flavors with a unique fusion of Mediterranean and California cuisine. To compliment the menu, we feature a thoughtfully designed wine list and craft beers from predominantly locally producers.

Our guests tell us that “every dish that comes out of the kitchen is a culinary delight.” Chef Costa sources produce from local farms, and features organic free-range lamb, sushi-grade salmon, prime steak, and imported cheese, salumi and olives.”

Let’s look at the menu more closely for the responsibly sourced options.  On the lunch menu there is mention of all-natural chicken (salad, skewered chicken plate), grass-fed lamb (burger), free range lamb (lamb gyro, sounds delicious will have to get next time) and  Scottish salmon (salad or skewers).  The dinner also has the burger and gyro, Scottish salmon (pan seared plate) and Mary’s “Fried” chicken.  Let’s dig a little deeper here.

Mary’s “fried” chicken

I have had the pleasure of having the Mary’s “Fried” chicken, the chicken is firstly cooked sous vide for 1.5 hours, dusted in rice flour, then lightly fried, it’s absolutely delicious.  The chicken brand Mary’s is well known as being one of the most transparent free-range poultry producers in the world. The chickens are raised in California and they follow the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards Program with Global Animal Partnership.   For more information in this program check out this link.  The program is based on 5 ranking each of which has certain standards for how the animals are raised and what they are fed.  Basically the closer you can get to being completely pasture raised and fed a natural diet then the higher the rating with the highest rating being Step 5.  The Mary’s chicken website actually has a good description of the standards required for each step for chickens here.  No mention of whether all the all-natural chicken dishes are all from Mary’s though.

Let’s take a look at the Scottish salmon.  Firstly, from what I can determine Scottish salmon is farmed and they don’t catch wild salmon off UK waters.  Got to say that there are some mixed reviews about the sustainability of Scottish salmon these days.  Wild Scottish salmon was once a prized dish but due to low population from over fishing this practice is no longer allowed.  This article here outlines some of the problems

For the lamb, the majority of domestic lamb sold in the US is grass-fed, some may be grain finished at the end. Australian and New Zealand lamb is grass-fed it whole life and almost always free-range.  No mention on the Beeside online menu of the lamb origin but they seem confident enough to state free-range and grass-fed. One time I ate there I had the lambs chops, the waiter told me they were from Australia.

Australian lamb chops

Beeside Balcony is a lovely place located in Del Mar.  Great transparency on the menu and the food is amazing!

All your fried chicken dreams come true at the Crack Shack

Fried Chicken is my favorite food.  It brings back so many good memories for me – and the smell of my mother cooking fried chicken in my childhood home is one that I will never forget.  Fried chicken is messy and not so easy to cook yourself at home (at least for me) and tough to cook well.  Also it is easy to buy at any number of fast food and sit down restaurants and is one of the world’s most popular foods.  However most fast food places and restaurants most likely don’t use the most responsibly sourced chicken and don’t fall in line with my new meat philosophy.  It actually isn’t that easy to find restaurants that use antibiotic and hormone free, humanely raised chicken believe it or not.  Previously I had written a post about an amazing restaurant called Crispy Bird in Indianapolis that sold amazing fried chicken that met my chicken sourcing criteria, unfortunately that eating establishment is no longer with us and I also didn’t go to Indy that often.  Fortunately all my fried chicken dream came true when I discovered The Crack Shack in San Diego.

The Crack Shack is a special place, I have actually only been to the one in Encinitas a few times but there is another location in Little Italy San Diego, LA area and Las Vegas.  It is a casual counter style restaurant where you places your order at a window and they will bring it to your table.  The chicken is amazing, perfectly spiced and cooked.  They also sell sandwiches, salads and bowls but I always just go for the chicken and fries, with beer of course.

What makes this chicken ultra-special for me is where it from.  As stated on their website : “We are not your average restaurant —and this is not your average chicken.”  Here is a great snippet from their website:

“Our ingredients are the absolute highest quality that we can source, from mostly organic produce, to antibiotic-free, preservative-free, “beyond free-range” chicken. Our pride lies in our locally sourced, high-end ingredients. We understand that this ethos may not be important to everyone, but we strive to elevate the chicken and the egg by using the same ingredients and chef-driven attitude as we do at Juniper and Ivy.”

The “beyond free-range” chicken that they are talking about is a brand called Jidori chicken.  When I adopted my new Meat Philosophy and I started searching for restaurants that sourced their chicken responsibly, I came across the brand Jidori, particularly in Californian establishments. Again I am going to let the following paragraph from the Jodiri website do all the talking:

“We believe all animals; especially those raised for sustenance, should be treated with respect and raised cruelty free. Our chickens are treated humanely- raised free-range with all-natural feed, that includes no meat by-products, hormones, or antibiotics. Jidori is produced by a small boutique, USDA inspected, company that processes each chicken by hand. We start early in the morning, and guarantee that your whole birds are delivered immediately, making it the freshest chicken there is. The benefits of this freshness can be tasted: creamy yet firm with a natural chicken flavor.”

Further research on Jidori chickens uncovered that it actually is a mixed breed of a cross between the pure Japanese breed Hinaidori and a Rhode Island Red.  From what I can gather, they are sold by one company Hao Foods, a family owned food distribution company that worked with small CA-farms to raise, process and distribute this chicken. Another key feature of the Jidori product is that they are shipped within 24 hours of processing and are never frozen.   The Jidori chicken has become so prized that some restaurants claim it on their menus fraudulently in order to cut costs and attract customers.  I even found this scientific paper which describes a DNA test  to ensure the authenticity of Jidori chicken.

So my fried chicken dreams came true – an awesome fried chicken joint that uses the prized Jidori chicken which is raised without antibiotics and hormones, humanely raised, as fresh as you can get – ‘beyond free-range’.  Just wish this chain existed in Boston….