Conscious drinking: London's first vegan pub opens its doors

The green takeover is complete — London’s first vegan pub opens is here. Samuel Fishwick trials a preview pint
Same again please: left, Meriel Armitage and Luke McLaughlin at their new pub
Matt Writtle

In an unassuming East End boozer in Homerton, Meriel Armitage, 34, and Luke McLaughlin, 38, are continuing London’s vegan revolution. When it opens tomorrow The Spread Eagle will be the first 100 per cent vegan pub in the city. About time, its owners say.

“Being a vegan is not just about food,” says Armitage, whose cult vegan taco joint Club Mexicana is already a street food favourite across the capital. “It’s what you’re drinking, what you’re sitting on, what you’re wearing.”

Meriel, who has been vegan since she was 24, means business, but she also wants to ditch the stigma that her diet is drab.

“Just because food’s ethical doesn’t mean it can’t be naughty,” she says. Theirs is proper pub grub (the third partner in The Spread Eagle is publican Sherri-lee Estabrook): “scallops” made from king oyster mushrooms and poached in garlic oil; Jackfruit carnitas; vegan chorizo and “cheez” (non-dairy cheese made from soya and coconut oil to mimic fried cheese’s creamy texture) drizzled over nachos; beer-battered “tofish” and chip burritos, where the seafood is tofu wrapped in seaweed wrapped in beer batter, and tastes just like fish.

There is also vegan beer. Many brewers use egg whites, gelatine or isinglass (made from fish swim bladders) in the clarification process, but they’ve chosen brews that don’t.

Armitage says vegan food is exploding the myths around it. “We’ve got something on the menu that looks like the best Mexican fried chicken burger ever. It tastes like it too. You blow people’s minds when they find out it’s vegan.”

As veganism hits the mainstream, The Spread Eagle is set to surf the wave. About 100,000 people signed up to Veganuary this year, giving up all animal produce for the month, a 40,000 rise on 2017. Pret A Manger launched a vegan menu on Monday, while Tesco’s new plant-based Wicked Kitchen range includes 18 vegan-friendly ready meals.

“These supermarkets aren’t buying into veganism because of a sense of moral duty,” says Armitage. “They’re buying into it because the demand is there. I never thought we’d reach this tipping point in my lifetime.”

What’s behind the rise in demand? Instagram activism has been a catalyst. Bloggers such as Sean O’Callaghan, whose nom de gram is @Fatgayvegan (49.5k followers) and who hosts a weekly vegan market in Hackney downs, and the Temple of Seitan, a vegan fast food outlet in Hackney (48.3k followers), have shown good food can look deliciously dirty.

“It’s shattering perceptions of vegan food by showing them that it can look just as mouth-watering as non-vegan food. That’s what’s getting people to try more of it. Videos of our deep-fried cheese have gone viral. You can talk to someone about how delicious your food is but show them a picture on Instagram and it takes them seconds to decide its something they have to try.”

The best vegan dishes in London

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Celebrity followers help too. “We do a lot of festivals where VIPs are given tokens, and we’re always told by the organisers that we’ve picked up the most at the end. Jeremy Corbyn walked past at Glastonbury and we were shouting at him to try our tofish. I don’t think he ate anything though, because I think he was nervous before going on stage.” They say they won’t rest until they get him into the pub.

Armitage says veganism needs to stop taking itself so seriously if it’s to win the rest of the world over. That’s the point of the pub, says Armitage. “We’re not a gastropub. We’ll have DJs, art club, quiz nights, and parties until late on Friday and Saturday.”

As for the food? “Just try it. You can have your vegan cake, eat it, and still have fried chicken on the way home.”

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