Great news for vegetarians - or anyone trying to eat a bit less meat. London's chefs are really stepping up to the challenge of creating delicious and imaginative dishes with veg. Every year our roundup of veggie friendly restaurants gets that bit more exciting - so enjoy our 2016 pick of the city's best places to eat without the meat.
Home grown
The Dairy, The Manor and Paradise Garage
We can't fault the team behind The Dairy, The Manor and now Paradise Garage. Much of their produce is home grown, and all of it is home-made, from the insanely delicious bread and butter to the stunning and innovative desserts. They'll do an entire veggie tasting menu if you ask - or there's plenty on offer from their seasonally driven a la carte.
Or try Craft London for more home grown, home cured dishes - the ash roasted squash with barley and goats curd was one of the best veggie main courses we had last year.
Small plates, big ambition
Poco, The Ninth, Morito and Native
The trend for small plates lends itself brilliantly to vegetarian dining: at Poco Broadway Market, Tom Hunt's award-winning eco-friendly food includes beetroot hummus with crisp beet leaves for dipping, broad bean falafel and fava puree with pickled turnip, and a side of Portuguese punched potatoes with aioli.
Jun Tanaka's The Ninth (pictured above) offers plenty of veg-friendly options, like pan-fried herb gnocchi with wild mushrooms, and kale with hazelnut pesto - a revelation.
Native in Covent Garden is turning out excellent seasonal dishes, like braised fennel with seeds and fresh curd, or beetroot tarte tatin with tomato and lovage salad.
And Marianna Leivaditaki and team have created a flawless menu at the newly opened Morito Hackney Road: the wild Horta is a must-order, followed by the lightest, crispest cheese fritters with mountain honey, beetroot with herb borani and flatbread with Tulum and greens.
Veg and Waffle
Dan Doherty and Tom Cenci have created some fantastic veggie dishes at Duck and Waffle. Top of our list: asparagus with a perfectly poached duck egg and caesar hollandaise, a sharing plate of pea ravioli we wanted to keep to ourselves, and crunchy, gooey, cheesy polenta croquettes with truffle mayo. Save room for the peanut butter brownie with peanut butter ice cream.
A special shout out for The Modern Pantry too - which will be laying on an entirely veg-focused menu for meat-free Mondays.
Pasta la vista
Padella, Cafe Murano and Canto Corvino
So many good Italian openings this year which means good news for vegetarians. Start with a plate of pici cacio e pepe at Padella, move on to the flawless tortelli at Cafe Murano, a bowl of risotto with a side of farinata at Il Cudega - and finish up with the pea and ricotta canelloni at Canto Corvino.
Eastern Promise
You can't get much better than Ottolenghi - sheer salad heaven, with desserts to match. The Spitalfields branch offers more space and an expanded dinner menu too.
Selin Kiazim's Hoxton restaurant Oklava is another winner: veggie dishes include a fantastic charred leek and cheese pide, barley and sour cherry with sheep's milk cheese and chilli butter, and a spicy roasted cauliflower.
More roasted cauliflower and tahini delights at Palomar, where the key is to sit at the bar and banter all night long with the chefs. And don't miss the Yemeni Kubaneh bread. Oh and THAT polenta dish (above).
Pop up and pop in
The supper club trend is going from strength to strength - with plenty for vegetarians to feast on.
Joey O'Hare, who blew away Marcus Waering and Monica Galetti with her simple, delicious food on Professional Masterchef, is now offering all-vegetarian supperclubs in Clapham called Hare on the Hill. This is how healthy food should be - perfectly done.
Sprig London (pictured above) are also laying on regular vegetarian dinners in North London - with a five-course tasting menu.
Or try chef Oliver Rowe's monthly seasonal popups at the London Cooking Project with all-vegetarian options like seared cauliflower with British fava beans and wild garlic, available on request.
Special occasion
Alyn Williams and Gauthier Soho
For a special dinner - many top restaurants will do a full vegetarian tasting menu: we'd recommend Alyn Williams at the Westbury and Gauthier Soho which never put a foot wrong.
Also good for a treat: Frenchie in Covent Garden - where the gnocchi with Keen's cheddar and wild garlic is a thing of beauty and the eggs mimosa (above) are to die for.
