The 6 Best Vegan Spots on Brick Lane Market

Whether you’re looking for vegan hot dogs, Dutch Poffertjes or Ethiopian food, Upmarket on London’s Brick Lane has you covered with choices from all around the world.

Upmarket first opened its doors in 2004, so over 16 years ago! It’s housing more than 140 creative traders selling everything from fashion, art, interiors, music, and most importantly FOOD.

Doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced street food eater or just a keen-to-know guy or a gal – the following six options will get your vegan heart pumping.

1. Vegan Garden

Vegan Garden was the first stall that caught our attention. Maybe because of its friendly owner, who was beaming from ear to ear while welcoming people to the market. Or maybe because of their large range of healthy salads, stews and tacos. We went for a mix of veggies, sweet potato, plantain and vegan tacos filled with a spicy bean mix and pomegranate seeds. Packed with plant-based protein and topped with some vegan BBQ sauce! 

2. Ethiopiques

You might have never heard of Ethiopian food. But let us tell you, time to add it to your must-tries! Ethiopiques’ street food is fully vegan, mostly gluten free, and includes colourful and healthy dishes such as curried lentils, grilled aubergine, chickpea stews and much more. Another speciality is their Injera sourdough bread, which is a traditional pancake-like bread made of barley, rice and maize. 

3. Vegan Dutch Poffertjes

An absolute favourite amongst Dutchies: Poffertjes. Made with yeast and buckwheat flour and looking like small, super fluffy pancakes, they are a traditional Dutch treat. While the traditional recipe often includes milk and eggs, ‘Dutch Pancakes’ is offering a vegan option. You can simply top them with icing sugar, the classic option, or go for one of their special toppings such as vegan Nutella, vegan white chocolate flakes or maple syrup. 

4. Tico’s Vegan Hot Dog

You can’t leave Upmarket without trying at least one vegan meat alternative. Ticos’ smoked seitan hot dog will satisfy your cravings. And if you haven’t heard of it yet: Seitan is a meat substitute made from gluten and water and contains high protein and calcium levels. Topped with fried onions, sweet corn and crispy potato, it will certainly fill you up too.

5. Kim’s Korean Kitchen

Kim’s Korean Kitchen offers traditional Korean food with a vegan twist. Their vegan menu features tofu curries, Korean rice cakes, sweet potato noodles and the best stir-fried aubergine we’ve ever had! You can mix and match 4 different vegan mains with rice or noodles. Might sound like a small menu, but certainly leaves no desires unfulfilled. 

6. Vegan baos at Bao House 

Last but not least, vegan buns! Bao House’s steamed buns, made of a mix of flour, yeast, sugar and oil, are stuffed with loads of veggies, onions and tofu. The buns are a bit sweeter than their closely related cousin, the dumpling. Top it with loads of soy sauce for a real feast!

For more vegan food porn, a few words from the traders and more watch our full video below:

All in all, we were absolutely amazed by the huge range of vegan offerings on Upmarket. Plus, it is certainly one of the most international markets we’ve ever been to, covering almost every cuisine you could think of. 

Opening times:

• Every Saturday 11am – 5:30pm and
• Every Sunday 10am – 6pm

Please note, that in order to slow the spread of Covid-19, Truman Brewery has cancelled all markets until further notice.

Address: The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL

Website: http://www.sundayupmarket.co.uk/

Please be aware that this post was written in January 2020. Traders at Upmarket change frequently, so you might find slights different food stalls on your visit. Make sure to check out the upcoming traders here and on Truman Brewery’s Instagram. Any updates you come across, please let us know.