In late June, I had a short day trip to London – one of my absolute favourite places to be – where I went to a book event by Caitlin Moran at the Southbank Centre. As normal, I put in a brief search into Happy Cow to find some new vegan place to try out. The one that drew my attention was By Chloe – an originally American store chain which has only relatively recently come over to Europe. Happy Cow told me that their food was cheap, 100% vegan and right near the Apple Market in Covent Garden, perhaps one of my favourite places to go in London to just sit and relax. Let’s just say, if there’s any chance of me getting great vegan food right after or before watching street performers (my favourite are the string groups who regularly play there) then I am in.
The first thing that struck me about By Chloe was the design of the place. I loved the layout, the colours and how everything was presented. It looked really cool and relaxing and was the perfect place to escape the sun and heat during the odd British heatwave. As soon as I walked in, I felt comfortable and that was only improved by the staff, who were all lovely and didn’t mind me being a little flustered by the heat.
As for the food itself… Well, what can I say? It was bloody delicious.
I ordered the large Mac and Cheese, which cost me £6.60, and a watermelon-raspberry juice which cost me £2.75. The Mac and Cheese was amazing. It was rich and had a just enough spice, it was so cheesy I completely forgot that it wasn’t made from cows’ cheese. My only qualm with it was that it was a little sauce heavy and I think that a slightly little less sauce and a bit more of the shitaki bacon would have gone a long way. I was very full by the end, obviously a great thing, but I think next time I go for a lunch or a smaller tea I’ll have the small with extra ‘bacon’ (extra bacon was £extra) Mac and Cheese – although first I’d love to try out the rest of the menu!
Environmentally, I’m not going to lie I think they could do better. They had made efforts in certain areas, with their disposably cutlery being wooden and with paper straws instead of plastic. However, as you can see, they did serve everything in disposable containers (most admittedly biodegradable, but with food all over them it’d make it difficult for it to be recycled. Next time, I’m going to bring my own container and cutlery and hopefully they’ll be okay putting it in there (I have few doubts that they’ll be fine with it).
Something that also surprised me about By Chloe was that they have a water fountain! I think the staff member I asked about filling up my water bottle thought I was stupid or oblivious but I simply didn’t realise it was there. It’s just to the left of the counter, around the corner near the bins and sauces. I think that’s a great resource to have, and I’ll be sure to pop in in the future simply for that feature if I’m nearby.
Another very convenient feature about By Chloe was the amount of plug sockets available. I was in need of a charger (I had 20% left on my phone at 3:30pm) and when I saw the plug sockets under the seats I felt like falling to my knees and crying out HALLELUJAH right there and then.
I realise this review is perhaps maybe more me gushing about my new favourite place to eat in London, but I think this company deserve some recognition for what they’re doing, and if I can provide just one person with a relatively cheap place to get loads of vegan options then I consider this post very much worthwhile.
Overall rating: 9/10.
Happy eating!
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