Raw or healthy takeaway lunches in London?
 

I'll be relocating to work in London for part of the year this year. I know the London food scene is huge and would usually have something to suit all, however I follow a raw diet and was wondering whether anyone could give me any advice on specific food outlets that I could visit which would cater. I have searched for health stores, but there are none close enough to my office that I could visit for lunch. I'll be working on Euston Rd, nr the British Library and Kings Cross St Pancras.

Time-out is a good place to start
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...afas-in-london

Gosh, there's - seemingly - hundreds of places that cater to such things. Your google-fu is seriously letting you down.

Firstly, pretty much all takeaway places will do salads - places such a Pret A Manger and Eat.

The main railway stations - King Cross, St Pancras next door, and Euston up the road all have takeaway chains with healthy options.

In St Pancras station alone you have:
Benugo (http://www.benugo.com/shops/st-pancras-international)
Sourced Market (http://www.stpancras.com/eat-and-drink/sourced-market/)
Chop'd, which does nothing 'but' raw and healthy (http://chopd.co.uk/)
Yo Sushi (http://www.yosushi.com/)
Pret A Manger (http://www.pret.com/)
Camden Food Co (http://uk.camdenfoodco.com/our-food/)
...and more besides.

Kings Cross area is booming, check out this link for eateries, including street food options: http://www.kingscross.co.uk/eating-and-drinking You'll see there's a food market called KERB: http://www.kerbfood.com/kings-cross/

Even the British Library has a salad bar - and remember, it's free to enter.

You aren't going to starve.

From bilboburglar's link, the nearest on that list to you would be Tony's Hemp Store, 10 Caledonian Rd, N1 9DU , which sounds suitably worthy.

There's lots of other eateries/takeaways on Caledonian Road too, so I suggest just exploring when you get there.

There is Wholefoods Market, but not near your place of work; nearest one would be Camden.

La Suite West Hotel in Bayswater has a vegetarian restaurant called 'RAW' - maybe nice for dinner.

Ottolenghi is sure to have some raw salads - but again not near King's Cross, but great for take-outs.

Thanks, I'd seen that there were a lot of chain places, but reviews tell me that Pret, Eat and the like have salads which come ready made and all come with dressings and toppings like cheese, chicken and such. Even if there was one option, I would probably only get it once as would get boring.

I hadn't spotted Chop'd though. 'Nothing but raw' sounds promising so thanks for the shout.
I come in to St Pancras so may well event be on my way.

I'd seen VX on Caledonian Rd, but looks like it's a 20 min walk there and back. I will definitely visit after work, but for lunch it'd be a squeeze. It's handy to know that the British Library has a salad bar. I'd never thought of exploring places like that.

Thanks Tulips, those would be good to visit when I get some time to explore.

Slightly off topic gary28, I'm curious to know what you eat for protein?

I have a friend who has recently decided to adopt this way of eating, which is fine. However she's morbidly obese and in an effort to lose weight, lurches from one eating style to another without doing proper research.

Cheers, Cathie

Hi Cathies - You'll probably not surprised to hear that I get asked this question a lot!

I eat a small portion of different nuts and seeds every day for snacks or in food. As there are so many varieties, it's not hard and never gets boring either. I eat a large quantity of leafy greens, which supply a complete amino acid profile and heaps of protein. Again there is a wide range to choose from, so it's not as tough, or dull as it sounds.

The trick on a raw diet is quantity. Often it's easy to forget that as a society we don't eat large portions because of the calorie and fat content of processed foods - extremely high per gram in comparison to most raw foods.

If your friend makes sure she is getting enough food, then there should be no reason why she can't effectively lose weight and stay healthy. In fact, if she is as overweight as you say, she may be used to eating large quantities of food and may feel 'deprived' on a normal calorie and portion-controlled diet and thus end up 'lurching' from one to another, as you say. The raw diet may well suit her eating habits better. Of course this is only one reason why she might be overweight - I might be wrong about her portions.

Kate, I've visited the websites of the outlets you suggested. Lots of pre packed options unfortunately as I feared there would be. The only one who seems to prepare from scratch is Chop'd. Lots of options within their salad bar though, so could be a raw lunch goldmine. Can't find much about the British Library options. Have you tried either of them?

Gary, don't disregard Benugo as they have chefs who make to order, so you can specify exactly what you want. As does Sourced Market, who have a dedicated deli counter (http://www.sourcedmarket.com/index3.html)

Both in St Pancras.

Are you strictly raw or "healthy" too? Good chain takeaways with pre-prepped meals (M&S Simply Food, Eat, Pret-a-Manger) should fit the latter bill. A good Waitrose or similar food store nearby should work too. After all, if you're relocating, you're presumably going to have a full apartment with kitchen facilities for storing your requirements, so you won't be limited to takeaways. And pre-prepped salads usually have the dressing on the side.

At least you won't eat salad cream.

And there's this: http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...afas-in-london

Bugger, Bilbo linked the same thing I did. Sorry for the duplicate.

“I'll be working on Euston Rd, nr the British Library and Kings Cross St Pancras.”

Gary83, wow, not sure about the food available in the area, but what a great location for an extended stay in London. So much to do and see. Enjoy!

Thank you Gary.

Hi all! Thanks for all of your recommendations. It would be great to keep this thread going as I prepare for the big move. I'm looking forwards to finding new places to eat, rather than dreading it!

Thanks for clarifying that Kate, I couldn't see that option on the site. Maybe it would be worth me emailing their customer service team to see what options would be available. My worst nightmare is standing at the counter with a befuddled server flicking through their menu while a grumpy queue groans behind me!

I'm still pretty keen to try Chop'd as online reviews do nothing but sing their praises from what I can see. Are they new to town? It will be so nice to be able to have lots of healthy choices and also get a decent lunch that will fill me up. That's no mean feat! My expectations are high!!

Cathies - a Chop'd rep linked me to this blog after my enquiry. You might be interested to read as it's about non-meat protein sources. http://chopd.co.uk/sources-of-non-meat-protein/

Pret food is very high quality with emphasis on organic, lack of synthetic preservatives and additives, non GM and so on... and everything - mayo, dressings etc usually home made and fresh.

It's also absolutely delicious, I'd be amazed if you couldn't find something that fitted the bill there.

Thanks Gary, nice of you to think of me. I knew about those sources but it's nice to be reminded. I'm seeing my friend at the weekend and will mention these to her if the subject comes up.

"Pret food is very high quality with emphasis on organic, lack of synthetic preservatives and additives, non GM and so on... and everything - mayo, dressings etc usually home made and fresh."

And the dressings are always in little lidded pots on the side of the salads. Pret is a great chain.

You can check out the list of ingredients on the website - note how they split out the dressing ingredients: http://www.pret.com/menu/sushi_salad...d_PUK3837.shtm