Beatroot Cafe

Beatroot Café is located on one of the sleaziest streets in London. Tucked away in the corner, it doesn’t look like much from the exterior and isn’t exactly atmospheric in the interior.
The prices are decent but not fabulous. I got a medium sized container for 6 pounds and I definitely could’ve gotten more food at Food For Thought or at a local Pret for the same cost. My box contained beets, spinach, lasagna, shredded carrots and a bean salad. Food is edible but not sensational. I’m glad I did take-​away because sitting in the café would have been less aesthetic compared to eating in the park.
Not the greatest but not bad.

Great portions and vegan options at a great price! Excellent smoothie too. Loved also sitting outside next to the market.

One of the few places where even raw food junkies have fun. Eating out of paper boxes is not particularly stylish but the buffet is really good.

Truthfully this is the first time I’ve purchased food in the «pay for a box size and we’ll stuff as much as can fit» model, and as other Unilocal!reviews mention, they really do their utmost to cram far more than can reasonably be expected into a single box so you really don’t feel as though you weren’t getting what you bargained for. I was also pleased with the vast selection (approx 20) of dishes to choose from, and with the variety of dishes. For those who are vegan, I would say you could eat at least half of the dishes there. It was a bit pricey at £6.something for a medium box, and truthfully I’d been walking around London all day and hadn’t eaten before this lunch, so even though it must have been at least 2 pounds of food in that box, I was still hungry afterward, but the large box was £10. Probably most people couldn’t even finish the medium box though, as I’m a notoriously voracious eater. Everything I got was really delicious, though. I disagree with any previous reviewers that said the food was too salty (it was just right!) or not flavorful enough.

I met up with a friend for a vegetarian lunch a few days ago, and we decided that Beetroot would be a good option for both location and menu. We wandered in, placed our orders at the counter, and then sat outside on Berwick to people-​watch and catch up on life.
The food itself was really good — I felt healthier for having so many clean fruits and veggies (clean meaning non-​processed). However for a drink and the larger of the two boxes, I looked at a £10 bill, and was a bit surprised. For takeaway lunch, it just seemed a bit much.
Too, it’s tough to order because nothing is particularly recognizable and there’s no guidance in how many or what kinds of food you might put together. It might be cool to have «suggested» lunch boxes which are pre-​set for a day, and balanced for nutrition, and that way ordering could be easier for those of us who suck at ordering.

It’s like a canteen at a bus depot but without the pleasures of the pig. The veggie nosh is fine, but really, it costs far too much for what it is. There are a lot of street vendors outside that sell stuff just as nice for a lot less. £6.20 for a box of cooked lentils is too much.

Very filling and hearty food. Everything is vegan minus 2 or 3 options. Roast veggies, curries, rice, tabouleh, sausage rolls, tofu etc. Their sweet tomato relish is great. They do nice smoothies too. Great for taking away and sitting in the park.

The Berry Boost smoothie i had here was o tasty I practically downed it! The food looks gorgeous too! Will have to try it sometime!

i am normally meticulous about my food not touching. if i order a take away, everything stays in their separate containers and under no circumstances will there be any food-​type mixing on my fork! so i’m not sure why i liked beatroot so much because this is the opposite way of how i would normally choose to eat my food…
you order a small, medium or large box (and your eyes will be bigger than your belly here… the small packs a definite punch. go for a medium only if you are super hungry and a large… i’d approach with caution!) and then pick your choice of hot foods or salad. you can have as much as they can cram into the tub or box, which is A LOT. i think the small box is £5 which is really good value. when i came i decided to get the tofu stir fry which was stuffed full of delicious tofu pieces and cabbage, some brightly coloured beetroot (it would be rude not to in a place called beatroot!), some coleslaw and some brown rice with spinach. everything was seriously good. my boyfriend had a small tub just full of veggie lasagne which i think was a rookie error (why did he not want to taste everything?!) but he was super happy with his choice.
we came at dinner time around 6pm so it was quiet, but i imagine it gets ridiculously busy at lunchtime. if i worked around here i’d come here all the time to bring tasty hot food home for a quick dinner. if you got a large box and split it between two and added a side salad or veggies of your own, you would be sorted!
i will definitely be heading here again and again when i need cheap, filling and relatively healthy eats!

This was my first food outing my first day in London. A friend said they had good food and were generous with their portions. I had no idea it was a place where you pay for a size box you want and they stuff it with whatever you want (their food is all prepared kind of like a cafeteria style).
There was a lot of options from lasagna, curry, salads, quinoa, fake meats… It took me a while to figure out what I wanted and I had to ask what everything was since there were no signs. I got a medium box, generiously filled with quinoa, vegan fried sausages, then I got some curry and veggie dishes with different types of potatoes. It was so much food my box did not close! It all looked very delicious so I was excited to dig in.
The vegan sausage was popping out of the box, so it was the first thing I tried. It was so dry and not tasty. I also asked for another extra helping so I felt bad for not wanting to finish it all. The quinoa was really good, but honestly you can’t go too wrong with quinoa! The curry and veggie dishes I had were very heavy on the potatoes. After a few bites, I was so over them. It’s good but you get sick of the food really fast. I feel like something was missing in the curry and veggie dishes… maybe more spices?
Overall this place is just okay. If I lived in London, I would go here on occasion since the food is decently priced and you get a lot for what you pay. And now I know, not to overfill a box because it is just way too much food!

Small place with a salad-​bar looking thing. Mix and match salads and cooked food.
To be honest, some of their prepared meals seemed a little salty… I, perhaps unrealistically, expect vegetarian cafes to err on the less flavorful but healthy side. The food was good, but not mind-​blowing… I wouldn’t mind getting a box of salads from here again but I won’t go out of my to come back.
I will say this though, they really do pack a lot of food into one box.

First time in here, I size up the boxes and think, boy, even the large seems a little small. Er. no. They jam so much food in that puppy you could build a good set of biceps lugging it down the street.
And this vegetarian food is varied, tasty and rich. You’re not grazing on salad here, unless you’re trying to deny yourself happiness. Moussaka, lasagna, bean salads, herbed potatoes, dhal, etc etc. it’s all well spiced and garlicy and complex and a great, great value. especially if you learn that the medium box is really as much as any normal human needs for lunch. A properly manicured vegetarian stomach could do just fine on small.

Oh Beatroot. Several times I have been wandering the streets of London with a grumbling tummy and you have saved me from my impending starvation.
I happen to have one of those «no-​food-​touching-​other-​food» sort of temperaments, so my first time here I was a little shaken. But, once I had the food in my mouth I quickly got over it. Some of the dishes are so so while some of them are AMAZING. And this place really is all about how much food you can jam into the box so the flavors do mix together a bit. I know it’s been mentioned before but their selection of vegan food is tops, especially for the price!
This is one of those places I always eat at whilst in London.

If you’re around Soho and happen to be in the mood for fast, cheap and cheerful hippie-​style food, Beatroot is the place for you.
My partner and I fell into this place last night after failing to win ourselves a seat in any of the more obvious dinner time restaurants in the area, and were delighted to find that they were still serving at gone 9pm, and were happy to throw in a few extra veggie sausage rolls as they were finishing up.
The portions here are really generous (£6 for a large buffet box) and we felt were substantial enough for supper. Mostly nice healthy stuff too, but not worthy or dull.
A nice little West End haven — will bear them in mind more often in future.

I wish I could give another half star. This place gets points for the following:
1. Presenting me with a large selection of tasty looking vegetarian foods and allowing, nay, encouraging me to be greedy and try as many of them as I can in one go.
2. Fun location — lots to look at while you eat, encompassing a vast and fascinating range of human life. A jolly market trader, a shouty annoying market trader, cool arty twentysomethings with waxed moustachios and silly trousers, wealthy people with lots of fancy shopping bags, eccentric old ladies in leather and the mournful open window of a brothel, which I can’t get out of my mind. I appreciate a bit of pathos with my lunch.
3. A lot of grub for your buck.
Now for the negative:
1. The food isn’t especially nice. Except the cauliflower cheese. Only a monster could f**k that up.

My favourite time to dash into Beatroot is on a rainy London day, because I know there’ll be a giant, hearty meal waiting for me. Stews, curry, bean dishes, stir fry, veggie sausage rolls, divine roasted potato/​root veg — if you don’t mind a bit of it all thrown in the same box, you’ll be right. There’s also a decent salad section on offer, but I very rarely step into that territory because I don’t like hot and cold food mixed together so much.
Much of the food on offer is vegan (all you have to do is ask what is when you’re picking your food), even a decent percentage of the desserts they have. If you can fit in dessert after one of those amazingly packed boxes — i’ve never managed to get past a medium sized box!
Good value, cozy space, delicious heartwarming food — Beatroot is definitely a little veg haven in Soho.

I popped in with a friend on a rainy afternoon. We were searching for something hot to eat, and fast.
although the food does get a bit mixed together in the box, it’s gooood. it’s like a box of hippy goodness all tossed together. i got the sheperd’s pie, little sausage bites, some sort of spicy tofu stirfry with kale, steamed broccoli, and a little bit of green salad, just for good measure. all vegetarian, of course.
they’ve also got a wonderful little menu of fresh blended juices. a small is just right. i believe i had the vitalizer (apple/​pear/​ginger) and it was just the right amount of spicy.
it’s a small café with limited seating and nothing too fancy. but the prices are good, the food is delicious, and the staff is friendly. definitely check out beatroot.

Beatroot offers an assortment of vegetarian and vegan food for cheap prices under £7. Simply choose a container size and choices of vegetable stir fries, curries and moussaka you’d like piled on. Be certain they have all of their food out if you’re eating at 11 a.m. I definitely prefer their warm foods but I prefer warmer foods in general. Their staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about which foods are and aren’t vegan. This location is a bright and easy-​to-​find café on Berwick Street in Soho if you’re coming from the Oxford Station!
They also have Provamel pink soya milk! (Strawberry, and also banana/​chocolate.)

Soho seems to be a little haven for herbivorous diplodoci! There’s Maoz for falafel and Hummus Bros. Beatroot Café is another little treasure for all things vegetarian.
Don’t be put off by its less than salubrious surroundings on Berwick Street Market. The traders outside give the area a real down to Earth feel.
The café does have some seating but at lunchtime, its popularity lead to a queue out of the door. They charge in a very simple way — choose a small, medium or large box and the staff will cram it with goodies from the counter. Though everything looks and smells divine, I find it best to not mix too many flavours but to return for the next yummy looking dish next time!
They have a hot food section serving dishes such as curry with coconut, moussaka, shepherd’s pie made with lentils and my favourite play on words — sausage roll but filled with soya mince. There is also a good choice of salads. You can buy cakes, soup and drinks separately and any of their fresh juices and smoothies are healthy and refreshing. I especially like the zinger — orange, carrot and ginger.
So give Berwick Market a browse and then join the queue at Beatroot Café.

This is in such an out of the way place that you’d never know it was there. However, when you do, what a find! Every day they have a different selection of meals and you can either eat in, or take away. Also they do meals in small, medium or large, to suit both appetite and/​or your pocket. The smoothies and juices are a tad expensive but they’re freshly made.
If you’re in the area, this is one eaterie worth seeking out.