Lists.
Never-ending, always adding on. I finally realised why my items never get crossed out. It’s not the lack of time, but the missing other. The other who wants to keep company.
The other with whom plates, conversations, joy—sometimes critique—can be shared.
The other who starts chatting with the waiter or bartender and, before we know it, we're at a corner speakeasy with the chef. The other who, while looking for one book, ends up buying you a couple to flip through. The other who says, “Wanna see a show at the Hayward Gallery? It’s just £3 after 4,” and from there we end up on a bench in the evening sun.

So, for the others out there, here’s my just-starting London Bucket List for May.

• May 13 – Emma Gannon in conversation with Francesca Specter at Libreria, discussing Table for One, a book about modern love, for modern women.

• A Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evening – fondue plus a carefully curated vegan cheese and wine tasting at The Cheese Cellar, in the basement of Purezza.

• A night out (or within yourself) at Café Oto – maybe one of Dali de Saint Paul’s 1–3 May residencies: three nights for experimentalists, avant-gardistes, and dancefloor destroyers, with a crew from Bristol.

• A weekly mutual check-in at Chatsworth Bakehouse for the latest vegan delights, reserving two as soon as the announcement drops.

• Another sandwicherie on the list: Brunswick East at Hackney Downs. Preferably on a sunny day.

• All the way down to Tooting Bec, with the aim of discovering the neighbourhood. Dinner at Daddy Bao, drinks TBA.

• Frank’s opening day is so close: 16 May.

If you're the other for any of these, let me know—with a date and time in mind. Additions, suggestions, and spontaneous invites are welcome.

Here’s a sneak peek at our seventeenth issue before you dive in:

The Place: Muan is waiting for you to indulge at Brixton Village (amongst other local favourites).
The Recipe: Plant-based meal kit delivery services in the UK.
The Plate: Oyster Mushroom Skewer at Bubala accompanied by a side of hummus, with harissa, apricot, jalapeño oil.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a link to our previous issues. Send me your questions about veganism at [email protected] so I can research, dig deeper, and come up with some mind-opening thoughts.

Hazal

Muan is waiting for you to indulge! 

Words by: Hazal Yılmaz

The hustle and bustle of Brixton stands before me: crowds of people carrying piles of shopping bags, backpacks, bindles, bedding, leeks, four-for-a-pound lemons, baguette, flowers, apples, pineapples; belt, tote, and messenger bags; and sacks of records—listened to, admired, and bought from Pure Vinyl. Some locals are hefting bikes, buggies, and luggages up and down to the station, while others are channeling speakers attached to electric bikes, running at high speed, playing The Souljazz Orchestra. A group of twelve, maybe fifteen, are waiting at the bus stop for the 37 to Peckham, the 3 running from Marylebone to Crystal Palace or the 333 to Tooting Broadway, which reminds me of Daddy Bao, serving sesame aubergine and shiitake mushroom bao, still on my list to try. Visitors and tourists are posing in front of the David Bowie mural, a tribute to where he was born, in this exact postcode, but probably in a different neighborhood before the ongoing gentrification. People are waiting at the red light, crossing at the green, while some are just running horizontally across the street to catch the bus, the train, the lunch, the life. At The Ritzy, one of London’s oldest movie theaters, opened in 1911, the announcement of the day is from Joanne & Stu: “I wrote for luck, they sent me you.” Brixton, as always, is vivid, pulsating, and vibrant.

Today, as on most days when I come to Brixton, my destination is Brixton Village and Market Row. As I pass through the streets, memories pile up. The first time I visited was for La Fauxmagerie, the renowned French-style vegan cheese deli that later moved to Brick Lane before settling in Camden Town, inside Purezza. For a vegan, there couldn’t be a better idea than a monthly visit to Brixton to try Brixton Blue vegan cheese and Camamvert. In later years, the market became the meeting point with SE friends—breakfast at Sarava Creperie for vegan galettes; buying fabric for an upcoming skirt or fashion line; lunch at Okan for vegan kimchi teppanyaki; Arepa de Conuco with sweet potatoes, charred apple sauce, crunchy corn, pico de gallo, and fresh leaves at Arepa & Co; drinks at Pergola. But lately, I come to Brixton Village for one ultimate purpose, when hunger strikes: Muan, the vegan Thai and natural wine restaurant.

Located at 52-53 Granville Arcade, Coldharbour Lane, on the 3rd Avenue of Brixton Village, if you must ask a local, Muan is where my craving for pad Thai meets my ongoing search for London’s must-have tofu dishes. This is the kind of vegan promised land where you should gather an alliance to share plates—and later preach to absent friends about the bursts of flavor they missed. The pledges are as follows: succulent, spicy papaya Som Tum salad; mouthwatering pad Thai with peanuts, fried tofu, and chickpeas; umami-packed, crispy Chinese chive cakes; and deep-fried dumplings with sweet and sour tamarind sauce. As for drinks: Côte du Rhône by Rémi Pouizin, a Mali Old Fashioned, or Hola-Par.

Long story short: Muan is waiting for you to indulge whether you're vegan, non-vegan, vegan-curious, or simply a Thai food devotee. Come together, right now, over there.

What to get: As mentioned, the whole menu is vegan, thoughtfully designed for both vegans and plant-based eaters. You can choose from The Vegan Butcher selections: Grilled vegan flank steak with spicy jaew sauce—a sauce typically incorporating ingredients like dried red chilies, vegan fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, toasted rice powder, and fresh herbs like galangal and cilantro. Or from The Garden: Chickpea green curry dip with roti. 

My favorite: Shiitake mushroom and tofu skewer in red curry sauce. Absolute must.

Later on: Make sure to visit Addis for Ethiopian coffee. There are some cake options, as well as a menu for your next Brixton getaway.

Address: Granville Arcade, 52-53 Brixton Village, Coldharbour Ln, London SW9 8PS

Tried-and-tested Plant-based meal kit delivery services in the UK

For those who find cooking at home a burden or simply too time-consuming, we’ve got three tried-and-tested options that make plant-based eating easy, sustainable, and delicious.

Planthood: Planthood isn’t your typical recipe box — it’s a chef-made, pre-prepared meal kit service. Each meal comes with ready-to-use sauces, dressings, and garnishes, making home assembly quick and fuss-free. All sauces are made from scratch in their kitchen, using 100% natural ingredients like vegetables, legumes, spices, nuts, and seeds — with absolutely no additives or ultra-processed foods. You can choose between 3 to 5 meals per week, with servings for 2 or 4 people. The packaging is recyclable, compostable, or reusable, and Planthood proudly sources seasonal produce while supporting environmental initiatives.

Grubby: Grubby offers an ever-growing collection of over 200 plant-based recipes, updated weekly. Each recipe includes a carbon footprint rating, and for every box sold, Grubby donates a meal to a child in poverty through their partnership with 1moreChild. All London deliveries are made by bike, and their packaging is fully recyclable and compostable. They also team up with partners like BOSH! to serve up crowd-pleasers like Dan Dan Smoked Tofu Noodles.

DabbaDrop: DabbaDrop’s menus are inspired by co-founder Anshu Ahuja’s South Asian heritage, featuring hearty, home-style dishes like dal, curries, and seasonal salads. Menus rotate weekly and draw influence from Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and other regional cuisines. Meals arrive in reusable stainless steel tiffin tins (or “dabbas”), completely eliminating single-use plastic. Since launching in 2018, DabbaDrop has saved over 203,000 plastic containers and prevented 2,500 kg of food waste through their pre-order model and circular packaging system.