Mildreds!

When you've had a long morning of shopping with the crowds on Oxford street, your feet are aching, your shopping bags are weighing you down and your purse is feeling considerably lighter, there's nothing like a pick-me-up Mildreds lunch to get you back on track!

My sister first introduced me to this place - and it has literally revolutionised my shopping life. 

This great vegetarian restaurant always has friendly staff and amazing food.  They get super busy so it is best to go for lunch either early or late in the day, to avoid disappointment.  The sweet potato and cashew nut curry is deelish, especially when washed down with their tasty wild elderflower bubbly! It often leaves me too full for a proper dinner so is definitely worth the pennies!  All in all, Mildreds is well worth a visit - even if you're a meat lover, the food is substantial enough to fulfill any appetite!

They also have a blog where they share some of their recipes so check it out!

The Bonnington Cafe

In a quest to find a cheap but delicious place for dinner in an easy location for me and 2 of my sisters, we stumbled across The Bonnington Cafe in Vauxhall, once a squat, now a cooperatively run vegetarian cafe.

Although it is very close to the station, The Bonnington Cafe is nestled down a semi-tropical (it has palm trees?!) residential road.  The restaurant offers a different chef and a different vegetarian or vegan menu each night.  On Tuesday, the food on offer was a sweet potato soup to start, tri-colour lasagne or red veggie curry for main and blueberry and apple crumble or orange and almond tart for desert.  The food was seriously tasty but I would recommend going a bit later (8:30ish) when the atmosphere picks up as more people come in to sample the veggie delights.

Although the food was good and the decor was shabilly cosy, the lighting could've done with some work - but at only £3 for starters and deserts, £7 for mains and BYOB policy with no corkage, I'm willing to let it slide as this place really is hearty grub on a budget.

As one of my sisters said, 'It's almost like going out and having your mum cook you dinner'.  So try it out, give it some support, and let me know how you get on!