What The Pitta, a vegan kebab chain with sites in Croydon, Camden and Shoreditch took the crown last night at the unexpectedly prestigious British Kebab Award after it was named London’s best takeaway.
You may not have even been aware of the event before now, but the British Kebab Awards has become surprisingly high-profile over its last eight years of existence. Held at the Park Plaza hotel by Westminster Bridge, the culinary awards were attended by famous faces including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Jeremy Corbyn – who was met with an assortment of boos and cheers as he took to the stage to present an award. There were also over 100 other MPs in attendance among the audience of an estimated 1,200 people.
What The Pitta is a popular plant-based restaurant chain whose vegan replicates of kebab shop classics have earned it its stellar reputation. The entirely vegan menu includes a meat-free version of a doner kebab complete with all the classic toppings, as well as falafel wraps, marinated soya gyros, and loaded chip boxes.
Founders Cem Yildiz and Rojdan Gul set up the business after learning that Roj’s uncle had created a vegan doner at his kebab shop in Germany and it was going down a storm with punters. The duo lamented the lack of quality vegan takeaways in London at the time and loved the idea of creating a plant-based version of one of Britain’s favourite fast food options so decided to give the recipe a try.
Sure enough the vegan doner has been a massive hit here too and the successful pair were quickly able to replicate their healthier, ethical family franchise across London and beyond. What The Pitta now have four sites in total; three in London and one in Brighton, with plans to open a further site in Manchester later this year.
Fortunately for vegans there’s now a whole host of fantastic plant based eateries to choose from. Here are 37 of the best vegan restaurants in the capital.