Looking for a vegan restaurant in Mayfair? Michelin-starred chef Alexis Gauthier is making gourmet vegan food available for everyone.
It’s no secret that London has one of the best restaurant scenes in the world.
As locals know well, you can enjoy everything from Dutch comfort food one day and Colombian cuisine the next.
It may just be one of the best foodie spots in the world, where you can virtually travel the whole world through food.
You can also find incredible restaurants that cater to every preference, every budget, and every dietary requirement.
Despite the large number of restaurants in London, though, it’s not always easy to find options that fit all three of those requirements.
And that’s where 123V really shines.
The brainchild of a Michelin-starred chef who became vegan in 2016 but with dishes to suit even a modest budget, 123V is bringing premium vegan food to the masses.
And, with a menu that covers everything from the classics (think, Caesar salad and cheeseburgers) to international favourites (such as sushi and quesadillas), it may be one of the only restaurants that truly ticks all the plant-based boxes.
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What’s on the 123V Menu?
One of the first things you’ll notice when you glance at 123V’s menu is the prominently-placed message in the top left-hand corner.
“Vegan for the animals. 123V believes all animals deserve to live hopeful and free.”
Since Alajode is a travel blog that advocates for ecotourism, responsible travel and ethical wildlife encounters, that’s certainly a mission I can get on board with.
But if the ethos of 123V isn’t enough to get you excited, perhaps the person behind it will be.
Alexis Gauthier is a multi-award-winning chef who held Michelin stars for more than a decade. He was born and trained in France, but has made a solid name for himself on the London restaurant scene.
Now, he’s turned his attention to vegan fine dining – at reasonable prices.
The 123V menu is considered, eclectic and fits a whole variety of tastes into what is a fairly concise offering.
Aside from the vegan sushi menu – more on that in a minute – the first noticeable component is the number of meatless meat-y things.
These include the “happy duck bao”, the “KFC (Korean Fried Chick’n) burger” and the “vinglish breakfast”, all of which contain plant-based alternatives to popular meat dishes.
You’ll also notice how international the menu, with classic dishes hailing from Mexico and the USA to Japan and Gauthier’s home country, France.
123V is perfect if you’re looking for a vegan version of your favourite international eats, especially ones that usually contain meat.
But there’s one thing in particular that caught my attention…
The 123V sushi menu
The standout food on the 123V menu is, without doubt, the sushi. Taking up around a third of the menu’s colourful page, it’s impossible to miss – and no diner should miss out on it.
The 123V sushi menu may well be what attracts a large number of the vegan restaurant’s clientele.
While there are no shortage of vegan restaurants in Mayfair these days, finding good vegan sushi in London still remains a challenge.
If you know the struggle, rest assured that the 123V sushi menu is an award-winning one. In 2021, PETA crowned it the winner of the “best vegan sushi” category in its annual Vegan Food Awards.
The sushi menu includes a number of standalone rolls, including dragon rolls and spicy v-tuna rolls, as well as a small set for £18 or a large combo for £26 – all very reasonably priced as far as vegan food and sushi go.
For something a little different, the menu also includes a v-prawn tempura.
And for something very different, the sushi pizzas offer perhaps the most unique dining experience of all.
Both consist of a sushi rice base topped with vegan cheese, plant bacon and pineapple (the Honolula) or cherry tomato, vegan cheese, rocket olives and vegan parmesan (the Futura).
123V Review
by Rachel Edwards.
When I told my Italian friend I was off to try sushi pizza, she looked at me like I’d told her pizza was invented in Spain.
As somebody who is constantly under attack for putting pineapple on pizza, I was used to the backlash and approached vegan restaurant 123V with an open mind.
As is the case with many boutique restaurants in London, 123V is located in the basement of a department store. For 123V, that store is Fenwick.
On arrival, we were seated in a booth which felt a bit like Five Guys – only with nicer lighting and less noise – and handed menus.
The menu had a huge variety of choice. Restaurants who throw a token vegan risotto onto their meat based menus, take note.
Although I’d heard good things about the vegan burger – one woman allegedly demanded it to be returned to the kitchen, convinced it was made out of meat – I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I’d tried the sushi pizza (even if just to annoy pretentious Italian friends).
We opted for the bottomless sushi, which comes in at a very reasonable £30 a head.
The thing with sushi is that, while its undeniably delicious, more often than not it leaves you feeling hungry.
Unlike a bowl of pasta where you know when you’re full, you can eat up sushi like a slot machine eats up money in a casino. And never quite feel satisfied.
We began by eating the petit sushi set which was absolutely delicious. The ‘salmon’ and the spicy tuna could easily have fooled me and both texture and flavour matched, if not, exceeded that of fish sushi.
I was impressed.
Better still was the ‘v-prawn’ tempura which came with a delicious dipping sauce, and the dragon rolls.
For once I could feel myself filling up. But, just as every stomach has a dessert compartment, every stomach has a curiosity department reserved for sushi pizza, and mine was ready!
We tried both the Futura pizza and of course the Honolula due to my love of pineapple on pizza.
Unfortunately, one look at the congealed rice with melted ‘cheese’ and pineapple on top and my friend’s stomach turned. And after taking a bite, I have to admit I agreed. It was… bizarre to say the least.
Unlike the vegan sushi rolls, the pizza felt a little greasy and fried. My brain couldn’t figure out where to place it, and not in a great way.
The verdict: skip the vegan pizza and stick with the (surprisingly filling!) vegan sushi rolls. They are award-winning for good reason!
A vegan restaurant in Mayfair worth visiting?
123V is a great venue if you’re looking for something fast, reasonably well-priced and in a relaxed atmosphere.
Would I recommend it for an anniversary? Probably not.
Would I recommend it for a casual meal for vegan lovers who want a huge variety of choice? Absolutely!
Given the eclectic mix of foods on offer, I’d love to return and try the other dishes on the menu.
The couple beside us polished off their quesadillas in record breaking time and I’m pretty sure everything else is as good as the sushi we ate at the start.
I’d also like to experience the terrace in summer, for the lack of windows is something that I felt let it down slightly.
If Gauthier is on a mission to turn the world vegan, he’s onto a strong start. The only question left is, what will he come up with next?