Gail's Artisan Bakery - London

I stopped to try their olive bread and their vegan chocolate and tahini bite. The bread was ok, but nothing special. It lacked flavor and could have had a better texture. The texture did not feel fresh even though it was apparently baked that day. The chocolate tahini bite was tasty, but again, nothing special. It was soft and chocolatey. Like a small brownie bite. If you’re stopping by for a hot beverage and feel like having something sweet to go with that, I would recommend it. I like that it’s small, so you can enjoy a bite of sweetness without having to eat an entire pastry. I was a bit disappointed, however, by their lack of vegan pastry options. They have a huge variety of baked goods and only the chocolate tahini bite and a strawberry coconut bar cake that looked to be exceedingly sweet were the only vegan options.

Sometimes I wonder if places ask vegans what sort of vegan options they’d like before they go on sale because places like Gails never seem to get it right! The vegan hot chocolate is always a winner for me as is their chai latte but the food options are bizarre! The only sweet treat is a chocolate tahini bite which is the size of a fingernail and the sandwich options never hit the spot. It’s a shame because the atmosphere is always lovely and their breads are delicious.

Today when I stopped by the restaurant, I was disappointed to find that there were no vegan sandwiches or desserts available. When I inquired about vegan options, the servers appeared confused and seemed unaware of the lack of vegan items on the menu. It seems that this may not be a common inquiry for them, as they were caught off guard by my question. While I would normally suggest that this bakery be removed from HappyCow's listings, it seems that other reviewers have had better experiences in the past. It may be worth checking out the restaurant to see if they have since added vegan options, especially if you are in the area – the bakery is located next to Cafe de Nata.

We arrived at the restaurant early and they only had black tahini cupcakes available. Since we hadn't eaten breakfast, we bought five cupcakes and they were all gone before we even got to the museum. We definitely should have bought more because they were delicious.

Gail's bakery is small and unfortunately does not offer any vegan pastries.