The Vurger Co's Vegan Burgers Fill You To The Brim

The Vurger Co., Shoreditch ★★★☆☆

Harry Rosehill
By Harry Rosehill Last edited 68 months ago
The Vurger Co's Vegan Burgers Fill You To The Brim The Vurger Co., Shoreditch 3
Meet the MLT.

The borough of Hackney is the best place for a vegan to live in London. At least in terms of places to eat, the options are endless. The combination of vegan restaurants and other eateries offering vegan menus makes one wonder if there are any non-vegans left in this part of town. Adding to this vegan bubble is The Vurger Co, which opened its first permanent site in Shoreditch a few months ago.

As the name suggests the main offering here is burgers, and boy they are utter behemoths. We're staunch believers in tackling any and all burgers with our hands, but the Kickin' Caribbean Burger — a collaboration with superstar vegan chef Gaz Oakley — defeats us. We switch to a knife and fork and cut through the spicy jerk patty, plantain and crispy coconut "bacon". It's a solid burger but only the plantain flavours stand out, the others linger in the background and blend together. It's tasty but we wish things were a bit more kickin', as per the name.

One the side we go for mac'n'cheese, one which strays from the genre's norm: the pasta shape is a bigger and bolder rigatoni, compared to the usual macaroni pieces. Also the colouring of the sauce differs, a bit more beige than the yellowness that's expected. Those factors don't come into play on taste, and though it doesn't blow us away, it's infinitely moreish. Despite not loving it, we try to leave the tub alone, but almost instinctively our hand grabs out for more — if the thing was bottomless, doubtless we'd still be eating it right now.

The Kickin' Caribbean Burger, which could be just a bit more kickin'.

Our friend plops for the MLT (mushroom, lettuce and tomato), and heartily enjoys it. It's worth noting the excellent range of burger patties, showcasing the wide variety of options vegans now have. Both of us are totally stuffed by the end of our burgers and sides — we split the 'skin on fries', good without being showy, just like a burger place's fries should be. It means we decide against milkshakes, despite them sounding excellent, neither of us are up for one of the (lovely) staff rolling us out the restaurant.

The whole restaurant puts a focus on sustainability, which is to be applauded. This goes as far as the cups, which look like plastic, but are instead recycled from plants. It's a step up from other vegan places whose dedication to saving the planet ends at the food and drink. Just beware not to over-order or you'll doubtlessly be creating unavoidable food waste — one burger and one side is more than enough.

The Vurger Co., 9 Richmix Square, Cygnet Street, E1 6LD

Last Updated 12 July 2018