Plates, London - Best of the Best
I found Plates in a Times review - a writer who doesn't naturally eat vegan food, judging it purely on whether it was good, ending with "quite likely to be the best vegan meal you'll ever have." That's the kind of endorsement that catches on quick. It was fully booked for when I'd be in London, but I threw a Hail Mary to the cancellation gods - and holy crap, did it pay off.
We arrived in October to find our table had been given away - a last-minute accessibility accommodation for another party that the restaurant hadn't anticipated. It happens. What doesn't always happen is how gracefully they handled it. We were moved to a small bar-height window table near the door, the kind of spot that looks like an afterthought on the way in. It was handled with grace by the staff, and Chef Kirk came out personally with an extra nibble to acknowledge the situation, and the table immediately stopped mattering. We had a direct view into the entire kitchen for the rest of the night, which turned out to be its own kind of privilege.
The Kitchen Behind It
Plates is run by siblings Kirk and Keeley Haworth, and Kirk's story is worth knowing before you sit down. They're the children of Nigel Haworth, the Michelin-starred chef behind Northcote in Lancashire, so the classical foundation runs deep. Kirk won North West Young Chef of the Year at 17, then spent nearly two decades working in some of the best kitchens in the world - The French Laundry, Restaurant Sat Bains, The Square.
Then in 2016 he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, overhauled his lifestyle, and found his way to plant-based cooking - not as a philosophy but as a path back to health.
What he built from that is Plates.
Chef Kirk doesn’t call it a vegan restaurant. He calls it a fine dining restaurant - and wants the food judged on flavor, not ideology. That sensibility is everywhere in the cooking.
In February 2025, Plates became the first plant-based restaurant in the UK to receive a Michelin star.
The Meal
Eight courses in October, and the menu told a story the way the best tasting menus do - each dish making sense of the one before it, the whole thing building toward something rather than just accumulating.
The bread arrived first, which sounds unremarkable until it doesn't. House laminated sourdough with whipped cultured butter and wild garlic - the kind of bread that makes you reconsider every bread you've had before it. We came back to it throughout the meal.
The maitake was the dish. Barbecued, served with black bean mole, kimchi, aioli, and puffed rice - global combinations that somehow landed as completely coherent. The texture of properly cooked maitake is unlike anything else, and the kitchen understood that and built around it rather than over it.
From there the menu moved through slow-cooked purple carrots with braised kombu and passion fruit, Cornish potatoes with seaweed and sweet and sour apricot, white onion with plum and liquorice - each one a slightly surprising combination that resolved into something that felt inevitable once you tasted it. Yorkshire rhubarb sorbet with pickled jalapeño and kaffir lime as a palate cleanser, then a banoffee finale that was exactly the right note to end on.
From our window table we could watch the kitchen the whole way through. It was quiet. Kirk was calm and focused, the team moving with the kind of confidence that only comes from actually knowing what you're doing. No drama, no noise - just cooking. That kind of kitchen is rarer than it should be, and it's a very particular pleasure to be able to watch it.
The pairings were well-chosen throughout - we did the house pairing and it added a layer of thought to each course rather than just matching flavors. The pace was right. The service warm without being performative.
I've been to Eleven Madison Park more times than I'd like to admit. It's a true three-Michelin-star experience - technically more impressive, more elaborate, a different scale of ambition entirely. But there's something about what the food at Plates does to you that I keep coming back to. Something about the feeling of it. On that measure - the one that actually matters - this is my favorite plant-based meal. Possibly my favorite meal, full stop.
A Note on Comparisons
I’ve been to Eleven Madison Park more times than I should probably admit, which has historically been the bar for a plant-based fine-dining meal. EMP is a true three-Michelin-star experience - more technically ambitious, more elaborate, operating at a different scale entirely.
But there’s something about what the food at Plates does to you.
Something about the way it feels.
On that measure - the one that actually matters - this is my favorite plant-based meal.
Possibly my favorite meal. Full stop.
Plates Farm
The restaurant has extended into a working farm and retreat in southwest France - Lectoure, in Gascony, equidistant between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Plates Farm is run by Keeley and her husband Matt, it's a different experience from the restaurant but rooted in the same sensibility. British Vogue called it "a masterclass in undone luxury" which feels about right - six ensuite bedrooms, saltwater pool, hot tub, sauna, gardens, open fields, and a Plates continental breakfast included every morning.
You can book a room and simply stay - rooms from €150 per night - or join one of their hosted retreats with food from the Plates London team and a curated wellness program. Private hire is also available for groups.
It's on my list. If a single meal can do what Plates did, I'm curious what a few days in that world looks like.
The Details
Plates is at 320 Old Street, London EC1V - Shoreditch, easy to get to. They release reservations seasonally via newsletter, so sign up and be ready when the window opens. The eight-course tasting menu is £109, with a chef's counter experience at £125. Pairing options start at £55 for the botanical pairing and go up to £125 for the rare wine flight - the house pairing at £75 is the move.
One practical note: they cannot accommodate allergies to nuts, soy, mushroom, or allium. Worth knowing before you book.
Book at exploretock.com/plates-london. Don't file it away for later.
