A QUICK TRIP TO TEMPLE OF SEITAN

It was 6am on a Tuesday morning and I was up bright and early ready to make the four-hour journey from Shrewsbury to Billericay for a job interview. 

After four hours of travelling, one hour at my job interview, whilst running on two slices of toast consumed at 6.30am that morning, it was now 1pm and unsurprisingly, I was starving. 

Coming from the West Midlands and going to university up north in Leeds, I never get the chance to go to London, (simply because if you don’t book months in advance the train prices are extortionate). Seeing as I had come such a long way, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of the day in London, so it made sense for me to find somewhere to eat in the city. 

Having a vegan Instagram, (which you should definitely follow, @emeatsvegan), and with 30% of my followers coming from London, I see a lot of vegan food from eateries in London on my feed, the most popular being the infamous Temple of Seitan. If I was coming to London, the one place I knew I had to visit was Temple of Seitan. 

I got on my train from Billericay to London Liverpool Street and bought myself an all-day travel card, costing me just £8. I figured I would be getting a lot of tubes that day, (and boy was I right about that), so this would be the cheapest option. 

Once I arrived at Liverpool Street, I then took the overground to London Fields in Hackney, and made the 9-minute walk to Temple of Seitan. 

Temple of Hackney
Image taken from Veggie Athletic. 

I had never heard anything about Temple of Seitan, as I had only seen pictures posted on Instagram. So, when I got there, I was surprised at how small it was. In my mind, Temple of Seitan was a restaurant, but it turns out it was a fast food pop up with a couple of tables outside. This obviously was not an issue, if anything it was a good thing, as it meant I got my food quicker. 

It was around 2pm and I was ready to eat. Everything on the menu looked delicious, and I wish I could have tried everything, but both my stomach and my bank account would not have reacted well to that. 

Temple of Seitan Menu
Image taken from Temple of Seitan Website.

There were burgers, a wrap, mac and cheese, hot wings, popcorn bites, the lot! I decided to opt for the Temple Burger, as this was the one I had seen pop up my Instagram the most. And plus, it sounded incredible. I also ordered fries, seeing as I was starving, and a cola to wash it down. 

My order came to £8 in total, (the burger was £6, the fries were £2, and the drink was free!), which I thought was incredibly cheap seeing I was in London, and I did order quite a bit of food. 

As expected, my food came within minutes of ordering. I managed to grab a table outside and I tucked in. 

Temple Burger
Instagram: emeatsvegan

The fries were amazing, and I was given a huge portion. I managed to tackle about three fries before I was full and ended up eating them cold on my train home. 

The star of the show was, of course, was the Temple Burger. The burger consisted of “chicken”, made from seitan, “bacon”, which I am guessing is also made from seitan, “cheese”, lettuce, gherkins and ranch mayo. It was heavenly and extremely filling.  

The only other “chicken” burger I have tried since going vegan, (apart from the quorn chicken fillets), is the one from Patty Smith’s at Belgrave in Leeds, and I have to say this was definitely on par with that. I have never liked cheese, even as a vegetarian, so vegan cheese does not really appeal to me, however, Temple of Seitan’s vegan cheese was incredible, and didn’t taste super cheesy, which is something I hate. 

I would honestly come back to London just to try Temple of Seitan’s whole menu. The fact everything on the menu is vegan is a huge bonus, as it makes it really easy to order. My only downside would be that there wasn’t more seating, but I went at a really quiet time, so I was able to sit down and eat my burger. 

Every time I visit a new vegan food place, whether that be somewhere really healthy, or a junk food bar, I feel so incredibly happy at how far veganism is coming, and how the vegan food options just keep on growing. Hopefully it won’t be long until the whole world turns vegan, and I cannot wait for that day. 

Emma xxx