Mallow Restaurant – An Honest Review

Hey! You food-loving beauty, I see you. You’re reading my review, which means you’re wondering if Mallow Restaurant is worth booking a table at. If you love wow-pow flavour to hit your tongue and want to say “gosh that’s so good” after every bite, then you need to visit Mallow Restaurant in Borough Market. I mean, seriously, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about the delicious food we ate! And, if you’re new here, I L O V E food. Seriously.

The Need to Know Before You Go

Mallow Restaurant, located right near Borough Market in London, prides itself on being a 100% plant-based restaurant. The best part? Most of the ingredients in their dishes come from Borough market itself, or local small businesses. I mean talk about giving back to the community! Can we have more restaurants like this, please?

Speaking of more restaurants, Mallow is affiliated with Mildreds. Another *chef kiss* restaurant that you have to add to your list. Go on, add it now so you don’t forget.

Fun Fact: Mallow restaurant is the first restaurant since Borough Market opened in 1756 to only offer a 100% plant-based menu. How cool!

How To Get There:

The easiest way to get there is by tube. The Jubilee line will take you right to London Bridge station, where you’ll get off and walk no more than 5 minutes to Mallow restaurant. Follow the signs for Borough Market and head towards Southwark Cathedral. Mallow is literally right outside the Cathedral. You can’t miss it! You can also get there on a bike and there is a place to lock up your bike very close by.

Address: 1 Cathedral St, London SE1 9DE

What To Expect at Mallow Restaurant:

As you walk up to Mallow restaurant you’ll be captivated by the natural colours and seasonal flower boxes that line the windows. You’ll walk through their vibrant blue doors and up a few steps where the staff greet you with such a welcoming smile. The atmosphere is calm and fresh!

There is bar seating to your left, and stairs that take you upstairs. The restrooms are on the left as you walk in and they are very pretty in pink! (Yes, they deserve a shoutout because they are that pretty!)

The staff were so friendly and really made us feel welcome. We arrived at 4:00 pm, 30 minutes before our reservation time and the staff were more than flexible, seating us straight away. We also arrived at a time when the restaurant was switching from its brunch menu to the main menu, but we did not feel rushed or pressured to order at all.

There is comfortable seating and really quirky decor. Definitely take it all in when you are seated.

Mallow Restaurant: What We Ordered

Now for the good part. The FOOD. Now, keep in mind that because mallow restaurant is all about fresh, local ingredients, the dishes I ordered when I visited in January 2022 won’t necessarily be on the menu when you visit. Even so, I hope these dishes get your mouth watering and ready to hit that ‘book a table’ button on their website.

Mallow Small Plates

As we sat down we quickly ordered the pancakes (£10), which came with tart forest berries, and white chocolate mousse. I’m such a sucker when I see pancakes on a menu so we wanted to order these before the menu changed over from its brunch menu. The pancakes were fluffy and thick and had great flavour. The berries were fresh and quite tart.

We then had the labneh, za’atar, flatbread (£7) and hummus, vduja chickpeas (£7). I’m serious when I say this flatbread was SO damn good. I mean, full of flavour, seasoning, melt in your mouth and paired with the most delicious spread. I couldn’t get enough of it! The hummus added an extra kick, and the full chickpeas made for a great texture with the flatbread.

Next to join us was the son dumplings, with kimchi, and gochujang dip(£8) and the porcini truffle croquettes, with leeks, and aioli (£8). The dumplings were paired with the best sauce I have ever had and the kimchi packed a bit of a kick but complimented the dish so well. The croquettes were our ultimate fave plate. Small, but by no means underrated. We could have eaten 3 more! The crispy outside was welcomed with the soft truffle inside.

My only suggestion for improvement would be that it would have been amazing if the staff explained what was on the plates. Everything was so delicious and the flavours were like nothing we had experienced before, it would have been a nice touch to know what exactly we were eating. Especially when at a plant-based restaurant.

Mallow Big Plates

We waited 30 minutes or so for our main dishes which was perfect timing considering we were quite full from our small plates! While waiting, we admired the stained glass window, calm vibe of the restaurant and the view of the Southwark Cathedral. We were sat downstairs so we got to see the bartender making such fun cocktails!

Soon enough my nose was telling me that our food was on the way. I could smell the miso from my white miso dashi, rice noodles, chard, and mushroom sesame tempeh, with daikon (£14) and the market thali (£16) served with masala market vegetables, kiri hodi, red lentil dahl, pumpkin methi pickle, chana basmati, and persimmon yoghurt was also a miracle for our senses. Even if you’re a meat-eater, the flavours in this dish will really surprise you. You might even forget that you’re not eating meat!

Mallow Desserts

If you’ve got a sweet tooth like me, then you’re probably the same as me. No matter how full I am from my delicious meal, I can always find a bit more room for dessert. That’s a good trait to have, right?

So naturally, we ordered three desserts. Yes, three, and no, I’m not embarrassed about it. Ha! We had the chocolate hazelnut financier, with white chocolate mousse (£7), the kumquat lemon meringue pie (£8) and the campfire marshmallow (£6).

Hands down the chocolate hazelnut financier was SO good! It can be quite difficult to get great tasting cakes when you’re a 100% plant-based restaurant and I often try vegan desserts only to be left disappointed. Not with this dish, the rich dark chocolate taste was heavenly!

The lemon meringue pie was fantastic. It tasted just as I expected it to, but a bit lighter. You could really taste the kumquat which to some might come across too overpowering, but I loved it. (We had this one at home as we were too full to eat it at the restaurant!)

The campfire marshmallow is a great dessert for those with a chocolate sweet tooth or those that like a tableside show. The staff burn the marshmallow which gives it a smoked taste at the table and the chocolate melts just the perfect amount. A simple dish, but pleasant nonetheless.

Like It? Pin It!

My Overall Mallow Restaurant Review:

So, I started this article by saying that if you want ‘wow-pow flavour’ then book a table at Mallow Restaurant. And I still mean it! The staff are friendly and flexible, the space is clean, calm and has great decor. The food is next-level delicious and the all-around vibe is honestly, a breath of fresh air.

Let’s also shout out how mallow restaurant sources most of its ingredients locally. I mean, hello restaurant heroes. Our planet needs more restaurants like this one.

So, go on, book a table and see for yourself how amazing this place is. You can also check out their Instagram for even more photo inspo!

Thank you, Mallow Restaurant for having us and we will see you soon!