Loving Hut

I am a fairly regular eater at Loving Hut and grateful for its existence, it is a very different veggie restaurant from all the others in London, if not the UK, for being some kind of mainly Taiwanese Chinese Buddhist vegetarian inspired. As other says, this means it is based around "fake meats" and very clean, neat and tidy, quite formal foods.

All that is written about the food below is fairly true and accurate, although the lunch time buffet is worth mentioning as a very special deal financially, a way of sampling many of their dishes, or just plain pigging out on treats. It is very different from the so called "Thai Veg" chain (also Chinese), who food is either very salted/MSG-ed and a bit factory produced by comparison.

Loving Hut's "vegan fish and chips" (with Belgian-style soya-mayonaise) probably deserves an award for bravery and innovation, although its a bit expensive for what it is. A best value meal, if you just want to eat and carb up, is the special friend rice if you encourage them to throw in some extras.

Yes, recently, it has rebranded to the cult's global brand name and moved in the "Big Sister Broadcasting" TV station they have the world over. I think this is where the culture clash exists, they just do not really connect with Western vegan/vegetarian roots, and all the pierce and tattooed vegan skater punk style customers kind of look strange when they come in. It must be said though, I have never found them to be evangelistic about whatever it is they are doing or believing.

Who it would probably be best targeted at would be very straight, non-vegetarians feeling their way into the whole veggie thing. The funny thing is, I walked and drove past it many times because I thought it was a normal, albeit "nice", Chinese restaurant.

What they really need to do is just relax and lay back a bit. The place is just too starched clean, the waitresses just too formal and well dress, it is all just a little bit sterile.

The food is great, and you will never have a problem with a dirty plate or a bad dish but they just want to loosen up a bit, be friends with people, and get a little bit more into the sensuality and enjoyment of it all.

Even straight edge punk, or super clean and healthy eating (which is can be), ain't meant to be like going to church.
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Done chewing
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, June 01, 2011

I have been to this restaurant twice, with my meat- eating partner and we have both liked the food. The restaurant mainly serves imitation meat dishes, so all the dishes you couldn't eat before you can try here.

On the first visit, I had a mix of starters: veggie ribs, sesame 'prawn' toast and veggie 'chicken' balls. They were all tasty but the 'prawn' in the prawn toast had a mushy texture. They were all filling and apparently the chicken balls tasted like the real thing! For mains we had veggie fish steak in black pepper sauce and crispy duck with pancakes and hoi sin sauce. The fish steak was AMAZING and tasted so much like actual fish - but without the bones. We both loved it. The crispy duck unfortunately lacked flavour and was quite dry. We didn't have dessert.

The second visit for starters we had veggie chicken satay with peanut sauce and chicken and sweetcorn soup. The sweetcorn soup had a thick syrup texture which i didn't like but the satay's were very tasty with the sauce. For mains i had to have the veggie fish steak again and had prawn curry - a coconut milk based curry. The prawns had a weird texture - like a kind of rubber and no flavour. I had some special fried rice with the prawns in and they tasted good, it also had some 'chicken and pork'. The portions are reasonable. The service can lack if it gets busy but the waitress are nice enough. The restaurant is quite laid back in decor, they play vegan videos condeming killing animals etc, the tables and chairs are plastic- so it would not be the place for a 'dress-up' kind of meal. But overall i enjoy the food and the choices on the menu are very diverse. Give it a try and definitely try the fish steak!

Note: This restaurant is now Loving Hut but their website still uses Peking Palace.
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Samantha - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Without a doubt this is the best food for vegans and vegetarians! I'm sure if you don't tell the meat eaters they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I've been going for many years and not once has the food ever disappointed me.

There are so many dishes to choose from and although it's not written in the menu, they do vegan fish and chips which is amazing! A must try.

Go try it now!
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Isabelle
8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 12, 2010

Love this place. the best vegi resturant in london by far!!!
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jazz
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 21, 2010

Brilliant. We go regularly and love it. We take meat eating friends along too and they have enjoyed it. The food is always delicious and the staff are courteous. An excellent range of dishes. The TV, although muted, can be obtrusive - it's best to stay at the far end.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Thursday, October 08, 2009

I’m a big fan of the food that the Peking Palace serve, but less so of the general experience and being in the restaurant itself. The staff, while always friendly, are incredibly overbearing; my meat eating friend didn’t appreciate being given a load of leaflets about how it’s good to be a vegan during the meal. Moreover, the English waiter/driver seemed to think it acceptable to keep talking to us while we were eating… to be honest, I don’t really go to a restaurant to chat to the waiters, so I’d prefer it if he just left us in peace. Perhaps he’s bored because the restaurant is always so empty; I’ve eaten there three times and each time it’s only been us seated. The TV on in the background is also very annoying – why is it there? All this brings the restaurant's atmosphere down to zero.

Aside from this though, the food is amazing. The chefs are more than happy to accommodate me whenever I go – I mostly have the set menu and they’re willing to adapt, to take something out or add something in. The veggie spare ribs are absolutely delicious and always leave me wanting more; in fact, I crave them when I think about the place! Also great is the ‘prawns’ – they really do taste like real prawns, and also have the same texture, which is very important! The veggie ‘fish’ isn’t that nice, but as I mentioned, they’re always happy to take it off the set menu for us.

The portions are massive too – when we eat there, we can never finish our meals and always end up taking them home in boxes and snacking later on in the evening!

So overall, amazing food but rubbish service. They offer a takeaway service to those living in the Islington area, which we’ve used too, and is definitely the better option – you only have to make awkward conversation with the man while he’s taking your order, and still get the amazing food.
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O
7 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Peiking Palace serves simply the best vegetarian Chinese food I've had (and no MSG either!). Usually I eat at high end places and was a bit concerned by location/appearance but don't be put off by less than stella decor, the food is a gem: extraordianry range of dishes and not like some of those vege places where every tofu dish tastes the same, each has an authentic flavour all its own, I expecially like the dumplings and mock duck pancakes. Just go now.
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Anton Stanbrook
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Saturday, May 02, 2009

Great food, lots to choose from. A refreshing change for a vegetarian to have the whole menu to choose from.

Staff were at times slow, seemed shy and the music is annoying, as is the TV....??? what is a TV doing in a restaurant ???? I found it disturbing and unnecceasary.
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Jamie
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Saturday, March 21, 2009

Great vegetarian food, friendly staff. except for the English guy who seems to be chatting with another member of staff constantly. I found to be unprofessional, talking and chatting around customers trying to have a meal...........which I found off-putting, annoying and unprofessional.

Other than that, it seems like a family run business, with staftt who bend over backwards to accomodate any dietary needs. The abundant choice will have friends and I back.

Highly recommended.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Thursday, March 05, 2009