Comptoir V Kensal Rise review - vegan restaurant in London

Comptoir V in Kensal Rise is a new vegan restaurant in London. Head to the west London restaurant for vegan Moroccan food - think big mezze platters with bright colours and bold flavours, nutritious salad bowls and decadent desserts.

If you're looking for a vegan restaurant in London you're spoilt for choice these days. Veganism is on the rise and one of the newer additions to the vegan London restaurant scene is Comptoir V. Set up by Anwar Cherquaoui and Sa’eed Kazmi in December 2017 the restaurant offers mainly middle-eastern, specifically Moroccan, inspired cuisine. The pair, both 30, have long worked in the hospitality industry but a personal interest in veganism led them to open Comptoir V.

I'd never been to Kensal Rise before and in fact wasn't really sure where it was. After much consulting of City Mapper I successfully navigated the Overground and arrived at Kensal Rise station, conveniently opposite the restaurant.

To start with I ordered a portion of vegan shrimp - mainly because the concept intrigued me so much. Having been a vegetarian since I was a kid I don't think I've ever actually had a real shrimp. This one is made from potato starch and kelp. It tasted good - not too fishy if you know what I mean - but my vegetarian brain was a bit confused by the texture. Apparently meat eaters who visit Comptoir V love this shrimp dish.

After much indecision - I was seriously tempted by the Caribbean chickpea curry, the Moroccan Buddha bowl and the BBQ mushroom ribs with vegan mac 'n' cheese (and that's not even mentioning the burgers) - I decided to order the Moroccan sharer for the main course. Incidentally I did visit with a friend, I wasn't just being greedy.

The sharer included sautéed spinach, beetroot dip, carrot smash, aubergine zaalouk and shakshuka.

Hands down my favourite dish was the zaalouk. I hadn't had zaalouk before. While it reminded me a lot of baba ghanoush I believe it's a dish in its own right and it tasted amazing. I could have eaten the lot singlehandedly but unfortunately I had a friend with me so I had to share.

We also ordered a side dish of Moroccan ghife bread which was a lot like an Indian paratha and was perfect for mopping up all those dips.

The dessert menu contains three items - banana and date crumble, Moroccan pancakes and cheesecake. The cheesecake changes daily and when we visited the option was Sicilian lemon.

The verdict?

Comptoir V is a great choice if you're looking for a vegan restaurant in London to visit. Small plates cost around £4-5, mains £8-10 and desserts £6-7 at the time of my visit.

Find Comptoir V at 1 Keslake Mansions, 12 Station Terrace, Kensal Rise NW10 5RU. Nearest stations are Kensal Rise on the Overground or Kensal Green on the Bakerloo line.

Current opening hours are midday - 10pm Sunday to Thursday and midday - 11pm Friday and Saturday.

See the menu at Comptoir V.

Disclaimer: I was invited for a meal at Comptoir V in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I received no other payment for this post.