Eat Chay (Borough)

Eat Chay is a totally vegan, Asian market stall. It has several permanent sites; Boxpark Shoreditch, Borough Market, and Brockley Market (Saturdays only) and also does pop ups.

Vegan Options:

KIMCHI BAO

Korean BBQ seitan, kimchi, Sriracha mayo, sesame seeds and crispy onions

SOY CHICK'N BAO

Club lemongrass chick'n, pickled carrots, sweet chilli sauce, and coriander

BENTO BOX

2 Baos and noodle salad

BIMIMBAP

Lemongrass chick'n or BBQ seitan, Korean mixed rice, beansprouts, kimchi, pickled daikon, sesame seeds, seaweed, spring onion, and gochujang sauce

Their location in Borough Market was busy (as expected), but service was swift, my Bento box was ready within a few minutes.

Finding somewhere to station yourself to eat it is difficult, I went on a Monday afternoon and still struggled! Lots of people were just standing around the stall, but there are no tables there to even prop food on. There is a seating area but it has so few spaces that it was completely jammed with people, this isn't really a failing of the stall, it's the market and I really feel that they could set the space up better for actually eating.

Seating area

The bento box consists of 2 bao buns and a noodle salad. Both buns were packed, with their fillings toppling high above the bun.

The soy chick'n bao (right) tasted so fresh, the vegan chick'n was soaked in a sticky, authentic sweet chilli sauce, and had a subtle lemongrass flavour. It was then topped off with heaps of pickled carrots and fresh coriander, so tasty!

The kimchi bao (left/below) had so much seitan in it, and was BBQ flavour, covered in a slightly tangy Korean sauce. The crispy onions complemented it so well, and it was topped with Sriracha mayo, (always delicious), plus a huge thick layer of kimchi and sesame seeds. It really was an explosion of Korean flavours all in one bun.

I wasn't so taken with the noodle salad which was a simple dressed salad with noodles as a base. Anything after those buns would have felt quite plain, and the buns were so huge that I was super full, but it was nice to have something fresh after the grease and spice.

Staff were professional but as they were so fast I didn't have too much to do with them but they were very pleasant to deal with.

I definitely recommend Eat Chay, the food is so tasty, filling and they've been super creative with their dishes which makes them stand out and makes me want to go back. If I was going just for their food I'd probably pick one of their other locations though!

Overall Ratings:

Staff: 4/5

Setting: 2/5

Taste: 5/5

Atmosphere: 4/5

Serving Time: 5/5

Address: Borough Market, London, SE1 1TL

Opening hours: Monday - Saturday 1000 - 1600; Sunday: Closed

As always, posts are based on places listed on www.myveganradar.com and are my own opinion.