Temple of Seitan

Humble beginnings

From its meagre beginnings in Rebecca McGuinness’ London kitchen, Temple of Seitan’s rise has been nothing short of astonishing. Several years ago, its Australian founder was still hard at work trying to create meat-free chicken that emulated the taste of her favourite Melbourne takeaway restaurants. Using seitan – a protein-rich vegan-friendly constituent of wheat – she eventually hit on the perfect plant-based alternative to chicken, and Temple of Seitan was born. 

Hitting the road

Rebecca took her new creation on the road, firstly to locations and events around London, and then vegan festivals and food markets across the country. This helped build the brand, exposing more and more people to her tasty seitan chick’n, while also allowing her to develop and refine her product. 

A permanent home

All this travelling was worth it when, in 2017, the first Temple of Seitan shop was opened. At the time, no other vegan fried chicken restaurants existed in the United Kingdom, making it a groundbreaking move. The Hackney location was a huge success, with crowds coming from all over the capital to try Rebecca’s exquisite plant-based fast food.

Awards and accolades

With its popularity on the rise, Temple of Seitan became a renowned establishment, garnering accolades such as VegFestUK’s award for Best Vegan Restaurant in the UK. In 2018, its chefs were even invited to the Eat Drink Vegan festival in Los Angeles, allowing them to take their food to an entirely new audience. 

Expansion

More awards followed, this time for their burgers, such as the spicy Nashville Hot and the hearty Temple Deluxe. A second location was set up as well. Situated in Camden, it was a larger venue with the space for customers to sit down and enjoy their meal. In 2020, the vegan brand teamed up with BrewDog in Oxford to bring their meat-free products to another city. Over the years, Temple of Seitan has continued to provide people with tasty seitan chick’n and burgers via a series of delivery-only kitchens and introduced sharing buckets to inspire the joy of shared eating experiences once more.

Vegan fast food

Today, many of the delicious plant-based dishes that made the restaurant famous are still available on its fast food menu. There is a range of burgers, including some filled with juicy vegan chicken fillets and others packed out with chunky seitan patties. There are also wraps, Temple Wings and sides, as well as a unique selection of hand spun vegan milkshakes that come in decadent flavours like Caramel and Biscoff. 

Bold ambitions

Rebecca continues to grow the brand and has plans to take her famous vegan chicken further afield. New locations are being lined up across the UK and abroad, with delivery, takeaway and eat-in options all available. Even with such lofty aims, Rebecca and the team at Temple of Seitan never forget the most important aspect of their operation – the food. Their social media pages are constantly being updated with inventive new additions to the menu, such as their vegan Mac and Cheese and southern style gravy, with fresh flavours created using ingredients like Za-atar spice and agave syrup. Whether you want to pop in for a quick snack or enjoy a more substantial meat-free meal, Temple of Seitan’s yummy vegan fare is the perfect option for lovers of high-quality fast food.