Leon

I definitely am not a fan of chains. There is so much choice with artisan/​independent touches in London that it almost is a crime to me to go to chains… Still, Leon is different. That’s what many say, so I had to check it myself. And they are right.
The food looks relatively healthy compared to other chains out there, and reasonably priced for the quality. I had a chicken burger and some chips, for not much… Don’t remember the price though, just how kind the waiter was. Well, it most definitely helps that he spoke French with me and is African too, but he was not obliged to be nice to me, was he?
Good place if you’re craving good quality food fast, and this one is in Spitafields so is a no brainer. Best of both worlds!

I normally try to avoid chains, but Leon is one of them that I will tolerate. Their food is reasonably good quality and fairly healthy. I’m especially a fan of their breakfasts — poached egg cups and breakfast muffins that aren’t too greasy. The setting of this particular branch in Spitalfields market is really nice and is a great place for a morning meeting.

As a healthy food evangelist I obviously have to like Leon ;)
We went there for a light lunch and shared three different vegetarian dishes that we all loved despite the other guys being meat eaters.
I also find the interior design very welcoming and comfy.
Let’s go again!

It’s good. It’s fresh, I never feel «gaaaaah, how could I ever handle sitting at my desk after THAT calorie bomb» after, and it’s totally in the same price range as many go-​to lunch options.
I’ve had mixed success with the smoothies (just weird taste/​consistency) but that’s the only Leon offering that I would straight up NO THANKS, NOPE NOPE, NAW, NAW never again order (even though I learned the hard way, ordering it 3x).
The superfood salad is really solid with quinoa and the pops of pomegranate. They use good quality meat in the meatball and kofte plates which is nice because ground lamb/​beef can feel heavy and fatty, as well as really delicious chicken thigh in their chicken dishes. Double points for their peanut /​kale side salad and their kale chicken caesar (I like kale, sho’nuff). Small point: I find the paprika way too overpowering in the kofte salad, but that’s personal preference.
Truly, I have no complaints with Leon. It’s not my go-​to, but it’s also a place that comes to mind when I’m faced with a wall of Prets, EATs and Itsus.
Unilocal note: take it to go! Cost saving, y’all.

Buena opción para comer sano y cómodo en el Old Spitalfield market. Tiene sus propias mesitas, gran ventaja cuando el mercado está lleno de gente buscando las mesas comunitarias.
En el menu hay combos de ensaladas, wraps, hamburguesas y otrps platos más «elaborados» como las albóndigas con arroz que comimos. Muy llenadora la porción y muy rico todo. El arroz era integral, acompañado con perejil fresco. También comimos unas papas rejilla muy ricas.

Great selection of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free meals. Lyon is a decent eatery, with consistent quality and reasonable pricing. There is a lot of room that is hardly ever full. Stroll in for a quick, no-​fuss healthy lunch either alone or with a large group.

One of those places, where an outside area of it is as awesome as the inside. Even though it was quite a cold day, we enjoyed ping pong there for hours! The fact that it is under cover is awesome… Not to mention that it is also well lit, so you can see where the ping pong ball is flying.
We enjoyed it way too much, which resulted in us being locked in Spitafields markets and having to climb through the fence — quite unforgettable.

Great customer service! The wait staff was helpful in putting together something that was not on their menu. Brilliant, especially when you consider that they operate more like a fast food than a sit-​down restaurant.

I do quite like Leon, with some caveats. But I’m not a fan of confused service.
The food here is no different to other Leons I’ve been to: relatively healthy and original, but slightly pricey. I liked the large amount of seating outside in the market, which makes this Leon unusual. I didn’t like the somewhat confused service this led to. I waited obediently at the ‘wait here’ sign, only to be ignored and to have to go to the bar, where I was told to wait at a table. I duly did, but it was sometime before my order was taken.
So: food — reasonable. Seating in the covered expanse of Spitafields market — great. Service — forgetful. Overall — A-​OK.

Disclaimer: I’m not one of those «health nut» types, so this place would never really be my first choice.
I came to meet a friend playing table tennis in Leon’s side «court» (right in Spitalfield’s Market… so cool!)
We then ate some grub from their kitchen– I had the «Menu 3/​Burger, Waffle Fries and Slaw deal for £8.95.» I chose the Meatball Burger– mini Moroccan meatballs, sliced pickles, rocket, garlic aioli, house ketchup. The fries were nice… well-​seasoned but I prefer Chick-fil-A’s simpler pepper-​and-​salt version back in the States. The slaw was okay too. The burger was… nice. Nothing glorious. I will say the extra side of chili sauce paired with the meatball burger was what really made it delicious. I kind of wish it was already included in the burger’s ingredients.
What I enjoyed most was the vintage décor and laid-​back music. They have plenty of plug outlets on one side of the restaurant and I can see it being a good place to pull the laptop out and people watch on a Saturday.
Leon’s is cool… but it might be more of your cup of tea than mine.

Super nice staff, cool «outdoor» seating area (it’s inside Spitalfields, which is open air but roofed). The grilled halloumi wrap was pretty good, especially the sauce.

Couldn’t quite decide whether to give a three or four … I’m a huge fan of their books but this was the first time I’d visited a shop. I remember the old Spitelfields market as I used to pop over regularly when I lived in Dalston. It looks very different these days. Way more up market and way more price.
Leon reflects that change. It looks great inside and out. All the cool elements are here, but for me just a bit too ‘designed’. It lacks a creative, interesting vibe.
The staff were Ok; a bit snooty to be honest. The food was fresh and tasty enough but it felt bland … just healthier and more expensive that the average fast food. It arrived way too quick for something made fresh — freshly put into a box maybe.
The wifi was good and the huge choice in chair and table styles was great, as was the outside seating area. But overall it felt like a great idea gone a bit stale, i.e. minus the passion that perhaps was originally brought to Leon.

I tried really really hard not to be one of THOSE people. Detox salads, brown rice, power smoothies, hummus, these are all things I tried not to love but I’ve failed. Yet what a glorious failure it has been! Leon is the easy, fast, healthy lunch place I’ve been waiting for. No more £5 sandwiches that don’t fill me up at Pret, I wander to nearby Leon (this one has plenty of seating) and savour a bit of hummus & flatbread, a superfood salad and a filter coffee and watch the people go about their day in busy Spitalfields. There’s nothing like it.
If I’m out from work early and need to be somewhere later in the evening, I often grab a bite here before setting off. Being a member of their club entitles you to 40% off food after 4pm. It’s free to join so well worth it!

Casual Tuesday of sharing platters at Spitalfields with my sister. Weren’t in a particular rush, but it took 30 minutes just to have our order take, another 20 when we were ready for brownies. They’d ran out of the froyo which I heard was delicious (honey & banana!)
Food was great, nice variety, waiter even switched an option for us, he was a gem! Would just maybe appreciate a little more coordination from staff, one woman looked like a dazed lost sheep walking between tables not being particularly helpful.
Can’t wait to go back & try wraps & salad, menu is delicious & cheap!

Delicious, healthy food without the expensive price tag!
Weather it’s takeaway lunch or sitting in for dinner, the atmosphere is always relaxed and food is always tasty. Although the service is not great, staff are happy to help if you make them aware that you would like something. Also love Leon as there are always great deal happening. I joined the Leon club so received 40% off my bill the next visit and then this week due to the tube strike they’re offering a free coffee in the morning or after work when purchasing a snack or meal. Nothing can beat a good deal!
Also as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m quite competitive. & they have ping pong table here, perfect for pre or post food coma!

I was on a hunt for a pastry hybrid. I awoke early this morning, psyched for my own discovery of this mythical and mystical culinary phenomenon.
All I wanted was to find a Cronut. Maybe if I was incredibly lucky I would find a Townie. It was not to be — over-​excitement combined with under-​preparation was my own cross-​breed of a disastrous day.
I rocketed to Bank to be at Bea of Bloomsbury at 10 o’clock sharp. It opened at 12. Kicking myself, I then stomped further East — through Spitalfields, across Brick Lane. The Townie had failed me so I was turning to the infamous Cronut. I suddenly became lost down a non-​descript street where the shutters of a small inconspicuous shop were pulled down. Rinkoff Bakery was also shut. No Cronuts for me either.
I was now extraordinarily hungry and slightly annoyed with my own stupidity.
So there I was, back in Spitalfields, viciously compromising my pastry craving on a sticky table at Leon.
The ‘Padstow Box’ (which included smoked salmon — in Cornwall?!) tasted very good despite the disappointment of having a cardboard box shoved at you. A pea and mint salad, with fresh lemon and smoked mackerel pâté were well thought of and happily munched. Coffee was excellent.
I understood that it was fast food with fast service, but the presentation on this morning did not seem to correspond with the fresh and attractive concept of the restaurant.

I say this a lot, but I would like one of these in Leeds please!
Although the prices here are slightly steep, it never stops me from popping in for a bite when I am in London. I love the falafel, the wraps always come with a yummy chutney type sauce and I haven’t met a side dish that I didn’t like.
The place is original and the concept is one that I am surprised more places haven’t adopted, fast, fairly healthy and delicious, and finally, a fast food joint with good service. I would happily pay that bit extra for that.
So until we get one up north, I will have to stick with my Leon cookbook collection, which actually has a damn fine sweet potato falafel recipe in.

What I like about Leon:
+ The overall concept: fast food but different from your normal options and fairly healthy too.
+ The design and layout.
+ the food itself which is imaginative and different (somewhat small portion sizes though).
Eg. Grilled meatballs, aioli chicken with either brown rice and slaw or salad which were very good.
+ There is a good range of options but the menu is slightly confusing since there is a lot going on.
+ Service was quick and friendly.
What I don’t like:
— the high prices. We paid £18 for two small lunch specials with a small lemonade and small ‘baked fries’ for fairly meagre portions. A bit too steep I think.
— If you just get the small sandwiches they never seem enough. Hey, guys need to eat when we are hungry!
So 3 stars since the food was and the concept is great but value isn’t that good.
If they just upped the portion sizes and/​or reduced the prices a bit that would easily move it into 4 star territory.

I like their concept — pick a protein and pack it in a wrap, salad, or rice box. They have more, of course, but it makes for tidy ordering. I had their chili chicken the other night along with the baked chips. The chili chicken wrap was fine, a nice late night recharge. However, I still prefer my kebab places.
Regardless, Leon rocks up 4 stars because of customer service. The baked chips took a while. I didn’t really noticed, but they came up with a brownie. And they must have remembered I originally said no to a brownie for dessert, because they asked if I’d like something else since I waited so long. Free flapjack bar and a brownie for a friend!

I’d never been to a Leon before. Now I have. Was nice!
Came in to warm up before tackling the Old Spitalfields Market and had the intention of grabbing a tea however was far too tempted by the sound of raspberry lemonade so opted for that along with a brownie.
The lemonade was very refreshing — the raspberries sweetened the tang of the lemon nicely. The brownie was a bit ‘meh!’, I mean, where were the nice chunks of chocolate? It wasn’t anything to write home about.
Anyway, my eyes had wandered to JB’s Lemon Ginger Crunch so I haggled her to do a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ split of our cakes and I think I won on that front — hers was better than mine! Noms!
All in all Leon is a-​ok, I didn’t spy anything in there that has particularly inspired me to return, although if the weather is as chilly as that again and I’m in need of warming up I might pop in for a tea and a Lemon Ginger Crunch!

I recall many moons ago going to Leon (maybe about 3 years ago now) and thinking this place was amazing.
Today’s visit however wasn’t as impressive as I remembered it to be.
The food was nice, it seemed to be a nice healthy option, was reasonably tasty, warm, and I was served quickly.
However it was rather on the expensive side and the portions were quite small.
Whilst this isn’t the worst place to go in other area’s of London, however in Spitalfields where there are so many lovely places to eat with lots of choice for reasonable prices, this really isn’t exceptable!
I shall not be returning, as whilst i like the food here I haven’t won the lottery yet.