I took my vegan-sceptic teenager to the city's latest vegan burger joint, but did he love it?

I could tell it was a bit of a disappointment when I said ‘Right, we’re going for a burger’ to my 14-year-old lad, and then quickly added ‘it’s vegan’. He crumpled his nose up and made a noise. This reaction doesn’t really fit with his general outlook, by the way.

He’s not a ‘no meat, no lunch’ type by any stretch. His favourite place in town by far is Bundobust, where he’d eat every day of the week if he could, and there’s not a single beast to be seen in those fine establishments.

That said, throw in a lottery win/crypto currency windfall and he’d be developing juvenile gout at Hawksmoor. But think burger, and he thinks beef, sadly, and that’s where we are. Why, if you’re opposed to animal products, would you want something that either looks like it, or is trying to create the same texture, he wonders on the way to the tram.

It’s a fair enough comment, but surely it’s also fine to miss some of the characteristics of meat, even if you’ve turned your back on the ethics of it. Nonetheless.

The Vurger Co arrived in the Northern Quarter (landing on Tib Street, next door to the giant piano showroom that the city has been crying out for for so long) a couple of months back, and it’s a very handsome place indeed, with white tiles, industrial ducting and nice chairs. It feels like it’s proud of its environmental creds, rather than being all smug about it too.

All the packaging is compostable (the Canary Wharf branch - there are just four in all - even has its own composter), and none of what you throw away goes to landfill, instead going back into the system to make green energy, which then powers the restaurants in a pleasing closed loop situation. The bog roll is from a company called Bumboo (it’s made from bamboo).

So