Gloriously guilt-free menus for a healthier New Year

Whether overhauling your diet for Veganuary, turning down a tipple as part of Dry January or simply looking to feel fitter post Christmas indulgence, for most of us the first month of the year ushers in a health kick in one form or another. Luckily, some of the UK's best chefs and restaurants are on hand with tempting, guilt-free menus to make the transition all that easier.

Making vegetables, herbs and fruit the stars of the plate rather than an afterthought, Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social goes beyond the token vegan inclusion to not only offer a range of creative and vibrant plant-based dishes, but also two dedicated tasting menus complete with paired wines. The decadent eight-course option, priced at £95 without wine, transitions from light and fresh flavour combinations of green vegetable salad, bitter leaves and fennel pollen or braised broccoli stem, lemon puree, toasted almonds and seaweed, to a rich and earthy pearl barley risotto served with roasted woodland mushrooms and truffle. To finish is an indulgent dessert of dark chocolate, pear sorbet and soya milk.

Theo Randall has put an Italian spin on animal product-free cuisine at the InterContinental, Park Lane. Here, being vegan doesn't mean missing out the restaurant's trademark pasta: a special set menu, priced at £29 for two courses or £35 for three, includes dishes such as linguine with violet aubergines, tomato and basil. As with Randall's usual offering, the food relies on seasonal Italian produce for taste over the often gimmicky ingredients that can form specialist food diets.

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For those not ditching the meat completely but looking for a healthier alternative when eating out, Craft London, in Greenwich Peninsula, places an emphasis on well-balanced, vegetable-heavy dishes packed with wholesome ancient grains and pulses. The ingredients also tick all the right boxes in terms of provenance; unusually for a restaurant in the capital, much of what they serve is produced in house, from seasonal produce grown on site to honey sourced from the resident beehives. For the best value, take advantage of Test Kitchen Tuesday, where you can sample a tasting menu of up to eight potential new dishes for just £28.