We tried Leonardo DiCaprio's favorite vegan chain Neat Burger in the UK and the US, and its quality and taste are consistent across the pond

Neat Burger first opened its doors at its flagship restaurant in central London in 2019. Since then, the chain has expanded to eight other locations in the city, with a mission of changing society's view of vegan food, according to its website.

In a statement shared with Plant Based News in 2020 following the opening of its second restaurant in Camden, co-founder Jordan Rocca called Neat Burger the world's "first plant-based sustainable burger chain" and said it's "committed to championing environmental sustainability and playing our part in positively impacting the environment."

While neither Maria Noyen or Pauline Villegas, Insider's reporters based in the UK and US, are vegan, they are both interested in learning more about sustainable food options. Take a look at their review of the chain, which opened its first US location in NYC's Nolita neighborhood in April.

Both DiCaprio, 48, and Hamilton, 38, are listed as investors of Neat Burger on the chain's website.

According to Hamilton's statement on the site, he played a role in creating the brand.

"We created Neat Burger to make plant-based eating more accessible to everyone, whether you eat plant-based all the time or just want to add it to your diet every now and again," Hamilton, who has been vegan since 2018, according to Men's Health, said. "I'm really proud of the boundaries we have been able to push in this space and the plans for expansion are really exciting."

Meanwhile, DiCaprio has a track record of being an outspoken environmentalist, having launched the Earth Alliance initiative in 2019. His statement on backing Neat Burger highlighted his belief that eating vegan can help reduce global emissions.

"Disrupting our food system with sustainable alternatives is one of the key ways we can make a real difference," he said.

Noyen, who lives in Notting Hill, took the tube to get to Neat Burger's Soho location at around 1 p.m. The journey overall took around 30 minutes, which is essentially how long it takes to get anywhere in London.

Soho is a colorful neighborhood in London and Neat Burger's floral exterior aesthetic fit right in.

From the colorful floor tiling to the neon signs, Noyen got the sense that the interior design was inspired, at least in part, by 1950s American diners.

Walking into the UK store, it was noticeable that many diners were on their lunch break from work. While most appeared to be picking up food for take away, some chose to dine in.

Villegas lives in Little Italy, about a block away from Neat Burger's newest location, so she had a short commute.

Nolita is a trendy hotspot filled with young people and tourists alike — making it the perfect place for Neat Burger's first US restaurant, Villegas thought.

Similarly to the Soho, London location, Neat Burger's US restaurant has a tropical vibe filled with green palms and wicker tables and chairs. Since Nolita is located next to tourist spots like Soho and Little Italy, the customers were a mixed bag of families and young people grabbing lunch.

Neat Burger's Nolita location officially opened on April 17, with a soft opening a week prior. The NYC Neat Burger has both indoor and outdoor seating options.

Every item on the menu came neatly packaged on a pastel-pink tray. On the menu, the tater tots and the Buffalo cauliflower each cost £3.50 ($4.30) while the Crispy Chick'n Sandwich and the Smash Daddy burger cost £7.99 ($10).

The UK locations have a few menu items, like the Smash Daddy burger, the Smoke Stack burger, and the Nasty Nachos, that aren't available to purchase in the US restaurant.

Texture-wise, Noyen was a big fan of how crispy so many of the items were. She also loved the spice in the Buffalo sauce, which was layered thickly on top of the cauliflower bites. Personally, since she isn't afraid of spice, Noyen could've had each food item covered in the Buffalo sauce.

As Noyen isn't vegan, one of her biggest takeaways was the sense that among the foods mimicking traditional meat items, nothing was lacking in flavor. But she also enjoyed that the menu had options such as the cauliflower bites that demonstrated how vegetables can be delicious too.

The loaded tots were coated in vegan mayonnaise, mustard, and, of course, Neat Burger's signature spicy Buffalo sauce. Topping it off, and adding a textural variety, are the crispy roasted shallots.

The portion was super substantial in size and Noyen felt she could barely make a dent in it before feeling full. It would be well suited for two or more diners and is better to eat quickly as the sauces can make the tots a little soggy after a while.

The best burger out of the two had to be the Smash Daddy, which came with two thin patties topped with cheese, pickles, and spicy sauce. The vegan cheese perfectly recreated the way that classic processed cheese melts on non-vegan burgers.

While Noyen enjoyed the Chick'n Sandwich, which is made from soy protein concentrate, sunflower oil, potato starch, salt, black pepper, and apple extract, she much preferred it after dipping it into the Buffalo spicy sauce.

If she came back, she would just go ahead and order the Buffalo Chick'n sandwich, which is basically the same thing but coated in the signature sauce and accompanied with slaw, pickles, and jalapeños.

Presentation is everything at Neat Burger's Nolita location. The $7.99 Cheez Burger, $3.99 Skinny Fries, and the $7.49 Buffalo Chick'n Tenders were served in pink and white striped boxes stamped with the green Neat Burger logo.

Neat Burger's french fries and Chick'n Tenders were the perfect bite-sized snack. According to a representative for Neat Burger, their vegan chicken recipe is made with wheat flour and pea protein. To Villegas, the Chick'n Tenders strongly imitated the texture of a chicken nugget.

Though Villegas has had better vegan cheese burgers, Neat Burger's Cheez Burger is a solid take on the American classic.

The vegan Chopped Cheez at Neat Burger will set you back $13.99, but Villegas believes the price tag is worth it. The Chopped Cheez at Neat Burger is made with a Double Neat patty, double Cheez, grilled onion, tomato, lettuce, and mayo in sub bread.

The grilled onions mixed with the Double Neat patty gave the whole sandwich a taste closer to the traditional meal: a sandwich made with ground beef, onions, melted cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes.

By the time Villegas was done with the Chopped Cheez, she had forgotten that what she ate was meatless.

A representative for the chain told Noyen that the milkshakes, which cost £7, or around $8.50, are all made using coconut milk. As Noyen enjoys the flavor of coconut, she didn't mind that the taste was noticeable in the strawberry and Oreo shakes. However, she did prefer the Caramel Cookie shake, in which she found the coconut impossible to taste.

The only issue with the shakes was that the ones that include chunks of cookie were difficult to drink through a straw if you don't start drinking immediately. The chunks got stuck and required Noyen get new straws in order to try each flavor.

One of the obvious differences between the cross-Atlantic orders was the variety and country-specific options. The US menu is much more expansive and offers an array of options outside of burgers, including multiple types of hot dogs and toasties. Meanwhile, the UK has a fewer of items that are not available in the US currently, such as the Mac N' Cheez and the nachos.

Ultimately, Noyen enjoyed her experience at Neat Burger and found it to be a solid alternative to ordering Five Guys or McDonald's on a night out. If anything, she could see herself getting a Neat Burger takeaway that would perfectly satisfy a hungover craving for fast food.

Villegas agrees that the vegan fast food is a fresher, healthier way to go about a cheat day. However, the New York-based reporter strongly recommends dining in at the Nolita location. The location and layout of Neat Burger makes it the perfect aesthetic to slurp down a vegan shake and fries with friends.