• REMOVED: Ila Cafe

  • (19)
    36

    Closed

  • White Veg-options
Vegan-friendly
Lacto
International
Fast food
Take-out
British
Fusion
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available Casual eatery opened summer 2019 in a spot near Lambeth North station. Sells snacks and dishes like pulled-jackfruit burger, butternut lentil spinach stew, peanut chickpea with red rice, and Indian red lentil vegetable dhal. Each main meal is accompanied by a side salad and grain mix or brown rice. A fridge is stocks with a selection of beverages. Grab n go style. Previously vegetarian, reported added meat to the menu in Aug '22. Removed January 2024: Limited vegan options.


Venue map for Ila Cafe
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19 Reviews

First Review by The London Vegan

thisisabore

Points +58

Vegan
19 Dec 2023

Not a veggie place

I came here in August 2022 following the HappyCow reviews: the place is no longer vegan, serves meat front and centre and had very few veggie options. I left disappointed.

It seems they've kept their old website up, adding to the confusion about the place being vegan, but the website doesn't look like it's been updated in years (probably since 2020) and their Deliveroo and Uber Eats pages show they now serve boba and waffles? In any case, this place should probably be removed from HappyCow as it (no longer) makes an effort to cater for vegans and vegetarians.

tbfnz

Points +955

Vegan
15 Jan 2023

A lovely little spot

We were here when this place opened in June 2019 😊

The food was nice, as was the service. The grain mix was a little lacking for me. A warm vinaigrette and/or some seasoning would go a long way. The jackfruit burger was nice and the mushroom stroganoff was ok. The stroganoff needed the creaminess, thickness and depth of flavour that a true stroganoff has (even vegan or vegetarian ones). Hopefully these guys adapt the recipe to lift the dish.

Pros: Nice bright setting , Friendly staff, Good vegan & vegetarian options

Banana___Monster

Points +328

Vegetarian
27 Dec 2022

Most vegan dishes are removed after combined with current BBT

Only left rice with vegan curries option.

The only dish that doesn't contain any onion or garlic will be the Vegetarian Burger at the costs of 5 pounds.

Cons: Limited Vegan option , 1 vegetarian Burger option

jmiller00

Points +18

Vegan
06 Aug 2022

So nice and so affordable

Very swag flavour explosion we got vegan chicken burger and vegan chicken wrap and my gf got the boba too so nice place very cozy and quiet

13Daniella

Points +15

Vegetarian
28 Jun 2022

Amazing food!! So happy to find good , high quality veg food.

I’ll come back her daily no doubt.

Pros: הרבה אופציות טבעוניות, אוכל מזין ואיכותי, תחליף למנה עיקרית ( נאגטס, פלאפל)

boxybaby

Points +48

Vegan
15 Mar 2022

Handy local place

Iota of vegan options including vegan breakfast options that can be tricky to find. Does coffee and teas too - very tasty

Pros: Cheap , Friendly staff

StefanoE

Points +493

Vegan
16 Sep 2021

Tiny cafe near the tube

Had the Brazilian tomato and black bean. I quite liked it. Was heated served well and the price/portion does not disappoint.

Pros: Nice food, Polite service

Cons: Juice is made form concentrate , No lol, Very small

RatThot

Points +20

Vegan
16 Jun 2021

Quick and cheap

Good food, mostly vegan, cheap for central London.

Kekskönigin

Points +379

Vegan
16 Oct 2020

Cheap and Tasty food

The place is really small with very little seating. We were eating in one day ans in the other day we took something home.
Most of their Mains are vegan, a few are vegetarian.
We tried the pulled Jackfruit Burger (very good, 4,99), the Brazillian Tomato, the Jackfruit Chilli, the Sri Lankan Curry and the Red Thai Curry (best of the ones we tried so far). You can mix 2 of them if you want and also have Grain Mix and Brown Rice (I recommend the Grain Mix though ) and salad. It is quite a filling Meal for 4,99. And the owner is a very sweet Person.
I really want to go again to try some of the other Stuff.
They sell some Packaged Snacks like Nakd Bars and Jackfruit or Banana Crisps as well. They also have Cakes- but when we went there, These were not vegan but vegetarian.

Update (Oct. 20): they have Sushi now in addition to their stews and curries. Great!!! Also this time there was a vegan chocolate cake available.

Pros: Affordable, Healthy and tasty , Friendly owner

Cons: Little seating

ilavegan&Veg

11 Mar 2020

SaurinB.Shah

Points +66

Vegan
10 Mar 2020

Great Food, Full of Vegetables and Grains not processed soya

Place is very clean, small but welcoming. So many options, great surprise. Mix and Match Curries, Rice, Salad all for 4.99. Very friendly staff too.

ilavegan&Veg

11 Mar 2020

Thank you, we are adding more options and breakfast items

gbeg

Points +58

Vegan
12 Feb 2020

Wholesome and yummy

Good range of vegan options

Veggiekiwi

Points +19

Vegan
01 Feb 2020

Tasty wholesome food

Great range of both vegan and vegetarian dishes. I chose the Persian stew which came with mixed grains and salad. Good portion size, reasonably priced and a solid healthy meal. A great find for a cold winter day. Would definitely come again!

Pros: Good value, Tasty, Wholesome

Cons: Couldn't think of any - went away happy and full!

ilavegan&Veg

11 Mar 2020

chb-pbfp

Points +10605

Raw
12 Dec 2019

Vegan fast food

Litlle place with few seatings, with a vegetarian and vegan only proposal. It's really fast food...now quality price, it's ok.

Pros: Vegan fast food

Cons: I'm not so fan of fast food

Korolius

Points +176

Vegan
09 Dec 2019

Very good!

The vegan curry with cauliflower was delicious and the service was great! Really enjoyed it😄

Pros: Many vegan options , Cheap

ilavegan&Veg

11 Mar 2020

unmond

Points +769

Vegan
24 Nov 2019

Affordable, tasty, satisfying

I walk past Ila every day on my way to and from work and always get tempted by their delicious-looking dishes. Recently, I gave in and finally went for dinner there.
The person behind the counter was very friendly and forthcoming, helpfully offering me the grain mix *and* rice when I couldn't decide which of the two to have with my lentil, spinach, and butternut stew. The portion was of a decent takeaway size and even included a little side salad, at a super affordable prize. Still, I was a bit bummed to discover that they only had disposable dishes and cutlery, even for eat-ins like me.
The stew I had was nothing out of the ordinary, something you can easily cook at home, but it was absolutely tasty. It's good to know that there's a nice and healthy lunch/dinner option around the corner. I'll be back for sure!
As a side note though, be aware that it's definitely more of a takeaway place than a dine-in refuge as seating is limited!

Pros: affordable

Cons: limited seating, only disposable plastic dishes

kennyp353

Points +1715

Vegetarian
12 Nov 2019

Really good food at a great price

Really enjoyed the food here, and I'll go again. But I really didn't like eating in on disposable plates and cutlery in 2019. Compostable, vegware, whatever - it's still single-use and immensely wasteful.

Cons: single-use plates and cutlery for eat-in

Pandayoof

Points +37

Vegan
02 Oct 2019

Affordable with great healthy food

Small but friendly place with quite a lot of vegan options including a vegan cake. Options are varied e.g. Sri Lankan style veg, Brazilian tomato, Thai etc. and tasty and flavourful. We were even offered tasters of the vegan dishes as we were being indecisive.

Pros: Friendly staff, Good value, Healthy and filling food

SorchaCullen

Points +62

Vegan
25 Sep 2019

Really nice little spot

What a gem of a place, especially in an area that has so few vegan options. Healthy, filling, tasty dinner for £4.99? Yes please!

Pros: Lots of vegan options, Healthy, tasty food, Lovely staff

Cons: Small place, only two small tables

The London Vegan

Points +2393

Vegan
14 Jul 2019

Nice food, lots of vegan options

This place is ok, to me it feels like a place that isn’t run buy a veggie or a vegan but someone who is trying to get involved in the market. All of the cakes and pastries are veggie not vegan and just standard things and the bread they use for the jackfruit burger is just a standard cheap roll, no vegan brioche or artisan sourdough etc. Some plantware but also plastic wastage. Prices ok though - all meals around £5 which is cheaper than street food stalls. In summary, I will definitely go again as it’s a good option for the area but could be so much better.

ilavegan&Veg

16 Jul 2019

Thank you for your review. We are adding more vegan items now. We already added vegan cakes and pastries. Most of our main hot meals are vegan and they are freshly produced in BRC accredited kitchen with no preservatives or artificial flavours used. Bread we use for jackfruit burger is vegan and the reason we use this particular buns is they have less preservatives that normal buns. We looking to add vegan brioche. We are proud that we do not use any plastics in our packaging. All our packages are compostable (All our packages are Vegware). We will advertise it on our window. The clear cups we use for juice and smoothies are plant based items and fully compostable. There are few popular brands of water/juice they come in plastic bottles, but we have glass bottled items too. We may look to phase out all plastic bottles. We opened recently and we are adding more choices. Thank you once again for your valuable comment.

kennyp353

12 Nov 2019

It would be better for eat-in to use washable plates and cutlery rather than disposable. And I'm not certain the sampler spoon and container weren't single-use plastic?




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