Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Organic
Western
Juice bar
Take-out
Catering

Eatery focused on organic ingredients. The menu includes pancakes, smashed avocado, burgers, nachos, okonomiyaki, and fresh salads. Take away is served in biodegradable packs & reusable glass jars. Reopened 2019 under new ownership. Reported to use dairy September 2023. Open Mon-Fri 9:00am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 9:00am-3:00pm.


Venue map for Island Whole Foods
© OpenStreetMap contributors

55 Reviews

First Review by PotatoesTho

KevJohnson

Points +363

Vegan
14 Jul 2018

Great Find on the Island

Found this gem while visiting the Island and it was great to be able to order everything on the menu without asking to leave items out. A completely vegan place is hard find in the country. Tried the Scrambled Tofu while my partner had the Japanese Pancakes and we were not disappointed, meals were spot on. Staff were friendly and helpful, little crowded but that only points to a place that’s well patronise.

Pros: Completely Vegan

abbey.lee

Points +37

Vegan
24 Jun 2024

Incredible place

The best place on the island to eat for a vegan. Great small cafe, with breakfast and lunch options. Coffee & smoothies.
It’s a weekly go to for me. Lots of house made vegan sweet treats too

Pros: Comfortable space, variety of options, Great friendly service

BreakfastKlutz

Points +12253

Vegan
16 Jun 2024

A different business

Happycow should automatically limit vegetarian eateries to 4 stars, and remove a star from every review, for businesses like this that go backwards. This one still markets themselves as vegan online, even though they have been selling dairy since at least Sept 2023.

----------------
Island Whole Foods was raffled off for a bar of chocolate 17th October 2018 and did not re-open until 5th April 2019 as a vegetarian cafe. Thankfully by the time of this review 7th June 2019 they were vegan again!

We had an iced mocha which was decent, while not amazing, and a burger that was interestingly odd, but could use some fine tuning of the ingredients. The patty itself is unlike any that I have had before and will not appeal to those wanting something greasy and generic à la LOTF. The roll was unfortunately toasted making it impossible to eat the burger as a burger, but at least it wans't one of the cheap coloured fad buns.
Some options are only available before midday, and most only after midday, making the moderate menu a touch restrictive, there were only 3 items that we considered, including the nachos, but photos of this dish on social media quickly vetoed that option.
Very happy that that they made the decision to be an ethical business (extra star awarded for that, but yet again the Happycow rating system is far too restrictive). Hopefully Island Whole Foods look towards improving the menu soon.

Updated from previous review on 2024-06-15

Cons: Dairy

JamesManley98

Points +138

Vegan
06 Mar 2024

Cute Vegan Cafe

Stumbled across this great cafe, which I didn't realise was fully vegan; always a great sirprise! It is relatively cheap for big portions of pancakes and interesting coffee choices.

Would highly recommend!

Pros: Cute atmosphere, Friendly staff, Great food

BreakfastKlutz

15 Jun 2024

They are vegetarian, they serve dairy while still marketing themselves as vegan.

Tiggy

15 Jun 2024

Wow still marketing as vegan? Misrepresentation on top of the animal abuse?

BreakfastKlutz

16 Jun 2024

They had a post on instagram yesterday, saying that had been trialling dairy for a while, and are now sticking with it. Meanwhile Happycow has them as using dairy again since at least Sept 2023. Their website and instagram still proclaim them to be vegan though...

StephF

Points +133

Vegan
21 Feb 2024

Delicious!

I haven’t been in quite a while but went twice this week and both experiences were great. The first time I got the smashed avocado and an iced chilli choc chai, the second time came back for the tofu scramble - added the sautéed mushrooms both times because omg the way they do their mushrooms is next level. Everything was beautifully presented and the staff were super lovely.

Pros: Lovely staff , Beautiful dishes , Great location

KarolinaJoniec

Points +341

Vegan
20 Feb 2024

Nice cafe with great coffee and good food

Cozy little place with friendly staff and a vegan menu. They do serve dairy for coffee, but the food is all vegan. I had banana pancakes, yum and super filling.
Later I returned and tried the tofu scramble and the burger - all very tasty and beautifully presented.

Updated from previous review on 2024-02-15

Kt_pies

Points +109

Vegan
24 Jan 2024

Delicious All Vegan Cafe

Beautiful options available.

We ordered an iced Mocha with yummy coconut icecream.

Kids pancakes and cheese toastie were snapped up by the kids (and grown ups too).

Mint choc slice was also delish.

Pros: Lots of options, Indoor and outdoor seating, Kid options!

philwky

Points +3125

Vegan
11 Jan 2024

Great Food

Was really impressed with the scrambled tofu and side of sautéed mushrooms and vegan feta.

The choice on the menu was fantastic, and probably something for everyone.

Highly recommend.

vegantessa

Points +128

Vegan
06 Jan 2024

Yum!!!

Great food & coffee!!!!!! Delicious!!!!

Stringpullers

Points +20

Vegan
23 Dec 2023

Unique creative delicious high-quality attention-to-detail flavours

One of the best vegan cafes ever. Super high quality flavours and attention-to-detail in creative use of ingredients to maximise deliciousness. Owner is super nice, walks the walk, and knows what’s good!

Full review:

Pies & rolls all had a lot of thought put into the flavours and the outcome was extremely delicious. Subtle, not-too-over-the-top use of Worcestershire sauce for some of the pie filings was perfect. Very easy to over do that one.

Broccoli and cauliflower pie had delicious creaminess. High quality pastries all around. The homemade relish was out of this world - best relish I’ve ever had.

Tofu chickpea sausage roll had declicious flavour, couldn’t even taste the tofu, just tasted kind of like a veggie burger filing which was impressive.

Tofu scramble was super exotic and on point flavour-wise (possibly the best tofu scramble I’ve had). Nice little touch of optional chilli jam for the adventurous.

Open burger had an organic veggie patty which was top notch. Beefless burger was super hearty and hit the spot with lots of umami, savoury, and creamy aioli sauce.

Protein balls were all delicious; favourite was the mocha - soft and beautifully refined combo of coffee and choc. Peanut butter one was also really really good.

Tried literally all the dessert slices and these were our favourite: Espresso slice; Pistachio slice; Snickers.

Super grateful for such an amazing array of vegan treats, thank you!!!

Updated from previous review on 2023-12-23

Pros: Tofu scramble, Espresso slice, Pies & rolls (and the relish)

SherryMarshall

Points +42

Vegan
20 Nov 2023

Finally, I found a vegan place in Cowes.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of vegan options in Cowes. Thanfully, this place is a little gem.

Pros: Great options, Friendly staff

Cons: The extras are a little expensive

crispi_1971

Points +773

Vegan
11 Nov 2023

Lots of options

Found this wholly vegan option. Great.

Pros: Options, Great food, Inexpensive

Cons: Closed after lunch

Misterelder

Points +26

Vegan
22 Oct 2023

Tofu scramble!!!

Great food and people! All vegan!

Phizzi

Points +92

Vegan
20 Jul 2023

Great food, friendly staff and cute space

We had a nice brunch with hot drinks. Portions were good without being overwhelming, the food was high quality and tasty, and our drinks were amazing.

Raspberries

Points +459

Vegan
08 Jul 2023

Yum!

Excellent food!! Loved the Rosti and beans!

MichLeanne

Points +268

Vegan
11 Jun 2023

Best on the island!

Lovely little breakfast/brunch or lunch. Wish it were open for dinner too

Pros: All vegan , Gf options , Homemade fetta!

Hock007

Points +11

Mostly Veg
09 May 2023

First class Vegan

Worth the drive from Melbourne just for breakfast! The koala sanctuary and penguins were a bonus.
Loved the smashed avocado and wife loved the beans. Best she’s ever had!
Shout out to Tom and his staff for creating a gem. Do yourself a favour …
Ps. Now open 7 days a week so suggest you check the cafe website for opening days/times or give Tom a call.

Pros: Vibe

Mycall

Points +150

Vegan
14 Apr 2023

Thank goodness they're here!

I had smokey beans and rosti and my husband had the okonomiyaki. Both delicious. The iced chocolate was yum and by the end I was very full! I thought the food was well priced, especially for a holiday destination and we were just so glad there was at least one obvious and quality vegan place on the island. They've found their niche because the rest is slim pickings! We will be back at least one more time in our three day stay.

Pros: All vegan, Lots of options , Best on the island

samkaus

Points +359

Mostly Veg
26 Mar 2023

Great menu variety

Awesome menu options with many gluten free options

Pros: Great food selection- super tasty, Friendly service , Big meals, very filling

Cons: The kitchen closed at 2pm due to a quite day

Neth

Points +827

Vegan
19 Feb 2023

Fresh vegan paradise

Beautiful little Cafe in Cowes - heaps of lovely fresh healthy options, so delicious!

A little more on the pricey side but definitely worth supporting such a great vegan business! A real treat having so many vegan options in a regional town :)

Pros: Fully vegan!!, Yummy and fresh food, Friendly staff

Black Seville

Points +999

Vegan
14 Aug 2022

All vegan, nice staff and easy parking

This seems to be the only all vegan place in Phillip Island. The staff were very nice and friendly. There is also ample parking nearby. The place unfortunately closes in the afternoon and doesn't offer dinner, which means that there is no all vegan dinner option in Phillip Island, which is disappointing.

Updated from previous review on 2022-08-14

Pros: All vegan options , Nice staff , Easy parking

Cons: Expensive , Doesn't do dinner

neko_cam

Points +196

Vegan
17 Jun 2022

Great food, awesome staff

Get the smashed avo. The house made vegan feta is impressive and the pickles are a very interesting addition.

Pros: Fully vegan, Good variety, Friendly staff

rory_loves_veggies

Points +112

Vegan
03 Jun 2022

AMAZING!!!!!

100% vegan menu, incredible staff, even better food. Lovely vibe inside, had the falafel bowl and nachos with my partner and both were incredible. Falafel bowl was the star of the show. Couldn’t recommend any higher!

Pros: Delicious food, Affordable, Friendly staff

Roor

Points +66

Mostly Veg
17 Apr 2022

Can definitely recommend

Lovely place to get excellent food. Portions are ample, flavors are mind blowing. Add an awesome lot of staff and you've got your brekky/brunch/lunch set.

Pros: Delicious food, Super friendy staff and relaxed atmosphere

Morgyn

Points +142

Vegan
06 Feb 2022

Great food in a nice environment and reasonable prices

The chocolate chilli chai was a standout.

HelenLiu

Points +239

Vegan
14 Jan 2022

Tasty and pretty food

Fully Vegan place. Very consistent quality of food and beautiful presentation. The place has indoor and outdoor space. We loved the two burgers, Japanese pancake, curry, smoothies. The scrambled tofu was average tho.

Pros: Insta-worthy presentation, almost all items are delicious , nice vibe

Cons: scramble tofu, tables not so clean

JacobKrins

Points +16

Mostly Veg
28 Nov 2021

Great little cafe for the island

amazing menu with tons of options, very fair pricing and great little atmosphere

Pros: Entirely vegan menu, cheap for a vego cafe




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