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Vegetarian cafe in East Oxford painted bright red. Hosts live music and art display. Has various vegan options. Open Mon-Sat 09:00-18:00. Closed Sun.
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Last update on 16 Aug 2024 by Guest
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17 Reviews
First Review by tinkerbell
mcld
Points +1076
Relaxed hippy vibe - Edit
I liked this place. Big and spacious, interesting art over the walls. I only had tea and cake, so I can't comment on the meals, but I hung around a while. It's a relaxed and friendly place, served me a huge wedge of vchoc cake and plenty of tea.
Read moreGuest
PrincessPudding
Points +249
Nice revamp! - Edit
Updating my previous review from 2018 following the renovation of Magic Cafe. The food quality has really improved - fresh and varied produce with many vegan options.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2022-02-19
Pros: Nice community vibe, Family friendly, Spacious
Cons:
Guest
Mandy86
Points +382
Amazing daily tray bakes - Edit
Different tray bakes daily, really tasty. Hard to pick one! Good value meal where you add 3 salads to your main. Loyalty stamp card scheme here too. I miss no longer working nearby to here.
Read morePros: Tray bakes!
Guest
Laurieshriver
Points +18
Great Vibe - Edit
The lunch vegan options were amazing! They could offer better vegan desserts (mine was dry, but tasted good) and should offer either vegan soft serve ice cream or shakes, then I would give all five stars.
Read moreGuest
Gastroplodder
Points +76
Simple, tasty, nutritious, cheap - Edit
I love the Magic Cafe! They have a pretty basic menu always (well whenever I've been there) with a vegan main meal and often a vegan soup. They have soya milk for coffee/hot choclate. Cheap enough to have a filling meal and a hot drink with change from a tenner!
Read moreAll other menu choices are vegetarian.
Pros: Friendly, Cheap, Reliably good vegan meal
Cons: Can get busy so may have to share table, Sometimes there are lots of kids (not that I mind)
Guest
tendaystogo
Points +269
Yummy! - Edit
Nice, hearty sweet potato and chickpea curry with cous cous, and delicious sweet potato fries (I think that's what they were!). My mum had a vegetarian pie which she said was delicious, and she also had some yummy salads. I had the date cake, which was powdery and light and yummy! I had a coffee which was good too.
Read moreThere was only one vegan option on offer when I went, but luckily it tasted really good. Also the other vegan cakes had sold out :(
There were many children but that was fun entertainment! People were sat on chairs, or working on tables with laptops. A nice community vibe.
Pros: Child friendly, nice atmosphere, good vegan and vegetarian food
Cons: none
Guest
erinpryme
Points +34
Beautiful Food !! - Edit
This restaurant serves amazing vegan and vegetarian food. It has a very simply lay out - but don't judge the food based on that ! We really enjoyed the atmosphere - the service was excellent. It's not a very flashy restaurant but I can't deny the quality of the food and the price !! Definitely worth a visit !!
Read moreGuest
frackles
Points +57
Was cool 10 years ago, not so much now - Edit
This place has great food but they haven't updated the furniture or feel and are now behind the times. It is a shame, this place used to be very hip but now it is just a bit tired and dated – even though the food is still fantastic. Needs to rethink itself in the market and think how it can be the subculture cafe it once was!
Read morePros: Good food, Friendly staff
Cons: Tired and no longer cool, Gets swarmed by babies often
Guest
Anacbordalo
Points +152
Could be worse - Edit
I found it very lovely for the vibe. Oxford doesn't have a lot of places free from corpses, so that was definitely a good thing. It did upset me that they only had one plant based option. The menu had the main dish plus three salads. Had to go through the salads' ingredients as one of them was finishing and was being replaced with one with cheese. Had I not noticed it, I'm pretty sure they would have given me the vegan plate with the animal secretion salad. It always bugs me when veg places insist on food that revolves around animal secretions. But from what I have seen so far, that's quite normal in Oxford. So far, it's still the best I found there.
Read morePros: Plant based food in a good portion, Plant based cake, Music and decoration
Cons: Animal secretions everywhere (ask everything!), Far from the city centre
Guest
Creationmc
Points +66
Magic cafe is 'magic' - Edit
Been meaning to write a review of this cafe since summer. I'm vegan (for 21 years) and had a day trip to Oxford in August so decided to try the Magic cafe. Absolutely loved it!! Really chilled out atmosphere, great background music and the food was beyond my expectations - excellent salads, real home cooked main courses and vegan cakes! I was so happy I tipped them £10. If you want alternative, individual and beautifully simplistic - then this is it in Oxford. I wish you every success Magic Cafe.
Read morePros: Food, Place, Decor
Cons: Maybe a bit of a walk from city centre
Guest
ives31
Points +20
Good but not great - Edit
My first visit to The Magic cafe.
Read moreDisappointed to find that the vegan options for the main courses were limited to one dish.
What I had was tasty and nice but the dish was luke warm.However, it was reasonable.
I liked the atmosphere with big old mismatched tables. has a kind of hippy vibe. Very relaxed.
Staff seemed polite but a little disinterested.
I'm so grateful for any cafe that serves vegan food, however limited, that I will definitely go again.
Overall 3/5
Pros: cheap, tasty food, good portion sizes
Cons: limited vegan options
Guest
Nicci
Points +20
Would not say 'Vegan Friendly'. - Edit
We tried to visit this cafe today but left without eating anything. Asked what was vegan was told maybe soup. The staff member was quite rude and unhelpful - she didn't know what was vegan and was unwilling to ask in the kitchen. I don't really expect this from a vegetarian cafe. I would suggest vegans avoid this cafe due to the lack of knowledge of the staff and the availability of other restaurants/cafes in the area offering good vegan food (and being knowledgeable about what they sell!)
Read moreGuest
VeganFoodEnthusiast
Points +106
Underwhelming Vegan Options - Edit
I've been here a couple of times in the past, though I've only eaten once, because the pickings for vegans were rather slim. I had a slice of banana and date cakeas it was the only vegan thing on the menu they still had. It was very dry and rather boring, I wouldn't recommend it. I believe the 'soup of the day' was vegan (not sure if it always is) and also a big salad dish.
Read moreThis would probably make a nice lunch stop for vegetarians, but for vegans it was a little dissapointing.
Pros: Fully vegetarian, Cool bookshop next door
Cons: Food wasn't that great, Few vegan options
Guest
spacehopper
Points +15
Well worth a visit - Edit
We came twice while in Oxford both late afternoon and had a choice of dishes, a treat for veggies to have choices especially after lunchtime, loved the aubergine bake and the side salads, curries were a little hot for us. Very friendly and relaxed with mums and kids chatting over cofee.
Read morePros: Good food, Good price
Cons: Can be noisy kids
Guest
Zeki Min
Points +16
Great Food, Good Music, Very Nice Service! - Edit
We really had a wonderful time at the Magic Cafe. It has two new owners now. Deki was great to us and served us memorable food!
Read moreThe cakes were also really good.
Would have loved it even more, if it was completely vegan. But that's just me.
Pros: Service, Food, Hot Chocolate
Cons: Not Completely Vegan
Guest
pisceschic
Points +104
Decent - Edit
I was excited to find a shop with vegan food right next to a very cool bookstore called the Inner Bookshop. But the spiced fruit cake I had was disappointing. While the flavor was good, it was quite dry. I preferred the coconut chocolate flapjack I had at Uhuru Wholefoods. There were other vegan deserts on the menu that weren't available and a few vegan savory dishes that I didn't try. It's worth a visit.
Read moreGuest
tinkerbell
Points +73
dull food, dull place - Edit
Uninspiring food with the environment to match.
Read moreAlways seems to be children running about whilst their parents ignore this behaviour. Really hard to finish food with all this going on. Left without finishing food, not that we missed out. Had chips on the way home!!
Cons: dull food, unhelpful staff
Guest
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