Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
Pizza
Italian
Mediterranean
Beer/Wine
Take-out
Vegetarian cafe and restaurant set in a complex that also houses cinemas and a jazz bar. Menu offers snacks like olives and potato wedges, pizzas, pasta dishes, salads, and mains like wellington plus drinks and ice cream for dessert. Established since the 2000s. Open Mon-Sun 10:00-22:00. Restaurant is closed Mon but the caféi s for drinks and cakes until 5pm.
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Last update on 05 Aug 2023 by geometric-noise
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108 Reviews
First Review by jonnie
Veganolive1
Points +4813
Please Speak To Staff - Edit
Visited for dinner and sat on a table where I could see staff behind a glass screen in front of the pass eating in between serving customers, one with his hands, which I find very unprofessional and unhygienic and this has reduced my score. Staff should be eating food on their break not whilst working.
Read moreThe starters were delicious, polenta wedges with tomato salsa, barbecued fennel with black olive tapenade and sweet potato wedges with houmous and warm tomato dip. The main courses were not great, caponata pasta which was bland with a way too sweet sauce and a gluten free pecan and cashew wellington, which was basically the nut balls off another dish with no pastry. We thought it would be made with gluten free pastry the nut balls my husband did not like. Many of the staff are quite abrupt in manner and not especially welcoming either at all apart from Lucy who was very nice.
Updated from previous review on 2022-01-20
Pros: Vegan options, Vegan wines and drinks labelled
Cons: Staff eating whilst working
Guest
Feed-Your-Mind
Points +259
Love this place - Edit
Was recommended by a local. Absolutely delicious, worth the extra bit of money. Everything we had was high standard.
Read moreHighly recommend the nut roast and had 2 great starters
Pros: Very good vegan option
Cons: More pricey that many the Thai place across the r
Guest
Sazmosa
Points +331
So good I chose pasta when pizzas were an option! - Edit
The staff were really friendly and welcoming. I had the nut ball spaghetti and it was delightful. No extra charge for plant milks.
Read moreInteresting menu!
Pros: All veggie - lots of vegan options, A range. I had to choose! , Seemed genuinely Italian and a well loved place
Cons: Drinks are quite expensive
Guest
·X·
Points +22955
Zeffirellis - 3.5 Stars - Edit
Nice Italian vegetarian restaurant in Ambleside. The vegan garlic cheese bread appetizer tasted excellent. The pesto Genovese was good but would have been better with a different type of noodle and some salt. The spaghetti arrabiata was not great, boring, and overpriced at £15.
Read moreGuest
KimMichelle
Points +74
Exceptional service - Edit
Amazing service and people working there.
Read moreThe food had a huge variety of options for vegans and I had plenty of choice for Vegan and Gluten free too.
Really tasty food. Can't fault it.
Pros: Many vegan options. , Plenty of GF options , Space between diners
Cons: Homophobic diners going unchecked
Guest
AshSned
Points +710
Amazing food - Edit
My wife and I shared pizza and pasta and everything was so tasty. I actually thought they had gave us dairy cheese so had to check…which is a good sign for me as I’m not a massive fan of vegan cheese. Dessert was also amazing.
Read moreGuest
KathyMartin
Points +45
Superb food! - Edit
We popped in here for lunch without realising how extensive the vegan menu was! Almost 95% of the menu had vegan alternatives. We had a wonderful meal and dessert
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options , Great desserts, Knowledge staff
Cons: None!
Guest
TrineBregstein
Points +53
Good vegan options and gluten free offerings too - Edit
Went with family, one of whom is coeliac and we were all catered for really well. Friendly staff, good service and tasty food. There were seven of us and we were all really happy with our starters, pizzas, pastas and deserts. The sticky toffee with vegan ice cream was scrumptious.
Read moreGuest
DLG78
Points +65
Great choice in Ambleside - Edit
We went to Zeffs twice while in Ambleside, once as part of their cinema meal deal and again the following night. The restaurant is lovely, with friendly attentive staff and prices are reasonable, especially if going for the cinema deal. The food is good but not amazing, I found the vegan options good, tried the Nut wellington which was lovely but I would say the red wine sauce was on the rich side for me. Sticky toffee pudding with vegan ice cream was superb. The following night we had a pizza and again it was very good. Food comes out rather quickly which is either a very efficient kitchen or pre prepared dishes heated up?
Read morePros: Great staff, Nice environment
Cons: A little expensive , Food a bit rich at times
Guest
JBeardsmore
Points +148
Beautiful place - Edit
Great grub all veggie with loafs of vegan options
Read moreCons: Expensive
Guest
catherinePrice
Points +21
Absolutely stunning menu, I’m not used to this much choice when eating out - Edit
So much choice I’m not used to this amount of choice, brilliant.
Read morePros: All vegetarian and can be vegan too
Cons: Nothing
Guest
MarthaBawn
Points +200
Amazing - Edit
Best food we have had in a long time and in the area! Proper Italian authentic food. If you want a taste and feel of Italy this is the place! Delicious! Staff are even Italian and were very nice. Service was excellent!!
Read morePros: Lots of options , They do gluten free and vegan , Staff were great
Cons: Not many vegan desserts , Not close to where I live
Guest
oriolpascual
Points +113
Nice place to eat - Edit
My vegan pizza was good. Not the best pizza ever, but good. Service was nice. Missing more vegan desserts options.
Read moreGuest
Veganmeglutenfree😃
Points +308
Beautiful place - Edit
Lovely food
Read moreService spot on and nothings too much trouble
Updated from previous review on 2022-03-08
Pros: Vegans options and gluten free, Decor beautiful , Staff very helpful
Guest
veganjen83
Points +294
Great choice for vegans - Edit
Love coming here, great vegan options, nice staff who understand vegan. Pasta is lovely as are starters and desserts.
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options. , Nice staff., Tasty food.
Guest
JoanneMann
Points +43
Tasty! - Edit
Really enjoyed evening dinner. Great atmosphere and decor. Felt like we could have been in LA 😄. Food is great. And service fantastic. It’s great to be a vegan in Ambleside!!
Read moreGuest
steviste
Points +68
Awesome - Edit
Almost all vegan, great ambience, great service.
Read moreBest vegan nut wellington and sticky toffee pud in 30 years
Guest
OpheliaAutumn
Points +529
Good food and cinema - Edit
We had a great lunch there before making use of their movie deal!
Read moreThe vegan options were good and clearly labelled.
An enjoyable experience!
Pros: Good food, Cinema deal, Good vegan choices
Cons: Not fully vegan
Guest
TinieMelter
Points +194
Up there with the best vegan pizza we’ve had! - Edit
We were lucky enough to get a last minute reservation here after a long day on Scafell Pike. Both myself and my partner had a 14” vegan pizza each - it was divine!
Read moreReturned the following night to try the Wellington as it looked so good and it did not disappoint. Highly recommend a 3 course meal here (if you can afford it) the soup of the day and sticky toffee pudding were also to die for.
Guest
Dave912
Points +110
Excellent as usual! - Edit
Had the Pecan and Cashew Wellington which was fantastic, just enough space for the lovely Ginger and pear sticky toffee pudding. My wife had the equally lovely Summer Pudding.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2021-09-14
Guest
plates_full_of_joy
Points +79
Great atmosphere and very tasty food - Edit
Excellent service and a really lovely atmosphere. Loads of space when a lot of restaurants were full and we were getting hangry! Plenty of vegan options and staff were very thorough. Incredible vegan sticky toffee puddings 🤤
Read moreGuest
KT001
Points +1568
Lots of vegan options - Edit
Tasty food, lovely setting in the middle of Ambleside.
Read moreThere is a vegan alternative for most veggie options. The sticky toffee pudding dessert was delicious
Pros: Lots of vegan options clearly indicated on menu , Efficient staff, Wine and beer clearly indicated as vegan on menu
Cons: A tad expensive , arrabiata not spicy (even with xtra chilli)
Guest
sparkledust
Points +374
Good pizza! - Edit
Couple of different vegan pizza options. Great service. Wine clearly labeled vegan.
Read moreGuest
Guruofsurf
Points +651
Lovely food but they served feta to me by mistake. - Edit
Firstly lovely looking restaurant and super efficient and friendly staff. Online booking system works well and was busy but the kitchen was coping well.
Read moreOrdered the mezze platter and made sure they knew it was the vegan version. The player turned up and I happily tucked into the garlic bread and then noticed that there were feta looking pieces in one of the pots. At first I assumed that it was one of the many replacement cheeses you can get now but upon smelling I wasn’t sure. I asked the waiter and to be fair to him he looked horrified and quickly grabbed everything and hurried it to the kitchen. Including my half eaten bread. Shortly a new platter arrived with vegan cheese. It may be that the new garlic bread was oil rather than butter based. Not a good start but the platter tasted good and the two meals of a pizza and a chilli were very good. The restaurant didn’t charge us for the platter and were very apologetic but I would expect a fully vegetarian restaurant to do better. A shame because for the rest of the evening I was checking that everything was vegan and okay.
Guest
oliveras
Points +67
Okay, but expected better - Edit
The restaurant was nicely decorated and the staff were nice, but was left mostly disappointed. Maybe that's just because we expected more of an authentic Italian style pizza, which it was not. The toppings were fine but the base was that kind of oily thin crust but deep pan cooking style which you'd expect from more of a fast food place. I loved the fact they cater for vegans so well, and I hate to not highly rate places doing so, but we wouldn't return for the pizza at least. If I rated the pizza as a thing of its own, then it was decent.
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options, Good staff and atmosphere
Cons: Pizza was a let down
Guest
VelillaDeOswestry
Points +3562
Nice venue and some good dishes - Edit
We got the movie deal wich is £25 per person. We thought that depending on what you get it is a bit expensive. We highly recommend the vegan Wellington and the ginger and pear toffee pudding. They were amazing. Staff were really friendly.
Read moreGuest
naomip123
Points +4818
Classy Italian place - Edit
This place is beautifully decorated and really has the ambience of a restaurant in Italy. The staff were knowledgeable and polite. The food was delicious - I had the vegan garlic bread with cheese to start (beware, it's the size of a 9" pizza!) and then a vegan Rain Forest for my main (some money is donated to an Indian charity). The garlic bread was amazing - so cheesy and garlicky! The pizza was also lovely - lots of good vegan cheese, peppers, jalapeños and spinach. Delightful! I was worried there wouldn't be enough food because the 12" pizza base isn't vegan, so you can only have the 9" one, but luckily the pizza was so piled with toppings that this wasn't a problem. My wife had a Caprese salad and the Big One (non-vegan) pizza and enjoyed them both. Some of the desserts looked good but we didn't have any room, sadly. Upstairs is a cinema which is cool.
Read morePros: All veggie and lots of vegan options, Atmosphere, Good quality of food
Guest
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