Yayu Cafe — Restaurant in Ucluelet

The d-low: delicious, tasty, savory, revitalizing, refreshing, plant-based, healthy, and refreshing beverages & eats.

Breakfast: After a week of making some regrettable food and eating choices, landing upon Yayu was a blessing and very much needed. We were welcomed to such healthy, yet extremely tasty foods. For drink, I opted for the MUSHROOM CHOCOLATE (heirloom cacao + nourishing mushroom blend). My wife ordered the VIOLET BEAURGARDE (blueberry, banana, açaí, berry powder, and almond milk) smoothie. The mushroom chocolate was warm, and very soothing in the throat. It tasted like a guilt-free hot chocolate. The smoothie felt jam packed with some good stuff to start a day.

The inside of Yayu looks like the setting of a cute, rustic, by the country side wedding venue, turned coffee shop / cafe. The font choice used on the displays is that sleek cursive font that you see adorned on wedding invitations. You know what I’m talking about, right? There are succulents everywhere. I’m a huge plant guy so I appreciated this touch. There is a lot of warmth to the color and tones of the interior. The orange painted walls, met with the incoming stream of natural light from the open glass front entrance created a nice, warm, cozy feel. An open kitchen that is visible to you as you order continues with the open and exposed look as you meander around the side toward the back where there is a one stall restroom, just past the refrigerators and food storage areas. Mason jars line the shelves filled with grains, and other healthy ingredients for the concoctions made here in house.

The staff was extremely friendly and made conversation with us, asking what we were up to for the day, and coming to our table a few times to check in and see how our drinks and food were. It felt and seemed very genuine.

For breakfast, my wife ordered the PANCAKE STACK (pure maple syrup, berry compote, toasted walnuts, and coconut yogurt). I opted for the BREKKY BOWL (tumeric tofu scramble, roasted potatoes, vegetable medley, chimichurri field roasted sausage & fresh local greens).

The food was delicious. It felt like it was prepared with care. The bowls (coconut bowls) felt nice in the hand as I used my spoon to scrape every last bite. The portion size for us was perfect, but seeing other reviewers here, there is a mention of it being small. Just wait for it to expand. It felt like it was more than enough, and given the likely high quality of ingredients used the size of the meal felt right. The pancakes had a nice fluffiness and paired with the pure maple syrup and berry compote, it was well balanced with the pancake. The brekky bowl had a really nice taste, largely in part thanks to the tumeric. The ensemble of other vegetables inside all just worked together with every bite. With the variety of ingredients, almost every bite felt different texture wise, but it all routed back to the same delicious taste.

Lunch: It was the KOFTA CURRY (potato & pea kofta balls, tomato & coconut curry, served with organic naan) for me. And for my wife, the SUMO BREKKY BOWL! (tumeric tofu scramble, roasted potatoes, vegetable medley, chimichurri field roast vegetables & fresh local greens WITH double the veggie sausage, side of sourdough bread & avocado). I believe the sourdough was from the bakery next door, Zoey’s Bakery. Well, where ever it came from, it was delish. For Drink: 12oz radiance juice (apple, cucumber, seasonal greens, lemon & ginger).

Google reviews cutting this short so cutting to the chase. This place is 100 percent legit. I loved everything about this place so much so that we came back for lunch. I’d highly recommend you to boost your day by starting off here for breakfast or recharging after your morning by soaking up some tasty...

OMG! Best hummus I have EVER had! (Beautiful bowl) So creamy, flavorful and delicious. I wish I could make this at home in Texas! This bowl was filled with so much colorful vegetables. I left feeling very satisfied. I also had the chocolate mushroom balls and green smoothie (I forget the name -wake I think) which were exceptionally good. There was an herb in the smoothie that made every sip thoroughly enjoyable (agreed upon by all 3 of my friends with me who I absolutely insisted they try. I don't usually like smoothies due to 'meh'- ness, or leave reviews, but I felt compelled to leave a review here bc the whole world needs to try this place!) My boyfriend had the abundance bowl I think, and he said the smoked tofu was exceptional (also something we want to try to recreate in Texas!) My dad had the Pad thai and said the sauce was excellent, and he didn't even miss eating meat. I guess the noodles were a little overcooked (per my dad's gf, but since the sauce was so good and there were so many yummy veggies mixed in, she couldn't really complain). These guys are the real deal. What I mean is, you can tell the owners have been vegetarian/vegan for a long time bc they have found a way to make EVERYTHING delicious, and fresh. I remember visiting many health food stores in the 70's with my mom (may she rest in peace), and it reminded me of that time in my life where everything was wholesome, healthy and...

Too bad service. We ordered Pad Thai, but the employee never even bothered to check the name on the order. When we asked about our food, she responded rudely without checking the receipt. After 30 minutes, another employee told us our food had already been taken — which means someone else had been eating our order right in front of us.

She even tried to blame the people who took our food, as if it wasn’t her fault. Then, when we asked for a refund, she told us to just take the Pad Thai that belonged to the other customer. The problem? We had asked for no cilantro and paid extra for avocado. So the other customer, who never paid for it, was enjoying our avocado, while we were told to eat their cilantro-filled Pad Thai we couldn’t even eat.

And the apology? Just a half-hearted one-liner, nothing genuine at all. On top of that, she treated us like we were the problem and acted like she was the victim. Mistakes can happen, sure — but you own up to them and apologize properly. She did neither. Instead, she completely ruined the start of our day. And the most ridiculous part? By the time their actual order came out at 30 minutes, we realized ours must have come out around 15 minutes after we ordered. In other words, they got our food almost right away, while we were left waiting...