Review Eatwell - Hamilton

Great to have a healthy spot to eat downtown Hamilton. Lots of different options for everyone here. After being there a couple times and trying the chicken before egg and little piggy, I preferred the little piggy (those rye dumpling things are so tasty)!

Edit: so eatwell has renovated and completely changed around. Same name but every thing else had changed. In my opinion it went from my previous 5 star rating to a 2 star rating. I went on a wednesday lunch, about 1220, prime time for a lunch "spot". First thing I'll say is that it is no longer really a true restaurant, more of a hipster market selling a small quantity of local produce and health items. They do have a hot food bar that's quite small. 4$ for soup or 10$ to fill a container to eat. First thing I'll mention is its all vegetarian, no meat. That's fine since they were previously a salad store. However they definitely don't have a stock or enough food to support their business model. They have 5 vegetable options and 2 soups. When I went for lunch it was empty and they were out of two of their veggies even though no one else was in the place. What they did have looked cold and reheated or old. I decided to wait as they said They'd have more shortly. Started with a quinoa chili soup. It was cold and lumpy... And the pot probably only had 2 or 3 servings... Definitely looked like it was reheated from day before. Food was okay at best for cold food but expected chili to be hot. Finally they told me the veggies were ready, but by the time I got to the food bar the mixed vegetables and tagine was ready but they had now run out of falafel and another item... I still tried what was left but it really was quite underwhelming. Plus the business was model of 8$ to fill a box with any veggies u want doesn't work if you're constantly out of 2 of your 5 vegetable selections... All in all over the houraybe about 6 people ate there so they definitely weren't out of food because it was so busy, more likely hey don't want to waste any so they make small amounts. All in all quite disappointing and likely won't return. Old review: Delicious and healthy options. Easy to make ur own amazing salad full of superfoods or even low starch. Quite good. A bit on the pricier side. 15$ or so for a takeout salad. About twice the price of freshii or competitor gourmet fast food salad shops. With that being said I really like it and keep going back.

Built my own bowl. It tasted good and was filling! Especially the rye dumplings and fresh vegetables. A menu to start with would have been helpful as I had no assistance with choosing my ingredients. Also I specified I was building a vegan bowl and was asked about adding chicken and pork, making me question whether things actually were vegan. To top it off, the seaweed and shiitake mushrooms tasted like fish to me, and I had to stop eating them halfway through because I was so uncomfortable. I would go here again to try building a bowl with different ingredients!

This restaurant just opened in my neighborhood. The decor is bright and appealing and it's marketed as health-oriented. I decided to check it out. You get this pamphlet and build a bowl. You get a starchy base, like noodles, and small scoops of your choice of vegetable side on that. For protein I chose an egg. To my germ-phobic horror, the sweet and engaging young woman serving me cracked the egg on the edge of a counter and plopped a soft boiled egg in my bowl. To be clear: This counter is one that's easily rubbed up against by employees. It was an implement that appeared to be (though I could be wrong) not adequate for food prep by North American standards. With tip and my "boxed water" - it came to almost $20. I took my food back to a table only to find that it was about four inches too high for the average torso. Whatever, I thought. I must be in a bad mood and imagining that this place sucks hard. I was one bite into my food only to spot a dead fly in one of my vegetable side dishes. Luckily for me, Fate placed Mr. Fly near the surface of my radish dish, as if to say: "No second protein for you today." I calmly and politely took it back. They said they'd make me another bowl but I declined and said I'd like a refund. As the refund took place about five employees stood and stared at me, seemingly aghast at my refusal to just build another bowl. I was refunded the price of the bowl. I said thank you and meekly left. The kicker: I felt so uncomfortable that I left my boxed of water behind. Oh, boxed water, I barely knew ye.

Had the acorn squash soup (GF and veg stock) and my companion had the build your own bowl with lentil balls. Nice options for people with food allergies or preferences. Both meals we're good. Soup was curry inspired, warming with great flavour but not overly spicey. Thank you for the all vegan/gluten free desserts not overly sugared, anyone would like them. And no-waste concept. Great seating space not cluttered. Very reasonably priced, clean and inspiring. And you can bring your own container for the bulk food. Check it out!

Decided to pop into this place for the first time last night, and was blown away by the confused service, the confused menu, the confused management, and the questionable quality. Not knowing what they had or what I wanted, I told the guy behind the counter as much, which left him at a complete loss on how to serve me, unable to tell me what they had on offer due to the 'design your own' format of the menu. After a few desperate shots in the dark, "Do you have Butter-Chicken? You know, chicken-curry? Anything like that?" I was informed they had 'jerk chicken', which I pounced on as at least it was a place to start. After putting rice in my bowl and pouring some jerk-sauce over it, they ladled out some soggy bits of boiled chicken-breast from a warm-water brine, and I nearly walked out right there, but stuck around to watch in bewilderment the assemblage of the rest of my bowl, in which a plethora of random and nonsensical ingredients were tossed uncertainly by the staffer, who seemed as confused by the whole process as me. Lyma beans and chick-peas were tossed on, marinated raw pea-pods were tossed on, cold fried grapes were tossed on, browning plain cauliflower was tossed on... me staring in clear bewilderment and glancing to the seeming manager, who had no guidance for his uncertain staffer and made no effort to help along the highly awkward effort of starting an order. Getting the bowl home and tucking into it, I concluded it tasted precisely as it looked/seemed: random and unpleasant. The boiled chicken was bland and foul-textured as boiled chicken will always be, and while individually the other ingredients were fresh and fine, they just didn't work together. If you go in knowing exactly what they have and exactly what you want, there may be a good meal to be had at Eatwell. If you're a newcomer just looking for something tasty to eat, good luck.

Love eating here. The staff are always super kind and the food is tasty. I think it's slightly too pricey for what you get, but the $9 daily vegan bowl is a good option.

Food tasted fine, selection was good. Went during dinner on a Wednesday night; understaffed, running out of ingredients, date found a piece of my protein in hers. Seems like there are a lot of ways the ordering process could be made more efficient, like putting labels on the metal pots containing each ingredient.

Planted is a special place to visit. The physical space itself is bright and welcoming. It echoes the essence of a plant based lifestyle with its eclectic mix of locally made furniture, repurposed wood, stone floors and high industrial ceilings. Nothing about the decor is typical. The space is brought to life with plants and local artists showcasing their work on the walls. You'll find a warm team of staff here, from the back to the front of house. Their love for plant based shines through as they help you to choose what dish to try from the board behind the cash. Then the food. It truly is the best vegan GF in the city. The dishes are creative, fresh and wholesome. The breakfast bowl is my favourite weekend treat, the lentil sausage is unreal and the tofu scramble has shifted my seven year old to love tofu! I also love the Mediterranean bowl, the falafel, the chickpea wings and every single one of the in house made desserts. I have shared this spot with many friends, many from out of town where vegan GF isn't as available. There is so much comfort in knowing that if you have specific dietary needs, you can securely eat everything from the menu without concern for dairy, gluten or animal product. You guys are killing it, I love this entire team! There is so much heart in this space. Get there. Now.

I had the Thai rice bowl and my friend had the Mediterranean bowl. Both of us felt the bowls had too much rice and not enough vegetables. The peanut sauce on the Thai bowl was great and I enjoyed the flavour. The tofu was decent too. My friend thought her falafels were very good but that the bowl didn't have enough sauce and found it dry. The last time I was here it was still Eatwell and the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. It seems to be quite a bit quieter now and I find the menu options leave a bit to be desired. The price is affordable however, and the portions are quite big. The restaurant itself is cute and the staff were very nice and helpful and the food came out quickly. Would definitely go back and try it again, but am hopeful for a few improvements.

Affordable and good sized portions. The food was fairly tasty if not a touch on the bland side. The texture and the taste of the rice in the Thai bowl was reminiscent of minute rice which was a bit off putting. The tofu was really nice and crispy on the outside, and the sauce was good. Falafel plate was okay, felt like it needed a little something extra to make it really good. I had the tacos which were really nice, the sweet potatoes and slaw were super lovely, but the sauce/liquid from the slaw made them really soggy, and the beans had next to no flavour (thank goodness for hot sauce). The cowboy cookie is fantastic, especially for a gluten free cookie. The atmosphere is a bit weird as the space is quite large but also feels empty. The staff were really nice but again the layout made it feel very distant and weird in there, even though several people checked in on us. Would totally come back to try the other menu items.

I went to Planted in Hamilton opening night. The menu offers a wide variety of mouth-watering food. I LOVED the BBQ Jackfruit! Their desserts are amazing. It is such a friendly atmosphere. Please keep doing what you're doing! I highly recommend going to Planted in Hamilton. Absolutely the best gluten free and vegan restaurant in Hamilton. I honestly can’t wait to go back!

We ate here yesterday and really enjoyed it! It was so nice to add a great vegan lunch spot to our lives! We liked everything we ordered and the service was friendly and quite fast. Decent prices too. Only some minor changes could be recommended. The spicy tomato soup was so spicy we couldn’t taste anything very well after having it. Amazingly rich flavour was obvious but a bit heavy with the spice level so it distracted from the experience. The bun on the meatball was a long biscuit and a thick one at that. It fell apart and was awkward to eat. Switching to a baguette type slice would get a great texture difference from the lentil balls and help with the eatability of the sandwich. The chickpea wings were a really neat take on falafel, and the sauce on the side was yum! The carrots were a nice texture crunch but quite large, probably could put out less and make them smaller sticks. Like I said, super minor stuff. Everything about the sweet potato tacos was bomb! Loved the cheeze sauce too. Our kids loved the cookies and the laid back atmosphere. Your staff was so very friendly, engaging and helpful. We will definitely be back to explore the desserts!

My favorite place for plant-based eats!!!!!! I was so excited to have a new vegan place to try and now I have to keep going back so I can try all the different dishes!! I just had the Mediterranean bowl and it was FRESH and just perfect!!! A great place to hangout and awesome for special events...I am so happy to have a new favourite go-to!!!! Thank you!!

Went last night for dinner and really enjoyed everything. Our group of three split the chickpea wings (kind of like oblong falafels, but with an amazing garlic aioli sauce I want to put on everything). For our mains we got the sweet potato tacos, the Mediterranean bowl, and the Thai rice bowl. We split the brownie sundae for dessert. Everything was super delicious and the portions were quite generous (considering their fairly low prices - $11/$13 for the mains). Staff were friendly and attentive, but it would have been nice if they had some sort of uniform/matching shirts - just a thought. Would definitely recommend! :)

My partner and I have come here twice now and its quickly becoming one of our favourite restaurants! The nachos are easily the best vegan nachos I've ever had and the chickpea 'wings' are an awesome and tasty take on a plant-based alternative! I would gladly recommend this place to anyone, we will definitely be back again :)

Everything I have tried so far is awesome. Probably the best nachos in town, pulled jackfruit sandwich was amazing (even the gluten-free bun was impressive) and the brownie sundae was so good. Called ahead the other day to get the Thai bowl to go and it was ready to be picked up in 15 minutes! Great service. Can’t wait to try the rest of what they have to offer!

I love that everything is gluten free, I can eat it all!! Great food and friendly staff!

Went there for the first time today and had the Mediterranean Bowl and it was delicious! So much food for what you pay for and amazing service. Highly recommend!

The food here is delicious! We have been there for brunch and dinner and both times left very impressed. The portions are large and the food is both extremely tasty and affordable. Highly recommended!

Really good food, friendly service. A lot of vegan places have small portions. I found the meals were generous, lots of toppings on the nachos! Yum!

This is a terrific vegan restaurant. I dropped in for brunch on a Sunday morning and had pancakes and scrambled tofu with a side of nicely cut fruit in a mug . Not only was the food excellent but the interior is cool and inviting – nicely designed. I hear the chefs are all the way from Oklahoma so thank you for your wonderful food and welcome to Hamilton. I’m new here too