Ilshams in Torbay

Visited this cafe three times during a stay here. Great food and great coffee, the staff were lovely.

The omelette was burned on the bottom and then appeared to have been thrown onto the plate. No seasoning and no flavour, other than the burnt bits. The tuna mayonnaise sandwich with salad was bread, 'buttered' with mayonnaise and chilled with tuna straight from the can. Again, no seasoning and very dry. The salad was a small pot of coleslaw. The latte we had had a skin on top. The lady who served us seemed to only want locals in there, which is perhaps why we were treated in the manner in which we were.

Nice little cafe. Beautiful, cozy and friendly. Wonderful menu with lots of choices including vegetarian and vegan. Highly recommend

The omelette was burned on the bottom and then appeared to have been thrown onto the plate. No seasoning and no flavour, other than the burnt bits. The tuna mayonnaise sandwich with salad was bread, 'buttered' with mayonnaise and chilled with tuna straight from the can. Again, no seasoning and very dry. The salad was a small pot of coleslaw. The latte we had had a skin on top. The lady who served us seemed to only want locals in there, which is perhaps why we were treated in the manner in which we were.

Nice little cafe. Beautiful, cozy and friendly. Wonderful menu with lots of choices including vegetarian and vegan. Highly recommend

Extremely lovely environment Exceptional hospitality from this quaint cafe Nothing too much trouble Highly recommend.

A lovely mid-morning treat in the shape of a regular vegetarian breakfast. There were no issues swapping out items and asking for something different. A bustling tea room atmosphere to brighten a damp day in Devon.

Great place to pop in for food and drink. Very friendly staff.

Fresh food and amazing coffee. Lady who works here is very warm and hospitable. Will be back many times in the future!

Gorgeous bacon with poached eggs on toast, orange juice and coffee. Friendly service. Now just eating two home made takeaway sausage rolls for my lunch, and looking forward to home made carrot cake for dessert. Excellent.

Great !!!!!!!! There is nothing else to say.!!!!!Sunday Lunch was fantastic !!!

Awesome breakfast. Cooked fresh. Friendly service. Great value. Thank you

Unless tfexwind is from an easterly direction its generally sheltered here from cold winds. Was very warm in the sun. Best coffee in the bay.

Had a lovely cottage pie, freshly made and piping hot. Friendly.

Gorgeous gluten free bread pudding. Really lovely collection of cakes and good coffee. A real find

Good coffee and not dog friendly

What a fantastic full English! Consistently good.

Lovely cafe with very friendly service. Would highly recommend! Good choice of veggie and vegan food and good value for money.

I highly recommend Ilsham Cafe a wonderful place beautifully decorated cosy, tranquil with a great atmosphere. Lovely staff friendly, helpful, courteous. As for the food homemade and totally delicious. A great place to pop in for breakfast, lunch or cake & coffee.

Lovely place excellent food comprehensive menu beautifully cooked friendly cheerfull staff . I will definitely be back when I'm in the torquay area

Had a lovely breakfast thankyou

Magnificent breakfast in a beautifully decorated cafe. Warm friendly service, outstanding cafes, and inexpensive. Highly recommended!

Lovely place and has nice coffee and cakes.

Amazing breakfast here, always a warm welcome and fabulous lemon drizzle cake. Well worth popping in would definitely recommend 😊

Incredible garlic mushrooms on sourdough and avocado, poached eggs, a must visit. Easy free parking too.

Have been twice over last few months first time with a friend 1 large breakfast, 1 small, very nice except hash browns were a bit soggy. This time went on my own at 11.30ish. I was sat waiting, older lady pad in hand walked straight past and gushing greeted 2 ladies who'd reserved a table, even tho I was there first. Sorry, but I won't be ignored, so I walked out. Extremely rude in my opinion. Instead of treating people first come, fist served if they continue to ignore new customers they won't last long.

Beautiful breakfast. All perfectly cooked and served perfectly. Good quality food, fast service, both females on at the time were polite and friendly. Definitely worth a visit.

Just ordered 2 roast pepper soups this morning for takeaway when I got back home both cups of soup were half empty considering I paid 11.95 which is super steep for two average tasting soups and a small brown bun. Stingier portions than Dickensian times, please sir, can I have some more…

Food was ok and service was attentive and friendly. Good location but when busy venue is very small and feel hemmed in. The waitress was very nice and friendly.

Visited Ilshams on Two Occasions now, and both visits have been excellent. The first visit was on a Saturday with my Daughter, and the second this morning ( Wednesday 2oth October 2021. They are open 7 days a week, from 9 am until 2:30 pm. The welcome is warm and friendly, and the Food is Fresh, Hot, and very Tasty. Clean surroundings, and a good selection of Hot and Cold Drinks, Cooked Food, Sandwiches, Cakes, and Take away as well as seating inside. The Breakfasts are fantastic and cooked fresh to order. Would recommend Ilshams 100%.

Friendly staff and lovely afternoon tea

We have eaten here quite a few times and have never been disappointed. We had a lovely breakfast here yesterday and are returning today.

Quaint vintage cafe. A little bit of a wait for the food, but it was worth it when it arrived.

Great little coffee shop. Excellent food.

Great little find had something in here a few years back and thought we could try it for breakfast. Glad we did 5 star so had to return a few times during our week long stay.

VERY UPSET! Ordered a vegan sausage sandwich and it was only until my son who is 5 and never ever ate meat , left a bite which I had that I realised it wasn’t veggie and it was actually meat. I’m absolutely disgusted and feel physically sick. Have this been a nut allergy it could of result. Absolutely appalled

Lovely decor, spotlessly clean, pleasant staff and the best coffee we have had for many a year in the UK. Definitely a place not to miss. You can order ahead and they do take away too.

Good quality, tasty cakes , coffee etc.

Great take away during lockdown . I bought full English breakfast, Grilled peppers soup and sausage roll - to eat on the beach, it was really freshly cooked and tasty ! The grilled pepper 🌶 soup is five star ⭐️! Thank you for trying to make lockdown easier . Highly recommend!

This is a fantastic little cafe. It also caters for vegans. Great menu all freshly cooked Breakfast, lunches and even cakes. The food in here is very competitivley priced in this area. Indoor seatng, outdoor seating and also does take away and sunduy roast delivery 😁

Lovely little tearoom, with gorgeous interior, very warm & friendly staff and most importantly, great food with very reasonable prices!

Lovely little cafe, very friendly staff. Food good and reasonably priced.

My friend and I went to this cafe for Sunday lunch and will not be returning. As someone who is afraid of dogs this place is my worst nightmare! The time that we was in there there was 4 dogs in there, 2 of them allowed to wonder around freely. The place has a grubby feel especially as you know that there’ll be dog hairs everywhere. One man let his dog sit on the chair up to the table. If your a massive dog lover and are not fussy about cleanliness then you’ll love it but if not avoid!

We love this place. Great breakfast.

We went in for a bite to eat, and it was great, it has changed owners since the last time I was there, it looks much cleaner than before, as it is not so cluttered with 'stuff' the owners are really friendly, will go back again, well worth a visit.

We popped into Ilsham's on a whim before we left Torquay, and we were really glad that we did. My partner and I had a delicious breakfast (one vegi, one scrambled eggs on toast). It was very reasonably priced, the cafe itself was very sweet and quaint, and the owners were incredibly friendly.

Lively Wellswood village has an excellent mix of pubs, restaurants and bistros. And a lovely cafe. Daily specials rub along with regulars like the classic all-day breakfast or scampi and chips. It’s human friendly and dog friendly. What’d Not too like? Answer: nothing at all.

I think Ilsham cafe has amazing Waitresses and very good staff and an amazing chef I think it should have 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Go there and I am sore you will like it

I have been here a few times now since the new owners have taken over, the food is lovely. Sue is very friendly and nothing is to much trouble, it is a dog friendly cafe and always has been, the dogs have never been made to sit outside even with the old owner. Lovely Sunday roast good quality food, highly recommended.

We popped into Ilshams yesterday morning for coffee. This small, narrow café had obviously had a recent make-over and looked so bright and fresh, in its new pale mint-green livery, with pretty plants here and there, and pale green and white polka-dot oilcloths on the tables, easy to wipe clean. I asked if there were new owners, and the very pleasant woman said yes, they had taken over in June. We weren't looking for something to eat, it hadn't long since we'd had our breakfast but we had coffee and we had a large pot between us, and for under £4, excellent value - and it was very good coffee, too. We shall certainly call again.

Visited this small cafe (it is no way a restaurant) on 19th July 2018 had just been taken over by people who have had no previous experience in running a cafe before ( we overheard them saying this to someone) and it showed. They do not have a food hygiene rating and I cannot see them getting one. Firstly we my wife had a dirty fork and when pointing this out to the waitress she showed no concern and did not apologies. We ordered the food quite simple and straight forward. I ordered eggs Benedict, my wife poached eggs on toast, and my son peninee with salad, plus two colas. The eggs Benedict was served first and a few minutes later the peninee arrived and the waitress said to me you better start eating your food as the poached eggs might be a while, considering there was no one else having food at the time, we were taken quite aback, the peninee came with a garnish, not a salad. I started eating my eggs, when in came some friends of the owner with a big dog and they sat on the table opposite, before the dog was put under the table I could fell its breath. The owner stated that it was OK for the dog to sit in the cafe as they were dog friendly, had the cafe been bigger this may not have been a problem, but as it is so small it was a deffinate health hazard and is against hygiene regulations. The previous owners were dog friendly but the dogs stayed in the passage outside the main cafe. Finally the bill came to around 27 pounds and they do not take credit cards.

Saw an advert for these tea rooms thought they sounded nice but when we went this week we found that they were closed for refit and under new owners. How disappointing.

Went in here for a chicken roast dryed out hornless cheap food the veg was cold and a bite out off my carrot which leads me two Belive they warm up left overs I may be wrong but then how did a bite come out off my carrot 🥕

This lovely tea room has amazing food (and really cheap!) and the owners are friendly and nice. I loved how it was decorated, is such a special place!

we are local, so have tried the breakfast and lunches here. good service, café food choices and sweet little café full of interesting things. Bone china cups and great cakes. Wellswood is a lovely village just outside Torquay and close to the beaches of Ansteys and Meadfoot.

Simply perfect and the roast beef is a must!

Having been going here for some years, one can take it for granted that such a nice place is the normal. But not these days ! it is unfortunately a fact that nice friendly and comfortable cafes are almost a memory of a sugar coated pre war Britain, this no so at this establishment. So do yourself a favour and go and enjoy! By the way the food is really good too, and the prices are fair.

Lovely local cafe, lovely food and real hand made chips. Very friendly

Stopped in at Ilshams for tea and a scone. Lovely cafe with friendly welcoming staff, obviously popular with the locals. The tea was delicious, served in delicate mismatched china cups, hot water was provided straight away to top up the pot. The fruit scone was perfection, warm, light and full of fruit. The butter was served ready to spread and the jam was delicious. We will definitely be going back to Ilshams.

So we fancied a quick cup of tea and what a treat we had .. you can’t beat a teapot and bone China cup .. we had a little bite to eat a rather tasty tea cake and scrabbled egg in toast . All in all excellent will return . Well done to the owners

Have been to this lovely and cute little coffee shop for lunch twice now with a friend in the last couple of weeks.

Wonderful cafe, with a fabulous selection of foods and specials. Beautifully vintage themed, with gorgeous owners... very cheerful and engaging

Brilliant start to the day. A home made breakfast and nothing was too much trouble. Kids loved their smoothies and the atmosphere was magical!

A very good local cafe.Excellent meals and a friendly welcoming atmosphere.One of the best value breakfasts in Torquay and daily specials have a home cooked appeal.Open 7 days a week.

Lovely vintage cafe, very friendly ladies. Good choice of food on menu,reasonable prices. Very enjoyable lunch at this cafe geat atomsphere

Comida estilo casa perfectamente cocinado. No me puedo quejar de este lugar. Ambiente acogedor y peculiar. Encantador. Se lo recomendaría a todos.

Estaba en Wellswood ilshams y encontramos. Un café con una diferencia. Sólo tomamos un café pero el plato especial del día de Navidad era estupenda. Personal muy amable y dispuesto a atender sus necesidades. Volveremos pronto.

Menú para el almuerzo, visitado por gran tamaño del establecimiento, vajilla agradable en un estilo viejo vintage, pero desafortunadamente la comida y la bebida no vendrá a nivel de vajilla. En general, no hay nada malo, pero simplemente súper aburrido, no atendido por una azafata demasiado atento, o el gran perro que Llegamos y aparcamos en el pasillo del centro de cafetería relativamente pequeña.

Having lived in Ilsham most of my life and never been to this cute little cafe, i am shocked at how lovely it was! okay, its not 'fine dinning' but at £3.95 for a small breakfast, with two rounds of toast (which filled me up till tea time) it is a fabulous place!! I am big on my breakfast too. Coffee was great too!! Will defiantly be returning.

The lunch was very good plenty of veg the Yorkshires could have been bigger that's being picky will return good value for money and a good atmosphere.

This is a regular haunt. The owner is happy to comply with our somewhat difficult dietary requests, the food is basic but good and offers exceptional value.

We had intended to go to Wellies from the good reviews we had heard, however they were closed so we popped in here for some lunch. We were greeted as soon as we sat down, however our food and drinks order was not taken for 5/10minutes of sitting down. We gave our order of a cream tea, diet coke, cheese ploughmans and a meat platter. It got to 30minutes of nothing arriving (including our drinks) when I then mentioned how long it was going to take. She said it was on its way. 5 minutes later I then asked for our drinks, which were then made straight away. The Diet Coke was given to us by an 8 (ish) year old girl who we had seen cleaning, clearing and waiting tables....are there rules around this?! But the Diet Coke we ordered when arrived was actually full fat Pepsi. I then waited to speak to the woman but before saying anything she said we don't have Coke (even though it's on the menu). She changed it to Diet Pepsi. 5 more minutes later and our food was brought out. As mine was put down infront of me she mumbled something about only having ham...I didn't cotton on until after I started tucking in....I didn't have a meat platter infront of me (as I had ordered), Infact I had been given the ham ploughmans. Surely if they didn't have what a customer orders you should mention this to the customer?! By this point, I was so hungry and fed up waiting 35 minutes for my lunch that didn't involve any cooking that I just ate it. The food was very basic, but tasted ok. Our scone to share came out soon after, and all I could taste was baking powder with jam that had no fruit in it. And to top it off a dog was allowed to run wild at the end and jump up onto a chair in the cafe near us. That was the final straw. I will not be returning.

We tried this vintage café for the first time today. We received a very friendly and genuine welcome. The service was excellent, a comprehensive / very reasonably priced menu with lots of additional specials to choose from. The food was very good. As well as the excellent service, the ambience of Ilshams really does make the place, lace table cloths, china cups, sugar lumps, vintage memorabilia and all very genuine and not at all contrived. It was like stepping into an Agatha Christie novel. We're definitely going to be recommending this eatery to our friends.

My partner and I went to Ilshams on a recommendation and weren't disappointed. We both had the braised beef. It was delicious. Lots of veg and lashings of thick gravy. It's also a BYO which I haven't encountered in Devon let alone my favorite village! Excellent value and a friendly atmosphere about the place too. 10/10. We'll be back.

I have reviewed this little tea room over a year ago. I have lunch here every few weeks and it never disappoints. Today I had roast chicken with roast potatoes and peas with a gallon of gravy!! The staff are lovely and it has a relaxed atmosphere. A lovely meal.

The owner is very friendly and served us up with some really lovely tea. The food is wholesome and filling - just what we needed after a trip down the caverns. The steak and kidney pudding was especially good!

We visited at lunch time and was greeted by a friendly woman. The overall atmosphere is quiet and calming. I ordered spicy vegetable soup which was warming and delicious. The vintage theme is a nice touch, like having a pot tea of with dainty patterned cups. The cafe is quite small but was ful, the waitress often checked if we would like anything else. I finished my lunch with a banoffee dessert and we left feeling full and satisfied.

It was a blustery autumn day when we visited Ilshams for lunch. We were tempted by the extremely reasonable menu and the jolly 'Days gone by' feel. With it's mis-matched chairs, pretty table clothes and vintage china. The 'Old School' menu is exactly like your Granny's. No nonsense shepherds pie, liver and bacon, with a good selection of vegetables washed down with a pot of tea for two. There was no sign of fancy seasoning but everything was well cooked never the less. It transported me back to my childhood! It was slightly disconcerting when other customers cleared your plates, and then returned to their lunch, but hey ho! It seemed that everyone knew everyone else. We left hugely satisfied but sad that the world is such a different place now...We don't all need fancy seasoning!

I was the first person to review Ilshams when it had recently opened towards the end of 2013. I gave it fulsome praise and I'm sorry that in this further review, standards have slipped very slightly. Yes, the classical music was still playing and I was given a pretty damask table napkin, and the coffee was piping hot but my toasted tea cake was very dry - yes, toast is dry on the outside, but a fresh tea cake is moist within. Also, as this tea room has followed the current trend for everything vintage - cups strung from the ceiling are a novel touch - the owner must take care to ensure that the old wooden tables, which not only have period charm but also grooves in which crumbs can reside, are kept clean and crumb-free. Also, that the pretty china cups in which tea and coffee are served really are spotless. Vintage charm is one thing (and in a café such as this, de rigeur) but it is best to bear in mind that it is for the food and drink that the customers are paying.

I had promised my boyfriend a cooked breakfast on Sunday purely because I had recently spotted Ilshams and it had looked so gorgeous & inviting and the menu was also very reasonably priced. I had looked forward to recommending Ilshams to friends and to it becoming the sort of 'destination' cafe that it could so very easily become (right location, right look, right idea). However...We ordered cooked breakfasts (one large, one small) and there were so many elements that displeased --- frustratingly, as these could be rectified without too much trouble. The sausages were of a very poor quality (sausages being the mark of a great or poor breakfast for many people); the mushrooms had been microwaved to within an inch of their lives and were very dry and unpleasant; the fried egg was overcooked and a bit burnt at the edges; the 'small' breakfast was so tiny it looked a little lost & sad on the plate!!; grilled tomatoes instead of tinned would have been much nicer, and a lovely fresh loaf or a 'farmhouse' pre-packed thick-sliced loaf instead of cheap thin budget bread would have made the toast element spot on - the toast did come with butter which wasn't in foil packets, and this was great to see. As were the sugar cubes and tongs! So all in all, a disappointment. I am definitely not slating this new business for the hell of it, but wanted to provide some hopefully constructive feedback to help to ensure it's future success.

This traditional style tea room opened a few months ago and is a great place to get a good cuppa. They do a good "Full English" plus a limited range of daily specials that are cooked to order. It's a great improvement upon the "greasy spoon" that it's replaced!!

New tea rooms replacing what was a grotty cafe. Now clean and welcoming, lovely china and quality tea & coffee. Food available, from cakes to home cooked meals, now doing a lovely Xmas lunch.

We happened by chance on Ilshams yesterday when in need of a cup of coffee. Although the frontage of this tea room in the Wellswood village area of Torquay is narrow, inside the room widens and feels relatively spacious. I didn't investigate the menu as husband and I only wanted coffee and a toasted tea cake (to share as we weren't very hungry, not because we're tight-fisted!) and we were delighted with the place. As with many tea shops these days, it has followed the trend for mis-matched furniture and mis-matched china, whether by design or simply because this is a relatively inexpensive way of setting up a new establishment - use what you have and add charity shop and sale room buys to it. So yes, it's 'vintage' again, but all the nicer for it. The china especially is pretty, and a high shelf has all kinds of memorabilia, glassware, photographs and ornaments.There is a choice of coffees available (we simply had Americano with hot milk) and although only sharing a toasted tea cake, were presented with damask napkins (not paper.)One thing we really appreciated was the classical music being played, not loudly, but at a level whereby we could still hold a conversation - or, in our case, simply to listen to it and be soothed. I am convinced that classical music has a therapeutic effect on people. In many cafes, the noise level is almost painful, with the hiss and gurgle of the coffee machine, the clatter of crockery and cutlery, not to mention the all-enveloping pop muzak. After a visit to one such establishment at the weekend we left feeling more fraught than when we entered. So soothing classical music, good hot coffee, and a welcoming owner of this very new café was a very pleasant surprise. We shall return.