Tibits - A Restaurant Review

Last week, Tibits , a vegetarian restaurant invited me and Nayna Kanabar a blogger friend from Simply foods (who like me - also writes for the city connect website), for a meal at their restaurant.

This restaurant is centrally located in a really cool part of London, just a short walk from the Oxford Circus Tube Station.  The Tibits chain of restaurants is the brainchild of three Swiss brothers, Reto, Christian, and Daniel Frei. In 1998 these three brothers took part in Venture, a business plan competition organized  by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and professional services company McKinsey (www.venture.ch).  Their business plan impressed the jury and the concept won two awards. Rolf & Marielle Hiltl, owners of the Hiltl Restaurant, heard about the project in the media and contacted the Frei brothers. Together, they founded a company and developed the concept further.

Tibits is a fast food restaurant with a difference. It’s a place which allows you to choose your food at your pace and allows you relax and enjoy it at your pace too.  It’s self service restaurant where all the food is laid out in an oval shaped food boat.  The oval shape allows you to move easily around it to pick and choose your dishes.


It's also one of those restaurants you can go for a casual meal but could also take your business clients if you wish. For their London location, reservations are not necessary.  I would say that the price of their food and drinks was also reasonable considering the location. (Before visiting the restaurant, I suggest you check their website for their location, menu and price list).

Once you have selected your food, you take your plate to the bar where it is weighed. You are only charged by the weight of the food rather than the portions so you can take small amounts of  everything you wish to try out from the food boat.   

At the bar you can choose a selection of their freshly squeezed juices, cocktails, wines and beers. 

Their menu is very seasonal and all the ingredients, apart from their exotic fruits and vegetables are sourced locally. Nayna and I made several trips to the food boat and sampled most of their fresh salads and snacks.  The salad with baby tomatoes and tofu was  devine. The taste of apple and date chutney was just like the one my mum used to make. I tried several snacks but the one I liked the most was the jalepeno peppers stuffed with sour cream.

I tried their delicious Mexicano drink which was made with freshly squeezed orange and carrot juice. As a keen juicer myself, I could taste tell that the juice was freshly made.

Here's evidence of some of the food we sampled between us.

We finished the meal with a selection of desserts - tiramisu and Cheesecake. My favourite was the passion fruit cheesecake. 

The staff were very friendly and helpful and at the same time left you to relax and take your time over the meal. It was a pleasure to see how enthusiastic they were about some of their dishes.  


The restaurant was clean and laid out with plenty of space in between tables. The restaurant was busy but I didn't feel as though it was over crowded. The food was constantly being replaced and the food area was kept clean and tidy.  They had a selection of seating and I was pleased to see that some chairs were of quite a good height to enable disabled people to sit comfortably. I also noticed that it had its entrance enabled wheelchairs to enter the restaurant and it had a lift to enable disabled people to go downstairs if they wished to use the toilets. They also had a small play area for children which I am sure parents must appreciate when dining with their children.

Nayna and I had a good time catching up and also discussing the various items on the menu. We both liked the variety on the menu and I will certainly be eating here again. Do checkout their website for more information. 


As we left Tibits, we picked up some recipe cards which I think is a nice touch.  I tried out their recipe for Linguine Pasta with courgettes and orange sauce (with a slight variation) and it turned out great. 

I would like to thank Tibits for letting us sample their menu and for allowing me to use some of their images.

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