Review: Ilya Health Bar, South Melbourne

I remember when finding something healthy on the go meant you had to choke down a crappy Maccas salad or just pretend you weren’t hungry. But now, you can’t drive through a bigger Melbourne suburb and not be flooded with a choice of health-conscious cafes and restaurants. Now this is a trend I can rally around.

After a really early morning, no breaky and being on a panel in front of 300 people, I was starving. I nearly caved and got some plastic looking takeaway from the Crown food court, but instead headed over to this place I found on Zomato: Ilya Health Bar at 223 Clarendon St, South Melbourne.

The store is really lovely and light, with a good layout and plenty of seating. They had a froyo kit up the back (chai flavour! I swoon!), but with me trying to cut back on sugar I somehow resisted.

The chick at the counter seemed to be working alone, but I was the only person there so that was fine. She was really lovely, and I ended up choosing the Choc Peanut Butter Bowl, made up of frozen banana, cacao powder, dates & protein powder blended with almond milk and topped with peanut butter, choc muesli & fruit.

It didn’t take long for the bowl to come out, and as I had asked for it to go (I had to get back to the office) she’d put a little placky lid on it for me. I’ll be totally honest; it didn’t make it back to the office with me. I ended up getting stuck in traffic and ate the whole thing before I made it to the freeway.

You know what? It was the best smoothie bowl I’ve ever had. Sure, it wasn’t the healthiest one on the menu, but oh man it was good. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend you pop into Ilya.