Renae writes: I find that the best places are usually the places that aren’t listed on Happy Cow – the places that aren’t vegetarian/vegan but have options. Here is my locals guide to being vegan in Adelaide!
Thanks to Renae for posting this information to the Adelaide Couchsurfers forum. I’m sure it will be much appreciated. Here are her recommendations.
Breakfast/Brunch
Hawker Street Café - 22 Hawker Street, Bowden: beautiful café with a great community vibe and cute outside setting out the back. Wonderful coffee with option of organic soy milk. Do a wonderful vegan or vegetarian big breakfast, plus the crew working there are wonderful/total babes. Warning though, kitchen closes at 1:30pm on weekends, so don’t sleep in too late! Make sure you try the house made baked beans on the weekend!
Queen Street Café
– Elizabeth Street, Croydon: gorgeous, bustling café in a cool little suburb. Great coffee, good vegetarian options. Vegans, ask for the ‘Lewis special’ or go the clay pot beans sans egg. A tad pricey. Soy pot of chai is a definite winner.
Brown Dog Café
– Goodwood Road, Goodwood: The BEST little courtyard out the back to laze in on a Sunday morning! Vegetarian breaky that can be made vegan on request – yum!
Nano to go
– Ebenezer place, CBD: bust, trendy café just off Rundle Street. Good vego options, good coffee, vegans go for the mixed bruschetta made vegan.
Bliss Organic Garden Café
– 7 Compton Street, City: Good food and a nice setting, however the owners are not very nice to their staff and have some whack ideals, so I tend to avoid this place. If going for breaky try the tofu scramble, pancakes or the Bliss Big Breakfast. Pretty pricey though and service can be very slow. All vegan.
Lunch
– Gawler Place, CBD: A wonderful haven to escape the city rush! Mostly vegan menu. Make sure you try a flavoured iced tea – my favourites are grape or grapefruit. Best dishes are Thea cold noodles (vegan, but not specified so on the menu as the noodles used state “may contain traces of egg”), crispy Hainan rice (get a side of peanut sauce to go with) and sweet and sour thing. Get a side of yam samosas too, yum!! Open Mon-Fri., 11-4 and Friday nights.
Vego n Lovin’ It
–Rundle Street, CBD: The BEST burgers! My favourite is the Mexican with added cucumber and avocado. Make sure you try the smoothies too! Apricot mixed with chocolate is AMAZING! Can be hard to find, it is upstairs through a small yellow doorway, look up for the mosaic sign. Can be busy. All vegan. Only open Mon-Fri., 11-3.
Zen House
– Bent Street, CBD (Just off Rundle st): Mock meat dishes and a wide variety of teas. Favourites are vegan SFC burger with satay sauce, mee goreng and cold salad noodles. Open for lunch and dinner most days.
Burp Burritos
– Hindley Street, CBD: Vegan and vego burritos or tacos. I love the el vegan burrito with mango and corn salsa. Mmm!
Also
Vegetarian Garden, Renaissance Arcade, just off Rundle Mall: You MUST try the Laksa here! Cheap and tasty!
Bent Street, CBD (Just off Rundle St): Mock meat dishes and a wide variety of teas. Favourites are vegan SFC burger with satay sauce, mee goreng and cold salad noodles. Open for lunch and dinner most days.
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Dinner
– Gouger Street, CBD: Asian restaurant with vegetarian /vegan options. Best dishes are salt and pepper eggplant (a MUST try), salt and pepper tofu and BBC (bean curd, broad bean and Chinese chutney). Good for a cheap dinner with friends!
Goodlife Organic Pizza
– various locations, Glenelg, Hutt Street CBD and O’Connell St., Nth Adelaide: Two vegan options; a roast veg pizza and a mushroom pizza, ask for it made vegan. The garlic bread is sooo yummy and also vegan. A tad pricey, but worth it.
Falafel House
– Hindley St, CBD: good for take away quick snack/dinner. The falafel burger is only 5 bucks and tasty as!
Café Michael 2
– Rundle St, CBD: The best Thai food in Adelaide. Ask the waiting staff and they’ll be happy to let you know what can be made vegan. The Tom Yum soup is really, really good.
Also
Burger It: O’Connell St, North Adelaide has several vegetarian burgers with vegan options. Chips are vegan. Try with the relish or satay sauce.
Dessert
– Goodwood Road, Goodwood: Open Weds-Sun from 8pm. Make sure you get here early or else you’ll have to wait for a table as it gets quite busy! Menu changes every month and generally half of the menu is vegan or can be made vegan. Good selection of drinks and a few savouries as well.
Chocolate Bean
– Union St, CBD (just off Rundle St): Great selection of hot and cold chocolate drinks with a wonderful variety of flavours (e.g. gingerbread, coconut, caramel) which can all be made vegan. Often have vegan chocolate truffles. Good selection of vegan cupcakes, a vegan peanut butter cheesecake, and my favourite – choc hazelnut praline mousse cake. Yumm!
Dragonfly Bar
–Victoria Square, CBD: Not a dessert place as such, but a gorgeous little cocktail bar with clearly labelled vegan bar snacks like edamame!
Coffee
– Glen Osmond Road: a ten minute bus ride from town, but well worth it! The coffee here is just amazing!
– Coffee Branch
Leigh St, CBD (just off Hindley Street). Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.
Also: Hawker Street Café/Queen St Café (see Breakfast/Brunch above).
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Here is a small selection of Vegetarian cookbooks if you want to explore this type of cooking - and eating further.
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