Tuesday 23 January 2018

Eating out: Brisbane CBD

Life has taken me into the Brisbane CBD for appointments several times over the past year (and will continue to do so this year), so that means that I have had ample opportunity to try different vegan options for lunch.

VegeRama Myer Centre: VegeRama has two outlets in the city, and the one I have visited the most is the one in the food court in the Myer Centre. It gets so busy there at lunch time! I highly recommend the lasagna (though I have to pick out the capsicum) if you can handle the amount of Daiya that they put on the top. I once tried the Moussaka, which was OK but not as good. They have other options there as well, a few are only vegetarian but most is vegan. They also have salads. My favourite is the Dill and Mustard Salad, which you see in all the photos below (the takeaway box has a second salad as well, but I can't remember what it is).

Lasagna with Dill and Mustard Salad from Vegerama at Myer Centre


Moussaka with Dill Mustard Salad from VegeRama


Takeaway Salads from Vegerama


VegeRama Post Office Square: The second location of VegeRama is in Post Office Square. I think this location is all vegan. They have a lot of similar things to the Myer Centre one, but they also do burgers. I went there once to meet up with a friend, and got a piece of their Vegan Quiche with a side of Veggie Boost Salad, and a CABALA juice (carrot, three types of apple, beetroot, lemon).

Vegan Quiche and Veggie Boost Salad with juice from Vegerama


Comuna Cantina is a Mexican spot that is tucked away, but has a few vegan options on the menu. I had the naturally vegan Abundance Bowl, which had quinoa, black beans, mixed salad, roasted sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, crushed tortillas, and pickled onions. They can also do some of the vegetarian tacos as vegan leaving off the dairy. I also had a refreshing Strawberry, Elderflower, and Lime Agua Fresca, though the lime juice dominated the other tastes.

Abundance Bowl at Comuna Cantina


Strawberry Elderflower Lime Agua Fresca at Comuna Cantina


Vegeto: This is a vegetarian Indian place in the food court of Queens Plaza, that has some vegan options. Eating out, Indian is not my favourite as I am sensitive to spice levels and a lot of these pre-made ones are too spicy for me. I was assured that this Potato and Pea Curry and Daal were mild, but my mouth said no to this. I am so ridiculous. They also sell FoodMill cakes there, including this excellent carrot cake.

Curries (Potato and Pea and Daal) and Carrot Cake from Vegeto


Thr1ve: The address for this is in Post Office square, but don't go looking for it in the underground food court. It is above ground, flanking the park. They specialise in bowls. At the time I went, the only vegan bowl option on the menu (which has since changed) wasn't that enticing, so I made a custom one. And spent a million dollars accidentally. Pricey! Anyway, this one had rice, mixed greens, turmeric cauliflower, pickled cabbage, avocado smash, and tofu.

Custom Bowl from Thrive


Graze & Grind: This is also in Post Office Square, down in the underground food court part. They have some vegan bowls, salads, and smoothies there, as well as a lot of non-vegan stuff. I can't remember exactly what this bowl was, but it was a warm mushroom bowl with rice and quinoa, pickled cabbage, and salad greens. I also tried a not-particularly sweet turmeric smoothie, but it had almond milk in it so I didn't love the texture.

Warm Mushroom Bowl and Turmeric Smoothie from Graze & Grind


Spudbar: Spudbar is a baked potato bar chain, and it is located in the Wintergarden food court and the bottom floor. There are two vegan options, and they can also make a vegetarian one vegan by leaving off the dairy. I had Fresh Veggie, with baby spinach, tomato, corn, carrot, peas & hummus. You can choose between regular potato or sweet potato, or you can have half of each if you are undecided (like I was).

Fresh Veggie from Spud Bar


Guzman y Gomez and Coco Bliss: These are both also located in the Wintergarden food court. I got the veggie burrito bowl made vegan (no dairy), which sadly had a lot of capsicum to pick out, and I also got a Black Acai Smoothie (with charcoal giving it the black colour). Don't panic the next day if you have had charcoal the day before!

Burrito Bowl from Gomez and Charcoal Smoothie from Cocobliss


Ms Chi Qi: Yet another offering from the Wintergarden food court, this is a good place for some tasty rice paper rolls, and have three vegan options there. Sorry for the blurry photo!

Blurry Rice Paper Rolls from Miss Chi Chi


Raw Energy: This is located a couple of blocks away from Queen St Mall, but very easy to get to. Again, a 'healthy place' that has a few vegan options. I had the Liver Cleansing Juice (beetroot, pear, carrot, lemon) and the Vegan Quinoa, Sweet Potato, & Kale Fritters, that come with roma tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, avocado salsa & warm napoli.

Liver Cleanser Juice (beetroot, pear, carrot, lemon) from Raw Energy


Vegan Quinoa Fritters with tomato, spinach, avocado, mushrooms and napoli from Raw Energy


Noosa Chocolate Factory: If you are after a sweet treat, the Noosa Chocolate Factory is the place to go! They have two shops, both close to each other on Adelaide St. One is a shop that sells the chocolate, and the other is a cafe (The Dark Chocolatier) where you can get hot and cold chocolate drinks, as well as some of the chocolates themselves. All of their dark chocolate goodies are vegan, which includes the most amazing rocky road in the world.

Noose Chocolate Factory 90% iced chocolate and chocolate covered cherries


Noosa Chocolate Factory


So if you find yourself in the Brisbane CBD for any reason, rest assured there is plenty to keep your belly full! There are some other places I still want to try, so I'll report back on those soon!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

2018-01-18 20.09.37


Dim Sim's teeny little front feetsies.

8 comments:

  1. Oh man, there are places on here that are new to me!!!!

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  2. The Abundance Bowl sounds really good to me!
    Kitty feets! :D

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    Replies
    1. It called to me as soon as I looked at the menu.

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  3. Oooh, thanks for this guide! Saving it for my next trip north. :)

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    1. There's even more than this, Brisbane CBD is pretty vegan friendly. :)

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