Lunch at Greenhouse Factory

I have heard a lot of buzz about the fantastic food at Greenhouse Factory, yet another addition to the bounty of vegan places down on the Gold Coast. The day before I left on my trip, I had the chance to have lunch at Greenhouse with Christy Morgan, author of Blissful Bites (see my recent recipe round-up here), who is currently traveling in Australia after hosting a retreat in Bali. She is travelling with her friend Crystal, and Leigh-Chantelle also came along.

The others were running a bit late, and I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I started with an Awake juice (I think that is what it was called?). It was carrot, orange and ginger. I requested lots of ginger, and was very happy with the good gingery burn the juice gave me.



Crystal ordered the Stuffed Sweet Potato with Chipotle Black Bean Corn Salsa, Avocado Cream and Dressed Greens. You can see how amazing it looked, just bursting with all sorts of colours and flavours. I was able to try a bite - so fresh and delicious!



I had to debate with myself a bit about what to order - there were a lot of yummy things on the menu. But I settled on a Creamed Cashew and Chickpea Open Grill with House-Made Dejonaise and Chickpea Fries, which was their version of a 'tuna melt'. This was very yummy, with some lovely thick crusty bread underneath it all. The chickpea fries were fun, though my heart still belongs to potato.



Christy went for the Hearty Start - Tofu Scramble, Kale, Avocado, Tomato, Mushrooms, House-Made Beans and Home Fries. This was a huge plate of food, as you can see!



Leigh-Chantelle ordered the Spinach and Banana Pancakes with Seasonal Fruit, Vanilla Cashew Cream and Maple Glaze (on the side). I tried a bit of the pancake, and found them to be very nice. Not too sweet, but no strong spinach flavour either.



Other things on the menu included a breakfast burrito, french toast, avocado on toast (but with salsa and homefries and beans as well), sushi, raw pad thai and a burger to name a few. There is also a good selection of juices, smoothies and hot drinks. They also have some very delicious sounding Tapas on Sunday evenings.

We sat inside as it was a very hot, sunny day and I have fair, fair skin (note, there is no airconditioning here). The cafe faces onto the street, so there will be traffic to see and hear, but beyond that the view is pretty lovely.



All up I really enjoyed Greenhouse Factory, and I am keen to go back there again. My only sadness is that all their desserts are raw, and as someone who has a reaction to too much coconut oil, most raw desserts are pretty much a no go for me. It is just over an hour drive from my place, so I probably won't be down there with any great frequency given current petrol prices, however it is certainly somewhere I will truly enjoy visiting for a special treat! Their new summer menu is due to be announced soon, I look forward to seeing what it was!

Meeting Christy was really great, she is really lovely. I had to be a bit of dork and ask if she could sign my copy of Blissful Bites.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



These adorable brothers came in a while ago. As you can see, they are the best of friends.