Sunday, February 20, 2005
A vegan's guide to foods in New Zealand.
Having just had a fabulous dinner on my last night in New Zealand, I thought I might compare and contrast my favoured eating spots throughout these islands for your edification. I hope you're paying attention, there will be a pop quiz at some point in the future.
The contenders are:
North Island
Wellington
Midnight Espresso
Aunt Mena's Vegetarian Restaurant
South Island
Christchurch
Mainstreet Cafe and Bar
Dunedin
Arc Cafe
Okay then. Let's bring on the criteria, shall we?
Is the cafe/restaurant in a city to which I could reasonably write love poems?
That's a tick for Midnight Espresso and Aunt Mena's in Wellington, and also a tick for Arc Cafe in Dunedin (more sort of youthful amore, but not full blown love, poems here), but I'm sorry Mainstreet. I just want to be friends with Christchurch. It's not you, it's me.
What are the prices like?
Midnight Espresso - generally about $15 for a meal and at least two drinks.
Aunt Mena's - $10 to $20 for a meal and tea, depending on if you have an entree.
Mainstreet - about $20 for a meal and one drink.
Arc Cafe - about $15 for a meal and one drink.
And for breakfast we have?
Aunt Mena's is out of the running here, as it is a lunch/dinner place only.
Arc Cafe is also disqualified, as it has a 'brunch' menu, but they don't open until at least 11am, and thus I'm putting them solely in the lunch competition.
Midnight Espresso does a kickarse (and huge) scrambled tofu, with big toast and sweet chilli sauce. You can also get some very very good garlic mushrooms, though don't try that unless you're eating the only meal for the day.
Mainstreet's scrambled tofu was not to my taste, being incredibly, in fact painfully, salty to the point where I couldn't eat it. The toast is garlic topped, and the garlic and herb mushrooms are awfully good.
Now you've made me hungry for lunch...
Okay. Let's see now.
Midnight Espresso's lasagne is absolutely top notch, with not only the creamiest vegan bechemal I've ever had, but also a surprise addition of beetroot - which actually adds a level of sharp sweet flavour to the dish. It doesn't come with a side salad, but it's also only 5 bucks, so...
Mainstreet's "The Burger" is fantabulous. A chickpea pattie on giant pieces of garlic 'butter' soaked bread, with a tangy satay style sauce, tart chutney and a mass of salad.
Arc Cafe's warm pasta salad is great - it comes in a deceptively small bowl, but is very filling. And the combination of sundried tomatoes, penne, crisp greens and whole hazelnuts, with a hazelnut oil dressing, is light and refreshing. The Arc also does a bloody good marinated tofu burger, so huge that it has to be held together with a looooong toothpick.
I'm not sure I can manage dinner, but go on, tell me all about it...
Okay, this is where Aunt Mena's really comes into its own. The entire menu is vegetarian/vegan, with a mix of Asian styles, noodles, soups, stirfries, bizarre I can't believe it's not meats, and an impressive entree list. The servings are huge, the staff are awfully friendly, and the prices are pretty good - especially if you're in a group. They did, however, provide sickly sweet and sour style sauce with their fried dumplings when I was expecting the traditional vinegar, but that didn't stop me from going back!!
The nachos at Midnight Espresso are...interesting. The beans are spicy and wonderfully flavoured with cumin, but the accompaniments leave a little to be desired. There's no salsa, though there are sliced tomatoes, and the kalamata olives I can go with, but the absence of guacamole, and the presence of humous did throw me a little. The humous is a wonderfully creamy addition, and I can see what they're doing, but it was also very cumincentric, and thus there weren't the layers of flavour I expect out of a good nachos.
Tonight I had a damn fine lentil shepherd's pie with two impressive side salads at Mainstreet. The serving was oh dear I have to undo the top button of my trousers huge, the salads adding to that (the vegan options were a pasta and a steamed vegies in spicy tomato dressing salad - so I got both!) With a Monteith's Black...mmmm....good foods....
Arc's dinner menu is, well....I never managed to have dinner there as the kitchen closed before 8pm and the not kitchen options were generally vegetarian, not vegan. But the menu is essentially the same as lunch, if you ever manage to get there when the kitchen is still open...
Anybody got some Antacid? Erp. Tell me about dessert and/or sweet things...though very very quietly...and no jokes about something that's "wafer thin", alright?
Midnight Espresso has desserts that are not only bloody great to look at (decorated with fresh flowers and fruits and made into little pieces of art) but very tasty, and there's usually at least 3 vegan options. I tried a dangerous looking chocolate brownie that took me three seperate occasions to successfully finish. Very very rich, topped with fresh strawberries and with some berries and nuts hidden in the chocolate depths. Do not attempt on your own. Share with someone. Or two someones. Really.
Aunt Mena's has a secret vegan carrot cake/halwa thing that you have to know to ask for, otherwise the desserts have great menu descriptions, and look pretty good, but I didn't give them a bash.
Can I rave about Mainstreet's sweets for a bit? Oh goody. Their chocolate rum ball is great and not as rich as the brownie (also not as ginormous), and their vegan biscuits are a large fruit and oat biscuit topped with a stupidly nummy thick thick layer of lemon icing.
Arc Cafe...sigh. Such good sweets. The chocolate and cointreau ball was sublime, and the ginger bites lovely with just the right hint of fresh ginger in the icing.
I need a coffee.
All the cafes in New Zealand appear to use VitaSoy as their soymilk of choice, and if you're not used to it (as I wasn't), that can come as a bit of a shock - I find VitaSoy very strong tasting. However, coffee in both of the islands is of a high high quality, and most places (and some surprising places) carry soymilk.
Midnight Espresso - very strong, coffee on the run (high demand at the counter)
Mainstreet - fairly strong, takes a while to get, but good when it's there.
Arc - I don't think I had a coffee at Arc, I mostly drank beer...Looked and smelt pretty good (the coffee, not the beer. Well, yeah, the beer was pretty good).
You keep talking about beer. So, can I get a beer with my meal, please? Yes, with breakfast. What's it to ya??
Midnight Espresso doesn't sell alcohol, and neither does Aunt Mena's (I don't think). Both Mainstreet and Arc sell alcohol, as both are cafe/bar/nightspot type deals.
Buy Monteiths. It proves that something good comes out of Greymouth.
New Zealand reds aren't too bad, either. Didn't try any whites.
Ambience (and by that I mean, hotties).
Oh dear. One track mind or what?
Midnight Espresso - dirty, noisy, ripped up party animals recovering the morning after, lots of black clothes, piercings, tattoos, bare feet or big boots, and the staff are all pretty hot (and have great personalities, obviously). I love this place.
Aunt Mena's - doesn't look too impressive from the outside, but the food kicks arse. And most of the staff are either under 18 or over 80, so unless that's your thing, not so much with the hotness. Though some of the regulars are a bit of okay ;)
Mainstreet - the vibe is a little upmarket, not so much with the fucked up societal dropouts. The courtyard is lovely and spacious, the staff are all sweet and friendly (yes, they're pretty also) and there's lots of lovingly polished heavy wood tables and chairs.
Arc Cafe - once again with the morning after recovering black clad pierced youngsters. The space is huge, with the band area out the back, tables in the centre and booths down one wall. The staff are awfully awfully pretty (one boy managed to rock the Irishman's mohawk, which is guarenteed to make most people look bloody stupid), and they play really really good music.
Which one wins?
Erm. No matter who wins, we lose?
Oh. No. Right. That's the tagline from a really crapola movie. Sorry.
They all win. Go to all of them. Lots of times. In fact, go to New Zealand lots of times. I plan on doing so!!
Vegans of the world, unite! And eat really good foods!!
The contenders are:
North Island
Wellington
Midnight Espresso
Aunt Mena's Vegetarian Restaurant
South Island
Christchurch
Mainstreet Cafe and Bar
Dunedin
Arc Cafe
Okay then. Let's bring on the criteria, shall we?
Is the cafe/restaurant in a city to which I could reasonably write love poems?
That's a tick for Midnight Espresso and Aunt Mena's in Wellington, and also a tick for Arc Cafe in Dunedin (more sort of youthful amore, but not full blown love, poems here), but I'm sorry Mainstreet. I just want to be friends with Christchurch. It's not you, it's me.
What are the prices like?
Midnight Espresso - generally about $15 for a meal and at least two drinks.
Aunt Mena's - $10 to $20 for a meal and tea, depending on if you have an entree.
Mainstreet - about $20 for a meal and one drink.
Arc Cafe - about $15 for a meal and one drink.
And for breakfast we have?
Aunt Mena's is out of the running here, as it is a lunch/dinner place only.
Arc Cafe is also disqualified, as it has a 'brunch' menu, but they don't open until at least 11am, and thus I'm putting them solely in the lunch competition.
Midnight Espresso does a kickarse (and huge) scrambled tofu, with big toast and sweet chilli sauce. You can also get some very very good garlic mushrooms, though don't try that unless you're eating the only meal for the day.
Mainstreet's scrambled tofu was not to my taste, being incredibly, in fact painfully, salty to the point where I couldn't eat it. The toast is garlic topped, and the garlic and herb mushrooms are awfully good.
Now you've made me hungry for lunch...
Okay. Let's see now.
Midnight Espresso's lasagne is absolutely top notch, with not only the creamiest vegan bechemal I've ever had, but also a surprise addition of beetroot - which actually adds a level of sharp sweet flavour to the dish. It doesn't come with a side salad, but it's also only 5 bucks, so...
Mainstreet's "The Burger" is fantabulous. A chickpea pattie on giant pieces of garlic 'butter' soaked bread, with a tangy satay style sauce, tart chutney and a mass of salad.
Arc Cafe's warm pasta salad is great - it comes in a deceptively small bowl, but is very filling. And the combination of sundried tomatoes, penne, crisp greens and whole hazelnuts, with a hazelnut oil dressing, is light and refreshing. The Arc also does a bloody good marinated tofu burger, so huge that it has to be held together with a looooong toothpick.
I'm not sure I can manage dinner, but go on, tell me all about it...
Okay, this is where Aunt Mena's really comes into its own. The entire menu is vegetarian/vegan, with a mix of Asian styles, noodles, soups, stirfries, bizarre I can't believe it's not meats, and an impressive entree list. The servings are huge, the staff are awfully friendly, and the prices are pretty good - especially if you're in a group. They did, however, provide sickly sweet and sour style sauce with their fried dumplings when I was expecting the traditional vinegar, but that didn't stop me from going back!!
The nachos at Midnight Espresso are...interesting. The beans are spicy and wonderfully flavoured with cumin, but the accompaniments leave a little to be desired. There's no salsa, though there are sliced tomatoes, and the kalamata olives I can go with, but the absence of guacamole, and the presence of humous did throw me a little. The humous is a wonderfully creamy addition, and I can see what they're doing, but it was also very cumincentric, and thus there weren't the layers of flavour I expect out of a good nachos.
Tonight I had a damn fine lentil shepherd's pie with two impressive side salads at Mainstreet. The serving was oh dear I have to undo the top button of my trousers huge, the salads adding to that (the vegan options were a pasta and a steamed vegies in spicy tomato dressing salad - so I got both!) With a Monteith's Black...mmmm....good foods....
Arc's dinner menu is, well....I never managed to have dinner there as the kitchen closed before 8pm and the not kitchen options were generally vegetarian, not vegan. But the menu is essentially the same as lunch, if you ever manage to get there when the kitchen is still open...
Anybody got some Antacid? Erp. Tell me about dessert and/or sweet things...though very very quietly...and no jokes about something that's "wafer thin", alright?
Midnight Espresso has desserts that are not only bloody great to look at (decorated with fresh flowers and fruits and made into little pieces of art) but very tasty, and there's usually at least 3 vegan options. I tried a dangerous looking chocolate brownie that took me three seperate occasions to successfully finish. Very very rich, topped with fresh strawberries and with some berries and nuts hidden in the chocolate depths. Do not attempt on your own. Share with someone. Or two someones. Really.
Aunt Mena's has a secret vegan carrot cake/halwa thing that you have to know to ask for, otherwise the desserts have great menu descriptions, and look pretty good, but I didn't give them a bash.
Can I rave about Mainstreet's sweets for a bit? Oh goody. Their chocolate rum ball is great and not as rich as the brownie (also not as ginormous), and their vegan biscuits are a large fruit and oat biscuit topped with a stupidly nummy thick thick layer of lemon icing.
Arc Cafe...sigh. Such good sweets. The chocolate and cointreau ball was sublime, and the ginger bites lovely with just the right hint of fresh ginger in the icing.
I need a coffee.
All the cafes in New Zealand appear to use VitaSoy as their soymilk of choice, and if you're not used to it (as I wasn't), that can come as a bit of a shock - I find VitaSoy very strong tasting. However, coffee in both of the islands is of a high high quality, and most places (and some surprising places) carry soymilk.
Midnight Espresso - very strong, coffee on the run (high demand at the counter)
Mainstreet - fairly strong, takes a while to get, but good when it's there.
Arc - I don't think I had a coffee at Arc, I mostly drank beer...Looked and smelt pretty good (the coffee, not the beer. Well, yeah, the beer was pretty good).
You keep talking about beer. So, can I get a beer with my meal, please? Yes, with breakfast. What's it to ya??
Midnight Espresso doesn't sell alcohol, and neither does Aunt Mena's (I don't think). Both Mainstreet and Arc sell alcohol, as both are cafe/bar/nightspot type deals.
Buy Monteiths. It proves that something good comes out of Greymouth.
New Zealand reds aren't too bad, either. Didn't try any whites.
Ambience (and by that I mean, hotties).
Oh dear. One track mind or what?
Midnight Espresso - dirty, noisy, ripped up party animals recovering the morning after, lots of black clothes, piercings, tattoos, bare feet or big boots, and the staff are all pretty hot (and have great personalities, obviously). I love this place.
Aunt Mena's - doesn't look too impressive from the outside, but the food kicks arse. And most of the staff are either under 18 or over 80, so unless that's your thing, not so much with the hotness. Though some of the regulars are a bit of okay ;)
Mainstreet - the vibe is a little upmarket, not so much with the fucked up societal dropouts. The courtyard is lovely and spacious, the staff are all sweet and friendly (yes, they're pretty also) and there's lots of lovingly polished heavy wood tables and chairs.
Arc Cafe - once again with the morning after recovering black clad pierced youngsters. The space is huge, with the band area out the back, tables in the centre and booths down one wall. The staff are awfully awfully pretty (one boy managed to rock the Irishman's mohawk, which is guarenteed to make most people look bloody stupid), and they play really really good music.
Which one wins?
Erm. No matter who wins, we lose?
Oh. No. Right. That's the tagline from a really crapola movie. Sorry.
They all win. Go to all of them. Lots of times. In fact, go to New Zealand lots of times. I plan on doing so!!
Vegans of the world, unite! And eat really good foods!!
