Soi Noodle Bar, Civic

It's one year later and we finally went somewhere different :)
Soi Noodle Bar, located in the Canberra Centre on Bunda St, has a separate vegan menu with several options to mix & match. We ended up with tofu chili basil stir fries – simple dishes, yet bursting with flavour. Bravo! Service was fast, which is what you want in a casual eating place like this. See you again soon, Soi Noodle.

Monster Kitchen and Bar, Civic

The Monster Kitchen is the restaurant at Hotel Hotel, New Action, up the wooden stairs from the Palace Cinema. It is a beautiful space to spend some time in. The dinner menu has no items marked as vegan, although it turned out the chips are vegan with no changes. Everything else had to be modified by negotiation with the wait staff. As a result, we suggest arriving before 7pm rush hour. The salad, roast pumpkin and chips were tasty as well-presented. Portion sizes were larger than the photos suggest. However, these days we prefer to go to places that have at least a few dishes marked vegan on the menu. A bit more thought put into the menu could save some hassle for the diners, wait staff and the kitchen staff.

Heirloom tomato salad

Chips with tomato dipping sauce

Roast pumpkin and chickpea

Coffee Lab, Civic

We had heard many good reports about Coffee Lab and it took us a long time to get there. When we did, we were not disappointed. There are a few vegan options listed on the menu.
The almond soaked chia and oats (vegan version) is topped with a yummy strawberry sauce and lots of blueberries, but is not overly sweet. The "First Frost" (vegan version) is basically sauteed mushrooms on toast, but it tastes better than it sounds and the serving size is very generous. If you want, you can order a vegan avocado on toast. Highly recommended.

Almond soaked chia and oats - made vegan

First Frost - made vegan

SpudBar, Civic

SpudBar in Civic has now closed.
 
At the SpudBar in Garema place you can get a potato (regular or sweet) with vegan toppings. There is a menu item called "Fresh Vegie", or you can customise the toppings. This is some of the best nutrition bang for the buck you can find in Civic, especially if you choose the sweet potato option.
At time of writing they were also offering a good value deal with a Dendy movie ticket included.

Fresh Vegie spud

The Chairman and Yip, Civic

The Chairman and Yip retaurant has been in Canberra for a longer time than many Canberrans have lived here. Prices are a little higher than the average restaurant. What do you get for your money then? In short: a fine dining atmosphere; impeccable service; staff who understand what vegan means and remember your vegan booking on arrival; a separate vegetarian menu -- all of which is vegan or can be made so; and excellent food, beautifully presented. The Chairman & Yip would be ideal for a special occasion or work function.

Fried tofu (entree)

Mushrooms with cashew pesto (three per dish) (entree)

Red curry (served with rice)

Tofu & eggplant (served with rice)

Grill'd, Civic

We decided to try out Grill'd recently, knowing that they have a menu which caters to vegans. All of their chips are vegan and they have three types of veggie burger which can be made vegan if you leave some things off them. This is all explained in their menu and on their web site. We found the staff to be knowledgeable and helpful. We ordered the Garden Goodness without cheese or mayo (do check that these have indeed been left off the burger). When you compare it with Sweet Bones for example, it is not the tastiest vegan burger out there. But it is nice to know you have this option available in most major Australian cities.
On the other hand, the chips are outstanding. Just remember, fried chips are a sometime food.

Grill'd Garden Goodness - made vegan

Grill'd sweet potato and herbed potato chips with tomato relish - vegan

Cafe Essen, Civic

Lately we've been to Essen a few times for the monthly vegan coffee and cake meetup. We find that there's usually a few vegan items on the menu, as well as vegan cupcakes. On this particular evening, the specials board had a vegan burger, so a few of us gave it a try. It had a potato pattie – basically a hash brown – along with tasty eggplant puree, avocado and sauces. Highly recommended! Cheers to the friendly staff for letting us split the bill.

Vegan burger

Specials board

Jamie's Italian, Civic

We booked Jamie's Italian for a family dinner and so the restaurant had some prior notice that the vegans were coming. We had some personal attention from one of the chefs, who suggested a number of options that he could make vegan (and gluten-free). This personal touch gave us confidence that we were in capable hands. The dishes which arrived did not disappoint. In particular, the olive risotto was both delicious and attractively presented.

Fennel and orange salad

Olive and tomato risotto

Green beans in tomato sauce

Eggplant and tomato pasta

Guzman y Gomez, Civic

Guzman y Gomez is not the only burrito chain in town, but they were able to confirm via email that the veggie burrito, burrito bowl and tacos would be free of animal products if you ask for no cheese on them. It's a good thing we sorted this out earlier, because the service is express-style and it could be tricky to query the ingredients if there is a queue of people lined up behind you.

The tacos come with taco shells, beans, salsa, fried vegetables and guacamole. Although they were quite tasty, they would not satisfy a big hunger. For the same price you can get the the burrito bowl. It is more filling – the serving portion seems larger and it comes with a generous serve of rice instead of taco shells. The "bowl" is actually a disposable paper carton.

The shop is in the Canberra Centre on Bunda St near the entrance that leads to Supabarn.

Veggie taco (no cheese)

Veggie burrito bowl (no cheese)

Jewel of India, Civic

A work lunch function brought us to this restaurant which has received some positive reviews elsewhere. Inside the restaurant, the decor is very pleasant and the service is attentive. The lunch special was not vegan-friendly so we ordered à la carte.

After sorting out what was vegan on the menu, we decided to order the Baingan Masala (eggplant and potato cooked in onion-tomato gravy), as well as the Dal Masala (yellow lentils). These were accompanied by rice and plain roti bread. Both were excellent dishes and this is some of the best Indian restaurant food we have tried in Canberra.

This shows once again that cooking tasty meals doesn't require the use of animal products.

Baingan Masala (eggplant) and Dal Masala (yellow lentils)

Jewel of India

24 West Row, Melbourne Bldg, 

Canberra City

Ph: (02) 6162 1845

Ethiopian food at Gorman House Markets

Gorman House Markets are open Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Ethiopian Healthy Choice is a regular food stall at the market. There are several delicious vegan offerings. We enjoyed a selection of them as a large serving for $10 per plate. There was an amazing variety of flavour and colour from the beans, lentils, vegetables and spices. This is great value for money and the markets provide a pleasant atmosphere to enjoy your lunch.

Mix of five Ethiopian vegetable curries

Listening to the bluegrass sounds of local band Doctor Stovepipe

Banana Leaf, Civic

The Banana Leaf restaurant specialises in Sri Lankan cuisine and occupies a very prominent position in City Walk opposite the Canberra Centre. There are a few interesting mains on the menu that can be made vegan. What's more, the staff were very helpful in explaining the options to us.

The vegan version of the 'kottu roti' consisted of roti bread strips served with vegetables and lentil curry, along with tamarind and chilli sauce. The 'string hoppers' had various curries, coconut sambal and chutney served with rice noodles. Both were quite filling and tasty. We also had a side salad tossed with mango vinaigrette. Unfortunately there were no dessert options, however we were told that they can prepare something without using animal products if given some advance notice. The prices here are higher than for our usual vegan fare - this may be a consideration if you're on a tight budget.

Kottu roti (veganised version)

String hoppers

Banana Leaf Restaurant & CafeShop 2, 240-250 City Walk, Canberra(02) 6248 5522

Rice Tapas Bar and Restaurant, Civic

'Rice' is located upstairs in Garema Place where the old Tip Top restaurant was. It has been redecorated and looks much more modern. It now has a Thai menu and we took part in their lunch special. We asked about options for vegans and they came up with three dishes. Of these, we ordered two simple stir fries with tofu and vegetables. We appreciated their friendly service because finding vegan food in town can sometimes be a challenge. Asian restaurants offer mislabelled "vegetarian" meals which contain sauce made from sea creatures. If you go to 'Rice', explain that you're vegan because these dishes might have some non vegan sauce in their usual form.

Sweet & sour rad khow

Gatiem rad khow (garlic stir fry)

Rice Tapas Bar and Restaurant
24 Garema Place, Canberra
Ph 62476161

Global Cafe, Civic

The Global Cafe on Northbourne is a good place to go if you are hungry for some Ethiopian food at lunch time. It's a basic style cafe that offers a small selection of vegan dishes, and an $8 lunch special where you can choose up to three dishes to have with injera bread or rice. The vegan options include a selection of dhals, a spicy pumpkin dish, and a cabbage, carrot and green beans dish. If you're into coffee, they also serve cheap soy flat whites! They use Fair Trade Ethiopian coffee.

Global Cafe is open 11 am - 3 pm Monday to Friday for lunch, and 5 pm - 8 pm some evenings for dinner.

Lunch special

Cabbage, carrot and green beans with red lentils in spicy sauce,
and split yellow peas with spiced pumpkin

Global Cafe and Bar

Flavours of Ethiopia 

63 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra City 

(close to Jolimont Bus Interchange)  

phone: 6247 4104