Dunedin has amazing vegan food!

I am currently in Dunedin, working and holidaying for a few days. I wasn't too worried about finding vegan food as my friend Justine had told me she'd been down here and been to The Arc and a few other places.  Fiona arrived a couple of days before me, and had sent me a text saying that there is a vegan cafe around the corner from our hotel, which was great to hear.  I arrived on Saturday, and since Fiona was out on a photo shoot I wandered around on my own searching for the vegan cafe she had told me about. I didn't find it, but found the Potpourri Vegetarian Cafe on Stuart Street and had a nice meal of vegetable Pakora and three different salads - a carrot salad, quinoa salad and lettuce salad. The Pakora was so filling I couldn't eat all of the salad! I think it was also the best Pakora I've ever had! The pakora was $6.50 and it was $5 for three salads. As well as counter food, they have a breakfast and mains menu, so I am planning on going there for breakfast tomorrow!

Once Fiona finished work and came back to the hotel, we went out for margaritas with the owner of the modelling agency here, then went to an Indian restaurant that Fiona had spotted earlier, Indian Summer Restaurant on Moray Place. It was nice to see that they specifically mentioned that they made vegan food on the menu! I ordered what I usually order when I eat Indian, Chana Masala. It was really tasty and the rice was great too. I ordered mine hot, and while it wasn't as spicy as I usually prefer it was quite nice for a change as I could taste individual ingrediants like ginger. I was sad that I couldn't finish my curry and have been thinking about it ever since! My curry was $15.50 and was a good size, not too big - if it wasn't for the margarita and the beer I had with dinner I would have been able to eat it all!

Yesterday we spent the day out at the Moeraki Boulders on another photo shoot. It turns out Circadian Rhythm, the vegan cafe Fiona told me about is about a block away from the modelling agency, so while people were getting ready I went to pick up some coffee and check out the food. Since it was early, the counter food wasn't quite ready so I went back about 9am and bought some chickpea pies, pakora, and a piece of chocolate mud cake for us to take to the shoot. It was all so amazing, especially the cake! This morning Fiona and I went back for breakfast as they also have a breakfast and mains menu. I couldn't decide between tofu scramble (which I absolutely love) and the pancakes. I ended up copying Fiona and ordering pancakes, which can be made gluten free. They had banana and cashew in between them as well as on top of them, and were topped with soy ice cream and berries. It was a bit like having dessert for breakfast! They were so filling I couldn't finish mine, but have the rest sitting next to me for when I get hungry again!

I'm still here for a few more days, so will have another update later, but in the meantime please let me know if there is anywhere else I should go!

Potpourri Vegetarian Cafe
97 Lower Stuart Street
(03) 477 9983

Indian Summer Restaurant
110 Moray Place
(03) 477 8880

Circadian Rhythm
72 St Andrew Street
(03) 474 9994