Vegan eating NZ - and the rest

To finish up my vegan eating in NZ posts, here's the rest of the vegan treasures I found along the way.

This Felafel Pita at Felafel Gourmet in Nelson was divine. I'm a big fan of sauce, and as you can see, this baby was absolutely loaded up with tahini sauce & chilli.

Felafel Gourmet
195 Hardy St, Nelson
Mon-Thu 9.30am – 5.30pm; Fri 9.30am-8pm; Sat 9.30am-4.30pm

From memory this Pizza & Salad lunch special at Winnies in Queenstown was only $10 - very good value. This is the Caprico without cheese. Not the tastiest (the sauce could have done with more flavour), but it did have a nice crispy base & wasn't short on toppings.

Winnies
7 The Mall, Queenstown
7 days, 12pm-late
www.winnies.co.nz

The Roasted Zucchini & Lentil Salad (without the feta) at Dux de Luxe in Queenstown was really good. It was a warm salad & had a nice balance of leafy greens, lentils & other assorted salad ingredients. The dressing was good too. Dux is a cool place - I recommend it for a quiet beer at the end of the day (before the DJ starts).

Dux de Luxe
14 Church St, Queenstown
7 days, 12pm-late
www.thedux.co.nz

The ol' favourite - Avocado & Tomato on toast. I don't remember the name of the cafe, but it was a really funky little place in the main street of Wanaka.

Probably the biggest surprise of my whole trip. Stumbled into this place after arriving late into Fox Glacier. In such a small town, I really didn't expect much in the way of choice, but Cooks Saddle Cafe & Saloon had this Lentil Stuffed Capsicum listed as vegan right there on the menu - no changes required! It reminded me very much of nutmeat in texture & flavour & was very similar to the meals I make at home. A very pleasant meal to end a long day of driving.

Cooks Saddle Cafe & Saloon
19 State Highway 6, Fox Glacier
7 days, 11am-late (hours are seasonal, so call to check 03 751 0700)

Finally, this is a pretty standard Roast Vegetable Panini at Shoreline Cafe in Kaiteri. There was a false start with this one. I had asked for it without the ricotta & pesto (from memory), but it came out covered in melted mozarella (which wasn't listed on the menu). I took it back, apologising for not having specified no dairy (I'm always forgetting to do that & I really should have learnt my lesson by now). The waitress was pretty friendly about it & I was soon delivered a fresh meal. I really hate sending meals back (we've all heard the stories about chefs spitting in the food), but in this case there was nothing I could do to avoid the cheese & I was really hungry.

Shoreline Cafe
Corner Inlet & Sandy Bay Rds, Kaiteriteri
Summer - 7 days 7.30am-10.30pm; Winter - 7 days 10am-5pm (call to check - 03 527 8507)

Vegan eating NZ - post Milford Tramp

Have you ever done a tramp in NZ? Or a multi-day hike anywhere in the world? If you have, you'll know that after 4 days of eating the same food, you'll be craving something different in a big way. That's how I felt when we got back to Te Anau after completing the Milford Tramp.

First thing on the menu was one very long, very hot shower. It was awesome, the best shower I have EVER had. I was so in love with that shower I wanted to marry it.

Anyway, moving on, second thing on the menu was a nice glass of whiskey - which definitely hit the spot. And third thing on the menu was a hot, tasty meal. The Ranch in Te Anau provided just that. It's not a fancy place - just a country cafe/bistro/pub playing some pretty bad country music. But it was warm, the staff were friendly & they had vegetarian nachos on the menu. All i had to do was pass on the cheese & I was delivered a beautiful, tasty, crunchy, hot plate of goodness. The topping was the best thing about these nachos - with a whole mix of sauteed vegetables & beans.

The Ranch Cafe & Bar
111 Town Centre, Te Anau
7 days, 12pm til late

The fourth thing on the menu had to wait until the next morning - a real coffee. NZ is like France - they do bowls of coffee. Bowls of coffee are so awesome. Especially when you haven't had a real coffee in 4 days... sigh :-)

Vegan eating NZ - Otago Rail Trail

When we headed off on our adventure on the Otago Rail Trail, I wasn't expecting a whole lot in the way of vegan food. After all, once you leave the big cities behind in Australia, you're pretty much left with chips or salad at the pub. Not so in NZ. Not only is vegan not a dirty word, I actually found that people went out of their way to please me. Obviously, there were a couple of times when I resorted to a bowl of wedges at the pub, but considering we were on the road for 4 full days, that's not too bad.

Here are a couple of the highlights, starting with the Dunstan Hotel in Clyde. This is a baked potato stuffed with stir-fried vegies. I asked for no dairy & voila! This monster of a meal was promptly delivered. Awesome. I struggled to finish it, but forced myself to swallow every last mouthful, because I was worried I wouldn't see that many vegetables again for the next 4 days. I was wrong (happily).

Dunstan Hotel
35 Sunderland St, Clyde
7 days 11am-11.30pm
www.dunstanhotel.co.nz

My other highlight was the Oturehua Tavern. Grahame & Liz run this awesome country pub & were our saviours after we were caught in 30min of drenching rain on the final leg into town. After settling into our room & changing into dry clothes, we wandered into the pub in our socks, put our shoes by the fire to dry & pretty much spent the rest of the evening curled up next to the fire sampling the local reds.

Having been told I was vegan (because our room came with breakfast), Liz very kindly went out of her way to make me a special lentil pie (& also made the bro a vegetarian version of the same pie). It was so awesome I can't really describe it in words. Because it wasn't just that the pie tasted good (& it tasted really really good). It was the friendliness, the welcoming atmosphere, the willingness to go out of their way to please & the feeling of having a warm, delicious meal at the end of a long day's cycling.

I highly recommend paying Grahame & Liz a visit. If you're planning to visit for lunch or dinner I would call ahead because I don't think there's anything vegan on the menu, but the tavern is equally worth a visit for a drink & a good chat.

Oturehua Tavern
Main Rd, Oturehua
Not sure about opening hours - give them a call 03 444 5856