Reviews of vegetarian cafe food by customers

Nadia and the hungry Chemical-Free Landcare team visit the vegetarian cafe for lunch after a busy morning weeding the foredunes at Brunswick Heads beach.

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Here’s an interview with a vegetarian cafe customer, Avi, visiting from Brazil. Avi is a well-known restaurateur and chef with a fine sense of flavour and composition. When asked to comment on Kristina’s cooking in general, she had this to say: “She’s the best from the area, I tell you. She knows how to make food. It’s a real art”.

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Reviews of gluten-free dairy-free cafe food

KRISTINA’S VEGAN POLENTA BAKE
Today in Byron Shire it’s COLD! After a long, hot, wet summer it’s suddenly cold (to us) and the smell of wood smoke is everywhere. So Kristina’s Polenta Bake (and her generous serving size) is perfect: substantial, very tasty, yet with a light, moist texture. Served hot, drizzled with tahini and sweet chilli sauce, finished off with greens, it would be equally yummy in summer. As I ploughed through it, enjoying not only the taste but the rainbow colours, out popped an olive or four! I did not expect that in a polenta dish, and it was a delicious addition. – by Dianne

SUGAR-FREE BANANA SULTANA CAKE
This one’s my favourite and Kristina has me mystified – the body of this cake is utterly enigmatic to me. I love the firm moistness, the way the flavour of the sultanas is infused all through the banana and the firm tahini-based cream topping. Even though it has no added sucrose, it’s quite sweet in a healthy-feeling way. The goji berries on top are not dry and hard, but soft and juicy without being wet. – by Dianne

KRISTINA’S MOROCCAN SHEPHERD’S PIE
I had a big problem with Shepherd’s Pie when I was a student living-in at college, and that problem was the meat. To me it totally spoiled what could have been an acceptable sort of pie. So in the 34 years since then I have avoided Shepherd’s Pie and not had it at all. Until in Brunswick Heads Health Foods I saw a big orange one speckled with green pepitas (good Irish colour combo there!) and brandishing the gluten-free vegan sign. Hmmm….I overcame my historical reluctance and gave it a go. Yum! It was tasty, warm, filling, great on that cold, windy winter’s day as per its original intent, but I could also imagine it served cold in the sweltering sub-tropical summer. Comes served with salad. – by Dianne

KRISTINA’S RICE BALLS
I’ve had rice balls before in other places and not liked them – too bland. However Kristina’s are different with their spicy flavours. Ask for them hot, served with sweet chilli sauce. – by Dianne

SALAD BAR

With my main dish I had the CAULIFLOWER WITH TAHINI AND CASHEW, no poor substitute for the classic cheesey cauliflower which sadly left my menu after going dairy-free, but a rich, satisfying dish which would work as a main course on its own. It
adds a nice variety for people who are tired of the usual monotonous choice of salad,
salad or salad that most of us are faced with in restaurants with less imagination. – by Dianne

To the above I added TOFU & RICE NOODLES, a good accompaniment to the Indian spiced lentils, and varying the protein types in the meal. And believe it or not I also had FRESH SALAD – good flavour, not like the common wilted lettuce and tomato swimming in vinaigrette with an occasional olive! – by Dianne

KRISTINA’S RAW CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
I’ve never been much of a chocolate eater, especially not dark chocolate, and had I not been doing this food review I would not have sampled Kris’s chocolate mousse slice. Being 100% gluten-free and dairy-free I notice that there’s very little suitable chocolatey stuff around that’s worth eating and I wonder how the GF-vegan chocolate enthusiasts get on. However when I took my first spoonful of this very attractive-looking slice, I was quite surprised; perhaps I’d been expecting the rough, over-sugariness of most things chocolate, the oily texture of substituted soy and the hard blandness of gluten-free pie crusts. This is different! It’s so smooth and silky, with contrasting flavours passing by in each mouthful. It was a most unusual combination of ingredients that worked like magic, and nutritious as well. For any of you chocoholics out there, whether gluten-free, vegan or with no dietary specializations, this is a slice to investigate! – by Dianne

BYRON CAKE’S ORANGE POPPYSEED ALMOND CAKE
So you’re a gluten-free vegan and you’d like a “conventional” delicious cake with no disappointments? At a good size for the price, this cake is just right: not too sweet, not too moist or dry, with a nice, light, springy texture. There are little bursts of intense orange from the peel and the tiny crunch of poppy seed. A delightful dessert! – by Dianne

PUMPKIN GINGER CAKE
Calling all sweet-tooths! Although we’re on a health journey here, if you just have to have the sweet icing experience on your moist, spongy cake, this one is a winner. The ginger lifts it into the extraordinary and there’s no pumpkin taste. Now how did she do that? (And how much is that photographer in the window?) – by Dianne