Buttercup wanted to give this place a try. She has been eyeing the renovations of the building and was interested to see that a vegetarian cafe had opened on Lyall Bay Parade. I think it is a great move to open another cafe on the parade and it being different by only making vegetarian meals. I personally do not go out of my way to have a vegetarian meal but I thought I would at least give it a try and see what I thought of the place.
The building inside is nicely done up and has a very nice open feeling to the place with a court yard at the back. They have an extensive drinks list with coffee from Peoples. I did find it hard to choose something from the menu. Personally for me if I am going to eat vegetarian I am not a fan of substitute or fake meat. I was tempted to have the Big Lyall but decided against it because of the facon and the soy sausages.
Whitestone ‘Monte Christo’ cheese & caramelized onion toastie, with beetroot slaw
For some reason, when I was reading the menu this is what I immediately wanted, something that did not really push the boundaries of vegetarianism. The beetroot salad was very nice and very refreshing and the pea shoots really went well with it. The sandwich was packed with cheese and had a good amount of caramlised onions. The onions provided the sweetness with the cheese giving the savoury. The bread was obviously toasted and when added all together it was very nice.
Hash Brown
The main reason why I wanted the Big Lyall was because I wanted the hash browns, so instead I decided to order them as a side. The hash brown were very good and obviously made on site. The outside was crunchy and nicely seasoned with the inside nice and soft. A great hash brown and could give Cafe Polo a run for it’s money for the best hash brown in Wellington.
As I said, I did struggle with the menu. However, the food was very good. The place was busy but the staff managed it all very well. When we arrived there was a 40 minute wait on food, but that was ok with us as we had a lot to talk about. Overall a good place to eat. I would go back and if I do go, I will need to be a bit more daring with my food.
Address: 219 Onepu Rd, Lyall Bay, Wellington
Website; The Botanist Lyall Bay
Trencherman's Travels 