Gold Coast is blooming with new vegan restaurants popping up constantly as more people looking for a more sustainable, healthy and ethical lifestyle.
With all the options in Gold Coast, here are the ones that should be on your food bucket list:
Cardamom Pod
Southport
Cardamom Pod Brickworks offers delicious vegan food that are beautifully presented. One of the go-to's is their acai bowls, which is an explosion of colours and textures. Other options like blinged out benny and pancakes are also amazing choices. This branch in Southport Brickworks offers an all-vegan menu (with dairy option for coffee).
Vegetarian | Address and Hours
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Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant
Mermaid Waters
Vegan, authentic and delicious, Easy House is a must-visit if you are craving some yum cha and Chinese comfort food.
They do yum cha at lunch time. The dishes I've tried like steamed bean curd roll and deep fried taro dumplings taste amazing. The flavours are true to what you will get in Hong Kong. They also do other classic dishes during dinner time.
The staff in this family-owned restaurant is very friendly and helpful.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Made With Love Bakery
Southport
This bakery in Southport is all vegan with a dazzling range of baked goods. They offer bakery classics like filled doughnuts, croissants, cream jam buns, as well as some more creative options like croffin (croissant muffin). You’ll also find savoury options here like cheesy garlic scroll, pizza bread and a selection of hot pies.
It’s hard to pick a favourite out of everything I tried here, but my favourites were the choc honeycomb croffin and the cinnamon scroll with biscoff icing.
Although the food was great, I wouldn’t really recommend the drinks. Both the iced chocolate and the dirty chai I tried were pretty weak unfortunately.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Izakaya Midori
Reedy Creek
Despite its location, Izakaya Midori is well worth your trip. The food here is impeccable both in taste and presentation. The menu is filled with Japanese classics like sushi, ramen, katsu rice bowl, etc. Authentic Japanese cuisine with a vegan twist. Staff is also very friendly and hospitable.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Kuan Yin Tea House
Southport
Kuan Yin has recently undergone an ownership change, shifting its menu towards Thai-style dishes while retaining some Taiwanese dishes from the previous owner.
On their all-vegan menu, you’ll find Asian classics like fried rice, curries, hot pots and more.
The bento box I tried came with two small dishes (tofu and stir-fried veggies on the day I visited), a salad, pickles, rice, and fruit, in addition to an entree of your choice. I chose the snow fish, which tasted great with good texture, but could benefit from a bit more sauce to complement the rice.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Sacre Coeur Patisserie
Southport
Sacre Coeur Patisserie is a fully vegan bakery that also offers excellent gluten-free options. All the baked goods are made in-house. Options include pistachio croissants, hazelnut pain au chocolat, and fruit tarts. Savoury options are also available like bolognese pie and cheesy sausage roll.
I tried the pistachio croissant, which was delicious, though slightly undercooked in the middle. There are some relaxing outdoor seating and the staff is friendly.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Shiro Gelato and Snacks
Southport
Shiro Gelato and Snacks is a Japanese snack cafe offering vegan sorbets, onigiri rice balls, warabimochi, and various drinks like matcha and hojicha lattes. Vegan options are clearly marked with VG.
The sorbet flavours change regularly; I tried the lemon & yuzu flavour during my visit. I recommend the Shiro Lover style, where the sorbet is wrapped in mochi skin and topped with a few pieces of warabimochi. The sorbet was tasty, and the warabimochi was soft and fresh.
Vegan-options | Address and Hours
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Lord Of The Fries
Surfers Paradise
Located in the heart of Surfer's Paradise, Lord of the Fries serves up some plant-based fast food that will surely satisfy your cravings.
You will find classic burgers, hot dogs, fries and more here. The food is generally ok, but there could be times where the quality is not perfect. Sometimes the wait time is long and the staff is not the most friendly.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Tian Ran Vegetarian Restaurant
Mermaid Beach
Tian Ran is one of the OG vegan restaurants in Gold Coast. Serving classic Asian dishes like stir-fry, hot pot, noodle soup, etc, you will hardly run out of things to try here. Food is well-priced with good portions. From my visit, the teriyaki chicken is the stand out dish, while the other dishes are nice but not too memorable.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Milkman's Daughter
Mermaid Beach
Milkman's Daughter is an upscale, hip vegetarian cafe in the Mermaid Beach area. Most of the items are vegan and clearly marked. Dishes like the lemon ricotta pancakes are both beautiful and delicious. Remember to change to vegan ricotta! Prices could be a bit high but the good quality food and beautiful environment make up for it.
Vegetarian | Address and Hours
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Siam Purity
Pacific Fair Shopping Centre
Siam Purity is a vegan Thai restaurant in the Pacific Fair shopping centre. You will find traditional dishes here like pad Thai, tom yum soup, curry rice and more. The menu is pretty extensive.
The quality of food is quite good. And the prices are reasonable as well for the portion.
Another thing about Siam Purity is that they use a robot to deliver your food!
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Doko Demo V
Burleigh Waters
Doko Demo V is a vegan restaurant (before it has options to add dairy cheese) in the Miami area. They make some international dishes here, including some unique dishes like the pot plant dessert, and the "Taipei 101 burger", which is a burger tower with 2 burgers stacked on top of each other. Food is tasty with good prices. Staff is also warm and friendly.
Vegan | Address and Hours
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Blendlove
Southport
Blendlove is a vegan cafe in Southport that serves some classic cafe food. Keep in mind that they have dairy option for coffee.
Burgers, acai bowls and pancakes are some of the dishes you can find here. They aim to make all their food free of refined sugar and highly processed ingredients.
Vegetarian | Address and Hours
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