Vegan-friendly
Organic
Western
Take-out
Honey
Organic store with vegetarian cafe inside. Store sells a range of common and not so common vegan groceries, veggies and fruit, and has a deli. The cafe features a small menu using fresh vegetables grown in its rear garden. All vegan except honey. Per Google , permanently closed 2022.
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101 Main St, Greytown, New Zealand
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- Outdoor seating
- Accepts credit cards
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Last update on 09 Sep 2022 by Mellifluoust
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Added by Yolanda on 20 Mar 2015
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13 Reviews
First Review by Yolanda
kezimah
Points +158
Lovely setting - Edit
Delicious burger set in a gorgeous garden
Read moreGuest
mccarthy3003
Points +33
Perfect vegan goodness! - Edit
Delicious hotdog with divine salad 👌
Read morePros: All food is vegan!
Guest
Yolanda
Points +1963
Vegan Cafe in lovely setting - Edit
Cafe and store run by the Cameron family (James Cameron and Suzy Amis) which supports a plant based diet. Situated in a charming vintage building in the heart of Greytown. Greytown is a popular weekend or day trip destination for near by Wellington and also features Schoc Chocolates which has a vegan range so now there are two good reasons to visit the town!
Read moreThe store and cafe are charming with lovely outdoor seating in the gardens where they grow the veggies they use in the cafe. Limited seating on bar stools inside.
The menu is not exciting for me as long term vegan but it has not been open for long so hopefully once it is established they will widen their choices. They had a raw cheesecake on the menu but it was all gone so I had the marbled plum cake. That was disappointing because the baker had used banana as an egg replacer so basically it was banana cake with a bit of plum on top. I always think using banana as an egg replacer is not ideal and there are so many other things you can do which don't flavour the cake so strongly. Or, use a real vegan recipe that doesn't have eggs in the first place. But maybe the baker is new to vegan baking. Hopefully they will improve. The idea of a plum cake was nice though and at least it wasn't ye old bog standard vegan chocolate cake which is what you get anywhere else that offers a vegan cake.
They do make and sell their own honey apparently. I just asked if the food was vegan and not about the honey because I didn't know they were into honey and assumed when they said it was vegan it was honey free. I would check that more carefully next time in case they think it is vegan to have honey.
Also on the menu was a baked potato topped with soy mince and a rice risotto. To me that is the kind of everyday food I cook at home and I wasn't interested enough to order them. Again, I just think they are very new and haven't sussed yet all there is to offer in vegan cuisine. And of course there might be some diners who would love these options. But not me.
The store itself is lovely and crammed with all sorts of goodies, many of which I haven't seen in NZ before. They also sell Nice Blocks so now you can go to Greytown and buy a vegan ice cream to eat as you stroll around the town.
I would go back and next time hopefully there will be more on the menu that attracts.
Update 2020
So I did go back and found it much improved thank goodness. Better menu, better execution, more spacious.
Updated from previous review on 2015-03-20
Pros: Vegan, lovely setting and outdoor seating, nice blocks vegan ice cream
Guest
jemma.clarke
Points +44
Great food & atmosphere! - Edit
Such a nice spot to go to in the small town of Greytown, wasnt expecting any vegan restaurants, however the shop front girl was pretty rude as we didn’t know it was a (vegan restaurant) and she snapped at us very rudely when we were asking questions 😅 and it was very confusing not having menus only a board at the front of the counter and we didn’t know if the back garden to sit and eat was connected to the shop.
Read moreHowever the chefs were lovely and food was fantasyic so made up for it! ☺️
Guest
vegan4me
Points +33
Amazing hidden gem! - Edit
Perfect place to stop for a drink or a meal. Cafe is in back of a small grocery. There is a little seating area outside. Huge tea list! Very helpful, quick service, and we are oh so happy to have found a great spot to stop. Love this hidden gem!
Read morePros: All plant based grocery and cafe, Fresh, local produce , Great flavors!
Guest
planteatingkiwi
Points +97
Yum! - Edit
Had an amazing pizza bread there, it was so good! Very good (though not cheap) selection of vegan and organic products.
Read moreGuest
Diz Parker
Points +171
Great find - Edit
Fabulous cafe and shop in Greytown. Great prices for huge lunches. 6 options of totally vegan meals. Yummy counter food too. Friendly staff.
Read moreGuest
Wildevegan
Points +68
Vegan oasis in farming village - Edit
I love love Greytown it is so beautiful with loads of interesting shops to peruse, but oh my goodness it is a desert for vegans! Thank goodness for this oasis. Somewhere you can relax and enjoy beautiful food made with love. There is indoor and out door seating. If weather permits go outdoors and enjoy the serene country garden setting. I Highly recommend the burrittos with cashew sour cream and coriander guacamole. YUM. I would usually have a hotter salsa than provided but was just so happy with the fresh tastes to ask for one.
Read morePros: Relaxing outdoor seating, Food made fresh, Friendly staff
Guest
@ndy
Points +1276
Great store, great lunch, great accommodation too!.... - Edit
This is a really nice store selling a good selection of some wonderful plant-based products (loving the vegan aioli I bought!). They have a small kitchen and do a breakfast and lunch menu daily. The lunch menu is blackboard only and when it sells out, that's it. Don't get here too late....it's a popular little cafe!
Read moreThe food was fresh, tasty and varied. We enjoyed our lunch a lot. There is also plenty of choice for cabinet desserts. During our stay I tried 2 of the slices and a piece of cheesecake. They were all very good......Very good!
Seating is limited but they look like they're adding more table space on the rear patio to cater for this.
Very friendly staff and a real gem in the heart of Greytown.
They also offer accommodation upstairs above the store. It's very comfortable and centrally located. You can order a nice vegan breakfast from the cafe below as part of your stay.
Recommended.....'Well done' to James Cameron & his family!
Pros: Lovely store. Great variety of vegan items, Tasty lunches & desserts. Moderate prices, Wonderful accommodation
Guest
Davidnoix
Points +24
Great lunch in Greytown - Edit
We wanted to try this place as we were in search of a vegetarian/vegan lunch in Greytown .It's right on the main street.We were a party of three vegetarians on a friday about 1pm.Just two mains at $12 and side salad at $2. Two of us had the black bean burrito with roasted kumara and tomato and cashew cream and the other dish was mushroom tempeh balls on quinoa pasta with rich tomato sauce and pesto.
Read moreThe side salads were crafted rather than tossed and used a variety of ingredients they looked terrific and tasted great and a bargain at two bucks. For drinks we had blackcurrant juice, a smoothie and verbena tea. We ate and drank every last scrap. There is obviously someone who knows what they are doing in the kitchen.
Fortunately it was a fine day and we ate outside in a nice garden,kids would love it, had a couple of forts and huts.Inside is limited for space.
Front of house seemed to be a little flustered I think they were running low on things,but staff all pleasant.Rest room is super clean.
Only down side for coffee freaks is plunger coffee only, this is a weakness as people in Wellington(and the Wairarapa) expect more.
We all would definately go back again and we were really happy to have a vegan option in this town.
Pros: Food yummy, Garden , side salads
Cons: Coffee, More food options would be good
Guest
MrsPNZ
Points +18
Delicious! - Edit
Quaint shop selling a good range of organic and vegan small goods at good prices. Staff were welcoming and friendly. We were tempted by the menu (yes, limited (just 2 options) but delicious choices) and stayed for lunch. All 3 of us (2 vegan, 1 not) had a curried baked cauliflower & coconut soup which was served with a vegan sourdough with an almond and herb 'butter'. Quite honestly one of the tastiest soups I've ever had and very well priced (only $10). We topped off the soup with a serving of ginger crunch ... yum! Although we didn't indulge there was also a range of vegan/dairy-free icecreams, smoothies and hot drinks. Would absolutely recommend and will travel the distance from Wellington to dine there again.
Read morePros: Fresh organic produce used from own gardens; Chan
Cons: Limited seating (book ahead); Limited menu.
Guest
Carebearhere
Points +44
Worth the drive - Edit
I'm based in Palmerston North, so it was a decent trek to get here, but well worth it in my opinion. I was dining with two non-vegans, it was a windy-rainy day, so we had to dine inside which felt very cramped.
Read moreThe menu is very limited, one non vegan ordered a mushroom risotto, while the rest of us opted for the nachos. Both were delicious, the nachos were very fresh tasting which I enjoyed.
I also got the raw cheesecake and some baked goods to go, they were also very nice, and it was nice seeing different vegan foods in the shop.
If you do stop by, choose a day when the weather will be sunny, as the experience is better if you can utilise the outdoor seating in the gardens.
Pros: Beautiful gardens, Fresh food, Gorgeous shop
Cons: Small space, Limited menu
Guest
Cosmic Illusion
Points +118
Okay for the Wairarapa - Edit
This is not a cafe this is an organic shop with a few bar stool seats inside, and a couple of picnic tables outside (not great if it is raining) where they serve a limited range of cooked vegan food.
Read moreThey are not pretending to be a cafe so don't travel there thinking you can go to a restaurant. However, if you are passing through and need vegan food it is an option. Good standard range of organic food to buy as well.
Ready food menu limited, purposely, as they want to provide fresh cooked food daily. However, this means stuff can run out.
Three of, our party of four, had chickpea and pumpkin burgers in a bread bun with lettuce and beetroot sauerkraut. The two vegans like their food. The bread was seeded and fresh. The pattie was a bit runny, so didn't hold together as a burger as such, but was tasty and edible all the same. (NZ$14 per burger with no additional chips or salad.)
The non vegan didn't think the burger was up to much. The other non vegan party member had a pasta salad. She found it bland and without much imagination. The two vegans would have found the pastas salad the same. The toasted almonds were over cooked, we all tried one and agreed that they left a burnt taste in your mouth which was not pleasurable. When she pointed it out to the Manger, he said he'd been eating them all day and they weren't burnt.
The two vegans also had the raw cheesecake which again they found tasty. (NZ$7 per slice.)
We made the trip out to Greytown to see this place and try out the food. We wouldn't purposely go back but would eat there again if passing through.
I would agree with Yolanda's comments below, that this is possibly a chef who is getting into vegan food rather than really understanding catering for a vegan palate right now. Some work yet to be done on customer service, catering for a vegan palate and food handling - one of the waitresses dropped the top off one of the buns onto the outside table and simple picked it up and put it back on top of the burger.
You can see that the shop and garden itself has had a LOT of money put into it. It is a nice, central location and pleasant environment. The garden is nice to sit in and clearly is growing produce. They have plans to have fresh juices and a pizza oven in the future.
Pros: Vegan food in the Wairarapa, Good range of organic products for sale, Nice garden and new interior
Cons: Menu limited and a bit hit and miss , Customer service needs work, Limited seating and opening times
Guest
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