Vegan Travel: New Zealand South Island (Part 1)

Lake Tekapo Restaurants with Vegan Options (How to Eat Vegan in Lake Tekapo)

We checked into our AirBNB and wandered down to the sleepy town on the miraculously turquoise Lake Tekapo.

The Lake Tekapo downtown restaurant with at least one specifically vegan option for each mealtime was Reflections. They also had an awesome vegan waitress who helped educated us on the New Zealand approach to veganism – thanks for all you do Sammy.

We had a few meals there (pictured below). The Vegan Quinoa Beet Burger and the Vegan Curry were both vegan without modification.

We were able to get a breakfast plate and asked for grilled veggies instead of eggs. We’re hopeful that they will offer some killer vegan breakfast meals and more lunch/dinner options soon 😊

There were bars that had things like wedges and fries, but nothing with much nutrition, so we  stuck to beer and great company.

A short 10-minute drive from Lake Tekapo is the Mount John Observatory. You can hike up or drive up to the top and park for $8 NZ. The hike looks like it would take about 30 minutes up and 20 minutes down.

At the top of the observatory is the Astro Cafe. During the summer months they stop making fresh food at 3:30 and close at 6 pm. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get vegan food if we arrived after 3:30. However, we arrived at about 4 pm and they made us a yummy falafel wrap (tortilla wrap with grilled falafel, fresh mesclun, cucumber, tomato, onion and hummus) which we ate with an incredible view.

Mt. Cook Restaurants with Vegan Options (How to Eat Vegan in Mt. Cook)

We arrived at Mt. Cook National Park and stopped to grab a bite to eat at Aoraki Mount Cook Village. The Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Lodge may have had some vegan-modifiable menu items, but they were in between lunch and dinner and weren’t serving food yet. We went down the way to Old Mountaineers’ Café where I was able to get them to modify some menu items so I could have a coconut cream tomato soup, a slice of toast and a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

We did some awesome hiking and stayed at an adorable place for the night – all of our activities (plus some beautiful pictures of our activities) and lodging on the South Island can be viewed in our New Zealand travel blog Part 1: South Island .

Mt. Cook Restaurants with Vegan Options (How to Eat Vegan in Mt. Cook)

We arrived at Mt. Cook National Park and stopped to grab a bite to eat at Aoraki Mount Cook Village. The Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Lodge may have had some vegan-modifiable menu items, but they were in between lunch and dinner and weren’t serving food yet. We went down the way to Old Mountaineers’ Café where I was able to get them to modify some menu items so I could have a coconut cream tomato soup, a slice of toast and a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

We did some awesome hiking and stayed at an adorable place for the night – all of our activities (plus some beautiful pictures of our activities) and lodging can be viewed in our New Zealand travel blog (coming next week!!).

Wanaka Restaurants with Vegan Options (How to Eat Vegan in Wanaka)

• Alivate – Asian Fusion. Clearly marked vegan options and a variety of vegan menu items. You can sit on their 2^nd floor deck that overlooks the lake and the bustling sidewalk. We went for happy hour which was a great deal (call to ask for happy hour times when you’re there). We had a super cheerful server, which makes all dining experiences better.
• Red Star Burger Bar – Burgers. Clearly marked vegan option (The Virgin: falafel, hummus, sweet chilli, (ask for no tahini yoghurt)). You can get the fries but they are cooked with the other foods, so there is cross contamination. You can also customize the burger to add lots of extra veggies.
• The Spice Room – Indian. Really yummy food. Clearly marked vegan items on their menu. They have wine and cocktails.
• The Big Fig – Variety of Styles. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Good food, smallish portions (for us Americans 😉). Clearly marked vegan menu items.
• The Dripping Bowl –Seasonal Bowl and Soup Food Truck. All of the items that they were selling at the time were vegan. We got a nutrition packed maca nut bowl.Maybe worth a mention?
• Relishes Café – This is not a good place for lunch or dinner. They have no vegan items, even with modification. They offer frois gras which is a very inhumane form of duck liver so I would recommend supporting other restaurants besides Relishes Café. They did have a breakfast bowl that could be modified to be vegan by removing the yogurt, however.

We needed lots of sustenance after our big hike to Roy’s Peak (link to the blog coming soon!):

Te Anau Restaurants with Vegan Options (How to Eat Vegan in Te Anau)

Restaurants in Te Anau, unfortunately, did not impress us much. But the downtown areas had live music, dancing and happy hours that still made evenings quite fun.

The Ranch – Bar and Grill. Believe it or not, a place called The Ranch had one of the best dinner options. The Vegetarian Stir–fry consisted of a selection of well-seasoned vegetables cashew nuts, crispy noodles pan-fried in garlic, ginger, sweet chilli, & hoisin sauce served on long grain rice.
That is, of course, their only vegan option other than a side of potatoes and grilled veggies that you have to discuss carefully with them to make sure that they don’t cook them with butter.

The Fat Duck – Café, Bar and Grill. This place had a fun happy hour with good beers and a big basket of wedges that were really yummy (tell them 3 times when you order not to bring the creamy dipping sauce). But they didn’t have a single vegan menu item or anything worth modifying.

Olive Tree Café – Café and Restaurant. I know, you’re thinking, “that sounds like a place I can eat”, we did too. They have a large selection of vegetarian items but they’re slathered with cheese and butter and eggs. Yikes. Not really modifiable. There was a curry dish we were able to order, so it’s a decent backup option for vegan dining in Te Anau. The curry dish does need to be modified to not have yogurt, however.

Naturally Fiordland Pizzeria – Italian. Now, Naturally Fiordland had a whole vegan menu, which we were so excited about. However, the food was not good, at all. And the service (from the owner) was strange and rude. So much so that a cute family who was eating across the restaurant came by our table after and said below their breath “how bad was your food and service?” and we giggled together.
You win some, you lose some, and we’re grateful they’re trying!!

For our day in Milford Sound we packed some groceries for breakfast and lunch so that we would have enough for the car ride and the cruise. Jucy offers a cruise with a Pita Pit on board and they have vegan options, so that’s worth considering.

The food in Te Anau wasn’t amazing but we still had a lovely stay in this small town. And if we were feeling like we needed some plant-based pick-me-ups, Queenstown was just the place for that!!

Queenstown Restaurants with Vegan Options (How to Eat Vegan in Queenstown)

You’ll see in our travel blog (link coming soon!) we did a hike, some long walks through town, and a bar crawl that had us out dancing until 3 am – so we needed nourishment while in Queenstown. And oh boy did they have it!

Rehab – Health Foods. This place is AWESOME. Their Vegan, Refined-Sugar-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, Yeast-Free items are all marked clearly. They focus on fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season. They have great values as an organization. There are grab-and-go options as well as hot and dine-in food, juices and smoothies. Highly recommend stopping by.

We got a quinoa, brown rice, organic veggie bowl with a cashew cream sauce that we ate from our 3^rd story patio of our hostel overlooking the town and Queenstown hills:

Fergburger

 – Burgers. New Zealanders LOVE Fergburger. So much so that you may have to wait an hour to get your burger. We recommend calling and ordering ahead of time and strolling down when you’re free. Fergburger has two vegetarian burgers that can easily be made vegan! The Bun Laden is delicious, with deep-fried falafels in separate oil (ask for no yoghurt sauce and no aioli). Holier Than Thou is also delicious with a tofu patty (just ask for no aioli).

HELL Pizza – Pizza. They have clearly marked vegan menu items and you’re able to get a vegan pizza with cheese (many “vegan pizzas” in New Zealand just have no cheese at all which leaves something to be desired).

The Spice Room – Indian. Really delicious food. Clearly marked vegan items on their menu. They have wine and cocktails. We actually didn’t go to this location, but we went to the one in Wanaka.

Caribe Latin Kitchen – Latin. They have many vegetarian options and they know how to modify options to make them vegan, so all you need to do is ask!

Sombreros – Mexican. They have a clearly marked vegan burrito and tacos plate.

After an amazing visit in Queenstown we flew over to Auckland to start our North Island tour! Check that out in the Vegan Travel New Zealand Pt. 2 blog (coming next week!).