Enjoyed my meal here. It's a Hare Krishna place, which means it's low-cost Indian-inspired food,…read morecooked for the masses and served buffet-style. Lots of curries and things like that. You pay one flat fee and it's all-you-can-eat. Govinda's is a bit more special than most Hare Krishna places, though, in that it's a little bit better quality and has way more of a range of options. It has one bar devoted to salads and their dressings (fresh green mixed salads, couscous salads, quinoa salads, etc.) and one bar devoted to hot foods (pasta, several types of curries, samosas and other fried snacks, and a sweet dessert). Govinda's is also one of the only vegetarian places in Surfers Paradise, and as it is 100% vegan, you don't have to worry about sneaky dairy or egg ingredients when you order. The downside of all this is it is more expensive than most Hare Krishna places -- the ones in other cities tend to be in the $9-12 range (even as low as $6.50 here in Melbourne). We paid $16.90 each here at Govinda's! We were hungry so it was worth it -- we filled our plates once at the salad bar, then went back and filled our plates again at the hot cooked food bar, and then finally a third time for dessert. Some of the options were better than others. I really loved the satay peanut sauce at the salad bar -- I drenched my quinoa salad and green salad in it. Delicious stuff. I also enjoyed the lentil curry, and the fried pakora was super yum. I wasn't as wild about the pasta -- it was very plain. But in general, everything was tasty. The dessert was halwa (semolina pudding with sweet sauce) -- not very pretty to look at, but tasty. If you don't want to spring for the all-you-can-eat, you can also order individual plates of things, but it didn't look like it was as good a value for your money. You can also order at an extra cost any desserts from their display case and any extra drinks as well. (Free tap water otherwise.) Service was a bit blunt as it often is in this type of place. But not too bad. Atmosphere-wise, very similar to lots of Hare Krishna places, although this one had very little religious messaging on the walls, very unobtrusive -- most people would never guess it was a Hare Krishna place. Nice enough seating and decor, and very clean. I loved all the colorful throw pillows against the benches. Definitely recommend if you're in Surfers looking for a healthy, filling meal that won't break the bank.

Excellent food! Very happy every time I go Nice variety of…read moreproducts and very tasty!!

This is a second location for the Cardamom Pod, a vegetarian (apparently vegan) brunch place (the…read morefirst is south of here at Broadbeach). The location itself I'm not a huge fan of. It's not close to the beach or on the tram line, so it wasn't the easiest thing to get to. Moreover, because it took a while to reach, I arrived just after their breakfast had ended and their lunch started. Looking at the breakfast menu, this was a tad disappointing. That being said, the crunchy tofu rolls I ended up were ethnically indiscernible but tasty, combining a Vietnamese presentation with a very Indian-ish dipping sauce and some marinated mango. They were amply spicy and sweet, and with avocado accompanying the tofu, reasonably filling. Their menu on the whole is quite lavish (and expensive). And yet, despite being a pricey pure plant-based restaurant at a non-ideal location, it was kind of busy. Gold Coast, man, I'm telling you. Most parts of the world, there aren't too many fancy vegetarian restaurants and the ones that exist sometimes struggle, but I just can't stop running into them here, and they're doing fine. I imagine I'll be back for some of their chickpea flour breakfast dishes sometime.

Decided to give this place a second chance after trying it during the COVID pandemic when they were…read moreonly doing take away, their food was not to their usual standard. Sorely disappointed with the service this time and didn't even get a chance to eat. From the time of ordering to leaving waited over an hour. Full story is we didn't have an appointment but me and my friend wanted to see if they had seats anyway. There were two tables opening up but the hostess told us to wait and gave us some attitude about it. We shrugged it off and waited about 10min for the table that was just empty the entire ten minutes. When we sat down we looked over the menu and then ordered about 5 min later with the same hostess lady. She unkindly told us that the gnocchi was sold out which is fine but she still had an attitude about it. Then after ordering we waited about an hour and saw people who had come order ate and left. We had been chatting and had ordered a big meal so thought maybe our food took longer to prepare but after an hour we were hungry and impatient and asked the hostess about an update and she said "what food" and we reminded her that she took our order and she just said "omg I forgot" she had not put the order in. In the hour she had not checked on our table even tho by this time half the restaurant tables were empty they weren't that busy. Terrible service. The food however does look and smell amazing from the tables next to us.

Nice vegetarian hare krishna food on Coolangatta's main street. $9 gets you one curry or salad with…read morerice, $14 gets you two curries or two salads with rice, $19 for three curries or three salads with rice. The lasagne/moussaka and kofta balls are priced differently. Most things here are vegan except for the moussaka, kofta balls, a couple of the desserts, and the mango lassi. I had a yellow curry, a lentil dahl, and rice for $14, and it was mild and somewhat bland, but hearty and warming nevertheless. I also had a vegan samosa with chutney for $6, which was honestly overpriced. (The chutney was really nice but the samosa was too heavy and greasy.) My boyfriend had the kofta balls and a quinoa salad thing with rice. The quinoa salad was AMAZING and easily the best thing on either of our plates. I would honestly go back just for that. Decor was nice in a rich, heavy-handed sort of way -- pleasantly dark with typical Indian pictures and accent pieces, including a cheesy ornate door frame with a man seated in the lotus position. Tall sturdy wicker-inset chairs. In spite of the cheesy touches, it actually seemed classier than a lot of the hare krishna places I've been. Service was nice but she seemed pretty tired. It was just her and the cook running the whole show. It was empty when we got there, but got busy with sit-down and take-away customers shortly after. Nice place, nice food, decent value for money, although some of the menu items are hit or miss.

OMG, The best... YUMMOOOOOOO This is the second time we have been to "Bamboo Flute" and we loved…read moreit. Loved every dish, The Curry Lasagne, Moussaka and salads are beautiful. Now the kids are older we will start going out to dinner a little more and The bamboo Flute will be on the top of our list.

Manna Haven is our regular lunch spot. We love the food there, especially the deserts. The drinks…read moreand main dishes are also excellent and the staff members couldn't be nicer. Pricing is reasonable, serving sizes large, atmosphere relaxed. Take home servings available too. If you want plant based food that satisfies the palette, this is a top option in Byron.

Delicious and healthy option in Byron Bay. I got a large trio of salads for $14. Highly…read morerecommended. Great vegetarian restaurant. Fresh and healthy food.

Absolutely loved, Loving Hut! I cannot believe it took me this long to discover this place. Every…read morefew reviews I read were from omnivores, so it's a place for everyone, even being a completely vegan restaurant. The food was great! Menu is a great size, plenty to choose from. I ordered (so much), the B.B.Q Buns, Northern Pan Bread, Sweet & Sour Nuggets, Chocolate Mud Cake, Chocolate Soy Milk Frappe. Two highlight items for me were the Sweet & Sour Nuggets and Choc Frappe - so good! Coconut cream on top. I could pass on B.B.Q buns, but not bad! The menu has soo much to choose from, can't wait to discover more favourites! P.s. The atmosphere is very casual. Overall, a HUGE shoutout to Loving Hut, it's so nice having peace of mind that everything is vegan and can choose any option on the menu. Check out the meaty texture in the picture, WOW. Can't wait for the next visit!

Ohhhhhh my goodness gracious me!! Loving hut has been a family favourite of ours for years now. I…read morewas introduced to Loving Hut by a vegan friend when I wasn't vegan and have visited about 4/5 times a year. Sooo good. Not to far from my house. About a 25min drive which isn't too far. They are so friendly, fast and adorable. Tastiest food around. Do yourself a favour and get your little kid their spaghetti Bolognase!!! Yummmmmmmmooooo

I'd put Heart & Halo on my list of Byron's best eats for under $10. Heart and Halo is a great place…read moreeven for non-vegetarians with a great value. I love that they have food for takeaway making it a great place for travelers to come in and stow away in their room or you can sit at one of their few tables located in front of the restaurant. The location isn't in an obvious or well-located spot, but easy enough to find if you Google map it.

On a busy street with a nice shady outdoor eating area you will find yami with its fresh falafel,…read morepitas, salads and juices. I'm only guessing but I think they actually bake their pita pockets fresh and damn they're gooood! Which we were all very happy with and the salad inside them was all fresh and clean also The indoor seating area is too noisy and quite cramped which is a shame as most of the noise comes from the kitchen more so than the road. The staff arnt too bad in terms of service but to their credit they were a little busy on this particular Sunday but smiles all round. While the food is on point the cost of it really hits the pocket. So it's not exactly good value for what you get as such. A breakfast meal for two and two fresh juices were $75 which is pretty damn pricey considering you can get a lot more bang for your buck elsewhere. I'd eat here again but perhaps take my time to make my next meal choices based on the $.

I'm not an expert on mediterranean food - but this is a great place for group gatherings, outdoor…read moreeating and generally soaking in Brunswick-heads-beauty. I believe they make their pitas on site - if your kids are like my kids, get extra. The hummus, olives, and generally everything else is also delicious.

This place is an open but sheltered cafe close to the water in Southport, whose appearance greatly…read moreexceeded my expectations, hippie-ish vibe and all. You probably can't do better for a vegetarian brunch. The pancakes I got were vegan, with coconut ice cream on top, and I couldn't tell the difference to regular egg and dairy ones, honestly. A presumably healthier rice and lentil dish is among their other breakfast offerings if you want to be good. This being the beach, I didn't.

I've been vegetarian for over 20 years and have been to countless vegetarian restaurants. This is…read moreone of the better places to eat. Good decor, very open, kind and helpful staff and flavourful food. I ate everything on my plate and enjoyed my time here. Their prices are fair when you see the portions of food they give you. I will be returning for more.