Located on Grice Avenue in Paradise Point (next door to Cross + Feather), Plant Based Cafe is aiming to bring creative, eye-catching and, most importantly, delicious plant-based food options to the northern end of the Gold Coast. Owners Airi Kanazawa and Ali Imz were frustrated at the lack of vegan dining options on the city’s northside and found themselves travelling down south far too regularly just to go out for breakfast or lunch. The solution? Create their own plant-based eatery, with a menu that will make all mouths water – no matter which way you swing with your diet.
Airi and Ali enlisted MasterChef 2019 contestant Christina Laker to head the kitchen of Plant Based Cafe, with the trio working tirelessly to fine tune a crowd-pleasing all-day food offering with a menu that changes with the seasons. The breakfast menu covers all bases with colourful granola bowls (featuring saffron-poached pear and creamy almond-soaked chia), a chickpea and spring-pea omelette with caramelised onion and pesto mayo, and a towering stack of fluffy ‘Nutella’ pancakes finished with organic coconut ice-cream, blueberry compote and fresh seasonal fruit. The lunch menu kicks into gear from 11:30 am with hearty eats like the Chi-kin Burger, featuring a housemade ‘chicken’ patty made from an artichoke base with creamy slaw, plant-based cheese and pickled gherkin, plus piping-hot baskets of spiced cauliflower wings with sauces and aged pickles, and other hand-held options like BBQ Pulled Pawk Tacos.
As for the coffee, there’s an organic blend by Byron Bay Coffee Company pouring each morning, served with your choice of plant-based milks. The smoothie game is also strong here, with a raft of giant smoothies (all gluten free) laced with different proteins, fruits and milks. Take a peek in the cabinet for a plant-based bite to go – there’s raw treats, muesli tubs and savouries on show daily. Airi, Ali and the team are also aiming to create a completely waste-free, closed-loop cafe – absolutely everything is recycled daily, and all discarded vegetables and fruits are taken directly to a nearby animal sanctuary each week by the team.
Keen to check it out? You’ll find Plant Based Cafe’s opening hours, address and contact details over in our Stumble Guide.