Vegan Options on the South Coast (Australia)

My family and I visit Mollymook annually to celebrate the New Year. Thanks to this tradition, I have come across many vegan options that I am happy to share. The locations of eateries are on the South Coast, all within close proximity of each other in; Ulladulla, Milton, Mollymook, and Batemans Bay. This post covers vegan grocery shopping on the South Coast as well as cafes, restaurants and fast food.

Note: Menu options may have changed since the writing of this post (January 2018).

Pilgrims Vegetarian Cafe – Milton

Pilgrims is a fully vegetarian cafe with many vegan options. Due to a very old menu, the only item marked vegan is the millennium burger. (Curry lentil pattie, fried onion, avocado, lettuce, beetroot, cucumber, sprouts, tahini, sweet chili). However, after a chat with a kind server she assured me that almost all menu items can be altered to be vegan, particularly the breakfast menu. All the burgers can be designed vegan they just need the ‘mixed grain pattie’ (contains egg) to be swapped out for the marinated tofu or curry lentil pattie and to remove cheese or egg. As they did for my fathers burger, they are happy to substitute any removed items. When removing egg from the burger, they insisted on substituting with avocado. Burgers are $13-15.

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The buckwheat pancakes are also vegan. They also have a vegan pie that is not on the old menu with roasted pumpkin, black beans and caramelised onion that is delicious and only $6. There are plenty of juice options too and all food dishes are reasonably priced. Bonsoy is in house for coffees, and bliss balls as a raw desert option are vegan. So if you’re looking for good food such as vegan burgers, pie, pancakes, and sourdough smashed avo toast, Pilgrims is the cafe for you.

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Warning: As its one of the busiest cafes in Milton, you can expect a wait.

Find the location of their Milton store here. Pilgrims also have two more venues in Huskisson and Cronulla.

Nourish on North Café – Batemans Bay

Nourish serve tasty and health conscious meals. Their cafe is dog friendly with outdoor seating and offer vegan and gluten free options. The majority of this cafes options are vegan, with all drinks possible on soy, coconut, or almond and over 10 vegan main meal options which are all clearly labeled with a VE on their menu. This made ordering super easy! I visited this cafe on my drive home as its on the way when driving back to Canberra. Some of their delicious vegan menu offerings include chia pots, quinoa pancakes, acai bowl, ‘super greens avocado toast’, summer salad bowls, toasties, vegan bake of the day (comfort food), a ‘nourish’ bowl and a vegan ‘earth’ burger. They even have homemade vegan cheddar and cashew cream cheese which can be added to any order.

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I had their ‘Super Greens Avocado Toast’ which was delicious and very well presented. It has to be the most unique avo toast I’ve ever experienced. (Local sourdough, sautéed greens, broccoli, avocado, roasted carrot and miso dressing, coasted in chili flakes and seeds). This came to $16. Pictured on the side with my meal is my ‘Golden Latte’ which their made with soy milk and natural sweetener to replace the honey. Their drinks menu includes, coffees, hot drinks, herbal teas, smoothies, cold press juices, and kombucha.

Note: Nourish Cafe also has a Go Vita health store directly next door which sells vegan groceries, supplements and cooking ingredients if you need some shopping done!

Find the location here.

The Treehouse Cafe – Ulladulla

The Treehouse Café only had 3 main meal options for vegans during my visit, however I’ve been told their menu constantly changes and they usually have much more! They have a ‘Mexi Bowl’ (corn chips, avocado, greens and beans) and a ‘Poke Bowl’ with salad and spiced teriyaki sweet potato. Their vegetarian stack can also be vegan once you remove the haloumi and the pesto. They do have a couple dairy free sweet cakes and raw desert options too, which go perfect with a chai tea or soy coffee. They have a large juice menu which also included a vegan smoothie. During my visit I had the teriyaki sweet potato poke bowl ($20) very tasty!

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Find the location here.

Native Café – Ulladulla

Native is a paleo whole foods health café with salads and raw deserts. Their ‘Vitality Bowl’ salad is completely vegan and very delicious (roasted and raw veg, pineapple ‘kraut, seeds, beetroot hummus) which is very large and comes at a price of $17. Their ‘Ancient Grain Salad’ can also be vegan once feta is removed. They have a dairy free ‘Mango and Passionfruit Chia Pot’ as well as a range of dairy free and raw deserts. Their menu marks all dairy free items with a DF which is very convenient. Their acai bowl would also be vegan if the bee pollen is removed. Although Native are happy to accommodate to dietary requirements, noted on their menu-  they do not do substitutions for removed products.

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Find the location here.

Sea Breeze Café – Ulladulla (next door to Native)

After I ate at Native, I looked in next door to Sea Breeze. I noticed on their menu they have a vegetarian ‘Falafel Wrap’ which after a conversation with the waiter I was told free of any dairy or egg. They also had a ‘Salad Wrap’ which appeared to have only veg. These options were both cheap at only $10.90 and $9.90 and would make a great and quick option for my next stay I’d like to try. Sea Breeze also make fresh juices and their ‘Pretty in Pink’ juice with strawberry, pineapple, orange and watermelon is divine.

Find the location here.

Bay Leaf Indian Restaurant – Ulladulla

Bay Leaf is an Indian Restaurant open for dinners, eat in or takeaway. After a long discussion with the restaurant I have been able to compile a list of options that are vegan from their vegetarian starters and main meal sections on their menu. Indian food has many staple vegan options, so you should be able to find a vegan option at any Indian restaurant, but the following is from the menu of ‘Bay Leaf’ in Ulladulla.

Starters – Vegetable Spring Rolls, Vegetable Pakora, and Spicy Deep-fried Potatoes (chickpea flour batter).

Mains – Aloo Baigan, Mixed Vegetable Curry, Vegetable Madras (coconut cream), and Aloo Gobi.  The Aloo Matar can be made vegan if you request the cream to be replaced with coconut cream or without.

Rice – Plain Rice, Jeera Rice, Vegetable Pulao, and Vegetable Biryani.

My family ordered the spicy potatoes, plain rice, vegetable pulao, aloo gobi, vegetable madras, and the aloo baigan and it was all delicious. The spicy potato was my favourite!

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Find the location here.

Peaches Cafe – Milton

Peaches Cafe, opposite to Pilgrims Milton has some vegan salad options, ‘vegan tofu scramble’ and a’ vegan coconut sorbet with peach waffles’ dish but unfortunately I cannot vouch for taste as their were several issues with these dishes being unavailable on both occasions I attempted to attend while at the coast.

Find the location here.

Bannister’s Pavilion Rooftop Bar and Grill – Mollymook

Bannisters have a menu with a vegetarian section with many items labeled dairy free. Unfortunately I could not reserve a table during my visit, so I cannot advocate for their dietary flexibility, although it appears they have vegan options available.

Mollymook Golf Club – Mollymook

The Mollymook Golf Club has a vegetarian menu that can be altered to be vegan. These meals aren’t too filling, but as a last resort if you are dragged along to an event or group dinner you’ll still have two options which is very handy. The vegetarian nachos (remove cheese and remove sour cream and guacamole). These nachos after dairy removal are basically just beans, salsa and corn chips but as a side snack to share it’s an option. The vegetarian pizza without cheese is also vegan, and I received confirmation from the manager their bases do not contain dairy.

Find the location here.

Dominos – Ulladulla

Dominos have 4 pizzas that can be altered vegan. Their ‘Vegorama’ (mushrooms, sweet cherry peppers, baby spinach, capsicum, fresh tomato and red onion topped with oregano) ask for NO feta and no mozzarella cheese, The ‘Garden Veg’ (sweet cherry peppers, fresh red onion, capsicum, spinach, cherry tomatoes sprinkled with fresh spring onion) ask for NO camembert cheese and no mozzarella cheese, The ‘Avocado Veg’ (avocado, fire roasted peppers, mushrooms, red onion, capsicum, olives topped with spring onion) ask for NO mozzarella cheese and finally their value range ‘Spicy Veg Trio’ (baby spinach, fresh tomato, red onion topped with chilli flakes) ask for no mozzarella cheese. Dominos garlic bread is also vegan as are their chips if you ask for no salt.

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Find the location here.

Subway – Ulladulla

Subway have 2 vegan options ‘Veggie Delight’ and ‘Veggie Patty’, they also do both options in salad form. Veggie Delights is just a sandwich with your choice of sauce and salad and Veggie Patty is the same but with a veggie paddy. Ask for no cheese. (Veggie patty is not vegan in USA subway but it is in Australia). Vegan sauces at Subway include; sweet onion dressing, zesty italian dressing, deli brown mustard dressing, yellow mustard dressing, marinara (tomato) sauce, BBQ sauce, sweet chilli sauce. The bread options are; white bread, wheat bread, multigrain bread, white wrap, and 9 Grain bread.

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Find the location here.

Supermarket Shopping – Ulladulla

Both Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are all located off the main strip in Ulladulla. All Aldi brand vegan options are marked with ‘suitable for vegans’ on packageing. For a detailed list of vegan options in Woolworths and Coles please check out my all-inclusive list of ‘Accidentally Vegan Foods of Australia’ shopping list cheat sheet. On this list you will find a variety of meal options such as veggie patties, snacks, dairy substitute items, frozen meals and many more.

Find the location for Woolworths, Aldi and Coles through the links.

Wholefoods Store – Milton

Wholefoods Store Milton sell organic and bio dynamic local fruit and vegetables. If you prefer your produce to be fresh and organic Wholefoods is a great alternative to Woolworths for your fruit and vegetable shopping.

Find the location here.

Go Vita – Ulladulla and Batemans Bay

Go Vita is a health store chain that sell vitamins, health foods, vegan frozen meals, organic cooking ingredients, supplements and protein powders. This store is also great for allergy alternatives to products and vegan products. In most Go Vita stores you can usually find cruelty free body products, vegan dairy free chocolates, vegan protein powders, supplements, and vegan frozen foods and kombucha.

Find the location for Ulladulla and Batemans Bay through the links.

OUT NOW: Canberra CAFES with Vegan Options & Canberra RESTAURANTS with Vegan Options

If your business is on the South Coast and has great vegan options you would like me to share, please don’t hesitate to contact me on my ‘Contact’ page. I visit the South Coast every year and would love to check out your options!