vego & love'n it.

I enjoy vegetables.  I don't love them, but the fact that I can eat them in great quantities (fresh, not deep-fried) and not worry about clogging my arteries is somewhat comforting.  So the concept of a vegetarian restaurant, although ever so slightly daunting because it is a vegetarian restaurant, sits okay with me.  Add in the fact that my eating partner is actually a vegetarian and voila! Vego & Loven It sounded pretty perfect.  It's kind of hidden upstairs on Rundle Street above Naked and next to Sir Cafe, but if you ask any vegetarian or vegan regarding its whereabouts I'm sure they'll point you in the right direction.

It's quite a hippie little place - although environmentally-friendly and pro-animal justice are probably more the politically correct terms.  The menu is written on a massive blackboard and offers quite a few styles of burgers, sandwiches and salads.  To be honest though?  After reading carefully through the menu you will realise that most choices contain the same ingredients and are different only by a sauce or the addition of an extra vegetable or two.

Half Size Mediterranean Burger: $9.00 ; Quarter Size Absolutely Fabulous Burger: $4.50

Half Size Spicy Mushroom Burger: $9.00 ; Quarter Size Absolutely Fabulous Burger: $4.50

My friend and I ordered a Half Size of our own burger, and shared another Half Size Absolutely Fabulous.  You might think a half-size won't be enough.  Let me assure you, it is enough.  The burgers are stacked super high with its insides and it's kind of hard to hold.  Nonetheless, the dark bread makes for a really earthy and homey taste while the fresh produce and chickpea patties are flavoursome and plentiful.  I especially liked the fact that the chickpea patty was really thick, unlike other vego stores where their patties are thin as and don't even fill you up.

Upon my friend's recommendation, I also ordered a side of cheese sauce to drizzle over the burgers.  It wasn't as cheesey as I thought it would taste.  I was imagining a rich, golden, creamy sauce similar to American cheese sauce but this was more tame.  Perhaps it was vegetarian cheese?

Overall a great place for lunch if you're looking for healthier alternatives or if you feel like going vego for a meal.  The service was prompt and friendly with the waitress offering to cut our shared Half Size into halves.  I liked the fact that prices were fairly reasonable considering the size of our Half Size burgers were probably similar to double the size of Burger Theory's whole burger.