• 3
• Decent but not exceptional

Given how much love this place gets on review sites, I may have had unfairly high expectations. It was fine, but not much more than that. The pros: The place is lovely. Really nice ambiance. Very clean (though the one table I sat at didn't seem to have been lavished as much attention). The staff are really friendly and helpful. Cute founding story (see the wall paintings). If you're vegan, peanut-allergic, etc., I bet this place is heavenly. So what's not to like? The menu is really small. So there's only so much selection. I had the Sexy Mexi, which was a pretty so-so burger (on a bagel? definitely not on a regular burger bun). Beets, beans, salsa, gauc…a so-so interpretation of "Mex". The flavors were fine, but nothing particularly memorable or outstanding, especially given that there are lots of good veg burgers Down Under. I also ordered the tofu rolls. This ought to be renamed the “glass noodles rolls”. There was a bit of tofu, a bit of vegetable, and lots and lots and lots of glass noodles just stuffed into the wrappers. Maybe it was an off day, or maybe it's like how place stuff burritos with rice or other ingredients that are cheap and temporarily filling. Even by NZ standards, it was somewhat expensive, especially for the quantity of food. In short, you're not really paying for the food alone (unless you have dietary restrictions that make this place an absolute necessity); you're paying for an oasis in the middle of the Auckland CBD. There's value in that, but how much? Not enough that I felt “Wow, why can't we have one of these at home?”.