• CLOSED: Govindas - Surfers Paradise

  • (55)
    42

    Closed

  • White Vegan
Vegan
Indian
Buffet
Take-out
Asian
Catering

Offers a buffet of Indian dishes like dhal and curry plus rice and salads. For dessert there is vegan cheesecake, mousse cake, sago pudding, halva, raw cake. Formerly also known as Veg o Rama at Centro Shopping Centre Cavill Ave, moved here in 2014, and modified its menu to be all-vegan. Reported closed November 2020.


55 Reviews

First Review by lasm

Duckuy

Points +224

Vegetarian
10 Jul 2018

This place helped me turn vegan

Great vegan food, relaxed atmosphere, got me hooked on koftas. Also great for bodybuilders if you’re trying to bulk because very cheap and all you can eat!! Love the halva and custard :)

Pros: Full salad stand, Hot food stand , All vegan and cheap

Cons: Doesn’t come extremely hot

AsherBowen-Saunders

Points +82

Vegan
13 Jun 2018

awesome dahl

Groovy staff, always fresh food and the only fully vegan govindas around. Totally great price and really wholesome food

goldenzebra

Points +33

Vegetarian
18 May 2018

Yummy food and Mango Lassi

Randomly found this place and loved it. It’s not too busy in the early evening. All food was vegan woth some great choices of curries, pasta and salads. Bread with rose oil was awesome! Would recommend going if you’re in the area :)

RoseMariePaterson

Points +26

Vegan
24 Feb 2018

delicious

Good options, quite reasonably priced.
Loved the potato bake and the polenta dessert

HelenSetaStolfo

Points +46

Vegan
06 Jan 2018

Absolute gem !

My first all vegan buffet all you can eat restaurant! Super food, super cheap and super friendly owner.

The food was delicious.
Ate there practically every day on holiday. Altho not much change in the menu. But that didn’t put us off as there were plenty of choices.

Pros: Good food, Cheap

Cons: Not much change in menu

JackSlack

Points +204

Vegan
06 Oct 2017

Good buffet

Surfer's Paradise isn't awash (see what I did there?) in vegan options, but Govindas is so nice as an option that we wound up going there twice on a recent holiday to the area. The second trip only confirmed my initial impressions: It's a nice little buffet that suffers from the usual problems buffets frequently have: Namely, that you can't leave food over a heat basin and expect it to hold up for very long. The pasta, for example, practically falls apart on a fork.

That said? It's not at all bad! The texture of the food left something to be desired but they're flavourful. The bread is terrific and the pakoras and koftas are highlights. I would appreciate a more consistent salad menu, though; there should never not be a garden salad of some sort.

Overall, it's not a bad place by any means, but I don't think it lifts into a great place.

Pros: Tasty food, All you can eat

Cons: Food can be a bit mushy

Nattyb

Points +18

Vegan
25 Jun 2017

Love it

Food is so yummy and filling.

JewelMaule

Points +76

Vegan
24 Jun 2017

Best all you can eat I have ever had!

I have eaten a lot of "all you can eat" restaurants in my time and this place is by far the best! Great selection of cooked foods and salads with enough variety to keep things interesting.

Pros: Cheap and tasty, Good selection of foods, Great location

Emmavegan

Points +20

Vegan
07 Feb 2017

amazing

This was the first ever vegan restaurant I have been to and it was amazing where I live has no vegan restaurants so when I went to the Gold Coast I picked one and I chose this one I highly recommend the potato bake and the pasta bake and also the chocolate mousse it was amazing (it tastes like a bounty) also it was so cheap and affordable

3u!u

Points +166

Vegan
21 Dec 2016

Affordable & Tasty

This place does an all-you-can eat for $14.99, a single large plate for $9.99, or a single small plate for $7.99. The atmosphere is friendly and casual, and the all-vegan buffet is pretty great.

Leylnaz

Points +152

Vegan
03 Nov 2016

amazing Indian food

the food was great and all you see and is vegan yummy feast. the price is reasonable.

VeganNirvana

Points +7252

Vegan
27 Aug 2016

All you can eat vegan food!

Loved the selection and price. Potato bake and koftas are my favourite. Chocolate mouse was fantastic.

Pros: Price , Selection buffet , Relaxed atomsphere

Cons: Parking cost

Purekiwi

Points +100

Vegan
31 Jul 2016

great value for money

Been here a few times and love it. Only $15 for all you can eat.

Pros: cheap, 100% vegan

Cons: more options would be great , some food is quite oily/greasy

junglechick

Points +238

Vegan
11 Apr 2016

Amazing

This place is just incredible. I got the all-you-can-eat just so I could try everything and go back for my favourites! The kofta balls are sooooo good. The staff were wonderful and it's got a great atmosphere. I'd 100% recommend it!!

Pros: delicious , cheap, kofta

Rico

Points +331

Vegan
10 Apr 2016

The top choice in Surfers!

I used to visit the previous Govindas in the Paradise Centre when they were vegetarian. They had excellent vegan food then, but for a long time it wasn't always plentiful, until the owner started to see the light.

Since they went vegan last year, Hallelujah! - things are much brighter.

Take your pick from their buffet, which includes a separate salad bar. Hot dishes change, but go from vegetable curries and creamy potato bake to the staple kofta balls.

Eating in - that's what i always do when i'm here - you can get a plate of food for $10 or an unlimited plate - that is, with all the refills you want - for $15. Incredible value!

Sadly, this is the only vegan place in glittering Surfers Paradise. But it's definitely not a case of "Well, go there because there's no other choice."

The food is fresh, the staff are usually friendly, and the cost is low. Really, it's a fantastic deal in Paradise!


Updated from previous review on Sunday April 10, 2016

Pros: variety of food, fresh, inexpensive

AmeliaBethMarsal

Points +58

Vegan
15 Feb 2016

100% Vegan!

Amazing vegan food!

EmmaBarr

Points +94

Vegan
02 Feb 2016

The best vegan buffet

The food in this restaurant is absolutely amazing and so delicious. Even my meat eating boyfriend loved it and was happy to go back numerous times. There is such good variety in the buffet and it is all delicious and unbelievably good value for money. I couldn't recommend this place enough for vegans.

Pros: delicious food , variety, price

Cons: none

Sharon8h_76

Points +33

Vegan
21 Jan 2016

Fantastic value, delicious meal

Our first Govinda experience and it sure won't be our last. Friendly service, delicious buffet meal, great price.

chalybeus

Points +118

Vegan
06 Jan 2016

Desserts are delicious

As well as a great buffet with yummy affordable salads and hot dishes, this place has some great vegan desserts. Including delicious vegan chocolate cheese cake.

Kirsten_Kinash

Points +26

Vegan
18 Jul 2015

Vegan Paradise

Affordable, vegan and delicious! By far my favourite restaurant. They say all-you-can-eat, I say challenge accepted

Pros: Good casual vibe, Amazing Flavours, Healthy

Cons: it makes me wish I could eat it everyday

ChelseaHollins

Points +96

Vegan
01 Nov 2014

All you can eat, and man do I

I'm a pretty slim female and I think I continue to amaze staff/friends at how many times I can go back and refill my plate. It is just so good, it's really hard to leave. Very cheap, the tofu salad is just amazing and I usually find salads boring.

Potato bake/Kofas/Pasta bake= yum! There's not one thing there I wouldn't happily fill my plate with. Their ginger juices are really amazing and have made my sore throats disappear in the matter of an hour.

Only bad thing about this place is they offer non-vegan lasso drinks (based on yogurt). Would be really great if they did this vegan, not just because I would buy it, but because I restrain from supporting non-veganism is anyway possible. But other than that it is just.. wow.

Pros: AMAZING food/drinks, Extremely cheap, Great new atmosphere

Cons: Offers yogurt lassi (non vegan)

vegan mikal

Points +632

Vegan
20 Oct 2014

New location, same great food

The new Surfers Paradise Govinda's opened at 3120A Surfers Paradise Boulevard in October 2014. It is a lovely, open space, with a bain-marie on one side and a salad bar on another. All the food is vegan, and is denoted as such. The best value meal is the $12.90 all-you-can-eat buffet. However, there are other meal deals available also. There are $5 desserts in the fridge, and cow's milk lassis are also available. The hot food is non-spicy Indian cuisine - absolutely lovely!

Pros: Vegan, Low cost, Fantastic new venue

Vrymoet

Points +583

Vegan
09 Feb 2014

So good!

This place is great if you're passing by and want to grab a quick and easy meal. It's so cheap and delicious for what you receive!

ekendra

Points +123

Vegan
26 May 2012

Deee-lish!

This place is exceptional value for money.

The savories are Indian style with some notable exceptions such as the tasty Lasagna. The salads are yum.

The best thing I've ever had here is, hands down, the blueberry cheesecake. It should win some sort of award.

The staff are friendly and the portions are big. If you came here starving, you'd be filled up with a combo plate.

Pros: yum, value

thelink

Points +165

Vegan
29 Jun 2010

Great Govindas Food

We had dinner at Govindas @ Surfers Paradise while on holidays on the Gold Coast recently.

The selection of hot dishes and salads is great, there are lots of vegan options (including my favourites - Kofta balls). The food is delicious and the serves are huge! Most of the desserts are unfortunately not vegan but there was vegan Baklava available which was very yummy.

The cafe is quite hidden away inside the huge Centro shopping centre so it's a bit difficult to find. If the cafe were somewhere outside the shopping centre with street access it would be perfect. It's only a 2 minute walk from the beach though which is great.

Lea

07 Jan 2013

Update: since mid 2012 all the desserts are now dairy free, as is the savoury food. Only the lassi contains yoghurt, which is sourced from a Hare Krishna cow protection farm.

TheRah

Points +30

Vegan
18 Jun 2010

Tasty, inexpensive and awesome!

As an American, a Hare Krishna restaurant with amazing vegan options is one of the last things I'd think to see in a shopping center, but there's Govinda's! Govinda's is a mostly vegan Indian restaurant with non-vegan desserts and great Indian music and friendly staff. There's menus for other veggie friendly places around town available at the counter. I loved this place! As did my meat-eating friend who was a good sport and brought me there.

Pros: Good portions, Inexpensive, Delicious

Cons: No vegan desserts

skymonkey

Points +131

Vegetarian
04 Nov 2008

great restaurant

we've been to surfer's paradise and cavill mall many times, not knowing this place existed. thanks to happycow, we had a chance to try it. this is not your ordinary mall food. they are tucked away in a quiet corner of the mall. not a great place for business, but excellent if you're looking for a quiet place to eat in the midst this bustling area. in the great govinda tradition, the food is delicious and the service is very friendly. the ingredients are fresh. it's always a good sign when you see the cook chopping the fresh veggies. (don't miss their excellent salads.) the price is also very reasonable for the portion. we got the largest combo. the food was literally oozing out of the large plate. the two of us could barely finish it. overall a surprisingly good vegetarian restaurant, in a mall!




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