Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
Organic
Western
Take-out
Breakfast
Vegetarian whole food eatery situated within the Chantal Food Store in the heart of Napier City. Primarily uses local, ethical, sustainable, and organic wholefood ingredients. All food is produced in its kitchen daily with the aim to provide healthy, seasonal, and balanced meals. Breakfast served from 8am and lunch from 11:30am. Reported closed, Aug 2020.
19 Reviews
First Review by Dmitry
GVG
Points +137
Great menu!!! - Edit
Delish menu with clearly marked vegan/dairy free/ gluten free options and cabinet treats/ salads etc!!! Great smoothie menu! Great hot drinks menu! Loved it!!! Also great for non-vegan friends too!
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options , Yummy
Cons: Expensive
Guest
kimberleyjewer
Points +297
Amazing breakfast - Edit
Stopped here for breakfast. I had the vegan brunch which was amazing. Tofu and lots of veggies with a side of hummus. My boyfriend has the vegan buckwheat pancakes. They were nice and fluffy.
Read moreGuest
kaedde
Points +165
Fine for a quick lunch - Edit
Stopped by for a quick lunch on my way to the bus and ordered the harira soup. I thought the soup actually tasted quite nice and the toasted bread that was served with it was excellent. However, despite being marked as vegan, the dish was served with a small portion of dairy butter, which I had to return (they should have asked about this when taking my order). Also, at around $12 the soup was rather small and it was by far the cheapest lunch option on the menu. The space and the store next to it had a generally sympathetic vibe to them but staff's attention to customers could be improved.
Read morePros: lots of vegan options
Cons: expensive for what you get
Guest
yippo
Points +93
Expensive and a lot of waste - Edit
A whole vegan pizza comes down to almost $54,- ($8,95 per slice). A lot of waste from paper cups and throw away cutlery. We opted for a vegan loaf of bread (ask which are vegan as most are not) and ate this on the nearby beach with avocado from the farmers market that is also at the beach (Sunday until 13.30 hrs). Would not recommend.
Read moreGuest
earthling99
Points +27
Disappointing - Edit
Restaurant looks nice and there are different options to choose from also as a vegan. We got one of the daily specials for 12.5 $. What we got was really disappointing because it was so small and not filling at all, it also didn't taste really good. For people trying to reduce their waste - don't go! Only plastic cutlery and cups and we received the food in a paper cup although we ate there.
Read morePros: Different vegan options Daily Specials
Cons: Expensive A lot of rubbish produced Not the best
Guest
HayleySand
Points +133
Good vegan options - Edit
Good vegan options, vegan pizza was awesome. Vegan raw slices available. Joined to a health food shop with vegan cheeses, yogurt, chocolate etc.
Read moreGuest
Eire108
Points +37
Disappointing - Edit
We actively sought this restaurant and shop out and were sadly disappointed. Starters, mains, desserts, drinks were all disgusting and the staff are arrogant and appear to hate working with people. Even the staff in the health shop are quite snobbish.
Read morePros: Fairly easy to find parking.
Cons: Tasteless.
Guest
CapybaRus
Points +308
Tasty and big plates - Edit
We had te mata mushrooms (fancy mushrooms on toast), tofu baguette, 3 salad combo and espresso slice cake. The baguette was dry but the other stuff was really tasty, the mushrooms especially. They also have vegan tacos with cashew mayo which I'll try next time.
Read moreGood portion sizes and price appropriate. The cafe is attached to a whole foods shop with world foods and vegan alternatives. Some of it isn't cheap but they have nz apples (fancy ones like fuji and rose) for cheaper than supermarkets- buy pre packaged and they're even cheaper. I also got a big tub of end of life coconut yogurt on special.
Pros: Tasty vegan food, Good portion size
Cons: Vegan choices could be improved
Guest
@ndy
Points +1276
Always worth a visit..... - Edit
Vegan breakfast menu options & always plenty of cabinet vegan salad choices on offer here with a good range of vegan desserts too. A tasty 4 salad multi-choice large bowl for lunch today ~ It was very good! Vegetarian options looked varied as well. Friendly & helpful staff.
Read morePros: Great variety and good portion sizes, Friendly & helpful staff, Good prices
Guest
Bullmeister
Points +23
Divine Breakfast - Edit
Just enoyed muesli, OJ, garden bowl and coffee. All superb.
Read moreGuest
Diz Parker
Points +171
Breakfast - Edit
We had a delicious breakfast at The Wholefood Kitchen. The meals were huge and very satisfying - as well as tasty.
Read morePros: Easy to find, Lots of options, Also a shop to browse around
Guest
african_daisy
Points +116
lovely place - Edit
my bf and i loved it here. went there multiple times and preferred it over ujazi and hapi because of its many options, better sitting opportunities and great atmosphere inside and outside. everything we ordered was to our liking, savory and sweet :)
Read moreGuest
AnnettevZ
Points +400
A great place for a vegan lunch - Edit
We had a delicious vegan lunch yesterday and I can highly recommend The Kitchen! It has a great atmosphere and excellent food. There is a lot of choice in vegan lunch options, from the counter and freshly prepared. We had tostadas which were superb! The staff is very friendly and welcoming and the organic shop has numerous vegan products. The restaurant is now named The Kitchen and the shop Chantal, which I found slightly confusing.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2017-01-22
Guest
vegan_simon
Points +2783
Excellent - Edit
Excellent food, service, atmosphere and value. I had the black bean tacos and a salad (mix of celeriac, apple & celery and endamame, noodle and tofu, etc). Thoroughly recommend this place
Read moreGuest
Mairi
Points +111
Central lunch stop - Edit
I stopped here for lunch mid-way through a self - guided tour of Napier's fantastic art deco architecture (booklet available to purchase from the Art Deco Centre). The Wholefood Kitchen is within Chantal Foods Ltd, in a nice art deco building.
Read moreThere were several dishes chalked up on the board but also an array of really interesting-looking salads in the chill cabinet. The helpful lady behind the counter explained that you could have a large or small bowl of your choice of salads - mixing as many as you like. I chose smoked eggplant and kasha (buckwheat) salad plus the heirloom tomatoes, pine nuts and rocket salad. I was very thirsty after my walk in the sunshine and asked for tap water. The waitress not only explained where I could find water but also where the chilled water was if I preferred.
After paying, I took a number and found a table outside in the pleasant courtyard through the back. Service was prompt and the salads were really delicious. The aubergine had been cooked to just the right consistency, as had the courgette. Coming from the UK, it was also great to be reminded what tomatoes are supposed to taste like! I had an Americano to finish, which was fine.
There aren't many vegetarian establishments in Napier so this is a great find in a central location. I would come back here if I was in the area for breakfast or lunch.
Pros: Lovely, imaginative salads; both outdoor and indoo
Guest
Carebearhere
Points +44
Worth travelling for - Edit
I'm based in Palmy, and often do day trips to Welly to dine at Aunty Menas. This time I did something different and went to Napier.
Read moreThis place was easy to find, I was served as soon as I had finished browsing their extensive menu, and my takeout food was prepared quickly.
There was a slight hiccup with the order, which was quickly rectified. The food was delicious, and overall, it was an extremely satisfying dining experience. Highly recommended.
Pros: Excellent food, Good portion size, Friendly staff
Cons: Labelling error, check to ensure vegan
Guest
VeJo
Points +209
Interesting food, great service - Edit
My family and I are visiting from Sydney, and are a little dismayed with the slim pickings in the Hawkes Bay area. That, along with a couple of poor reviews on this page, meant we had low expectations going into this café. We were very pleasantly surprised. I had the vegan meatballs, my husband the vegan pancakes, and daughter the vegetable tofu stack. Each of them were interestingly put together, well presented, and large portions. I'll have to go back to see if there is cake we can eat, because there was no room for it after lunch. The staff were very friendly, and in fact went out of their way to ask if we were happy with our meals. We left very happy, and will probably go back again before we leave Napier.
Read morePros: Friendly service, Interesting food, well priced
Cons: More vegan options would be great!
Guest
WhiteRabbit
Points +32
Interesting experience - Edit
I know I always have trouble enjoying eating out when I take my young children. But this particular day I have decided I must check out this cafe, this cafe has been open for some time now and I needed to see what I have been missing out on. I'm not from Napier, so I made it an important part of my Saturday agenda to go there on a visit to Napier. There are no sole Vegetarian/Vegan cafe's in my home town, which is a crying shame, sure I would love to open one, however I don't have the financial backing yet. In the mean time I will try to experience as many vegetarian cafes as I can.
Read moreOK, back to the cafe, I found it very clean and fresh. A homely feel to it, I loved the selection of food. My children had eaten somewhere else (non vegetarian they are), so I chose a pizza and the vegan chocolate brownie to share with my little ones. They were both yummy, my daughter wanted the brownie, she thought it was delicious.
My concerns of the cafe:
As my daughter has a spot of "can't sit still for long" I was chasing her around the store quite a bit, enough so that our food was cleared away before we had finished. My bag was still on the chair, so we hadn't even left. And when I went to the kitchen to ask for it back (seconds after it was cleared away), the lady had a blank expression. I got it back, otherwise I would have had to ask for a replacement! But it doesn't stop there, I felt I was completely invisible at the counter, some people came in while I was waiting to be served, well, I was completely ignored. I lead an extremely busy life and time is of the essence, to be honest, I found it all a very frustrating experience.
I will go back to try it out again, but if I get the same kind of service I wont be back there, which will be a shame as Hawke's Bay needs at least one Vegetarian cafe!
Pros: Great food, Great selection, Affordable
Cons: Vacant Staff, Slow Staff, Staff need to be more allert
Guest
Dmitry
Points +215
Don't miss it if you are in town - Edit
Great 100% vegetarian place in town. It serves a variety of nice salads with rather diverse ingredients (some combinations I found quite interesting and delicious - you can order any selection of them in a medium or large portion) + a couple of hot dishes that may include a wholesome veggie soup, a curry (with a nicely toasted chunk of real non-supermarket bread) + a wide selection of sandwiches/pies (you can have them toasted - again the ingredients are quite diverse and may include fried tofu, tempeh etc). There is about a dozen of different teas - all real leaf, no bags, which they can offer you to smell before you order, some with quite interesting names I never tried before & delightful flavor + lots of home-style yummy cakes and slices to go with. They do serve a variety of cheeses & eggs (I believe mostly organic), but it's not in everything and all the ingredients are listed, so if you are after veggies only, you may still find a reasonable selection to suit your pallet (some teas come with milk on the side, so ask for soy if that's your wish). The food changes regularly, so you are assured of variety, and if you got extra dietary preferences, the range of your options may be wider the next day than today.
Read moreAnother great thing about the place is heaps of room on large long tables and lots of mags (Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone etc as well as papers), so you can engross yourself in pleasant reading while you eat. There is also a tap of quality drinking water w/glasses at the back to help yourself. The place itself is right inside a large organics shop, where you can stock on variety of organic produce and other useful stuff.
Note the hours - it's open Tue-Sat (for hot dishes the kitchen I believe closes around 2pm on weekdays; the organics shop itself is open on Mon).
Updated from previous review on Wednesday April 13, 2011
Pros: Great variety of food, Friendly stuff, Heaps of mags & room
Guest
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