Vitality Kitchen — Restaurant in North Island

I was really excited to take my partner here last month - whenever we're traveling I love seeing what vegan cafes are around and supporting small businesses. I looked online and found a copy of their menu before we headed there; when we entered there were people waiting in two directions in front of the counter, making it look like there were two lines, so my partner and I hesitated as we didn't know where to queue from. The woman at the counter was quite curt with us, telling us to join the back of the line and pointing to one side. We lined up, and whilst I briefly looked at the options behind the glass I thought I knew what I'd order off their menu, so when we got to the front of the line and I didn't see a menu, I asked where they were - the woman was curt again, saying it was only cabinet food. This threw us a bit; and although I had read online it was a vegan cafe, some of the options in the cabinet looked pretty convincing and just said "bacon and egg butty" etc. so I asked if it was all vegan, just to make sure. The woman looked at me blankly and rudely responded "we're a vegan cafe, yes". There was really no need to talk down to me for just checking. When my partner placed his coffee order, she asked if he'd like regular milk as well, which isn't vegan, and justifies why I would ask. My partner and I were really disappointed by our experience; we felt like we were treated like a burden for spending our money here. I was especially disappointed as when I saw they sold cute merch and recipe books, I would have loved to go home with something like that if the experience had been a positive one. I saw a sign saying they were seeking staff on the way in, and working in the hospitality/tourism industry myself I understand the stress being short staffed can place on a business - but there's no need to take this out on...

Visited 3 May 2024.

Breakfast.

OMG! Everything was AMAZING.

I've followed Vitality Kitchen on FB for years (from The Nourished Eatery days) and I've always wanted to try all the food but living in Australia and visiting home for 1 week a year I never got the time until now, and I wish I had gone sooner!

We drove from Rotorua and got there around 10.30 am and were seated right away (there was 4 adults, 1 child and 1 infant - 3 vegans, 1 vegetarian, 2 omnis)

We ordered: Creamy Mushroom on Toast - OMG. Delicious!! Wish we could make this at home. Best creamy mushroom we've ever had. Scrambled Tofu - AMAZING! I've never had scrambled tofu cooked the way this one was. It was amazing and my favourite dish. Almond Cappuccino - very nice. Sweet Chai Oat Mylk - delicious. Choc Chunk Cookie - delicious. My son would only eat this while we were there. Chocolate brownie - WOW! This is VERY chocolatey and I LOVE chocolate so I LOVED this. So so so delicious. Raspberry Custard Donut - (I think that's right) but this was also so delicious. WOW. I've been craving a good donut for weeks and this hit the spot.

The vegetarian ordered avo on toast, she loved it and cleared the plate. Also got a hot chocolate which she said is the best hot chocolate she's had!

The omnis both got the creamy mushroom and really enjoyed it, haven't converted them but definitely makes them think twice about vegan food and how it isn't boring.

There was sooo much food in the cabinet too so we will definitely be back before we go back to Australia.

Owners/staff were super friendly and the atmosphere in the shop was calm.

Thanks so much for creating awesome...

Kia ora, had a pretty bad experience here today. Came in with my 5 year old around 1pm and instantly felt like we were a burden and maybe you were closing early. No greeting when we walked in and when we walked up to the cabinets we got a hello but it was honestly like the staff wanted us gone. My 5 year old was touching some magnets on the counter and I said she shouldn’t be touching them and the girl behind the counter just stared blankly at her. We ordered our food and drinks and went and sat down inside, I watched the woman behind the counter eyeball me and my girl after looking at the magnets and after the reception we got when we walked in or lack there of, I wasn’t happy to sit there and be looked at like trash after paying for kai, just because my child played with little magnets on the counter. I went up and said to the girl “I didn’t want to raise my voice and get angry but it felt like she was having a bad day and didn’t want to be there and I didn’t appreciate her eyeballing me and my daughter” she was horrified and said “whaaaat”. I asked them to put our Kai and drinks in takeaway containers and went and sat outside to wait. No apology or anything. Seriously terrible customer service and she should not be working in hospitality. The greeting coupled with looks of disgust are enough to put me off ever...