Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9227 1910
Hours:
Mon-Thu 7:00 - 19:00
Sat-Sun 8:00 - 17:00
Veggie Mama is a cute small vegetarian café-restaurant that stands out for its wonderful vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food. Anything on display looks yummy and fresh. Everything I tried tasted great, and the portion sizes were decent. I am not a vegetarian, but I do love vegetarian food, especially if it is well cooked, fresh and tasty, and Veggie Mama has it all. I missed some well-cooked winter dishes, but I was there at an odd time of the day and most of their hot dishes were gone, so that might be the reason.
THE PLACE - The ambience is quiet, relaxed, the decor clean and functional, and the layout cozy and welcoming with three different areas of privacy, lovely traditional wooden furniture and cushioned wall benches, plus the free Wi-Fi and daily newspapers. Really nice.
One thing that Veggie Mama needs to change -they should, they must, ohhh super-mega-please!- is the music. Music creates the ambience of a place - or destroys it. I thought I was going to have an indigestion with that cheesy music for the grannies of the world they were playing. I am not saying that you should play Yoko Ono's, you know, but something that goes well with the vibe and name of the place. Veggie Mama resonates with... perhaps, World Music, or Indie intimate music. I am a bit fussy with regards to Music in restaurants and cafés - I prefer having nothing playing than having something that distresses my stomach and my ears.
THE FOOD - All the food on display looks terrific, fresh and yummy. I am always hesitant to eat at salad bars, because most salad bars or cafés with salads look like a nest of unhealthy dying plants. However, at Veggie Mama, salads not only look fresh, they look popping colourful and bright.
The polenta and the chickpeas patties were yummy, especially the first, and the two salads that I chose were great, especially the cabbage and cranberries one. The watermelon juice was also great.
The serving sizes are considerable, and I usually leave happy as toddler after feeding time.
THE COFFEE - Their coffee was disappointly bland, and they should change the beans or mix they use. Moreover, the coffee cup was small. What's the matter with cafes being so mean with their cup sizes, eh?!
THE PRICING - The pricing for dining in is OK, especially because their serving are generous. However, they are not for take away - 11$ for a container of take-away kale salad is abusive, especially because I bought it at the end of the day, when the waitresses were cleaning before closing down. Do they grow their kale in Armani pots? Next time, I am going to leave their take-way salad away for me, take myself to the supermarket, grab a whole kale, and prepare the salad myself. I mean, it is not rocket science, is kale science.
UPDATE
I was pleasantly surprised at finding great background music, very much Indie, intimate and inviting to stay. I thought to myself, are they reading my reviews? The service was friendly, and the experience one to replay.
I will come back.
Food 8/10
Coffee 6/10
Atmosphere - Ambience 6.5/10
Layout 8/10
Service 6.5/10
Pricing 7/10
Overall = 7.5
