Govinda's Vegetarian Restaurant

Govinda's Vegetarian Restaurant
www.brisbanegovindas.com.au



Since my current obsession is with all things healthy and vegetarian, it's not surprising that a sign for 'all you can eat vegetarian buffet' sparked my interest. Last week, I suggested trying that place but Charlie and I were too scared that it'd be some weird hippy place. In a cowardly attempt to avoid risk of brain-washing cults, free love orgies and being smothered in dreadlocks and hemp, we steered clear.

Today, I was in the company of a much braver individual. This friend had also seen the sign but she had gone one step further and went up the narrow stairs to see what the restaurant alike. Assured that it was more 'Indian-influence' than hippy/vegan, we decided we really wanted to give it a try.



Climbing the stairs to Govinda's, I got nervous reading posters about tantric life healing and whatnot. However, the moment we got a good look of the place, I was mighty relieved to see that the clientele was 90% just office folks on their lunch break.


There was a buffet bar and the main floor space of the restaurant was devoted to cafeteria-style seating. We got behind the queue for the buffet and pondered over the menu board. After some confusion about how to 'order', we were told by a lovely woman in the queue that we could just say '1 buffet' and they'd plate up for us.

Buffet plate... yummyyyyyy

For $10, you get a large plate stacked with different curries, kofta balls, rice, salad and condiments. You also get a dessert and free drink with the meal. What great value! Take-away is even cheaper but without trying it, I don't know what the container size is like.

When we got our plates, there weren't any spare seats but luckily, a woman was just finishing her meal. We plopped down at her table and eagerly tucked into the food.

Overall, I thought everything tasted fantastic. I would've liked hotter food (temperature-wise) but this is usually a problem when eating a hot buffet. I really enjoyed the kofta balls - it's the kind of thing that makes me believe it's possible to convert to being a vegetarian without missing out on 'too' much. The vegetable curries were also good. Even though I had vegetable curry last night, I didn't feel like it was too much of the same :).

Vegetable curry and kofta balls

Salad and dahl

Indian-style salad (raita etc) has never really appealed to me in the past but the one that came with the buffet was really tasty. I liked the yogurty dressing and the leaves were crunchy (indicating freshness).

Semolina halva with custard

I didn't expect the dessert to be any good because in all honesty, it looked like a pile of mush. I was so wrong - I loved it! I guessed it was a semolina pudding with custard and this turned out to be an accurate guess. Govinda's website calls it havala but I think the more commonly used term is halva. I thought it would be sickly sweet and drowned in syrup but it was actually just nutty and creamy.

Also a point to mention is that the free drink (mint, citrus and ginger cooler) was lovely and refreshing. Perfect to go with the curries.

I am so pleased I gave Govinda's a go and cannot wait to go there with Charlie. It's in a very convenient location in the city and the price is just so great for the amount of food you get. Being a vegetarian restaurant, you get the added assurance of health and let's not forget there's a moral benefit too!