HEY GUYS. Guess what I did this past weekend?! I went to Tasmania!! If you guys don’t know what Tasmania is, it’s an island off of Australia. I legit had never heard of it before coming here. And I’m pretty sure I thought I was going to “Tanzania” for like 5 weeks.

Well, if anything, you’ve probably heard of the Looney Tune Tasmanian Devil. No? How old are you? Shouldn’t you be in bed? Or school? Idk, what are kids doing these days? ANYWAYS, if you find yourself in Tasmania, I GOTCHU COVERED SISTER (or BRO! we don’t discriminate).

First things first, Tasmania, like most of the popular places in Australia, is SUPER SUPER SUPER vegan friendly. For a small island, I was VERY surprised at how many vegan options there was.

Here is my guide to doing Tasmania as a vegan!

1. Straight up Coffee and Food

This place was right across from our hostel. It’s an all vegetarian cafe with lots of vegan options including CHOCOLATE WAFFLES. Yes mam.

I got the chocolate waffles and they were SO yummy. I gave my friends the caramelized bananas on top because #NOPE to bananas #NOPE. At first, the waffle was really dry (I don’t think Australia understands the concept of maple syrup on pancakes or waffles). But as soon as I ate it with the chocolate chip ice cream???? UGH SO FUCKING GOOD. I want it right now.

I also got a coffee but I can’t remember it lol. I feel like all vegan lattes taste the same to me (Unless of course, you’re going to Jack’s Coffee back in NY. Then that’s another story)

2. Tahune Airwalk Vistor Center/Cafe

So. If you find yourself doing the air walk, then make sure you’re not afraid of heights like I AM #regrets. The view was beautiful, but I was just too busy trying not to have a panic attack because again #HEIGHTS.

Anyway, I suggest stopping at Woolworths and buying some snacks for the day because the only vegan thing at the cafe was french fries. (Lucky for me, my friends and I had gone to a supermarket earlier and packed some snacks). But what’s cool about this cafe, is that they give you filtered water from the mountains! It was kind of brown and kind of questionable but tasted normal and was cool!

 

3. Jack Greene

Salamanca is great area at night for vegan friendly restaurants. Almost every place had at least one vegan option. So we decided to come here the first night.

I got the vegan burger (chickpea patty i think?) with a side of fries (or as the Aussies call it “chips”) Just make sure to tell them you want the vegan option and to ask for the vegan bun.

This place was INCREDIBLE. The fries were perfection. Legit so crispy on the outside and literal mashed potatoes on the inside. And the burger was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Ugh so fucking good. The bun was kind of hard and not tasty, but the rest of the burger was divine. Highly recommend this place. 

Cute little sign outside of the Salamanca area. Ugh makes me wanna cry for some reason. It’s such a simple sentence but means so much. ALSO, it’s how I feel about every vegan brownie I see and don’t buy.

4. Medici

I never went here but I saw “vegan pizza” on the menu! So check it out!

5. Salamanca Market

THIS PLACE THO. Every Saturday, Salamanca holds a farmer’s market with SO MANY incredible stands, including a TON of food stands and a TON of vegan options. Here are the vegan options I saw, and the vegan options I got!

– Bury Me Standing Bagels

LEGIT INCREDIBLE. Don’t know how else to describe it. Like just AMAZING. Not everything is vegan but almost all of their bagels are (except one that had egg), they have vegan cream cheese, AND vegan desserts. The woman who owns it was SO nice and told me that her husband is the baker and he’s vegan which is why they have vegan options. She was so sweet and helped me decide what to get, etc.

I went with the everything bagel with cream cheese and got a gingerbread bagel for the road. YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM. I would go here every Saturday if I lived in Tasmania. 

 

– Raw Indulgence 

This stand had little raw vegan desserts and bliss balls.

I got the salted caramel one. #GottaCatchEmAll

NOT GONNA LIE, IT KIND OF SUCKED. My friend who loves healthy food really liked it and put peanut butter on top of it. BUT…. I blatantly was not a fan. Did not taste like salted caramel or anything for the matter. And was 5 dollars. MMM BETTER NOT.

– Some random fruit/juice stand

I’m so sorry I can’t remember the name as there were lots of fruit/juice stands. But my friend and I got fresh apple juice and fresh strawberry/apple juice and it was SO good and refreshing. Def recommend.

Here are some other places I saw but didn’t go to!

6. Cargo: Bar/Pizza/Lounge.

I didn’t realize how much the name of this place makes no sense. Like Bar, pizza, lounge? Which one doesn’t belong??? Or maybe it’s “Cargo Bar: Pizza Lounge”. Because a pizza lounge does sound pretty fricken awesome.

Anyway, this place has vegan options including a vegan butternut pumpkin pizza (I added some vegan cheese) with balsamic glaze and caramelized onions. THIS SHIT WAS BANANAS. So fucking delicious. My non-vegan friends said their non-vegan food was mediocre so lesson learned kids: always go for the vegan option. This pizza was probably one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. SO if you come here, GET IT.

7. Waterfalls Cafe

If you’re going to see some cool waterfalls at the Mt. Field national park (I think that’s what it’s called?), then you’ll probably find yourself in the cafe. There aren’t many vegan options but they have soy milk lattes which was nice to have on the walk through the park, and they also have these raw bites that i’ve gotten before.

UPDATE: Apparently they do have some sandwiches that can be made vegan and apparently the soup is usually vegan so definitely ask!

8. Zambrero

Things close at weird times in Tasmania and almost nothing is open on sundays so I went to Zambrero for dinner on our last day and got a vegan burrito. Zambrero is basically the Australian version of Chipotle. And honestly, this burrito was delicious. So worst comes to worst, come here! 

9. A Tad Whimsy

I didn’t get the chance to go here because they are only open from like 10-2 and we were always out, but if you come to Tasmania PLEASE go here for me. Apparently they have a to-die-for mac n’cheese burger AND vegan oreo donuts. I’m MAD SALTY I didn’t get to come but I was too busy exploring! 

THATS IT FOLKS! Definitely recommend coming to Tasmania with a group of girlfriends, staying in a sketchy hostel, and renting a car because it was SO much fun.