Although recent months have been crazy busy with study and prepping for our final exams, we have still had the chance to get out and about for the occasional study break and finally got the chance to try a local vegetarian cafe that has been on our list for ages. A girl has to eat, and as you can see from the pic below, taking a study break to eat made me super happy!
It makes the boy happy too (and this pic is so cute I just couldn’t leave it out!)
Giri Kana is in a strange little spot, at the bottom of a relatively new residential building in Southport, just off Marine Parade. Despite its surroundings, the cafe feels cozy and comfortable, like the perfect place to pop by for a casual and healthy lunch.
The food is completely vegetarian with many vegan options, similar in style to Hare Krishna restaurants – offering a variety of salads, vegan curries, kofta balls and ridiculously good desserts and smoothies. This is definitely a place where you want to arrive hungry so that you can take full advantage of the menu.
I had a mixed plate so I could try a few different things, and left completely full (yep I did polish off almost the whole thing myself), ready for an afternoon of study.
Check out how epic Kris’ veggie burger looked!
Since we were feeling a little cheeky and like we deserved a reward for our hard work, we indulged in a take away dessert.
It was a pretty tough choice, with the vegan ‘cheesecake’ being a top contendor, but a big slice of the honey cake ended up coming home with us, topped with a coconut whipped cream.
Delicious (and eaten in the backyard just for another chance to get away from the books haha).
If you are at the northern end of the Gold Coast, Giri Kana is definitely worth a look and I certainly know that we will be going back again and again.
Corner of Nind St and Pacific Hwy,
Southport
Photos by: Kris Blucher
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We were so impressed that we bought a bag of beans, roasted on site, to try out on our home machine. 
Despite officially being part of the hotel lobby, the design is fantastic in that the cafe area has been fitted in dark wood and fixtures, so that it feels cozy and separate from the hotel that is decked out in light marble.
The menu looked appetising and really reasonably priced, contrary to what I was expecting for the location.
But we didn’t sample the main meals as the real reason we were there was for the coffee. The Food Store use beans from Toby’s Estate, which are arguably the best in Australia, and the barista treated them with the respect that they deserved, producing an excellent coffee.
We couldn’t resist having a little treat to go with it, and were very impressed by the mini-lemon meringue pie, so much so that I think we both regretted sharing it! What a delicious (and beautiful) little thing!
A fabulous start to our holidays and our first taste of a week of freedom, we would certainly recommend checking out The Food Store, particularly if you are already in Surfers and don’t have to drive in and find a park. Despite getting caught in a massive storm on the huge walk back to our car (Surfers definitely isn’t known for its ease of parking) – it was well worth the trip and we will be back to sample the menu at some stage soon.