The best vegan restaurants in Wellington run from sourdough pizza on Cuba Street to a set tasting menu in Thorndon and a plant-based bakery cabinet on Lambton Quay. Vegan restaurants in Wellington now cover brunch, long dinners, Indian street food and quick city lunches, so eating plant-based here is a question of picking the occasion rather than hunting for an option. Nolita, The Botanist and Hillside Kitchen each take a different approach to it.
1Nolita
Nolita is a plant-based pizzeria and pastaria at 203 Cuba Street in Te Aro, open from the middle of the day through to late. The kitchen makes its own dough from a rye sourdough starter and ferments it for 48 hours, and its cashew mozzarella is fermented in-house with a dairy-free culture. It suits anyone after Italian classics, whether that is a weekend brunch, a family dinner or a table before a Cuba Street night out.
Services
- Sourdough-base pizza topped with house-made cashew mozzarella
- House-made plant-based pasta and flatbreads
- Everyday brunch menu, from 10am at weekends
- Bellissimo Brunch, arranged by booking
- Function and larger group bookings, by email
Highlights
- Dough made fresh daily with type 2 flour and fermented for 48 hours before hand-stretching
- Cashew mozzarella cultured on site with a dairy-free starter
- Kids make their own pizza, available 12pm to 5pm
- Afternoon Aperitivo happy hour daily from 3pm to 5pm, a house wine or tap beer with olives for $10
- Gift vouchers available online
Location & Contact
Name: Nolita
Address: 203 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Phone: 04 213 7874
Website: nolita.co.nz
2The Botanist
The Botanist is a plant-based cafe and restaurant on the south coast at Lyall Bay, with sea views and a heated courtyard. Its menu draws on the coastlines and cultures of the Pacific Rim, built around seasonal local produce and native ingredients, with a matching cocktail list. Brunch runs through the middle of the day and dinner service follows in the evening, which makes it an easy choice for a long weekend meal by the beach.
Services
- Brunch menu, served to 3pm daily
- Pacific Rim dinner menu, served from 5pm
- Afternoon snack menu
- Click and collect ordering for pick-up
- Table bookings for brunch, dinner and private events
Highlights
- Heated courtyard on the Lyall Bay waterfront
- Six rotating craft beer taps alongside local and organic wines
- Botanical cocktails matched to the seasonal menu
- Takes part in Visa Wellington On a Plate with a Burger Wellington entry
- Gift vouchers available online
Location & Contact
Name: The Botanist
Address: 219 Onepu Road, Lyall Bay, Wellington
Phone: 04 891 0198
Website: thebotanistlyallbay.co.nz
3Hillside Kitchen
Hillside Kitchen is a vegetarian fine dining restaurant at 241 Tinakori Road in Thorndon, serving set multi-course menus in the evening from Thursday to Sunday. Dishes are written around what is in season, what the kitchen has grown in its own garden and what has been foraged, so the menu is not published in advance. A full vegan menu is always available, so a plant-based diner gets the same multi-course meal as everyone else at the table.
Services
- Early set menu of bread and snack, appetiser, entree, main and dessert, $92
- Hillside tasting menu of ten courses, $127
- Full vegan menu, arranged when you book
- Wine matched flights
- Non-alcoholic matched flights
Highlights
- Produce grown in the restaurant’s own garden and foraged locally
- Set multi-course format only, with menus changing by season
- Many dietary requirements catered for with advance notice
- Gift cards available online
Location & Contact
Name: Hillside Kitchen
Address: 241 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, Wellington
Website: hillsidekitchen.co.nz
4Higher Taste Hare Krishna
Higher Taste Hare Krishna is a pure vegetarian Indian restaurant at 138a Lambton Quay, run by the Hare Krishna movement and established in 2021. The kitchen uses no meat, fish or egg, and the menu runs from South Indian dosa and idli through to street food snacks and Indian sweets. It suits a quick weekday lunch in the city as much as a sit-down meal, and it is closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Services
- South Indian dishes including dosa and idli
- North Indian mains, sabji and pau bhaji
- Indian snacks such as samosas, pakoras and potato patties
- Indian sweets including gulab jamun
- Catering and large group bookings, with 72 hours notice
Highlights
- Kitchen contains no meat, fish or egg
- Vegetarian and vegan celebration cakes made to order
- Food is offered to Krishna before it is served, in the Hare Krishna tradition
- Established in 2021 and now trading on Lambton Quay
Location & Contact
Name: Higher Taste Hare Krishna
Address: 138a Lambton Quay, Wellington
Phone: 04 472 2234
Website: highertasteharekrishna.com
5Belén Plant Bakery
Belén Plant Bakery is a fully plant-based bakery started in April 2021 by owners Mica and Chris, from a certified home kitchen and a farmers market stall. Everything in the cabinet is made without animal products, and the range is savoury as well as sweet, so it works as a lunch stop rather than only a treat. There are counters on Lambton Quay, Manners Street and Courtenay Place in the city, plus Jackson Street in Petone.
Services
- Filled and ring brioche doughnuts, with around eight flavours available daily
- Savoury croissants, mince and cheese pies, sausage rolls and scones
- Sandwiches and grain salads for lunch
- Gluten-free cookies, brownies, slices and doughnuts
- Pre-orders, catering and gift vouchers
Highlights
- Every item sold is 100% plant-based
- Cabinet changes monthly, with annual staples, seasonal items and rotating specials
- Catering orders delivered by cargo bike through Nocar Cargo
- Surplus food redistributed through the Wellington food rescue charity Kaibosh
- Coffee from organic, fair-trade roaster Good Fortune Coffee Co
Location & Contact
Name: Belén Plant Bakery
Address: 104 Lambton Quay, Wellington
Website: belenplantbakery.com
Vegan Restaurants in Wellington at a Glance
| Business | Highlight |
|---|---|
| Nolita | Dough made fresh daily with type 2 flour and fermented for 48 hours b... |
| The Botanist | Heated courtyard on the Lyall Bay waterfront |
| Hillside Kitchen | Produce grown in the restaurant's own garden and foraged locally |
| Higher Taste Hare Krishna | Kitchen contains no meat, fish or egg |
| Belén Plant Bakery | Every item sold is 100% plant-based |
How to Choose the Right Vegan Restaurant in Wellington
- Check whether the kitchen is fully plant-based or vegetarian with vegan options, because that decides how much of the menu is actually open to you.
- Match the format to the occasion: a set tasting menu needs a booking and a free evening, while a bakery counter or pizzeria suits a walk-in.
- Ask about cross-contamination if you have a coeliac or nut allergy, since a plant-based kitchen still handles gluten and nuts.
- Look at where the venue sits, as a Lyall Bay dining room and a Lambton Quay counter serve very different parts of the day.
- Ring ahead for groups, functions and catering, which usually need notice and sometimes a separate menu.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wellington Vegan Restaurants
Which parts of the city do these vegan restaurants cover?
They are spread across the capital rather than clustered in one strip. Te Aro has Nolita on Cuba Street, Thorndon has Hillside Kitchen on Tinakori Road, and the Lambton Quay end of town has Higher Taste Hare Krishna and a Belén counter. The Botanist sits out at Lyall Bay on the south coast, and Belén also trades on Jackson Street in Petone, so there is usually something plant-based within a short bus ride of wherever you are staying.
Is there a difference between a vegan restaurant and a vegetarian one?
Yes. A vegan kitchen leaves out all animal products, including dairy, eggs and honey. A vegetarian kitchen excludes meat and fish but may still use dairy or eggs, so it is worth asking which dishes are fully plant-based. Several Wellington vegetarian restaurants keep a dedicated vegan menu, and Hillside Kitchen offers one on request when you book.
How much does a plant-based meal in Wellington cost?
It depends entirely on the format. A bakery lunch sits around the price of any city sandwich or pie, a pizza or pasta dinner is mid-range, and a set multi-course menu is a fine dining price: Hillside Kitchen lists $92 for its shorter menu and $127 for the full tasting menu, with matched drinks charged separately.
Do I need to book a table?
For a tasting menu, yes, and it is the point at which you tell the kitchen you are vegan. For pizza, brunch and casual dining a walk-in is usually fine, though weekend brunch and Friday and Saturday evenings fill up. Larger groups and functions are normally arranged by email or phone in advance.
Can vegan restaurants handle gluten-free and nut-free diets too?
Often, but not always. Belén Plant Bakery runs a gluten-free range, and Hillside Kitchen caters for many dietary requirements with notice. Nolita states plainly that it cannot cater for coeliac disease or severe gluten or nut allergies because of the risk of cross-contact in a small kitchen, which is the honest answer you want before you order rather than after.
Where can I find good vegan food near me late in the evening?
Kitchen hours are the limiting factor for vegan restaurants in Wellington. Bakeries and lunch counters close in the middle of the afternoon, while restaurants such as Nolita and The Botanist run into the evening, and fine dining service starts at 5pm and runs on into the night. If you are eating after 8pm, check the venue’s own hours page first, since they change with the season.
Do these kitchens use house-made plant-based cheese and meat?
Some do. Nolita ferments its own cashew mozzarella with a dairy-free culture, and Belén builds its savoury range around plant-based ham, chicken and mince. Others lean on whole ingredients instead, with vegetables, pulses and grains doing the work rather than a substitute product.
How can I check a restaurant’s food safety grade?
Every food business in the capital operates under a national food control plan, and Wellington City Council publishes the food safety grade for registered premises on its website. You can read how the grading system works and what the letters mean on the Wellington City Council site, and the wider rules for food businesses are set out by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
How We Chose the Best Vegan Restaurants in Wellington
Every business in this guide was found by searching for vegan restaurants in Wellington, then checked against its own website. Names, addresses and phone numbers are taken from the business’s own site rather than a directory feed, so what you see here is what they publish themselves. We also check that each one is actually based in or genuinely serving Wellington, rather than a national operator running a local landing page. A business with no website of its own is not listed, because there is no primary source to verify it against.