The Blue Bird vegetarian café

We get a lot of nice feedback about the The Blue Bird. People seem pleased to have a peaceful and spiritual environment in which to dine and socialise.

There is an Indian phrase, Annam Brahma, which means ‘Food is God, food is spirit…’ (Annam Brahma also happens to be the name of a sister enterprise in New York.) Here at the Blue Bird, there is an opportunity for both body and soul to receive nourishment. Listed below is a selection of reviews and customer comments. If you would like to add a comment, kindly contact us.

The following review is from the column Chowhound. The article was entitled Where to find Auckland’s best vegetarian restaurants and was published in Metro magazine of March 2005.

…We also like the daytime Blue Bird vegetarian café, which operates a simple system: choose a topping (about 10 on offer from tofu mayo to the Taihape – baked beans, eggs and vege dogs), then choose a base (brown rice, kumara, potato etc) and everything comes with steamed veges in between. The café is bright and light and popular with chilled-out-looking locals. The girls behind the counter smile so sweetly; they’re fresh-faced and sari-clad – walking proof of how wholesome this place must be.

Hi there,
Thank you SO much for the delicious vegan 1st birthday cake I ordered for our coffee group. I am the only vegan and vegetarian (along with my son) in our group and EVERYONE was impressed at how delicious and moist the cake was. We had the Chocolate with Rasberry filling and yummy icing and there was not a speck left!
Everyone thought that the cake was more delicious than non-vegan cakes they had tried and there were some fussy cake eaters there too! Many people asked me to pass on how wonderful they thought it was. And I also wanted to say that you have helped me to show non vegans that vegan food can be delicious!!! Thanks also for the lovely candles that were included!
Kind regards, Nichola.

This is a very nice cafe with a broad menu, great service and atmosphere. The prices are very reasonable and the cafe is completely vegetarian. Thoroughly recommended! I often go there when I am in Auckland. Bhaga, Hamilton.

I can’t live without your vegan banana cake and kumara hungi pie! The Blue Bird ROCKS!
Thanks A. BIG FAN

The following was left on napkins by some very creative customers:

In praise of the Blue Bird café

Here we sit, a small group of European travellers, in the Blue Bird café this evening, a vegetarian two level eatery in Auckland run by students of Sri Chinmoy. One of our group accidentally bumped a waitress carrying a beetroot and leak soup and a small fountain of purple found it’s way on to his lap. This inspired the following silly commemorative limerick:

“A client who seemed quite Sicilian
stained his trousers a striking vermillion
when he spilt all his borscht –
it was beetroot of course –
in his lap, it was most unfulfillion.”

Then we all had a little literary dabble, all on the theme of food:

“A person who praise be was French,
and loved garlic despite the strong stench,
when he sprang up to dance
shouting ‘viva la France!’
gave his ankle a terrible wrench.”

“An anaemic and frail Hungarian
took a course in our food vegetarian
our sprouts and our spices
his nutritional crisis
did avert – he’s an octogenarian!”

“Said a tramp with a limp and a stutter
though I’m doomed to shuffle and mutter
your curries and pies
send my thoughts to the skies
though I’m eating my lunch in the gutter.”

We solemnly present these ground breaking poems to the charming staff of Auckland’s best vegetarian café with a hearty viva la Blue Bird! – Amy Fields, London, England.

Delicious, nutritious food in tranquil surrounds.

I eat at the Blue Bird regularly, and often take my non-vegetarian friends, who love it too! As a vegetarian I am thrilled to have so much to choose from. The staff are all very friendly, and seem to be really enjoying their work. There is a very cool upstairs area with couches. The atmosphere is very peaceful, even during busy times! – Savithri.

My first time.

Never been to a strictly vegetarian cafe or restaurant before, but the Blue Bird definately made sure my first time was good! The food is delicious and a good price, and the setting is brilliant. Very relaxing.

From a Christmas card left by a regular customer.

Dear friends, as you know, I have been coming here for a number of years and I just wanted to let you know that I have become very fond of your establishment. Asides from the food, which is most enjoyable, it is the warmth of the staff and the gentle music that makes this little café such a nice place to sit and muse. I have not met Sri Chinmoy, but judging by his music and the happy faces here, I feel he must be a good man. I enjoy seeing him on the videos you have playing. May you all have a very Merry Christmas. – Roger Bradley, Balmoral.

This place is an oasis.

Order some earthy vegetarian food, and head upstairs to drink in the meditative ‘Sri Chimnoy’ music, while listening to th
e trickling water fountain and enjoying the lush green of all the plants up there. Famous for their impossibly divine-tasting vegetarian sausage rolls, I have spent countless lunch-hours recharging here in the middle of a frenetic work day. – Karen G.

I eat here as often as I can, and also regularly take away savouries for my less mobile mother. These freeze well, and are such generous servings, that they are either a meal in themselves, or can be divided in half to add to two separate meals. Very welcoming staff, good ambiance, delicious food, Mango Smoothies to die for(!), even my non-vegetarian friends enjoy eating here! Highly recommended.

Being a vegan I have difficulty finding good vege fare. The Bluebird cafe is a fantastic place for us herbivores and the food is divine-i particularly recommend the banana cake for those with a sweet tooth!!The staff are really friendly and give great service-i would recommend this cafe to anyone, great atmosphere and fab food what more could you wish for. – Michelle.

A Haven for Vegetarians

The food here is so good, I could eat here every day. (I hear that they have quite a few patrons who do just that!) There is a wide variety of different tyes of foods to choose from – standard café food (eg. Hunza Pie, Panini’s, Calzone, salads) – to unusual/speciality food (”Empananda Pie” “Kumera Hungi Pie”, and “Neat Loaf”) – to “bowl” meals (featuring lentils, beans and tofu and steamed veges, amongst other things). The prices are VERY reasonable.
The really great thing is that they cater for some of my more “difficult” friends with really restrictive diets – gluten free and dairy free – so I can actually eat out with them!
They play soothing, peaceful music, which is just the ticket at lunch time or after a hectic day. The Blue Bird is not only a haven for vegetarians – it is an oasis of peace! – Stacy.

The food is fantastic and great for all, not just vegetarians. and portion size is very generous. Staff are friendly and make good suggestions when you’re stuck.a bonus was the comp slice of cake that we got given on our way out for the Teacher’s bday. loved it, would definitely be back. – PennyE.

Hello,
I went to Sri Chinmoy’s concert at the Auckland Town Hall a few years ago, and came away with a very special feeling of peace and love, such that I have never felt in my life! I was just wondering when he will be coming back to Auckland as I would very much like to meet him.
Sincerely, Raymond Alberts.

A Very Special Place – Unique!

I was very happy to discover the Blue Bird as I have been vegetarian all my life and have been meditating since I was 11. So to find a nice vegetarian cafe that is run by people that meditate is very nice. The staff are very pleasant, the food is fantastic and the feeling in the place is really exceptional; nice music and artwork by the teacher Sri Chinmoy. It is a very peaceful place. One feels inspired and uplifted after eating there. I eat there at least once a week and thoroughly recommend the Blue Bird. – Bagha Da.

Whenever I’m feeling less than wholesome—from too many late nights, not enough home-cooked meals, or a particularly fierce hangover from a long weekend – I meander down Dominion Road, past the cheap curry houses, the kebab joints and the $2 shops, and into the Blue Bird Cafe.
Just walking in makes me feel a bit better about my toxic lifestyle. There are birds on the walls and soft flute tunes on the stereo. The café is run by followers of Sri Chinmoy; a spiritual teacher encouraging everyone to spread a little love and harmony to world—and the cooks at the Blue Bird Café are making good on that goal.
The menu works like this: pick your bowl, your base (brown rice, mashed potato or kumara), and your topping (Hungarian stroganoff, peanut sauce, Mexican and so on). Insert steamed veges into the middle, and you’re away. A particularly hearty combination is the Taihape on rice (that’s beans, eggs and vege dogs). The mushroom sauce is also recommended.
On my most recent visit, I forewent the tried and true, and ordered a spicy enchilada and salad from the cabinet. Sublime. Hot, filling, tasty. None of the blandness that vegetarian eating can get a bad wrap for. – Maggie Wicks.

…the food is extremely tasty and worth a lunch trip. I have been 3 or 4 times to Blue Bird now and have enjoyed every meal. Plenty of options and my picky 9 year old loved her Mexican rice dish after an initial struggle to get her to order anything at all due to there being no meat in anything! The atmosphere is relaxing, the wait staff unobtrusive. I highly recommend giving this cafe a try.

…I do like the food. I like that it’s all vegan, but that you can also add sour cream, cheese, etc. I’ve only ever had the mexican on brown rice, which is great (and spicier than you’d expect). I’m not convinced that my rice was actually brown last night, but it tasted great and was huge, especially for a small portion.

Their food is so fresh and healthy. They have really nice chai, and some really fun things like Vegetarian Sausage Rolls and Neat Loaf. I travel from North of Auckland at least once a week just to eat there. – Angela Patton.

Fantastic vegetarian and vegan food. Relaxed environment. We go here very often for tasty, well priced food! Great Desserts too. Friendly service. Not so good coffee but everything else more than makes up for it! Try the Gado Gado. – D Terry.

Unique and Valuable!

The Blue Bird is a very warm and friendly café and the food is great! I eat there regularly and enjoy the variety that they offer. The place is run by members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. Sri Chinmoy is a meditation teacher who is a very inspiring individual. The nice thing is that they do not try to foist there spiritual views upon their customers. They go about the business of serving their customers in a cheerful and peaceful way. I admire them. I once took a group of friends there as a birthday treat. Most of them were non-vegetarians and some of them were a little skeptical about what the food might be like for them. But they all loved it. They were pleasantly surprised to find such things as vegetarian sausage rolls, vege sausages (their Taihape dish has these) and vegetarian bacon (BLTs). And for the vegans like myself, there is a good choice of dishes to choose from. Treat yourself…

Eating at the Blue Bird combines a sensational taste experience with a serene atmosphere and wonderful staff ever ready to please. – Ailsa.

I’m dairy-free, gluten free, sugar free and orange free! THANK GOD FOR THE BLUE BIRD!!

The Blue Bird is absolutely my most favourite place to eat on this or any other planet. The Neat Loaf is to-die-for and the Bliss Balls are scrummy!! – U. Brown, Mt Eden.

I like the Blue Bird café because of its environment, variety of food available and friendly service.

Wholesome feel good food, decadent desserts and an atmosphere that’s good for the soul. – Helena Royden.

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