Chocolate Bean Cafe, Adelaide

The Chocolate Bean Cafe is a gorgeous space - a little bit bohemian, warm and welcoming, intimate yet with space for sitting alone and for looking outside for some street-gazing. And the food...They have yummy vegan cakes (so hard to find!) like the little chai cake piled with icing, or their choc and walnut cakes. Unfortunately, they don't have vegan savouries - though the vegetarian wrap will be vegan without the pesto. I don't often eat lunch here, I used to when I was a non-vego and worked on Grenfell Street at the East Terrace end, but these days I go mainly for the cakes and hot chocolates - all available with soy milk. However, I had lunch there last week with my friend Leanne, who is going through culture shock after moving to Adelaide from travelling for a long time, so I knew this would be a good way to introduce her to some of the lovelier parts of Adelaide. She had a toastie with the lot, I had the vegetarian wrap. The menu also has vego quiche and an avocado, tomato and cheese toastie (status of cheese unknown!).

Unfortunately the day we were there, there was a problem with the fire alarm going off. As we were sitting downstairs, rather than up, we were in amongst the noise and the traffic of new customers and the smells of toasting. If you go, get a table upstairs, it's more conducive to chatting and sipping. The vegie wrap is good - a little bit different from the usual fare with tomato, avocado, mushrooms, spanish onion, pesto and capsicum. But go there for the cakes and chocolate with a friend or by yourself with a good book for a space where you can sip and indulge as long as you like.

Chocolate Bean is on 18 Union Street Adelaide, ph: 8359 3399. You can excite your chocolate senses with their menu, which can be found at: http://www.chocolatebean.com/about.htm