The Lotus Heart Reviews
The Lotus Heart
August 2007
After having found the Lotus Heart a while ago now and stepped inside to try their food etc, I am now a regular and so is my sister. There is always a calm and friendly atmosphere in the cafe and I have yet to sample any food or drink from there that I have not throughly enjoyed. The staff are always nice and friendly and service is good. My partner who is not a vegetarian came along with me at the start to "try it out" and was won over straight away. Now he recommends it (like me) to anyone and everyone and so far vegy's and non-vegy's alike have been impressed.
We have tried most items that appear in the cabinet and many of the menu main meals, they also do a theme dish every Friday night which we have attended several times and loved (book for this as seats seem to go fast).
The Lotus Heart also do one of the best Chai Latte's in town and their freshly pressed juices are invigorating. All in all you can't go wrong really with such lovely food, vegetarian or meat eater alike.
Review by RW
July 2005
It is no simple task to review The Lotus Heart Vegetarian Café/Restaurant, even though the essence of their message is simplicity itself and profound with it. I will start with the food itself and finish with the soul-food that fuels this unique eatery that revolves around Sri Chinmoy – their Spiritual Teacher.
First up was the soup, an Indian lemon lentil curry, spiced up with cumin and mustard seeds, with freshly baked slices of five-seed bread spread with olive oil—a light but nourishing soup, enlivened by the lemon. Following the soup I chose the African beans on brown rice. I usually go with this chunky/filling choice as it suits my physical postie job. This meal is tasty in a bold sense, with a thick tomato and coconut cream sauce, spiced with paprika and cumin—good hearty fare, but, as my discerning wife/buddy Kiyomi noted, we should have tried something lighter and more exotic in view of this review. We also tried another chunky choice, this time from the pre-made selection – a rice loaf with seasonal vegetables and a gado gado (peanut sauce) side dish, complimented by a fresh, leafy salad coated in a light sweet dressing—oishii (Japanese for yummy). What a delicious and moist slice of joy! As was the vegan chocolate cake that we took home with us.
Other foods of note in the café are their pita pockets, samosas, bliss balls, slices, Indian falafel with a tangy tzatziki or tofu-mayo sauce, pasta bake, wedges, bagels, burgers, ‘Trade Aid’ organic coffee, dandelion coffee, juices galore (including wheatgrass and spirulina), and, if you like cheeziness, there are enchilladas, meatloaf, roulade or Hunza pie, and then some. Hungry? Did I mention that they do catering?
Other than Fridays, The Lotus Heart is a daytime eatery, with lunches their speciality, seven days per week. Fridays are an exception as it opens late for a themed menu – the theme being a cultural one, that is, Mediterranean, Indian, Mexican, and so forth. I think that this is accompanied with live music too—excellent!
The Lotus Heart now has a courtyard out the back and a brand new gift shop two doors away, filled with colour, light and serenity. Close by also there is the Sri Chinmoy Centre where there are meditation courses and lectures. Running events are also organized here. One of the many important people at the café (run by women) is Harita (which means the-heart-of-newness green) who I have known for about 15 years.
I will finish with Harita’s knowledge of Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy’s spiritual teacher in India was Sri Aurobindi (a contemporary of Gandhi). Along with a strong spiritual awareness, Sri Chinmoy had a keen sense of the physical and was a sturdy champion of vegetarianism, excelling at decathlon events and much later performing remarkable feats of strength—lifting platforms of people in the name of peace and goodwill and to prove the potential of spirit in action. He moved to New York at 33 and worked at the Indian Embassy. There are now over 100 of his devotees working at the UN headquarters, spreading their calming influence. Sri Chinmoy has met many world leaders and other notables – promoting peace and harmony – and is an important world figure. He is a prolific artist, writer and musician, and has spread peace consciousness to many thousands of people for the animals and the Earth.
Harita explained that having a spiritual teacher can enable a person to realize his or her true potential; a teacher has climbed the spiritual mountain, and returned as a guide, to bring you out of your ego state and view the wholeness, vastness, and oneness of life, and the heart, where joy, light, and love reside. Meditation can enable you to open your heart to the light and live a full life. Every morning at The Lotus Heart, the staff gather together to meditate for five minutes, they then sing a song written for them when Sri Chinmoy visited in December 2002 about the freedom of the mind and the liberation of the spirit. When I eat at the Lotus Heart, I can taste the care and love in the food and the vibration that comes from a place of compassion and reverence. In February 2007, The Lotus Heart celebrated 10 years in Christchurch, and made a major meal of it!
Review by Stewart Filshie.
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1) The Lotus Heart (Colombo St)
595 Colombo Street
Opening hours: Monday - Friday 8am-4pm
2) The Lotus Heart (Cathedral Square)
Cathedral Square (In the original post office building (now occupied by Starbucks) in Cathedral Square on Level One. Entrance is beneath the clock tower)
Opening hours: Monday and Tuesday 8am to 4pm; Wednesday 8am to 3pm; Thursday and Friday 8am to 10pm; Saturday 10am to 10pm; Sunday 10am to 3pm.
Ph (03) 379 0324
www.lotusheart.co.nz