My family and some friends headed to new vegetarian restaurant, Pink Lily in Springwood on Monday night 4 July to celebrate my second last dinner in Brisbane for awhile. Teresa the owner and chef opened the restaurant especially for us, the official opening is July 15. Pink Lily is located in Brisbane's Southside and is part of the Springwood Towers apartment block.

NOTE: Pink Lily opened for business on Monday 25th July 2011. Please phone 07 3387 7090 for bookings and reservations or email Sales - Springwood Tower

See below for UPDATE October & Menu

I had rung Teresa a few times previous to check when they were open (was it before I left for my US adventures on the 6th?) and how vegan their meals were. Teresa was very helpful and although there was a bit of a language barrier especially over the phone, I was informed that most of the meals were vegan and if not, could be. I had to ask for no oyster or fish sauce but Teresa understood what I meant when I explained the term vegan. Teresa rang me on the Saturday when I was in Byron Bay to let me know that they would open the restaurant for us Monday night before the official opening and to book a table for 10 people.

Mum, Dad, my sister Lou, Adele, Ange, Renata, Carol, Gary, Sal, Corinne and I shared a AU$30 banquet meal with the following foods. First up we had a mixed entree consisting of spring rolls, samosas and "chicken" bean curd rolls:

Served with a lovely chili soy sauce:

Then the main meals came along with Fried Rice:

Sweet & Sour "chicken":

Bok Choy:

Black Bean "fish" - this was my favourite:

Combination meal with various vegetables and mock meats:

Curry:

Salt & Pepper fillets:

Sizzling Mongolian dish:

Then watermelon to finish:

The great thing about Pink Lily is that all the meals had vegetables in them, whether or not they were "meat" dishes. This is great in comparison to say, Pu Kwong in Underwood, where you have to order vegetables as well as your mock meat dishes. Teresa was very welcoming and her staff were very friendly. There are still a few renovations to be completed before the opening plus if you like to have alcohol with your meal the wine prices are pretty expensive due to Pink Lily buying the wine from the hotel next door. There are no vegan desserts and the meals weren't named yet, but it's a great place for dinner. Great to see the Southside gettting a new vegetarian lunch and dinner venue.

NOTE: Pink Lily opened for business on Monday 25th July 2011. Please phone 07 3387 7090 for bookings and reservations or email Sales - Springwood Tower - this is NOT my restaurant - I do NOT accept reservations

OCTOBER update: It seems there is no signage that actually says Pink Lily at the Springwood Tower Hotel (other than a sandwich board near the entry) rather look for the red Chin Chin restaurant signage. The opening hours are Sunday-Thursday 6pm-10pm, closed on Friday and Saturday nights due to the Hotel being booked for conferences most of the time - though you can ring Teresa on the number above to check this. Pink Lily is only open for dinner, but you can call Teresa for takeaway lunch or just incase. I've had a chat to Teresa about the issues of signage, the staff answering the phone as Chin Chin instead of Pink Lily (!!) and the actual times of operation. I really want to help veg restaurants, but they have to help themselves too...