The [Hip Vegan] Dandylion

At any time a waiter (here Lulu by name) singing happily to themselves is a lovely and loving sign for a venue. Yet that's not the only love that The Dandylion exudes. You can feel it in the air, and taste it in the food.

The Dandylion is special in other ways too. The vegan and vegetarian Bondi Road restaurant starts caring for people from morning brekkies and carries on caring through to night time fine dining, including a $40 for 6 courses special degustation on the first Thursday night of the month.

Even if you are not vegetarian and just a lover of great food, The Dandylion is somewhere special to visit.

All of the food is not only a step up for (how we sometimes think of) vegan but is sound in its ingredients and seasoning, and its cooking craft.

Seating options in the long room range from pavement tables and chairs and a pillow table in the window, to bar stool seating along the right hand wall, then more spacious tables and chairs.

Owner Chef Valeria Boselli swapped her meat eating hotel functions to do her own thing with another Bondi local Chitti Lardi. Chitti says the floor is mostly run by friends while the word is out and Valeria has cooks lining up to work in her kitchen.

Chitti says that the evenings are busier. "People struggle with not eating bacon for breakfast." There are so many intriguing morning choices here that I struggle to understand why. Especially when the morning can be started with not only beautiful food, but good coffee, and good hearts.

As well as a $25 breakfast buffet or a la carte brunch options, and sweets from 11am to 3pm, The Dandylion supplements its lunch and dinner menus with a specials board and can even whip up a sensational special order birthday cake for celebrations.

Innovation in vegetarian cuisine plates up these kind of beauties:

Brunch - Breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs or tofu, spicy avo, house made beans, spinach, sour cream & coriander pesto ($17)

Little Munchies: Lumera chips with truffle aioli ($9)

Salads & Bowls: Watermelon carpaccios with wild rocket, walnut, piquent vegan cheese, shaved red onion & aged balsamic dressing ($12)

Small Plates: Home made dumplings - caramalised organic tempeh and shiitake mushrooms with chilli and miso spicy sauce

Mains: Veggie burger with a quinoa, brown rice, sundried tomato & olive patty, accompanied with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, vegan coleslaw & kumera chips ($20) haloumi ($3)

From the specials we were delighted with zucchini flowers with a potato and mint filling (we've only ever had them filled with cheese). Very yummy. Valeria who originally hales from Italy, used a traditional ravioli that has this filling as her inspiration. The batter (is the same as the batter for The Dandylion vegetarian "Fish 'n' Chips and) is a pillowy cloud of lightness. Along with the generous and oh so fresh filling burger and its gorgeous kumera chips this seasonal special was one of the highlights of our time at the table. Along with the sensuous dumplings, and more...

For desserts, the star is the divine vegan panna cotta with berries. The texture is a little different than you might expect from cooked cream, although it is still fluffy and light, and like all the food here flavoursome.

And as well as offering gorgeous plates of love, The Dandylion shakes up vegan cocktails, such as a Bloody Mary (with soy instead of the Worcestershire anchovies) or the uber superb Black Forest Cake (which uses vegan liqueurs instead of cream).

On our way to find the restaurant we did the Google map thing. The Dandylion shows up as "hip vegan and vegetarian dining spot". The girls (owners Chittie and Valeria) didn't know until we told them. And we laughed. And the label is true...