For renters choosing the next place to set up camp, the battle of the suburbs rages when it comes to the area with the best food culture. Australia is now the third fastest growing vegan market in the world and restaurants are keeping up.

This is particularly the case when it comes to Newtown and Bondi, two havens of plant-based dining, beloved by vegans and renters alike.

But which has the most to offer herbivorous foodies?

While Newtown has been a vegan and vegetarian heartland since King Street’s Green Gourmet opened 16 years ago, Bondi is a relative newcomer to the scene. When Funky Pies opened seven years ago, emerging as one of the most popular participants on Bondi’s meat-free scene, it was the only 100 per cent vegan cafe in the area.

Vegan options are popping up at an increasing rate in Bondi, but also in the Hills, Manly and Crows Nest, Funky Pies sales and operations manager Joelle Miller​ says.

“Food is definitely a big part of the Bondi lifestyle,” she says. Tourists, locals and vegans from all over Sydney regularly visit the cafe.

“Bondi has become a hotspot with other vegan cafes and businesses popping up. It’s great to see others having a crack and supporting cruelty-free lifestyles in our neighbourhood.”

But she says Newtown has always been “and continues to be” a hub of vegan food and businesses.

“Go anywhere along King Street and you’ll find heaps of options. A few Newtown institutions have recently cut all animal products from their menus and their business continues to grow with customers queuing down the street for a table.”

After all, Newtown is Sydney’s “original vegan friendly suburb” and is nicknamed Vegantown by locals, Superfood Sushi founder Penelope Marshall says.

It’s also the suburb of cruelty-free food novelty. While Sydney’s only vegetarian butcher, Suzy Spoons, closed on King Street earlier in 2016, there are many other “Sydney’s only” and “Sydney’s first” vegan options.

The first vegan sushi place in Sydney, Superfood Sushi, is a recent arrival on the Newtown food scene. Photo: Superfood Sushi

“Newtown is home to vegan sushi, fish and chips, gelato, raw vegan, pizza and a number of mock meat Vietnamese and Chinese eateries,” Ms Marshall says.

Many of these establishments are casual, compared with the recent addition of upmarket vegan eateries in Bondi.

And many of the healthier and raw-food options are Bondi-based.

“If I was going on a special date night or occasion I would probably head to Bondi, but in terms of variety I reckon Newtown wins hands down,” she says.

Her clientele tends to be those who work and live locally, while on the weekend it’s also frequented by those from the suburbs.

So Newtown wins for having the most vegan restaurants for casual dining, while those happy to eat at vegetarian establishments will find many choices in both suburbs. And most restaurants in these areas, even of the non-vegetarian variety, will happily cater to vegan diets.

Veganism is increasingly popular in Australia. Source: Fairfax

But it’s not cheap living the life of a vegan, with both Bondi and Newtown part of Sydney’s million-dollar suburb club, where the median house price is more than seven figures.

And renting in either vegan hotspot isn’t cheap. In Bondi, the weekly median advertised rent for a unit is $677 a week while in Newtown apartments rent for $500.

But for those looking for a cheaper vege-friendly neighbourhood, there’s another option a little further out of town.

In Cabramatta, 30 kilometres from Sydney CBD, you can easily find a vegan banh mi or noodle soup at cheap prices.

It has two vegetarian grocery stores – Just Green and Zen Gardens where you can pick up mock-meats and cheeses – as well as food options from Thai to Vietnamese.

And with rent much lower, at $400 a week for a house and $320 a week for an apartment, it’s worth considering.

Newtown

In Newtown, $520 a week rents a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment on Alice Street. Photo: Agency by Glenn Regan

Golden Lotus (343 King Street)

Bliss & Chips (215 King Street)

Gigi Pizzeria (379 King Street)

Green Gourmet (115-117 King Street, includes Vegan’s Choice grocery store next door)

Lentil as Anything (391 King Street)

Superfood Sushi (69-77 King Street)

Gelato Blue (318 King Street)

Walking distance: Sadhana Kitchen (147 Enmore Road)

Bondi

For $675 a week, tenants can rent this two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment on Penkivil Street, Bondi. Photo: Di Jones Real Estate Property Management

Funky Pies (144-148 Glenayr Avenue)

The Plant Gallery (95 Bondi Road)

The Dandylion (277 Bondi Road)

Orchard Street (2 Brighton Boulevarde)

Earth Food Store Cafe (81a Gould Street)

Zeitgeist Mylk Bar (43 Gould Street)

​Earth to Table (85 Bronte Road)

Nalinis Wholesome Street Food (1/1 Newland Street)

Cabramatta

At $380 a week, this two-bedroom, one-bathroom rental in Cabramatta is available for rent. Photo: Raine & Horne Cabramatta/Canley Heights

Cay Da Da Vegie House/iVegie (11/68 John Street)

Just Green (20/70 John Street)

An Lac (94B John Street)

Duy Linh (10/117 John Street)

World Vegan (197 Cabramatta Road)

Green Palace Thai (233 Cabramatta Road West)

Loving Hut (227 Cabramatta Road)

Quan Chay Huong Sen Vegetarian (1/4 Hughes Street)

Zen Gardens (48 Hill Street)

Emerging veg hotspots

Surry Hills (Yulli’s, Maya Vegetarian, Pressed Juices)

Darlinghurst (Iku, Govindas, Kindness Cafe, Hari’s)

Glebe (Cruelty Free Shop, Green Mushroom, Badde Manors)

CBD (Lord of the Fries, Mother Chu’s, Bodhi in the Park, Zeitgeist Cafe)