http://go-raw.com.au/
I'm pretty sure part of why I'm so broke this year (aside from having a wedding to plan/pay for) is my new found obsession with juice. One of my annoying catch phrases is that I "hate overly sweet drinks"; I don't like soft drink and I can't stomach thickshakes or overly sweet cocktails. It might seem strange then that I have a soft spot for juice. I can't drink regular supermarket variety apple juice, orange juice or the like (at least not without diluting it heaps) but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE veggie juices and green juices. The problem is, they're bloody expensive so I often have a juice as a meal replacement or eat a peasant meal with it to keep the wallet balanced.
I stumbled across RAW on my recent excursions to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre and have been back a couple of times. Each visit, I'ven purchased a juice and a little trinket on the side (just so that I'd have more to blog about). This typically sets me back $15 bucks or so. The juice itself is about the same as a burger meal at Maccas, so go figure. I like to pretend that the placebo effect of healthiness and good conscious makes it well worth it.
Kale Kooler - carrot, apple, lemon, ginger and kale
On my first visit to RAW, I tried the Kale Kooler. The juice was made quite quickly, which is great for people with a busy schedule. I ordered large because there's only a dollar difference between regular and large and quite a notable size difference. Large is enough to satisfy without any wastage. I noticed that the juice wasn't super cold when it was brought out. I think that's because they don't try to dilute it with an overload of ice-cubes. Less ice means more fruit and more nutrients. The Kale Kooler was delicious! It had a strong ginger twang that's not for everyone but I am a huge fan of ginger in juice so I loved every sip.
Green juice and falafel salad
RAW also has a cabinet of desserts and salads. The salad selection has limited options and only on one occasion did something catch my eye. This was the raw falafel salad. It was... ok. I've had raw salads before that were actually inedible. This one was edible but pardon me when I say I'd rather a cooked 'proper' meal any day. It tasted very healthy and that was it's greatest merit. I didn't find this filling enough either, and had to eat a second lunch later in the day.
Green juice - cucumber, lemon, celery, ginger, kale and wheatgrass
Another juice I tried was the green juice. It was a lovely shade of green and if nothing else, that gives me the illusion that I'm treating my body well. Again this had a strong ginger taste throughout. The photo above is a regular cup, which should illustrate the size differences. Regular was enough for a taste but I was left wanting more.
Raw cake slice
The final item I'll review is a raw cake slice. I'm not sure what it was exactly because they didn't have labels in the cabinet and I just pointed and said "I want the one with coconut on top". It tasted kind of like a caramel slice but less sweet. The consistency was soft and almost cheesecakey but without the cheesiness. I'll stop trying to describe it and just say it was really delicious. I have always been uninterested in and skeptical about 'healthy' desserts. They often taste weird to me and I think I'd rather just treat myself to a proper cookie or cake than suffer through something odd and inferior that probably has just as many calories. This slice shattered my negative views and gave me hope for the possibilities of genuinely tasty raw sweet treats.
I own a juicer at home and I appreciate the time and effort it takes to make juice, especially juice that has multiple components. It's a pain to source the fresh ingredients and it's a pain to clean the juicer afterwards. Not only that, juice can't be stored for a prolonged period of time so you can't just make up one big batch for the week. These are the things I remind myself when I get to the checkout point of paying for a large cup of juice at somewhere like RAW. Yup, it's expensive but at the same time, my kitchen doesn't have to be destroyed to obtain it. I'm uninterested in their meal options but the dessert I tried was really nice so I might sample more of those.
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