Nestled next to Al Seef Mall and mere metres away from two gyms, Raw by Nolu’s must be feeling very smug about bagging such a location. Ideally located to draw in all the health buffs as they head out for a post-workout smoothie or breakfast, it’s also a popular spot for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
When we go in for breakfast the place in empty, but it starts to fill up rapidly as we eat.
The interior is light and airy, while the prominence of the colour green and avocado-adorned placemats just reinforces it’s clean-eating vibe. The menu is full of tempting nut milks, smoothies and juices, and that’s even before you get to the food.
The breakfast options include chia bowls, loaded bagels, superfood oatmeal and many interesting variations on eggs benedict. For lunch, salads are of course a big thing, but it also offers pastas, burgers and other main dishes. The selection of cakes is also exceptionally tempting, while the vegan brownie just looks too good to possibly be classed as healthy.
For some reason our coffees take longer to arrive than our food. But they are beautifully presented and finished off with a tiny cookie. Although it tastes naughty we know it’s almost certainly the healthiest baked good we’ve ever eaten.
The server seems to get a bit over excited with the cinnamon on our coconut chai latte. So unless you’re obsessed with the spice, you might want to ask for it without the sprinkles.
To eat we go for a breakfast classic; avocado toast with organic poached eggs. The huge pile of creamy avocado is garnished with almonds, radish, feta, sprouts and spiralised cucumber. It looks brilliant. However, the seeded toast is really more like a thin cracker made entirely from seeds. It’s deceptively filling, but if you were expecting a hearty slice of bread, you might be disappointed.
We also can’t resist the edamame explosion bagel; the idea of edamame hummus is just too intriguing to resist. It’s almost as good as classic chickpea hummus and the more we eat, the more we like it. Spread generously on a chunky chia seed bagel, it’s topped with poached eggs and tomatoes and accompanied with a delicate bowl of fruit.
This is the kind of place where everything is spiralised and gluten is the enemy. But it’s refreshing to know that whatever you choose, it definitely won’t be bad for you.
The bottom line:
A dream for all health food fanatics.
