Before we headed to N2 for gelato, Cindy and I had traipsed all over the Sydney CBD trying to find an Iku store that would sell us a light lunch to justify dessert. Turns out that they're all closed on the weekends, leaving us with no option but to swap things around: dessert first and lunch second. With a load of ice cream on board and a 12 course dinner ahead of us, we knew we had to aim for something healthy. Enter Sadhana Kitchen - a raw vegan cafe based in a yoga studio that was conveniently located between Newtown train station and our pre-dinner nap.
Being both a raw-vegan cafe and a yoga place, Sadhana was always going to lather on the spirituality pretty thick - you'll need to skim past the 'prana' and 'chi' and ignore some of the flakier health claims. But it's worth it, because the menu is great - loads of healthy juices and smoothies (healthy, not cleansing or able to build stamina), coffee, heaps of herbal teas (which had me wondering - are coffee/tea technically raw?) and a whole pile of breakfast and lunch dishes. Plus sweets!
Cindy perused the breakfast options, passing up the banana coconut pancakes (with 'superfood caramel sauce', whatever that is, $15.50) and settling for the Sadhana Kitchen granola (buckwheat, goji berries, cacao nibs, crushed walnut and shredded coconut with almond/rice/soy/oat milk, $9.50, or $14.50 for a large bowl). Cindy went with almond milk on her granola, which is 50c extra.
They load the granola up with fresh berries and banana, so you can't really see the mix itself above. It was light and crunchy, with plenty of chew to it (even with the milk on it), and Cindy was particularly happy to get the distinct taste of the cacao nibs shining through.
I weighed up the raw pad thai ($15.50) or the lasagne ($15.50), but eventually decided to try the tejas tacos (served with walnut mince, salsa, guacamole and house-fermented sour cream, $15.50).
Of course, they look nothing like tacos. But the walnut mince and gaucamole combo were fantastic - the rich, spicy 'mince' and the cooling avo, with a mild salsa and the intriguing 'sour cream', which was quite pasty, and most likely based on cashews. I was really impressed - even the salad dressing in the middle worked with all the other components. I was also a bit worried - this 'light' lunch was actually pretty substantial, I was glad our dinner booking wasn't until 8.
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Sadhana Kitchen has been raved about by thisisliz, angie gluten free, div forever, Keith Kempis, Dear Asparagus, Saya's Soulful, what do you eat then!?, Not Quite Nigella and Live to Eat Life.
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Sadhana Kitchen
76a Wilford Street, Enmore (in Jivamukti Yoga)
(02) 9516 1334
76a Wilford Street, Enmore (in Jivamukti Yoga)
(02) 9516 1334
breakfasts $9.50-$15.50, lunches $10.50-$15.50
Accessibility: There is a flat entryway, into a pretty crowded interior. Ordering and payment is at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.
ah, you were in my old, old neighbourhood. really like the idea of a walnut mince.
ReplyDeleteLucy - I wonder how you coped with the planes! Thank goodness for the curfew.
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