New & Noted: Sprout Lifestyle Café
What: A takeaway café that will change your perceptions of healthy food
Where: 485 Fenglin Lu near Zhongshan Nan Er Lu. Tel: 3137 3869 Web: www.sproutlifestyle.com
Why: Guilt-free, delicious fresh food
After continuous demand from health food lovers, Sprout Lifestyle have opened their first takeaway café. The café is appropriately situated in the Eco Village at Fenglin Lu. On entering, you are immediately welcomed into the friendly atmosphere of Sprout Lifestyle. Throughout our lunch, loyal customers were coming and going and we felt at ease. The café is designed to be takeaway style so there is limited seating; the seats are signature green and the rest of the interior is made up of white tiles and wood.
Health food can be intimidating, especially for those who are unaccustomed to eating food made with no MSG, preservatives or additives, however Sprout Lifestyle understand this. With the motto “growing healthy habits”, Kimberly Ashton (Chief Sprouting Officer) explains that a healthy lifestyle does not appear overnight; it takes time and nurturing until you reach the stage where a healthy lifestyle becomes a habit. At first we were hesitant. Is it possible to create nutritious healthy food whilst ensuring taste and enjoyment? We ordered from the specials' menu and selected Pumpkin Soup With Hemp Seed Nut Crunch (RMB 18), Kale Salad With Nutritional Yeast (RMB 32), and an Open Tuna Sandwich With Sprouts on Gluten-free Bread (RMB 32).
Whilst we waited for our lunch, Kimberly offered us samples of the apple, mint and kale juice which was refreshing, light and frothy. We browsed the right hand-side wall display of healthy organic foods from cookies and tea to brown rice and dates. We were also assured that the food is sustainably sourced from local suppliers or organic farms whenever possible.
The Pumpkin Soup arrived and it was an inviting bright orange color. Within the time it took to eat our first spoonful, our perception of health food had changed. We happily slurped up the whole soup. Chiara Squinzi (Event Planter) informed us that the new menu will explain all the benefits of the ingredients they use in their dishes. Everyday Sprout Lifestyle Café has a different soup on their specials' menu that contains a superfood. The Kale Salad and Open Tuna Sandwich, both decorated with a topping of homegrowns, followed the Pumpkin Soup. Both the open sandwich and salad were delicious and light, leaving us satisfied afterwards without the sluggish feeling of being full. We even managed to fit in a desert of Raw Bliss Balls (RMB 15 for 3 pieces) which were naturally sweetened by dates. The education continued as we were informed that raw food preserves the nutritional values which can be lost through cooking. Hooray for us!
The Sprout Lifestyle Café menu is ever changing with a variety of specials on offer. However, set dishes of brown rice and noodles, snacks and sides and a range of salads are always available. If you are already health food obsessed, or if you are looking to introduce healthy food into your diet, you will love Sprout Lifestyle Café. As a takeaway café, the location is quite inconvenient but we do appreciate the appeal of being housed inside the Eco Village. Sprout Lifestyle Café also offers cooked takeaway brown rice that will keep for a few days; a convenient first step to healthy eating.
