gratitude cafe!

hooray! i got to try gratitude cafe in calgary last night!
i'll admit i was quite nervous about bringing paul and his mom there as there is an unbelievable amount of negative reviews of "attitude cafe". but paul and i agreed that our extremely low expectations weren't the reason we had a most lovely experience! paul's mom even said she would love to stop in again if she finds herself in kensington. so either people there have figured out how to run things in the last couple years or there are some delusional yelp stalkers trying to make them look bad!

when we came in, i was the only one who really wanted to eat, but the place was empty and thankfully everyone was okay with staying for something sit-down. our waitress came right away and suggested we do the raw platter and told us the wrap that was part of it could be split into 3 for us. so that was super easy!

it came so quick,  i don't even remember waiting!

the platter had a curry(?) with sunflower seed-sauced veg noodles in the center with a shittake on top, collard wraps and a gingery salad with sprouted quinoa, cilantro, cucumber and red cabbage. all pieces of the platter had intense (but welcome!) and differing flavours and textures. the vegetable crackers were too dry for paul's liking, but i enjoyed the thicker, nuttier texture than i am used to. i wish i could place more of the tastes but they were welcome ones that i don't have often! everyone enjoyed sharing this. and it was really nice how it was divided up into 3 portions for us!

we then decided to take on one of the raw desserts available - the amaretto cheezecake with a convenient 3 (1 for each of us! i'm sure it wasn't a coincidence!) cape gooseberries as garnish. super sweet and a nice nut (and possibly avocado)- influenced texture. it looked and tasted a bit like thanksgiving, er, perhaps, gratitude, on a plate. hehe.

and everything was so quick and enjoyable, we decided to stay for a latte. me and paul planned to share. then paul's mom figured she'd have one too. and the staff split our 2 ordered lattes into 3 mugs! yay! we got chai tea with almond milk. i guess one thing i was surprised by was the apparent lack of any "raw" drink choices. i guess you need to ask what is available for smoothie flavours and juices. there was no indication if fresh fruit was used and juiced on the spot or if everything was from a package (which i assume). i did expect at the very least, house-made almond milk. there was a coconut milk option but i confirmed it was from a can. no thanks! and okay, i'm happy enough to have almond milk from a tetra when i'm dining out in alberta! in a raw-friendly cafe!

and really, this was such a treat especially when compared to our options at o'sullivans later that night for karaoke! i was so excited to see 'vegan' on the menu but it turned out to be 'vegan nightmare'. hahaha.

anyways, i'm happy that we got to go to gratitude cafe and i just joined yelp now so that i can leave a positive review!