Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/906955
maltatoday SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2017 This Week 39 WHEN you run a food maga- zine, November is a little bit like Christmas. Days are filled with turkey and all its alternatives, gingerbread, shortbread, Christ- mas pudding... and all that was just one week! When there is a moment to spare between the craziness of styling photo shoots and juggling clients what I really need is some- thing kind to my gut. Vegetables have been left to the wayside re- cently so where do you go to get an influx of greens? Health food cafes are booming across Europe with fancy avocado toasts taking over many an Insta- gram news feed. Malta, however, has been slow on the uptake of this healthier lifestyle. Maybe it's our love for nanna's imqarrun or THE RESTAURANT Triq il-Gzira, Gzira Tel: 21341218 Opening hours: Daily from 7am – 10pm WHAT I ATE Superfood soba noodle bowl Falafel bites Raw detox juice TOTAL Total: €17.45 an affinity to anything fried but health food cafes are few and far between. Dr Juice has been around for ages, satiating Malta's sweet tooth along with the quest for a smaller waistline with fruity smoothies and juices. However, as far as food goes they didn't really do very much, a couple of wraps, a salad or two and some energy balls, all made beforehand and warmed up while you wait. Things changed with their new outlet in Gzira. This feels like a proper health food cafe. When you walk in there are a couple of people on laptops, working and sipping on coffee or green juices. The menu is up on blackboards behind the bar and includes their usual range of juices and smoothies, offering something for everyone, from the classics to the healthier green versions and ones for the gym rats. They also have a brunch menu with options such as poached eggs, protein waffles with avocado ice cream and avo- cado toast with eggs or smoked salmon. The lunch menu is a mix of healthy burgers, salads and noo- dle bowls with a number of gluten free, vegetarian and vegan op- tions. I went for a superfood soba noodle bowl with wok-fried kale, edamame beans, hijki, sprouts on buckwheat noodles with a ginger and garlic sauce, a raw detox juice made with apples, spinach, car- rots, avocado, lemon and celery, and on the side some falafel bites. The noodles were warm and tasty with a good combination of ingredients and flavours, even if it was a little bit on the oily side. The falafel bites were deep-fried which is not my cup of tea. A pur- ist recipe would fry these chickpea patties. However, there are many healthier versions that bake them instead. Coming from a place that packages itself as a health food bar, I would have expected a little less oil. Though the food was slightly on the oily side, this is a step in the right direction when it comes to health food cafes. Cosy and invit- ing interiors and plenty of ingre- dients that sooth your gut rather than destroy it. I hope this will in- spire more places like this to open shop. Rachel Zammit Cutajar Dr Juice Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro is a classic Penfolds wine, steeped in nineteenth-century tradition. Typically it is a generous medium-bodied wine based on shiraz, but shot with the aromatics and muscular strength of mataro. It's best to drink early, but like many of Penfolds reds can last the distance in the cellar. Bouquet: Scents of black olive and dark black cherry laced with mixed spices/herbs, Dark chocolate notes and a skerrick of liquorice. Palate: Mataro's green tea-leaf characters immediately apparent, as is Mataro's inky/rubbly palate imprint. Grainy/particulate/powdery tannins throughout. Ditto, barely perceptible oak (some vanillin, crushed biscotti flavours). Evocative Shiraz fruits and savouriness dominate the mid-palate. Refreshingly medium-bodied, enticingly textured. Food Affinities: veal, roast chicken, planked salmon. Exclusively imported by Charles Grech & Co. Ltd, Valley Road, Birkirkara T: 2144 4400 Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro 2014, Penfolds, Australia