What started out as my craving for a fruity (and aesthetically-pleasing) breakfast ended up becoming my search for the best Waterloo smoothie bowls. It quickly became pretty clear that I had three possible ways to go: to a chain or independant restaurant, or go DIY and make my bowl at-home – and I found the best bet for each so you don’t have to.
Living the student life, there are a few *major keys* I consider when making food choices—price (#ballinonabudget), distance from campus (if you have no car like me), and overall experience and quality (gotta be instagrammable).
Chain: Freshii’s Cali Smoothie Bowl
Price: $9.03
Distance From Campus: 5-8 minute walk from the center of campus
Overall Experience and Quality: After buying nearly half of my first year meals here to avoid the DH, I had my expectations set pretty high for Freshii.
This green smoothie topped with mango, strawberries, banana, granola, and coconut, was refreshing, filling, and possibly the prettiest bowl I’ve seen yet. At a reasonable price, close to campus, and top quality, check out Freshii’s breakfast menu for a taste of the Cali Smoothie Bowl.
Independant: Pure Juice Bar + Kitchen’s Power Vitality Energy Bowl
Price: $10.17
Distance From Campus: 10 minute drive, or approximately 20 minutes by transit
Overall Experience and Quality: After a lot of debate over Pure’s five Vitality Energy Bowl options, I chose the Power bowl, with a tropical flavour from its pinapple and coconut. My favourite part? The Granola Crunch loaded on the top and bottom. Pure is definetly worth the trek for a feel good, fresh breakfast.
At-Home: Stawberry Banana and Chia Smoothie Bowl
Total Price of ingredients: Approximately $3.00-$3.50
Distance from Campus: On average a 5-minute walk (but distance from your bed: steps away)
Overall Experience and Quality: Rolling out of bed, and into the kitchen still cozy in my pj’s had me in a good mood starting this recipie. Grabbing my go to smoothie ingredients, I added a little more fruit and a little less almond milk to thicken this recipe for a bowl.
Super easy to make, I was done in five minutes, and finished up by topping the bowl with each of its components and some Dorset Cereals Muesli.
Strawberry Banana Avocado Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
Instructions
Chop banana and avocado into slices, gather ingredients.
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend at a high speed until smooth.
Top with granola, bananas or fruit slices of choice, avocado, and chia seeds.
Chain, independant and at-home options all have different pro’s and con’s, but if you know what you’re looking for, you can find a great option whichever way.