Naked surprise

Healthy eating is no longer a trend, it’s a way of life and The Kitchen’s newest raw food eatery, Naked Foods, is making wholefoods a whole lot easier for locals to get their hands on. Managed by 25-year-old qualified nutritionist, Louise Reilly, Naked Foods opened its doors in January this year, to feed and nourish the people of Robina.

Never one to miss an opportunity to try delicious treats, we at InsideR decided to make our way over to see what all the fuss was about.

From the moment we walked into the bright store, we were treated to a big smile from Louise, who made us feel as if we had been friends for years.

She explained that most of the foods stocked were wholefoods, encouraging customers to cook their meals from scratch. The idea is to purchase all the dry ingredients from here and then head to the Farmer’s Markets on the weekends for accompanying fruit and veggies.

Naked Foods also plays a large part in reducing waste, as customers are encouraged to bring their own glass jars to re-fill or to use paper bags instead of plastics.

Once our backgrounder was complete, it was time to sink our teeth into some of this delicious food. With so many buckets filled with mouth-watering treats lining the store, we didn’t know where to begin on our health food quest, so luckily we had Louise to guide us.

Louise started us off with something sweet – a vegan milk chocolate treat – a nice surprise seeing most vegan alternatives are dark chocolate, but in this particular goodie, the “milk” comes from coconut. We washed this down with a very on-trend, kombucha. Naked Foods has three flavours of kombucha on tap each day, and today we had the option of ‘naughty nettle’, ‘ginger bomb’ or ‘get your lime on’. We decided on the ‘naughty nettle’ which was a blend of nettle and rosella and was both delicious and amazing for our gut health.

We then turned to dry foods – mango, apple and banana. We had both spent many years chowing down on dried apple and mango, but the banana was a whole new experience and we were both pleasantly surprised. Louise explained the dried fruit was popular with the mums and bubs as it was preservative free with no added sugar.

We were then treated to one of the best sellers – the chocolate moon macadamia balls. Never in our time of eating whole food treats have we tasted anything as delicious as these. Imagine smooth, creamy Ferrero Rocher filled with a macadamia nut.

With the time up on our taste safari, Louise wouldn’t let us leave without a jar of nut butter, which is made from scratch in a large machine in-store.

We have noticed that Gold Coasters are more aware of what they are putting into their mouths than ever, and Naked Foods really is Robina’s answer to healthy, wholefood eating.

Make sure you pop-in for a no-guilt indulgence next time you visit The Kitchens!

Where: The Kitchens, Robina Town Centre

Website: https://www.robinatowncentre.com.au/shop/stores/naked-foods