If you haven’t heard of a smoothie bowl by this point, you must be living under a rock. There are so many variations, but the one that seems to be all the rage right now is an acai bowl. I’ll quickly explain the differences between various bowls, but first I need to get it out there why I’m even writing about smoothie bowls………………..a Playa Bowls opened at Rowan University this past week!!!! I. AM. SO. EXCITED.
I am not new to acai bowls; in fact, I used to eat them far too often when I lived at the beach this past summer. There was a smoothie and acai bowl place right around the corner from the house I was living in, and I found myself there too many times to count. I am definitely looking forward to having one at my campus, though my wallet isn’t. Oops.
Let me just state the obvious that this place is freaking adorable. I stepped in and forgot about the bitter wintry winds that were just harassing me outside during my walk across campus to Rowan Boulevard; one look at this cute little spot and I felt like I was at the beach. The store was definitely small, but it had some seating offered, such as stools at long wooden bars or a surfboard that was turned into a table.
I also need to give fair warning that there are SO MANY OPTIONS. I genuinely stood there staring at the chalkboard menu for a solid five minutes going back and forth about what to get. I finally settled on the Nutella Acai Bowl, but instead of having all acai base, I had half acai/half coconut. It was amazinggggg. Below you can observe some aesthetically pleasing photos of my bowl before I allowed myself to dig in.
As far as the bases go, there are four main ones offered. You pick what bowl recipe you want after seeing what toppings are in each one, and then you can pick one of the following bases or even pick two (like I did).
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Pitaya bowls (dragon fruit, pitaya, pineapple, banana, coconut milk) are are low in sugar but pack in a lot of fiber; this base is bright magenta colored with some black seeds in it.
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Acai bowls (pure acai) are all the rage right now since the superfruit acai is loaded with antioxidants and omegas that are great for your body; this base is a deeper purple color and tastes berry-ish with a hint of cocoa.
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Coconut bowls (raw coconut, agave, banana, coconut milk) provide a high amount of health benefits like magnesium, essential oils and fatty acids, and fiber; this base is white and has a, quite honestly, chunkier texture.
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Green bowls (kale, coconut milk, pineapple, banana) are high in fiber, vitamins, and nutrients while being low in calories and fat; this base is a darker green color that comes from the kale in it and will apparently help with digestion!
Good luck to deciding on what to order from all of these options, because they all sound amazing! I guess I’ll have to just work my way through the whole menu ;)
All pictures taken by author.