Kind to the planet, kind to animals and kind to your body; my KIND of place!
I have been meaning to write a review of this downtown Burlington, Ontario gem for some time. I have visited Kindfood dozens of times. On my last visit I made sure to bring my camera, and to take notes.
I had been eating a mostly plant-based diet by the first time I visited this quaint little café. Knowing that everything on the menu was vegan was like heaven. A meal out where I did not have to request any substitutions was a dream; can I sub this for that? And, can you please leave this off? Can you please throw in some extra veggies instead? Nope, this place was built for me, or so this is how they make it feel.
The atmosphere in Kindfood is like going to a friend’s place for lunch. Everyone is friendly and genuinely makes you feel like they are happy to see you.
On this occasion my friend ordered a Happy Buddha Bowl at my recommendation and I ordered a Goddess Bowl.
The Happy Buddha Bowl consisted of organic brown rice, grilled sweet potato, diced red onion, cilantro (my friend removed this as she is not a fan), diced tomato, almonds, sunflower seeds, basil, olive oil, and tamari. The Goddess Bowl was made up of braised organic kale served on organic brown rice, with gluten-free tamari, shredded raw carrots and beets, topped with a cashew ginger sauce and marinated (orange marinade) tofu then sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was amazing!
We both enjoyed our perfect lunches on the sidewalk patio. Of course we had to indulge in dessert. My favorite part about visiting Kindfood is the desserts, prepared by Kelly’s Bake Shoppe . I have personally taste-tested a good portion of their incredible cupcakes. Before I went to a plant-based diet I of course had tasted many other cupcakes, and Kelly’s Bake Shoppe’s cupcakes, hands down are a million times better than any other cupcake on the planet that uses eggs and sticks of butter. Every time I bite into one of these cupcakes, I make that ‘oh my god’ face where my eyes roll back in my head. Seriously, they are that good, and since they are made with good-for-you ingredients, and no dairy, wheat or eggs, I don’t have that gross ‘I ate too much feeling’. When I serve them to non-vegan friends I wait until after they have tasted the cupcake goodness to tell them that the little cakes they just inhaled were vegan.
On this visit I had the chocolate orange flavor and my friend had the vanilla, which came topped with a cute little organic gummy bear.
The chocolate orange was delicious, although not my favorite. If I absolutely had to pick just one, it would be black magic. Or wait, maybe the chocolate coconut, or the chocolate mint, or maybe the Mexican chocolate, or maybe the lemon drop. Can you see I have a problem? Another favorite, and also a Toronto Vegan bake-off winner is their mile high brownie.
If you visit Kindfood for the first time, this is what you need to do to maximize your experience:
- Go early because they are popular, and very busy
- Order a meal and enjoy it in the quaint café or on the sunny patio, if you are not overly hungry, order a smoothie or green juice, your body will thank you
- Savor a mile high brownie
- Take at least 6 cupcakes home so you can sample some new flavors and share the love (they also freeze really well)
- Drop one off for me, chocolate please
Kindfood did not compensate me for this review.
