Aaaah, February 14th. Known more commonly as “Valentines Day”. A day of lovers and chocolate and public displays of love that really should be shown on every day of the year, not just one popularised by Hallmark cards and florists. But hey, any excuse to go out for lunch with your sweetheart, right?

The Perth sun was shining, the sky was blue and the countdown to our Central trip (four and a half weeks, thanks for asking) had us all excited, so we decided to stuff the budget and head into hipster Freo for a late lunch at The Raw Kitchen.

A bit of an institution amongst Perth’s vegetarians and those into the raw food revolution, Raw Kitchen food reviews were so good that even Dave was excited to give the meat-free establishment a crack. And on Valentines Day of all days… would it live up to the hype?

Located on High Street next door to the Salvo’s store, Raw Kitchen is an old converted warehouse with high ceilings and an exposed brick wall on one internal wall, and a white rendered wall on the other and a raised platform overlooking the dining area with a band set up – this is one cool spot!

Love the decor and set up!

We abided the request of the cute, very ‘on-theme’ sign asking us to wait to be seated, and before too long were shown to our table where our friendly waitress offered us tap water while we perused the menu.

My Valentine 

A couple of dishes on the menu were stand outs for us in terms of what we should order. The Pad Thai was recommended to us by every single person we know who has been to the Raw Kitchen, so that was a definite. Secondly, as big Mexican fans, we could hardly go past the Nachos, and after ogling the table next to our’s Dips Entree for the first five minutes, we did not hesitate in ordering all three items when our upbeat waitress came back to take our order.

The food menu

Dave was pretty keen for a traditional coffee to go with his lunch, however the menu clearly stated, and the waitress confirmed, that the entire food and beverage offerings were gluten free, dairy free and free of any added refined sugars. So, no milk.

Not to worry, Dave ordered the next best thing – the Morning Glory Smoothie. With a shot of coffee, cacao, maca, agave, banana and almond milk, this was right up Dave’s alley. I ordered, on the waitresses suggestion, the Summer Green smoothie which had spinach, cucumber, mango, lemon and dates in it. Dave’s smoothie was definitely the winner – the coffee taste was delicious, and the consistency was true smoothie and creamy, whereas mine was more of a juice, and while light and summery, probably lacked a bit of zing that I was hoping for.

Summer Green and Morning Glory Smoothies ($9.50 each)

Within about five minutes of ordering, our Roasted Beetroot and Hommus dips plate had arrived, adorned with cold-smoked almonds, sesame, micro herbs and corn chips. I grew up disliking beetroot and it is only in the last ten or so years that I have come to like, and even enjoy it, and let me tell you, the beetroot dip was delicious!

And… a close up of the dips themselves

Sweet and tangy, the beetroot dip was complemented perfectly by the more savoury and nutty flavour of the hommus, however Dave and I were in agreeance that the beetroot dip was far and away the best thing on this plate. They were abit stingy with how many corn chips you got though, I think we got 4 or 5 each, and there was enough dip for probably double that! Extra corn chips were $8 which seemed a bit steep, and pretty cheeky.

Our plates were cleared, and again, with five minutes, we had been served our next dishes. Whilst this sounds like a good thing, I actually think it felt rushed, and the management would do themselves a favour to slow down the service so customers have time to sit back and replay, chat and enjoy the surroundings. Regardless, when our mains did arrive, heaped up with lots of colour and looking ridiculously appetising, we were keen to get stuck in.

The Pad Thai was obviously rice noodle free, and the noodles were made of zucchini ‘zoodles’ – my new favourite thing. Doused in an almond satay sauce (how do they do this, I have to find out!), the zoodles were accompanies by thinly sliced capsicum, baby corn kernels, snow peas, tamarind, kaffir lime, fresh herbs & mung bean sprouts.

The vibrant Pad Thai ($26)

This plate was such a big heaping serving, it probably could have filled two people – and it certainly seemed like the flagship dish, with nearly every table we could see, ordering it. And no wonder.  The tastes were fresh and full of flavour, and the colours – the bright green, orange, purple, yellow – just added to the experience. I really want to know how to make this, I have to experiment with this almond satay sauce and try and replicate it at home – Pad Thai is one of my favourite dishes and I love the idea of doing it with zucchini!

Sharing is a great way to try as much of a menu as possible, and I honestly think, as good as the Pad Thai was, the raw Nachos were just as tasty. The hand-cut corn chips were artfully arranged on top of the fresh tomato and cucumber salsa centrepiece, with chopped jalapeños and walnut refried beans (in place of meat – genius!), and guacamole and cashew sour ‘cream’ were drizzled on top.

My only complaint here would be that I barely saw the walnut refried beans, let alone tasted them, and there could definitely have been more cashew sour cream. Both were perfect accompaniments to the rest of the flavours, but as a long time Mexican-food lover, I would have loved more both of these to top off the score to a perfect 10.

Raw Nachos ($26)

By the time we had eaten our fill of the mains and finished our smoothies, we were stuffed to the brim (so maybe we didn’t need the extra refried beans…) and actually could not scape our plates clean – pretty uncommon for us! We did take our time over the mains more than the entree, and to the waitstaffs credit, they didn’t hassle us to hurry up or anything, just cleared our plates discreetly and asked if we would like to see the dessert menu,

Unfortunately, we were both so full that there was no way we were fitting anything else in. When we got to the till to pay, my resolve almost broke as we gawked at the rows of generously sized raw balls, cheesecakes and other sweet delicious treats that were on full display. Ah Raw Kitchen, I see what you’re doing here – perfect product placement aimed to tempt you as you pay, to order one ‘for the road’ to eat in the car on the way home…. good thinking.

Dessert Cabinet

We didn’t order anything for the car (STUFFED. TO. THE BRIM.) but I would definitely make sure to leave room for dessert at my next visit to the Raw Kitchen. Which is a given, this place is worth the drive into Freo for sure! The entire menu looks amazing, and I am keen to try many more of the dishes … have you been to Raw Kitchen? What should we try next time?