Last Sunday, I had something special planned for Georgie and me. We were going to go to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Limassol to taste their new brunch spread, which was created with kids in mind too. When I received an e-mail invitation including those words AND the mention of zea flour and goji berries I couldn’t wait.
Hands down, I found the healthiest brunch in all the land.
Their brunch comes with a slogan: Eat Well. Feel Fabulous. It’s perfect for the menu they have put together with dishes that will make you AND the kids happy. We ordered one from each category which were: Porridge, Bowls, Eggs, Jars, Pancakes and Hot n’ Healthy. All meals come with potential allergen indications.
There’s also a small but impressive range of smoothies and fresh juices to chose from. I was especially impressed with the green smoothie. I make and/or buy at least four to five green smoothies a week and I like to try a variety of ingredients so I know a really good green smoothie when I try one. Georgie chose the mango and passionfruit smoothie which he devoured within minutes.
I told him to must be patient and save room in his belly because there would be alot of food coming and most importantly, his pancakes would be arriving soon. He chose the Pink Dragon pancakes with strawberries, wild berries and white chocolate. I would have gone for the Bittersweet Symphony made with dark chocolate cocoa but either way we were definitely trying the pancakes because they’re made with organic oat flour and zea flour, coconut milk and bananas! I was so curious to see how they tasted. I wanted Georgie to try them before I told him what was in them. Once they arrived I tried to take as many photos as I could while holding Georgie back. I mean look at the photos! They looked unreal and the presentation was simply stunning. So he finishes the first one without even adding the extra white chocolate and continues to go through four and a half of them. He left me half a pancake to try. Healthy AND delicious! I definitely was NOT expecting that.
For the next one hour we were brought over five different dishes, some were my choice, some were Georgie’s. We had red tuna, which I don’t usually like yet somehow I had three pieces. And then there were the two salads, which were right up my street. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I like beans and using them in various ways. Here they had a black bean spinach salad and a lentil one with carrots and courgettes. I always order eggs at brunch because I love eggs. A lot. So I ordered the poached eggs with smashed avocado on brown bread and a spinach leaf salad. 20 minutes later I was presented with a gorgeous plate of THREE poached eggs. Three! I’ve never seen so much generosity at brunch! ha!
The Raspberry Swirl, which was part of the Jar category, was a sweet pudding of chia seeds, coconut and oat milk, raw cocoa, carob syrup, cranberries, raisins and HOMEMADE raspberry and banana sorbet. How totally awesome is it that this is available at a restaurant? In Cyprus? The porridge was the biggest surprise. I desperately wanted to taste Local Spice. It contains: chia seeds, cinnamon, carrot, sesame seeds, goji berries, raw almonds, green apple, oat milk and carob syrup. Carrots? And sesame seeds? Yes! Everything worked so well together and I would never have thought.
One of the things I noted while I was seated by the sea, eating all these beautiful and tasty dishes- and enjoying much-needed one-on-one time with Georgie – was that the brunch menu at the Crowne Plaza is an inspiring one for foodies like me. It’s foundation is basic health food and superfood information that we have but might not use as much as we would like. Maybe that’s because we think it takes time or is too complicated to accomplish or perhaps we think it’s expensive. Adopting a healthier and cleaner food lifestyle can be as easy and simple and as complicated and strange and as economical as you like. The food combinations on this brunch menu prove that healthy doesn’t have to be boring and tasteless. It can be really good and really good FOR YOU too.
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