Offbeat eats at the River Market
By Sophie Isbister, Life & Style Editor
3/5
If you find yourself near the New Westminster campus with a few free hours and a powerful yearning for a burst of energy, I suggest you take the short journey over the railroad tracks to explore what the New Westminster River Market has to offer. You might just find that a fresh juice from Tiny Karmavore Juice Bar is exactly what you need.
Located on the lower level food court of the Market, the pop-up shop (pop-up means it may not be around for long), just opened in August. It serves up salads, wraps, baked goods, and of course juice from a wide range of fresh fruits vegetables. You might recognize the name Karmavore from their other store, located at 610 Columbia St. The store on Columbia has changed format recently, moving from a boutique where one could purchase vegan clothes and grocery items to its new iteration as a café and dessert lounge. The juice bar serves as another location where people can buy cruelty-free snacks from this passionate local retailer.
Tiny Karamvore Juice Bar has a ton of selection to offer in the juice department, yet I found their snacks to be lacking. I ended up only ordering a juice ($6.75 for a 16-ounce and $4.75 for an eight-ounce), as the only food they had available was a $6 small portion of kale salad. Since the River Market is home to many other delicious eateries, I wasn’t too disappointed as I dug into my 16-ounce Flu Fighter (freshly pulverized orange, cucumber, and lime). The juice was high-quality and tasty, and the fruit and veggie combination of the orange and cucumber was both refreshing and unique on the taste buds.
Drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juice is a good idea for busy students on-the-go. While the jury is still out on whether or not vegetables are healthier for you in liquid form (doctors think not), there’s no denying that drinking a cool and flavourful liquid is faster and more convenient than eating a whole cucumber and a chunk of raw ginger. While adding fresh juice to your diet won’t replace your daily salad, it is a time-saving way to get a much needed hit of the nutrients found in vegetables.
Karmavore’s most popular juice, the Good Karma, contains orange, pear, apple, and ginger. Other interesting combinations include the Super Juice (carrot, apple, celery, and parsley) or the simple Champ (apple and lime). Karmavore also offers watered down versions of their drinks at a fraction of the price for a cheaper and lighter taste—call it a starter juice. I was impressed with the variety of flavours and combinations, and doubly impressed with the vital energy burst I felt upon finishing my cup. (By the way, the cups and straws are biodegradable and good to toss in your compost.) I was not so impressed with the lack of solid food, but let’s chalk it up to growing pains. I’ll keep stopping by the Karmavore Juice Bar whenever I need a dose of a fresh, energizing beverage.
