One Café: A Raw Lunch

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The raw food movement has been gaining traction in the UAE over the past few years. When I was assigned to review One Café at Life’n One in Jumeirah, I was curious but also a bit apprehensive as I’d never eaten ‘raw’ food before, though I was familiar with the concept. After a little research, I was relieved to discover that raw food doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncooked, though nothing is prepared at a temperature above 48°C. So on a sunny afternoon, I venture out to Jumeirah to see what it’s all about.

Life’n One is located behind the Magrudy’s Bookshop, right next to the parking lot. The main building is the yoga studio, and a small cobbled path adjacent to it to leads to the café, which is almost like a tent with a lovely garden that has fun seating options like swing chairs near a small fountain and a large tree stump surrounded by some smaller ones. While the outdoor area is quite inviting, I decide to sit inside to escape the heat.

The café’s interior has a very laidback vibe with quirky décor, with neon colored sofas and bright seat cushions. Some of the tables resemble picnic benches and plants are placed all over to create a more nature-inspired look.  I help myself to a glass of lemon mint infused water from their complimentary water cooler and settle down on a bench, ready to begin an interesting meal.

My order consists of two salads and two raw zucchini dishes. The Wild Rice Salad is a mix of different components, including parsley, currants, almonds, spring onions and lemon, which create a nice balance of sweet and tart flavors. The Chickpea Salad consists of parboiled chickpeas with parsley, garlic, red onions and aubergine. It has a slightly Middle Eastern flavor, but it’s a bit under-seasoned for my liking.

I’m most anxious to try the raw zucchini dishes, as the menu descriptions left me wondering how the ingredients would all come together. There’s raw zucchini pasta in a spicy Thai sauce, which consists of long thin strips of zucchini that are mixed with chopped bell peppers, mushrooms and a few other ingredients. A combination of ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil brings the Thai flavors to the fore, and cashew nut paste gives the sauce some creaminess. It tastes very much like a typical Thai noodle dish, though its not very spicy at all.

The zucchini lasagna is made by layering thin strips of zucchini in a lattice pattern, with alternating layers of sun-dried tomato paste and a garlic-cashew paste. The cashew paste recreates the flavor of béchamel sauce, and nutritional yeast adds a cheesy element. However, garlic does tend to dominate the flavor of the dish after a few bites.  I can see how the flavors were inspired by lasagna, but it doesn’t quite measure up to cooked lasagna.

For dessert, I order the Raw Chocolate Cheesecake, made with a mixture of cocoa powder, dates, bananas, cashews and almond milk. It’s sitting on a gluten free crust that includes flax seeds and chia seeds, and the whole thing is topped off with a thin sheet of chocolate, shaved coconut and some fresh berries. While it is quite creamy, it tastes more like a pudding than a cheesecake. Chocolate and banana are the most prominent flavors, with some hints of date in the background. In spite of not having any added sugar (though there is agave syrup), it’s much too sweet for my liking.

Raw dining is certainly an interesting concept, and it puts a strong focus on fresher, pure flavors. While I do feel that some of the flavors could be more balanced, and would generally prefer a hot meal, all the food is very light. Throughout the afternoon, I have much more energy as I'm not struggling to digest a big lunch, so this would definitely be an option to consider now and then.

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