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June 20, 2014
Working in Newport has been strange. Although I enjoy the city, I think it’s more on a “wouldn’t want to live there” scale. I’m more of a Cape Cod gal at heart. I find it much less pretentious. For this edition of Laura’s Lunch, I decided to take myself to a place that all the cool kids at work like to frequent – Keenwah (that’s “quinoa” in hipster).
At first I thought the purposeful misspelling was cute, but now it just irks me – especially after eating there. I pulled into the parking lot and stepped inside to look over the menu since they don’t have a working website (annoying when you just want to pop in and out during a lunch break). There was a lot to choose from, but it was all … odd. Now please don’t think that my fat ass has never been in a “super food eatery” before. I’ve eaten healthy food; I’ve seen healthy food. My problem was that there were SO many ingredients in each item that I had a funny feeling the overall taste would be flavorless.
I decided to order an acai energy smoothie ($7) which consisted of organic acai puree and powder, strawberries, bananas, green tea and soymilk. I also chose “The Macchu Picchu” burrito ($8), which was organic quinoa, spinach, sundried tomatoes, non-dairy walnut pesto, feta cheese and choice of scrambled eggs, tofu or tempeh in a sprouted wheat wrap served with sweet potato home fries or fries and orange wedges. My total came to $16.20, which shocked the hell out of me because I hadn’t been paying attention to the prices. I know that’s an insane amount for one person’s lunch, but I was hoping for a good experience.
I waited quite a while because they were making everything fresh, which was a good thing. I looked over the menu and noticed that they seem to cater to people with food allergies or those on restrictive diets (i.e., gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.). I should mention that the interior was very cute and trendy and outdoor seating is also available. The staff was also very friendly, especially when I had realized at the last minute that I never did choose between scrambled eggs, tofu or tempeh in my burrito. The waitress informed me that scrambled eggs (which I don’t even like) were going in by default. My mistake.
When my food arrived, the waitress brought it over to me in a little cardboard box. I took a quick sip of the acai smoothie and it was very thick and had a strong berry taste. I couldn’t recognize any other flavor. It was like a mixed berry yogurt, but that’s pretty tasty so I had no problems with the smoothie. I did think it was a little small for $7.
I returned to work and opened the box of food. It seemed like they kind of just threw everything inside, but whatever. I was hungry. For my sides they gave me sweet potato home fries and orange wedges. The orange wedges were OK, but I’m not really a fan. The sweet potato home fries were good, but they were cold and a little too mushy. This actually could have been an awesome side dish if they had been cooked a little more because I love the taste of sweet potatoes.
As for my burrito – bleh. I mean, I wasn’t disgusted or anything. It wasn’t the worst thing that I’ve ever had. I just didn’t like the flavor combination and unfortunately I found out that I don’t like quinoa! It looked like fish eggs and had a gritty/grainy taste and texture. My mouth had a weird aftertaste for the entire day. There was almost no feta cheese (my favorite) except for one pathetic attempt to include a piece at the very bottom of the burrito. The eggs were eggs (nothing special, but they were a little cold) and everything else tasted strange. I will say that for $8, you do get a pretty large burrito. I was full until the evening and I guess the only good thing that came out of my lunch is that it kept me from snacking before dinner.
· Minutes from the office: One.
· Cost of the meal with drink: $16.20 (ridiculous!)
Will I be going to Keenwah again? Only for the smoothies. There are a couple of other ones I’d like to try but I definitely won’t be ordering the food again. It’s just not my style. If I’m doing healthy, I’d want a piece of fish with a side of vegetables or a big salad with grilled chicken. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
