Rather a long while back (last year sometime actually, whoops!), my fiance, my folks and I decided to try out La Verdure cafe in Gillitts, KwaZulu Natal.  

La Verdure are known for their Banting-friendly pre-mixes, which are available in most grocery stores and health stores now, and even though only my mom out of the four of us likes the Banting/LCHF diet, we all decided we could use some more health in our lives, and headed to their cafe for lunch on a Sunday afternoon.

Now, I’ve tried some of their pre-mixes before – especially the Almond loaf bread mix and the Spicy Nut Muffin mix.  Both are so delicious, you’d never know that they’re grain, gluten and sugar free, as well as LCHF.  So I knew we were in for a treat, visiting the cafe!

Cute little interior with mis-matched chairs and tables.

Other than serving up food and drinks, the cafe also has a small store, selling health and Banting foods and drink that you can take home.  They have a heck of a lot of variety, so if you’re looking for something healthy to include in your diet, be it supplements, pre-mixes, sauces, snacks, drinks or oils and powders and potions, you can bet you’ll find it there!

La Verdure branded goods.

Pre-mixes, cereals and protein powders.

Oils, sauces and mayonnaise.

My mom decided that the strawberry and Roquefort salad was right up her alley – she does tend to always go for something with a Roquefort, Gorgonzola or blue cheese in it – and she said it was absolutely divine.  I don’t particularly mind Roquefort cheese, but I have to be in the mood for it – it’s such a strong flavour!

While my mom was nibbling on her lovely salad, my dad, fiance and I opted for the Banting (bun-less) burgers – served on a grilled black mushroom, with an egg and bacon, and with sweet potato wedges on the side.  This was absolutely delicious, juicy and perfectly cooked.  

Overall I was super impressed with the cafe – it was quaint, clean and super cute, the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly, and I loved browsing the shelves for healthy treats – take a look at some of the items I spied, that I’d be happy to give a try: –

These protein shakes looked amazing – the packaging was awesome and they sounded delicious!

Thai-spiced raw cashews? Who needs chips or popcorn when you have these?!

Raw cacao muesli snack? You could always add your milk/almond milk to this, or just eat it dry, right out of the packet – YUM!

Banting cookies and biscotti – in flavours like Coconut and Cranberry or Chocolate, Nut and Orange?  YES!

Healthy macaroons.

Crisps made from coconuts – in savoury and sweet flavours like salted caramel or spicy bbq.

Banting Creamy cheese dip and garlic and onion Chiaps – chips made from chia seeds.

Gingerbread superfood cereal – sounds amazing, and the packaging is cute!

Sugar free Belgian Chocolate – this doesn’t even taste sugar free, we had some at the Good Food and Wine Show.