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Festal Paleo

I am a true believer of listening to your body. It tells you what it needs through aches and pains, and the stomach’s craves. And for me, that sometimes means getting more vegetables in the mix when you are more prone to carbs. A slight hassle when you have never had to consider your diet, or needed to avoid any foods, and simply eat as you will.

However, I have discovered that the above can be easily done at Festal Paleo, where they are focused on recreating modern dishes the paleo way. As referenced from Wikipedia, “The Paleolithic diet aka Paleo diet aka caveman diet, or stone-age diet” is a modern diet that focuses on eating foods that would have been consumed by humans during the Paleolithic era. “The diet avoids processed foods and typically includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, roots, and meat. While excluding dairy products, grains, sugar, legumes, processed oils, salt, alcohol, and coffee.” The belief is that by doing so you will lower your chances of heart disease and/or cardiovascular risk factors.

In layman’s terms, eating clean with more natural, un-processed foods are a good way to improve your health. And in that respect Festal Paleo Cafe is a good resource for most, and for others an easy way to discover gluten-free, dairy-free, and plant-based solutions for a diet with restrictions. Only those with nut allergies need to be weary and stay away, as everything we ordered contained nuts.

The cafe is located by the sky train, making them an easy stop on the way home. Much of their snacks are pre-packed for easy grab and go and their smoothies and full meals are advertised as fast food and easy to assemble to order. The following is what we had as a group of 3, trying what we ordered and packaging the rest to go. As I did not try everything pictured, I will not be able to review everything in full. However, I have been to Festal before, and have tried a few dishes that the others ordered in the past, so can report on what I can remember.

The Sirloin burger is a bun-less burger made with grass-fed sirloin beef served with bacon, yam and sweet potato hash, tomato, mixed greens, coleslaw and pesto. It is exactly as expected, something that eats more like a deconstructed salad. Yet for an everything eater, a little underwhelming pieced out like this and without the bun.

The Bolognese pasta is made with zucchini noodles and has a rich meat sauce made from grass-fed beef and cashew cheese. You don’t miss much in terms of texture, thanks to the lengthy strands if zucchini evenly spun for its noodle-like feel. It was just as gratifying to eat, and you walked away from a full serving feeling clean.

Similarly is the Arugula pesto pasta, which is one of their best sellers. Zucchini noodles, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, arugula, cashews, and cashew cheese. It was delicious and did not taste like traditional pesto sauce, but there was nothing about it to dissuade me from ordering it again, or off any menu. Really well conceived and well prepared.

The one who had the Nutty coco banana smoothie found it gritty and not as richly satisfying as a regular smoothie. It is made with cocoa powder, almond butter, banana, cinnamon, coconut, nutmeg, honey, chocolate stevia drops, and your choice of milk.

I love their Butternut lasagna and highly recommend it. It is prepared with grass-fed beef, butternut squash, cashew cheese, a creamy coconut tomato sauce, and fresh Italian herbs and spices. There is plenty going on in between its layers to satisfy as a layered pasta dish. The slices of squash give you the thickness and chew that you want from a lasagna, and the herbs and spices put you right there. If you can only order one thing, let this be the one.

The Yolk Caesar was underwhelming. Free range hard-boiled egg, romaine lettuce, bacon, cassava croutons, and their house made paleo caesar dressing. Pretty standard, and not a standout like the other dishes we had.

And the Spicy chicken and waffles is another I recommend for those who like the idea of paleo but do not want to sacrifice on taste. The batter they use still has the waffle soft and chewy and the chicken skin crispy. Marinated free-range chicken, creamy coleslaw, bacon, and house made paleo jalapeno dressing. If you didn’t know, you couldn’t tell its paleo.

Honestly, I like how good their food tastes for how healthy it is. If they were only located closer to my work or home, or somewhere along my commute, they would see me more. Not a restaurant to indulge in or celebrate at, but a cafe that is great for everyday meals and a healthier lifestyle.

Festal Paleo Cafe
433 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6C 1T1, Canada
+1 604-423-4336
festalcafe.com

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