Bowl and Arrow Parnell - CLOSED

Overview

Bowl and Arrow is one of Auckland's newer evangelists of good vibes and wholesome living. Selling a variety of smoothie bowls and healthy porridges, the café serves breakfasts or lunches (eat-in, takeaway or even delivered straight to your office) that are a healthy treat. The bright-eyed smoothie bowl café venture spearheaded by Hannah and Leisha, is completely sugar, dairy and mostly gluten free, and surprisingly well priced.

We were invited over on a sunny Monday afternoon to try a Brazilian (organic acai, pure Canadian maple syrup and banana topped with honey toasted oats, coconut flakes and freeze dried raspberries), the Soul Mate (cacao, kumara, peanut butter, dates, banana, topped with granola, banana, coconut flakes and freeze dried raspberries) and the Superman (papaya, mango, turmeric, cinnamon, himalayan salt, dates, banana topped with granola, orange, coconut flakes and freeze dried raspberries) smoothie bowls. The smoothie bowls range in price from $8 to $12 for the signature bowls (i.e. the Soul Mate and Superman) and $9 to $14 for the premium smoothie bowls (like the Brazilian). All three were deliciously creamy and refreshing, but it was the Brazilian (also the crowd favourite) and the Soul Mate which had us absentmindedly scraping the edges of the bowl clean.

A smoothie bowl from Bowl and Arrow makes a perfect, fresh little number to start off or cap off the morning. Our only critique, if anything, is that the smoothie slush to crunch ratio can be quite overwhelming, as a non-rationed, tentative approach to the harder elements on the bowl can quickly lead to the bowl consisting mostly of slush and no crunchy granola or oats, or fruit, to break it up. All in all though, it is a pleasant café that I wouldn't mind stopping into if I was in the neighbourhood and in need of a chirpy café and a refreshing meal.