What: Original date shake
Where: Makka Living Foods, 2465 E. Palm Canyon Drive, No. 1005, Palm Springs
How much: $15 (20 ounces)
Contact: 760-808-8007; click here for menu and online ordering
WHY It’s a delicious shake.
For myriad reasons, I am not sure I could ever be a vegetarian.
One reason: I love meat, a love that was ingrained in me from an early age, as I grew up on a cattle ranch. Another reason: While I admire the heck out of people who choose to give up meat, I’ve watched the vegans/vegetarians in my life choke down far too many mediocre restaurant meals over the years.
All of this was on my mind when one of the aforementioned vegetarians my life—Robert Victor, our longtime astronomy scribe—invited me to lunch a new vegan restaurant, called Makka Living Foods, tucked between Chipotle and Jersey Mike’s in a Palm Springs shopping center.
Makka offers a variety of bowls starring oats, acai, matcha and pitaya, along with soups, date shakes, smoothies and “plant based protein entrées.” At our weekday lunch—when Bob and I disconcertingly had the entire place to ourselves throughout the meal—I ordered the modern falafel bowl ($20) and an original date shake.
Bob also ordered the falafel bowl, and he was a fan—he devoured the whole thing. I, on the other hand, was reminded yet again why I’d have difficulty regularly eating vegan. While I had some pleasant bites, the overall combination of falafel, hummus, guacamole, roasted vegetables, forbidden rice and Greek mixed-leaf salad, served with tahini sauce, was somehow bland.
As for the date shake … now, that’s a different story: It was delicious, and I guzzled it down. The mixture of almond milk, bananas, coconut crème, vanilla extract and dates was fantastic. It was thinner than most “shakes,” but, boy, did it taste good.
The next time I am at Makka, I’ll likely skip the plant-based protein entrées in favor of one of the fruit-forward bowls—but I’ll definitely be ordering another date shake.