Blue Ella (Goddess) Smoothie Bowl By Anastasia

For a while now, I've been planning to write my guide to Tel-Aviv city and share it on the blog. But somehow, I never get to it, and with new amazing places opening up all the time I keep postponing this post. Finally, I decided that maybe instead of a fully comprehensive guide, I will start with devoting separate posts to my favorite spots around the city, starting with my favorite neighborhood coffee shop - Anastasia.

Café Anastasia is down the corner from our apartment, it's the first 100% plant-based restaurant in Tel Aviv (and maybe in Israel), they're open 7 days a week, and most importantly - they serve amazing coffee with fresh homemade almond milk they make from scratch every morning!!

You can find me sitting there at least once a week, usually with Bella (our dog) who's even more obsessed with the place than I am (they do have excellent vegan dog food).

Apart from excellent coffee, they serve great food for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and they have the most amazing drinks and smoothie bowls. It's hard to say what's my favorite dish because everything is just so delicious, but the following are high on my list:

• Shakshuka (a vegan take on a classic Israeli dish of tomato sauce and eggs);

• Scrambled "egg" sandwich or just the scrambled "egg" in general;

• Oatmeal Porridge (with the creamiest hazelnut butter);

• Soba Salad;

• Vegetables Salad;

• Any of their smoothie bowls (though I do usually opt the banana for mango);

• Cookie dessert (divine ice-cream sandwich bites).

As I was working on this post (while sitting at my favorite spot in Anastasia) a great thought came to my mind - why not ask for a recipe to share with you all? Well, they agreed immediately so here we are. The 'Blue Ella' smoothie (Ella in Hebrew means goddess) is one of Anastasia's most popular smoothies! I like to refer to it as the new and improved version of açai, a superfood known to be the king of smoothie bowls.

First, the color of this blue smoothie is even more beautiful and appealing, but most importantly, it is made with Blue Majik powder which is a nutrient-dense superfood that is extracted from spirulina and is actually what gives it its radiant green color.

I am no health or nutrition expert, but I do find superfoods to be very beneficial and I like to incorporate them into my meals and smoothies. So when I heard about this blue superfood I just had to try it out, and Anastasia's smoothie gave me the perfect opportunity.

I will tell you right away- this stuff is not cheap! But you can easily make this smoothie with normal spirulina which will give it a greener shade.

Café Anastasia - Frishman St 54, Tel Aviv-Yafo; +972-3-5290095; Facebook; Instagram

Just wanted to clarify - this post is not funded by Anastasia. My comments and recommendations are 100% genuine and based on personal experience.