As part of BeLOVeD Date Week, we’ve been sipping our way through London’s best date smoothies to find the ultimate date slurps. It’s all about the balance of sweet and nutty – we want a smoothie that’s perfect for breakfast, lunch or a post-workout pick me up. If you love dates, you need to give these tasty smoothies a whirl:

1. Best Coconut Smoothie: The Good Life Eatery

unnamed

Name: Cocobutter Smoothie (£6)

The Blend: Coconut milk, coconut water, organic peanut butter, dates, banana, Madagascar vanilla

Vibe: The Good Life Eatery is a favourite pit stop for the healthy foodie crowd, come here lap up a bit of zen and delicious healthy food. You’ll find The Good Life tucked away from the Kings Road, and they’ve also got a new branch in Marylebone, which is much calmer, and still does their fantastic salads and healthy breakfast dishes. Come here for the Rise n’ Shine bowl in the morning – it’s an About Time favourite.

Flavour Wins: This smoothie is perfect if you fancy a sweet treat and want to stay healthy – it’s packed with goodness from the banana, and the peanut butter, dates and vanilla is the best combination ever. Like a really, really good version of coconut water. We love.

Where: 59 Sloane Ave, London SW3 3DH

2. Best Kale Smoothie: Mojo London

10615401_736846146404015_3804769066465656620_n

Name: Sweet Kale of Mine (£4.50)

The Blend: Kale, banana, almonds, date, coconut butter, almond milk, cinnamon

Vibe: Mojo just has ‘it’. The ‘it’ being the smoothie list, the brekkie options and the lunch time salad bar. We’ve got a lot of time for Mojo – they’re into nutrient-rich whole foods, avoiding refined sugar and processed food and fully embracing nutritionally balanced food packed full of healthy fats, responsibly sourced proteins and whole grains.

Flavour Wins: This smoothie is so good, you’ll totally forget that it contains kale. Honestly, it’s sweet, delicious and goes down a treat. It’s one for those with a sweet tooth, as the dates and banana make it slightly on the sweet side, but it’s totally delicious. If you like almond butter, get the Work it Out smoothie with berries, avocado and almond butter. They make all their nut butters themselves, and are totally delicious.

Where: 8 D’Arblay Street, W1F 8DP

3. Best Coffee Smoothie: Wild Food Cafe

image12

Name: White Zen (£6.20)

The Blend: Almond milk, cold brew coffee, dates, vanilla, coconut oil, cardamom

Vibe: A healthy food haven, Wild Food Cafe can be found in Covent Garden, in a quiet square – and it’s perfect for sunny days, as the windows extend across the entire cafe. Wild Food is perfect for vegans, their creative food is satisfying and healthy, and they do some of the best raw, dairy-free cheesecake in the capital. Come for their Wild Pizza – it’s nothing like the normal stuff, but is seriously delicious.

Flavour Notes: The smoothie that started a revolution – this tastes like absolute heaven. Think an iced coffee, but so much better – it’s got a slightly Indian kick with the cardamom, but is also creamy and delicious, and totally dairy-free. If you like green juice, their green smoothie with celery and apple is delightful, too.

Where: 1st Floor, 14 Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9DP

Photo Credit: Leafy Green Kitchen – Instagram

4. Best Protein Smoothie: The Juicery

Screen Shot 2015-08-20 at 11.32.09

Name: Malted Milkshake (£7.50)

The Blend: Coconut water, almond butter, dates, vanilla protein

Vibe: The Juicery believe in quality. You can find their juices at hotels around London, and they are some of the best in London – they teamed up with the brightest lights in the fields of nutrition and integrative medicine for some ‘expert goodness’ to answer to your daily healthy food needs. They use locally-sourced organic ingredients, all products are handmade using a combination of love and science – exactly how healthy food should taste.

Flavour Notes: This smoothie is fantastic – so simple, and yet so delicious. With the addition of vanilla protein, it’s great for after the gym, as it will fill you up and give you a good protein boost. Not too creamy, a bit like a Malteaser, it’s a wonderful smoothie. If you like your juices green, try their London Greens with spinach, cucumber, pear, lemon, basil and coconut water – it’s great for re-hydration, and the pear still makes it sweet and delightful. Smoothie heaven.

Where: 108 Marylebone Lane, London, WIU 2QE

5. Best Banana Smoothie: PRESS London

FullSizeRender-6

Name: Warrior Shake (£7.50)

The Blend: Vanilla Leche with almond, rice, dates, sunflower oil, pink Himalayan salt, spring water, mixed with Warrior Protein blend powder, banana, almond and coconut blend

Vibe: PRESS believe that life can be enhanced every single day through the small choices that we make which excel us towards a healthier lifestyle. They create fantastic cold-pressed juices which are pure and un-altered, which are a great way to boost some goodness into your day. PRESS incorporating ideas from their roots in LA, creating the most fresh, fast and health-kicking juices with maximised nutrient content, numerous health benefits and intense, unadulterated flavours. Their cold-pressed juices are also double filtered, meaning the texture, flavour and quality is maintained consistently throughout every single product, without the pulp or froth.

Flavour: At their shop, you can get their famous milks blended with other treats to create a delicious, creamy smoothie. The Warrior Shake is a combination of Vanilla Leche milk, which is a sweet blend of rice, almond and dates, and goodness from bananas, coconut and an added shot of protein. It’s on the sweet side, but the use of almond gives the smoothie an overall delicious nutty flavour, and the touch of sea salt is perfect for balancing the smoothie out. One of our favourites in London – give it a try.

Where: 6 Denman St, London W1D 7HX

6. Best Green Smoothie: InSpiral Lounge 

CIWCqYUWcAA4jfs

Name: Green Queen (£4.50)

The Blend: Mint, avocado, chia seeds, activated almonds, spinach, wheatgrass, spirulina, liquid chlorophyll and dates

Vibe: inSpiral Lounge is a award-winning eco-café, organic bar and events venue, and makes inSpiral Visionary products – most well-known for their popular Kale Chips! It overlooks the Camden Lock waterside, and the perfect place to spend a lazy Sunday morning drinking almond milk lattes. They’ve got a fantastic range of food, from vegan nut roasts, pancakes, homemade raw granola and stunning Full English breakfasts.

Flavour: Green. Very green. But good. The smoothie is slightly unusual and very minty, but if you like things that taste fresh and ‘clean’ – this is the one. The smoothie is less sweet than the rest, owning to a lack of fruit, but still delightful. With the addition of health-giving wheatgrass, spirulina and chia, it’s the perfect way to start your day.

Where: 250 Camden High Street, Camden, London NW1 8QS

7. Best Innovative Smoothie: Supernatural 

unnamed-1

Name: Salted Caramel Smoothie (£6.95)

The Blend: Banana, dates, cacao, protein powder, almond milk and salt

Vibe: Supernatural is a rapidly expanding line of juice bars – they provide delicious and organic fresh juices and smoothies in a matter of seconds, as well as healthy food to help you look and feel great, both inside and out. Their hand-crafted gourmet juices are made with fresh organic ingredients, which are locally sourced and sustainably farmed. They are juiced daily and delivered fresh, and one cup or bottle of juice contains 4 of your 5-a-day. Genius.

Flavour: This smoothie is unusual, but we love it. A slight chocolate-y flavour from the cacao, it tastes very naughty, but is actually good for you! Win. Supernatural have also won where many others have failed – creating green juices that don’t taste like a liquidised salad, (we’ve all had a fair share of bad green juice experiences). Supernatural also deliver to offices and homes around Old Street, the City and Canary Wharf, so you can get their delicious creations a thome.

Where: Unit 4, Canary Wharf Underground Station, London E14 4HJ

8. Best Almond Smoothie: Wahaca 

_O2A5181

Name: Almond Milk Smoothie (£2.95)

The Blend: Almonds, chia, banana and dates

Vibe: Wahaca is quick, easy and always delicious. It’s one of those places you can stumble into and be guaranteed to have a fantastic meal. Come for breakfast and try this smoothie alongside one of their great brunch dishes – their Mexican Baked Eggs are rich and satisfying, perfect with toasted sourdough. Also, their simple baked eggs with tomatillo crème fraiche are heavenly. Finish with the classic Mexican hot chocolate with chilli, and consider it a Mexican fiesta.

Flavour: Simple, but effective. This smoothie probably isn’t going to make you a health queen overnight, but it’s very satisfying – and the chia seeds will help you feel full until lunch. At £2.95, it’s also one of the best value smoothies we’ve come across in London. Honestly, with almond, banana and date, what can go wrong?

Where: Throughout London

9. Best Coconut Smoothie: Nama Foods

Screen Shot 2015-08-20 at 11.26.24

Name: Bountiful Berries (£6.75)

The Blend: Blueberries, coconut water, coconut meat, coconut oil, raspberries, dates and vanilla

Vibe: Nama Foods in Notting Hill is not only, gluten-free, it’s also dairy-free, vegan and raw. It’s a raw food nirvana, offering – beyond dining – raw food courses, catering, raw food cleanses, juice cleanses, and all manner of information on the raw food lifestyle. Their sole aim is ‘wellbeing through nutrition’ – harnessing the power of natural food to create balanced, nourishing, life-enriching dishes that help you to attain greater levels of health, in both body and mind. Heavenly.

Flavour: The best smoothie ever for coconut lovers. The smoothie is very thick, and very delicious – it really does taste like a healthy Bounty bar. If you like chocolate, you can’t leave without trying their raw chocolate ganache tart, too, which is made with coconut milk and is totally dairy-free. Just the best.

Where: 110 Talbot Road, London W11 1JR

10. Make Your Own: BeLOVeD Dates

Date, Almond and Kale Smoothie

unnamed

This super-smoothie is packed full of vitamins and nutrients from the raw ingredients. It naturally boosts your system and gives you energy for the day.

Ingredients

1 packed cup kale leaves, torn (don’t use any stalk)

3 pitted dates 1 tbsp date nectar

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp soaked raw almonds

Method: Blend everything together in a powerful blender until completely smooth, add some ice cubes and drink straight away. Easy as 1 2 3! Datelicious.

Post in association with BeLOVeD as part of BeLOVeD Date Week – follow them on Twitter here and like them on Facebook here. For more information, see BeLOVeD‘s website here.