Smoothies have been a thing for healthy cuisine lovers for years. Smoothie bowls are their more modern derivative. These hybrid meal-snacks toe the line between health food and dessert but make you feel pretty okay about indulging in one.
The bowls incorporate aspects of smoothies and yogurt/granola breakfasts — blending together a load of ingredients until they are a bit thicker than a traditional smoothie, placing them in a bowl, and topping them with colorful, nicely arranged ingredients that may include: sliced bananas, coconut chips, chia seeds, nuts, granola, goji berries, strawberries, and more.
These bowls are not only nutritious, but they’re pretty in pictures too. Instagram candy, if you will.
Here are some solid spots in Yangon to get your smoothie fix, whether you like to shoot it down straight or spoon it out of a bowl.
Nestled inside the Yangon Yoga House compound, Nourish is a Mecca for the city’s fit and healthy. Visit for refreshment after your millionth downward dog, or skip the physical activity altogether; we won’t tell.
Nourish offers a completely meat and dairy-free menu and uses lightly processed sweeteners including coconut sugar and maple syrup. It’s also one of the rare places in the city that you can find trendy superfoods like quinoa and chia. The last one features heavily in their açaí red berry smoothie bowl, which is topped with fresh dragon fruit, goji, granola, and pumpkin seeds. Other smoothie bowls feature indulgent vegan chocolate granola and fragrant toasted coconut.
They also offer perfect smoothies to suit vegan tastes. The fresh strawberry version, in particular, gets rave reviews.
36/38b Alanpya Pagoda Road
09973802714
This spot is infamous for the body-shaming slogans on its walls, but it also serves up a mean sweet potato veggie burger, which would go well with one of its fresh smoothies. The tropical dragon is an alluring mix of dragon fruit, watermelon, orange, and lime with chunks of fruit inside, making it a treat you can chew as well as swallow.
They also serve up a variety of drinks for whatever ails you: apple cider vinegar concoctions, gout relieving juices, green omega mixtures, and detox drinks. Mr. Green is for hardcore healthy smoothie lovers. The spinach, broccoli, celery, green apple, green pepper, cucumber, banana, lime and coconut water mixture also lists an egg among its ingredients and claims to provide detoxification, heart health, and pH balancing.
86 Bogyoke Road
09258 688891
This hip new cafe near the base of Shwedagon Pagoda (check out our review here) is a hit with the brunch crowd but also perfect to hit up anytime you need some high-quality nourishment. Chief among these life-giving options are the smoothie bowls, which come in three varieties at any given time.
At the moment, they’re white, green, or yellow. The white showcases light-colored healthy ingredients: dragon fruit, Chinese pear, banana, coconut milk, lime, and cashew butter topped with granola, nuts, and seeds. The green is full of lush ingredients like melon, guava, spinach, banana, and yogurt with the same toppings as above. The yellow goes tropical with the bowl being crafted of mango, pineapple, banana, and coconut milk.
17 Bahan 2nd Street
09781265517
Despite being open less than a year, this Pabedan outpost is becoming known for its smoothies as well as good quality at affordable prices. Fans of Freedom Cafe say that their drinks are aces for curing a hangover.
Decked out to look like an English garden indoors, this cafe even has fake grass on the floor. Their smoothies are focused on being ultra-healthy and made only with fresh fruit, for a basic drink. If you want to get fancy, add a scoop of protein powder, collagen, or matcha powder.
229 32nd Street Upper Block
09789021231
Boost Bar (inside Inya Day Spa)
Get a massage while you sip your smoothie at this wellness enclave. Boost Bar bills itself as “the first Western style healthy drink bar in Yangon.” They use fresh fruit like blueberry, raspberry, mango, and papaya alongside premium ingredients like flax, granola, oats, and unsweetened cocoa.
Signature blends include the carrot top, with carrot, apple, yogurt, and natural honey; the hi-razz, which features raspberry, apple, and banana, boba berry, with blueberry, banana, and apple; and the pure papaya, made with papaya and banana.
16/2 Inya Road
01537907
