Pur Bowls, situated in a corner of Fountain Valley, CA, invites customers to enter its quiet shop with its motto “Eat Pur, Live Pur” and endeavor on an unbeatable quest for myriads of fruity gold.
It takes five minutes to build my acai bowl conveyor belt-style, five times longer to eat.
The first thing I do is break through the shell of superfoods: roasted almonds and cacao nibs drizzled with almond butter. Thick agave seeps through the cracks, coating the bits that are cushioned by raw coconut shreds. The infusion of nuttiness and bitterness, enveloped by nectar-like goo, makes me crave something juicy.
Under the nuts is a mound of mango and blueberries haloed by strawberry and banana slices. They rest on a layer of maple quinoa so crunchy that I have to resist my caveman urges to chomp my way through the bowl to not only save my braces but to savor the clash between tart and sweet, heavy and light, hard and soft.
Then I reach a membrane of swollen, milky-white tadpole-like eyes. To my disappointment, the vanilla chia pudding is mildly sweet and makes me wonder if I should’ve gotten matcha, cocoa or cinnamon-turmeric pudding instead, but I find that it offsets the sugary granola.
My fourth spoonful is the jackpot, the gold, the acai. At Pur Bowls, you can order up to two of four vegan sorbet bases — acai, pitaya, matcha and coco-lina (coconut and pineapple) — in any size bowl with unlimited toppings. Nine dollars gets me 16 ounces of acai and matcha.
Pur Bowls’ acai sorbet isn’t spectacular; the fresh berry mix has a signature earthy backbone that’s all too familiar, especially for acai enthusiasts. Underwhelmed, my expectations for the matcha sorbet are low, but it’s a game-changer.
I eat a second scoop of matcha, then a third, then a fourth . . . until I pause in my fervor because of a brain freeze. Despite nearly half of the sorbet gone (and rogue toppings on my table), I’m still unable to process how head-twistingly addictive it is.
The creaminess of the matcha sorbet mocks soft-serve. Unlike overwhelming mainstream matcha drinks and desserts, the bittersweetness is delicate and couples wonderfully with the richness of honeyed superfoods and tangy berries. And paired with the velvetiness of the acai sorbet, it’s like I’m eating the lovechild of Japan and Brazil.
Admittedly, my acai bowl isn’t the healthiest, but what matters is that Pur Bowls is located in a plaza notorious for short-lived business. Compared to the long-standing competition, Banzai Bowls and Blue Bowl, in Huntington Beach, Pur Bowls’ diversified acai journey is a beacon for a base of daring and loyal customers, myself included.
This review received an honorable mention in The New York Times Learning Network’s fifth annual student review contest.
