Whenever I catch up with friends, it usually involves a meal, dessert or drinks, or a combination thereof. Such a lifestyle can be hazardous to your health because at the end of the day, you really don’t know what you’re eating.

Nutrition Republic changes all of this by serving up natural health foods. Whether it be coconut water elixirs, protein superfood elixirs, raw desserts or organic coffee and tea, you can be assured there are no artificial flavours or additives used in their products. This place only uses the best products and ingredients, and you can certainly feel the difference after eating here.

The place is not terribly large, however, the space has been efficiently used. They have shelving with all their products to one side and communal scaffolding tables with recycled timber tops on the other. There’s an abundance of natural light that flows through the place which makes it very casual and relaxed.

You really can’t visit this place without trying some of their raw desserts. Nutrition Republic actually make their own desserts off site and surprisingly, there’s no baking when these are made.

I ordered the Raw Choc Mint Cheesecake which was very nicely presented. The cheesecake is made up of three main components. The base consists of crushed up almonds, while the body consists of crushed up cashew nuts, palm oil and cacao. The top layer is also made from crushed up cashew nuts, spinach to give the green colour, and mint oil for flavouring.

What you get is a delicious and healthy dessert. The crust of the cheesecake had a much coarser texture, however, it was still firm and moist. The top two layers were slightly smoother with the cacao and mint flavour working really well together. At no point did I feel bloated after eating this dessert which is a really good thing.

The staff were friendly, although I thought the service was a bit slow. I spent a good 10 minutes standing behind the counter waiting to be served. I got a few looks from staff members but they seemed to happily ignore me.

The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing was reasonable. My dessert set me back $7.95 which is about the price you pay at specialist dessert places, if not more.

Verdict: One of the few places in Adelaide for healthy desserts.

WHERE: 2/92-94 King William Rd, Goodwood