Insane Acai Bar - Brisbane

Great acai bowl - I had the insane acai bowl and it was a good thick texture and had a nice flavour. The bowl was topped with a large variety of fruits. The staff were kind and welcoming and the shop was colourful and bright. I will be back soon

TL;DR: A raw vegan bar which offers acai bowls, smoothies and various other treats. It is basically a dessert bar with a twist, and them alone are pretty hard to find around these parts as is. Everything is done fresh, made with fresh fruit et al and is decent enough from an objective angle. Outside of the niche market, it does several things right and should do well in these quarters. Right in the middle of the busy stretch of Boundary Street in West End, Insane Acai Bar finds itself both with its work cut out for it while also having a niche mark towards a bit of advantage - that is, another place in a row with the coffee and cake option but there is a twist. What we have is both vegan and raw, a specialised market that has to search wide for anything viable and all of it is right here. If it is your sort of thing, great! It works enough here; as for me, not really but I don't give opinions without sussing out first and it is not too bad. But not anything I will be crawling back to with other options out there. After having a huge, and substantial meal not too far away, there was still the usual aspect at the end of it needing just a little something else to finish it off. For the most part, that means trying to get a coffee though with that by proxy having something to sweeten the deal and truly finish it off. Where we were initially asking at the original about sweets - which to their disappointment as well as ours - was not offered, but there some places around. After looking in at the first decided place, the idea was mainly the coffee with anything else being an addition on the side. So what this meant was having a stroll down the top end of Boundary Street, going on an ad hoc basis so whatever was looking like it would do the job would be the pick. What was really odd was the lack of choice at this time - going out for coffee around this area would have quite a bit of demand, I would think. This was one of the places that was open, and popping my head in to see if there was coffee ... well, I am now reviewing it - aren't I? Stepping in here, the whole ordeal is more or less straightforward. The whole shop is pretty small, with maybe two or three tables inside at most and the rest of them being out on the pavement. Within the big cabinets, the sweets sit there looking tempting with one that is in the shop-front window harkening back to the old school ways of tempting the kids in for a treat. That is a nice ergonomic touch. It also has a good choice with the colour palate of the walls, and the background to the menus. Service is pretty quick, and the standard kind. You walk up to the counter, place the order and then wait for it to come out. It could not be more simple. For what they offer here, it is a haven for anyone on a vegan diet or wanting to try what vegan food tastes like. Well, starting off the main offering is obviously acai bowls, then there is what they call "whipping fruit" which from a look at the photos is like frozen yoghurt mixed with fresh fruit. For something to drink, there is a range of fruit smoothies and freshly squeezed juices, along with the usual range of coffee and tea. Freshly baked sweets are in the cabinet, all sorts of slices and cakes on show. Well, I was here to get a coffee for afterwards so that is immediately what I went in for. At the same time, seizing the opportunity to get another review under my belt something on the side was also on the agenda. Just what was the question, and with my friend in tow I asked what would be good for her. It ended up being one of the many peanut butter slices they have, and that is as close as it gets to perfection for me with candy - got to love the peanut butter desserts regardless of where we are talking about. And this was actually pretty good. The coffee that they use here is from Elixir, and from what I can recall the general idea that I have about them is that they are usually pretty reliable and most baristas are able to make a decent coffee from them. Also, the strength is generally about a mid-level with a normal single shot so a double one is good if you like the strength and jolt of energy, but not particularly necessary. The coffee was well extracted, and served at a reasonable drinking temperature - it was not too hot to burn the tongue, and still managed to be warming on a fairly mild night. It had a slightly nutty note to it, and the texture of it was smooth and velvety - this was without getting any milk put into it. And with regards to the peanut butter slice - c'mon! It is peanut butter. When it comes to that, there is no way I cannot find a way to describe why it is good if convincing is needed. The solid texture and rich flavour are enough to indicate whether it is for you or not. Adding onto the delicious peanut butter, the crumbly biscuit base also added to it, and I think they might have also put in some chocolate as well. All this made for one tasty treat at the end of the night. In all honesty, I will admit something first. This is generally not the kind of place that I would go to frequently, and not because of any indictment against it. It is just not really my cup of tea, the whole "health food" bar thing - and I like to think of myself as being a relatively healthy eater, so it is both to do and not to do with that (where I do like a sweet from time to time, but these places really aren't all that healthy). My main problem is they are usually a little out of my range, and while I did like the sweet I had, I generally prefer something else. More or less, it being a vegan place has me feel a bit out of my element - though I don't actively hate it or anything, especially not for that reason. Still, I see attempt to see it from any angle possible and that a place like Insane Acai Bar definitely has its place. If anywhere in town was going to be ground zero for success here, West End would be the first to come to mind with anything else being way distant from it. So on that note, I will give credit to the business for knowing their audience and where to get a high catchment of clients within the said audience - points have to be given on an objective basis as well. As well as that, the serving sizes are not too bad and the aesthetic of the shop is cute and bright which does give it an appealing look with a colour palate that is both soft and bright. Plus, they manage to still please all they can - and offering the coffee was enough for me alongside the sweet. So no complaints here, as I was satisfied for the night and will recommend this place if it is your sort of thing - it just isn't mine.

TL;DR: A raw vegan bar which offers acai bowls, smoothies and various other treats. It is basically a dessert bar with a twist, and them alone are pretty hard to find around these parts as is. Everything is done fresh, made with fresh fruit et al and is decent enough from an objective angle. Outside of the niche market, it does several things right and should do well in these quarters. Right in the middle of the busy stretch of Boundary Street in West End, Insane Acai Bar finds itself both with its work cut out for it while also having a niche mark towards a bit of advantage - that is, another place in a row with the coffee and cake option but there is a twist. What we have is both vegan and raw, a specialised market that has to search wide for anything viable and all of it is right here. If it is your sort of thing, great! It works enough here; as for me, not really but I don't give opinions without sussing out first and it is not too bad. But not anything I... read more

My girlfriend and I came here the other morning after walking past this place so many times. It was great. We both had the insane acai bowl. I'll be back.

Delicious and huge range of Acai Bowls (such good value!) and a great range of vegan treats, the cupcakes were next level. The staff were lovely and so friendly to every customer that walked in, true family business. This place has a welcoming atmosphere to sit on a Sunday afternoon.