Loving Earth Cafe — Restaurant in Kerala

The cashier/server has no idea what she's doing. Ordering a single scoop of ice cream shouldn’t be so difficult, but here we are. First, I’m told the item costs Rs. 252, pricey but okay. Somehow, this magically becomes Rs. 400 "because of GST." The math doesn’t add up, but the cashier then realizes she’s given me the wrong bill. She handed me someone else's bill right after quoting me the price for my item. That in itself could be a funny mistake, if it weren’t for the string of errors that followed.

I paid with a 500 rupee note. She returned change along with the same 500 I had just given her, and I had to remind her that that was my payment to begin with. When she finally did give me the change, she got that wrong too. I was handed Rs. 240 instead of Rs. 248. I am not emotional about 8 rupees, but when you’re having a terrible experience, a rupee or minute more than required feels punishing. I didn’t bother asking about the missing change as that would have added another couple of minutes to whatever was going on.

And then, right after I paid, she asked whether I wanted the ice cream served in the café or packed for takeaway (extra charge). That would've been great to know BEFORE I paid. At that point, you're left wondering whether saying “takeaway” will now trigger a new round of billing.

It then takes another 10 minutes to actually get the ice cream. This isn’t a hot product, it’s just something that needs to be scooped and served. With only one or two other tables occupied, the delay made no sense.

And the vegan “vanilla” ice cream? Not even close. It tastes like stale coconut milk. Absolutely no trace of vanilla. If it had been sold as coconut ice cream, at least I would have known what to expect. If you’re into vegan desserts, I’m confident frozen coconut milk at home would taste better than this. Taste is subjective though, so feel free to burn money here if you're feeling adventurous.

However, to be fair, I only ordered one item and interacted with one staff member. Maybe the rest of the menu, the other servers, or the activities they offer are actually good. If you’ve got the time, patience, or curiosity, feel free to give it a shot. As for me, never again.

I understand this review may come off as bitter but such was my experience. In fact, I think I love the earth a little less now.

EDIT: (Response to Owner) You're right that honesty matters, so let’s clarify a few things:

We were a group of three, 1 guy, 2 girls, not “three guys.”

Sunday lunch may be busy, but one scoop of ice cream shouldn’t take 10+ minutes, especially with no real queue at the counter.

We stopped by for gelato, as advertised outside, after lunch at Canvas, where, the delicious focaccia romarin costs less than your single scoop. We took a few casual videos (outside and in the areas near the counter) to document the places we went to, not stage a photoshoot. If you check your footage, you'll see we mostly waited by the counter. So please, spare us the passive aggression and accusations. I'll gladly post all media from the implied "photoshoot" and delete it. And we weren't informed of any photography policies either unless there was a printed notice we missed.

We ordered one scoop because only two flavors (chocolate and vanilla) that weren't particularly exciting were available, and tasting was chargeable. So we picked one as a trial.

We didn’t mistreat anyone, we didn't press the staff to hurry, we waited patiently, watched the confusion unfold, and only asked for basic courtesy when the tone turned sharp. Some might say that's plenty of understanding.

I do appreciate you defending staff as one should, but please don’t mischaracterize us to deflect from a poor experience. I acknowledged in my original review that this was based on a limited interaction and that others may have a better time. That, I think, is fair.

I have reached the word limit of my review edit so I may not be able to respond to any further comments you have as there's no other facility for a reply.

Wishing you...

Will vegans save the earth?;Well, they're trying to change food habits and wean the world off from meat and milk.

For most people, even the suggestion of vegan food can be daunting. Like vegetarians entering a restaurant that specialises in meat dishes and wondering if they'll get anything at all.

Loving Earth is on a quiet road - Napier's, one of the older localities in Fort Kochi.

The internal layout is a bit haphazard with tables within distributed along a passage and some outdoor seating as well.

We first thought of having the Buddha bowl because it was marked as popular but then, decided to go with organic rice and shiitake mushrooms stir fry and a shredded cheeken stir fry.

And the drinks had exotic names like Flu Fighter and Anti Inflammatory - as if it was what doctors would prescribe.

But when the drinks arrived, they tasted great, with a tinge of turmeric in one and ginger dominating in the other. It went well with the dishes which we ordered.

The bowls looked similar but tasted quite different . The finely sliced capsicum, the organic rice, the shiitake mushrooms blended together in a way that felt light,satisfying with many flavours vying for attention.

And we topped it off with a lemon zest cake. Flaky and a bit dry but it all held together well.

Unlike an Indian meal that can be a riot of flavours, this is restrained. So one can understand the reluctance to begin with.

But give it a shot. Apparently , they have big crowds on weekends but it thins out on weekdays. The person at the billing counter told us that the owner was a lady from New Zealand who's far from home.and has been a vegan for over a decade.

If I ever get to meet her any time, I will ask her how she ended up in a completely different continent. Perhaps she found the right slice of life and flavours in this outpost. And decided...

Unfortunately I am gonna put 3 stars just cause of the food taste and even more for the price vs value that is absurd. The place is SO beautiful. The staff are SO friendly! The location is great but the food is... well 3 starts worth. Actually I would maybe have put 2 cause for 350 inr for a buddha bowl... it's really expensive for not well thought out bowls. I explain, I took the bowl with eggplant and mushrooms. It is a bed of spiralized zucchini that has no flavor at all then on top there is some kind of sauce that has a creamy texture not so bad with a garlicky taste but nothing that makes my mouth water. Then there are 2-3 pieces of sun dried tomato and on top of that the bowl comes with shitake. sounds amazing but the shitake is not cut and basically whole in the bowl as long as the eggplant. The eggplant tasted great! but there was so little you go through the good bites quickly! and also there is not really proper silverware knives so it's kinda a pain in the but to cut the shitake. All in all the dich lacks flavour, is not physically well put together and is missing ingredients. My friend has the all raw bowl and she could not finish it because it was too much raw.. the raw things are great but they are not really marinated or spices so it's not worth at all the price and there is no texture thought, the raw bowl was missing some quinoa or something to give it some crunch.. it's also not necessarily healthy to eat a meal that has no carbs at all so it's a bit or a bummer to pay almost 400 inr and not feel satiated and worst of all there be no flavor. Maybe it was just that day. Maybe it was just those meals but I would not go back to eat. However like I said the people there were great and we had nice chats with strangers too. All in all a good cafe but not a good restaurant...