Wow, Nami is truly hallucinogenic. If you want a bakery, ice cream shop, or coffee shop or you’re greedy like us and want all three, Nami is your place. As the name implies, they have the nomms. If you happen to be in Phoenix, this needs to be your first stop upon arrival. It’s seven minutes from the airport, so you have absolutely NO EXCUSE. We are admittedly sweet treat snobs, as you may have gleaned from our previous reviews. Our dessert obsession is what initially drew us into Nami’s universe. Also about 75% of the ingredients that they use at Nami are organic and we love a good duality dynamic of carnival food with high quality ingredients. Bonus sustainability points to Nami for their usage of biodegradable cups, boxes and flatware. They also have plenty of Gluten-free options, if you’re avoiding the almighty wheat!
The 3-in-1 shop is primarily known for its soft-serve, which is notoriously difficult to get your hands on if you’re trying to avoid traditional dairy. Nami has a creative selection of soft serve options with delicious and indulgent toppings. They call these appetizing ice cream treats “tSoynamis,” which contain organic unrefined cane sugar, organic soy and coconut milk. There are ~19 signature tSoynamis, and you have an option of vanilla, chocolate, or the swirl as the base. We tried Life’s A Peach, and the seasonal special Cinnamon Roll tSoynamis. They were both mind-blowing. The texture of the soft serve was flawless, it was soy-based, smooth and mouth-watering at the same time. The toppings took the ice cream over the edge in the best possible way. Life’s A Peach was deconstructed peach cobbler with house granola and caramel. It also appeared to have some type of seed topping — perhaps pumpkin seeds. The Cinnamon Roll was essentially a deconstructed cinnamon roll immersed in vanilla soft serve. Can you possibly think of a wilder way to eat a cinnamon roll?
A view from the top
Okay, now let’s skip to the baked goods treats which were both an emotionally and physically beautiful experience. There were many options for baked goods that we saw online, but upon arrival it looked like it was either the Day after Tomorrow or, to be less bombastic, the aftermath of a Walmart Black Friday sale. By the grace of God/Universe/Source, we were able to get our hands on an oatmeal cream pie, and two donuts — Cinnamon Sugar and Chocolate Coconut. First, lesson learned. Next time we will plan to come exactly when they open at 7 am sharp! Second, to have tasted these out-of-this-world desserts is truly one of life’s greatest blessings. Both donuts melted in the mouth, in distinct yet similar ways. The cinnamon sugar donut was more of a cake donut feel, but it was actually moist and extremely light unlike most dense and dry cake donuts.
It gave me coffee cake vibes, without the basicness. It was heavenly. The chocolate coconut was amazing. The coconut shavings really elevated the chocolate glaze. The chocolate itself had a soft silky velvety texture, it was semi-sweet, and was of incredible quality (it wasn't waxy or grainy, not at all artificial tasting, and had no bitter off-notes). The base was light, airy and super fresh.
The oatmeal cream pie was like a vegan Little Debbie’s but prepared by a Michelin star chef without the suspect ingredients, fillers and weird additives.
IYKYK, this was a childhood staple back in the pre-vegan days
Whatever creative force-driven superhuman who had the idea to recreate this deserves an award of the highest honor!
The housemade oatmeal cookies sandwiched within the vanilla frosting were rich, high quality and brought back the strongest sense of childhood nostalgia. The oatmeal cookie was CLASSIC, it had the right amount of everything — sweetness, oats, vanilla, crunch, you name it. The experience was a whirlwind. Eating an oatmeal cream pie is really one of the most special ways you can derive joy from the simplistic things in life.
Nami offers a massive selection of breakfast foods, from biscuits & gravy to sausage & egg melts, to acai bowls. Feeling quite ravenous, we ordered the Big Ole’ Burrito, which contained organic tofu scramble, bacon seasoned seitan steak, melty “cheddar cheese” & homestyle potatoes in a toasty flour tortilla with a side of the house salsa “namibertos.” *Insert Julie Andrews voice here* My favorite things were all essentially in one burrito. Let’s just say, when I finished the burrito, I was high on life. It was delicious. It was gratifying and satiating beyond measure. It was everything I ever wanted. Taco Bell could never.
Nami has it all, from sweet to savory options. You really cant lose!
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