If you’re travelling to any big city this month or next, you’ll notice avocado toast is a thing and it’s everywhere! Who knew that the fruit we grew up with would become an Instagram and social media darling as well as a go-to food item on practically every brunch/breakfast menu in every major city. But it does not come cheap.

When I grumbled about the price of my avocado toast being $15.00 at a New York City restaurant, my friend was wickedly clever.

“It’s like a Kardashian,” he said, “change the way you look, go from being ok to va-va-voom, and you can call any price!”

Sure the dish may be nothing more than an open toast made with mashed avocado and salt, pepper, and citrus juice but when you add heaps of grain, drizzle on some curried olive oil with a dash of pink sea salt and then pile on loads of pickled carrot slaw on freshly baked bread, the humdrum fruit becomes a culinary wonder. 

Other ingredients which elevate this basic meal include poached eggs, salmon, strawberries, garlic, tomatoes, capers, onions and feta. Nom. Nom.

It also does not hurt that avocado toast offers more than what other meals do; it feeds both the eye and the stomach and is the easiest way to get your daily dose of the beauty and health-boosting superfoods.

With our changing tastebuds, menus are also shifting toward lighter options but lighter does not mean cheaper, especially when you’re a tourist. In this case, you can do two things:

Take 10 minutes and prepare your own avocado toast at home before you leave for your day (not a bad option at all).

Sit down in any restaurant in any city and become a devotee.

Yes. Avocado is an extremely healthy fruit. It contains monosaturated fat, which can help reduce bad cholesterol levels and also lower the risk of heart disease.

Yes. A two-tablespoon serving of avocado has about 2 grams of fibre and an entire fruit contains around 10 grams. When you have avocado it gives you an illusion of feeling full and it allows you to stay full longer.

Yes and no. Let’s get the calculations straight; an avocado contains 322 calories and 29 grams of fat while two slices of avocado toasts equal 1778 calories, that’s a whopping addition on the scale. You can love the taste but just know that while avocado toast is not exactly good or bad for weight loss, the secret to any weight loss program is moderation. Have your avocado toasts moderately because this meal is not designed to magically and miraculously melt your fat away.

It is still extremely popular but sweet potato toast is the current obsession among all the Instagram stars. Yes I know, look at what we’ve come to!