Salad Bars in the City
advertisment
More in FOOD
back-up- The Most Popular Botanist in Town
- Hedgie Goes to Hoxton
- The Investment in Joel Robuchon
- Some Like it Raw
- Resting Banking Girl Gets Merry in Mayfair
- Ms R Gets into the Kitchen
- The Hedgie's Canary Wharf Meal
- Annie's: Welcome to Kentish Town
- Sarastro: Getting Old With Drama
- The Boundary of Good Service
Related Content
- City Comfort for City Women (16/08/2007)
- City Boys with City Girls (25/05/2009)
- S.x and My City (12/11/2008)
- Anxiety in the City (10/01/2008)
- A Monk in the City (01/04/2008)
- Dressing for S.x and Our City (27/05/2008)
Since a slice of lemon in your G&T after work does not count as one portion of fruit and veggies, it's time to get the vitamins somewhere else. Here are the best grazing spots.
It seems that salad bars have been springing up like mushrooms recently, making a readily tossed salad a readily accessible alternative to the ubiquitous sandwich bars that offer a range that everybody has eaten their way through twice.
Whether it is in the City or, to a certain extent, in Canary Wharf, the following have been tried and tested, and in some cases, tried over and over again.
The Grand Dame of freshly tossed salads has to be Chop'd in Leadenhall Market (with another outlet in Canary Wharf). The selection is huge and the quality is reliable. Since the small store in Leadenhall used to be regularly overcrowded, they put up an outside counter with a smaller selection as a 'Fast Track'. But even this one is prone to queues, a sign of enduring reliability. There are a few tables for al fresco lunching which, despite the heaters, can be slightly nippy in the winter. After a long absence I returned to the Mexican Bean and was surprised by its kick. Maybe the menu had been, uh, spiced up.
A recent addition to the City, Vital Ingredient has joint the scene in a side alley off Mansion House. The sleek spacious interior facilitates the long queues and the salads deliver bang for your buck, as do the soups. The choice is made easier by a list of about 10 standard salads which can be combined with any 'base salad'. This lets you create options like 'Oriental on Qui-noa' which is apparently an Andean crop (thanks Wikipedia) and is very tasty. My personal favourite here as well is Mexican Bean; the one to avoid is 'Vital' which with tons of ham and cheese defeats its purpose of healthiness. A very good selection of fresh smoothies are also on offer.
Birley (in both City and Canary Wharf) offers salads as well as sandwiches. But quite frankly, their sandwiches are too good and too temptingly displayed, so it's hard to focus on the healthy options. So on this mission, we shall not lead ourselves into temptation by getting too close to their freshly carved beef then (although on every other occasion we will).
Smaller players include Nuvo on Cannon Street, which recently served as a stand-in for the overcrowded Vital. The salad selection wass fine (in particular the signature Nuvo), but the flatbreads were a letdown. But maybe that's what we get for trying to avoid the queue.
Whether it is in the City or, to a certain extent, in Canary Wharf, the following have been tried and tested, and in some cases, tried over and over again.
The Grand Dame of freshly tossed salads has to be Chop'd in Leadenhall Market (with another outlet in Canary Wharf). The selection is huge and the quality is reliable. Since the small store in Leadenhall used to be regularly overcrowded, they put up an outside counter with a smaller selection as a 'Fast Track'. But even this one is prone to queues, a sign of enduring reliability. There are a few tables for al fresco lunching which, despite the heaters, can be slightly nippy in the winter. After a long absence I returned to the Mexican Bean and was surprised by its kick. Maybe the menu had been, uh, spiced up.
A recent addition to the City, Vital Ingredient has joint the scene in a side alley off Mansion House. The sleek spacious interior facilitates the long queues and the salads deliver bang for your buck, as do the soups. The choice is made easier by a list of about 10 standard salads which can be combined with any 'base salad'. This lets you create options like 'Oriental on Qui-noa' which is apparently an Andean crop (thanks Wikipedia) and is very tasty. My personal favourite here as well is Mexican Bean; the one to avoid is 'Vital' which with tons of ham and cheese defeats its purpose of healthiness. A very good selection of fresh smoothies are also on offer.
Birley (in both City and Canary Wharf) offers salads as well as sandwiches. But quite frankly, their sandwiches are too good and too temptingly displayed, so it's hard to focus on the healthy options. So on this mission, we shall not lead ourselves into temptation by getting too close to their freshly carved beef then (although on every other occasion we will).
Smaller players include Nuvo on Cannon Street, which recently served as a stand-in for the overcrowded Vital. The salad selection wass fine (in particular the signature Nuvo), but the flatbreads were a letdown. But maybe that's what we get for trying to avoid the queue.
Here Is The Writer : Billy No Box
Billy No Box has worked in the city for six years, and currently works in Derivatives for a North American bank. He enjoys playing golf, reading books by Umberto Eco, singing "Copacabana" in the shower and at karaoke bars, and occasionally updating his blog about London and everything else.
view more articles by Billy No Box
