Grill Market, Holborn

Holborn is not the first neighborhood that comes to mind when you think of delicious and nutritious salads, yet there are some hidden gems in London’s midtown wannabe. One of them is Grill Market.

Mostly targeting the buzzing lunch crew, Grill Market came up with a simple concept of combining a few salads into a lunch box (or one if you don’t suffer from FOMO like me). Ranging from £4 to £6, these are really diverse and filling.

But of course, London wouldn’t be London if there weren’t any protein options on the menu; those hungry beach-bodies-in-training need to feed the starving muscles!

Now this is where it gets interesting! 7 options in total, with 2 to please the veggie crowd. I have to say I was tempted with the duck but decided to be boring and opted for the chicken pomegranate…which was, btw, anything BUT boring!

Erm…yes. This is my kind of salad – a bit of greens, but the rest is REAL food – a combination of kale and quinoa salad, with pomegranate marinated chicken thigh.

Grill Market is a great place if you are around Holborn and in need of a quick lunch that’s not going to leave you starving an hour later. They also have another outlet in Chelsea, I’ll have to check it out soon 🙂

Grill Market

http://www.grillmarket.co.uk/

Holborn –
10 Theobalds Road
London WC1x 8PN

Overall Grill Market rating:

Yummy in my tummy: 4/5

Beach body friendly: 4/5

£ Once a day or week £: Once a day

 

Pho, Clerkenwell

To say I have a mild obession with Pho’s shredded chicken salad would be an understatement. I discovered Pho 2 years ago when they opened a branch near my old workplace in Covent Garden and it’s been my Vietnamese go-to ever since.

Pho have more than 10 branches in London – you can find their locations here. They specialize is amazing Pho (duh); for those who have been living under a rock or never encountered this thing called Google, Pho is a traditional Vietnamese soup made of broth, rice noodles, loads of fresh herbs and some type of protein; usually chicken or beef, but also prawns sometimes. Besides their signature dish, Pho also serves noodles, curry and of course – salads!

5 in total with prices ranging from £6.25 to £8.75 – but I’m loyal to one (is being loyal to a salad sad? Probably): Goi ga. It’s a shredded chicken salad with Asian herbs, peppers & chili ginger dressing. It doesn’t sound like much, but the mix of flavors and the freshness of the ingredients makes it outttta this world. My Pho partner in crime had the standard shredded chicken salad:

…but this time I added prawns to mine, per the suggestion of the kind waiter (Vietnamese surf’n’turf, totally a new thaaang):

Nom nom! Not my usual combo, but it was beyond delicious. Hard to believe this salad  is less then 300 calories- low in fat, high in protein and really, really filing. Just one thing: make sure you have some gum or mints on hand; it’s a bit heavy on the garlic and onions, so while it’s diet friendly, it’s definitely not date friendly✖️

Overall Pho rating:

Yummy in my tummy: 5/5

Beach body friendly: 5/5

£ Once a day or week £: Once a day