Of Pastas and Salads

After my so-so lunch at The Salad Bar last year, I decided to visit again after my partner passed their flyer to me. Apparently he was walking past the cafe when the lady boss and her staff were distributing the leaflets.

I noted that they have revamped the menu. And now they even have quarter servings for the salads. Nice!

My partner let me in on a little tip. If you want a main meal salad, opt for half size and not full size. Because the portion difference is minimal but the price difference is significant.

The counter. Place your orders and pay first before you are seated.

I was there one day for an early lunch. 

The salad counter with bottles of toppings all lined up.

Since it was early (around 11:30am), I had the whole place to myself. I decided to try a different salad. So I chose the Squares and Rounds. Interesting name, right? I ordered the quarter portion.

This salad is made up of buckwheat, millet, chickpeas, olives, tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce. It is tossed with a miso dressing.

Uiks! Two spoons!

I had the miso dressing before and I remembered it was very salty. But not this time. This salad is rather good. The miso dressing was mild and not as salty as before.

It is very different from salads that I am used to. I think I will order this again.

If you are wondering if PH will be satisfied with a quarter helping of salad, of course the answer is no. hah..hah.. I also ordered a Spicy Chicken Pasta.

It was as good as I remembered! This is Thai inspired and I could taste fish sauce. There's also basil for the added fragrance. But no cili padi :( It was very good.

So this was my lunch that day.

And then two days later, I was craving for pasta and salad again. So I made my way to The Salad Bar. This time for the Red and Tomato Pasta.

The Red salad is chicken sausage (I don't like this), red peppers, tomatoes, carrots and grapes tossed in a Russian dressing. It is sweet and tangy. Very nice except for the chicken sausage.

I think it would be nicer with roasted chicken. To me, this type of chicken sausage is in the same category as crabsticks.

Nope, they did not have Tomato Pasta that day. The kitchen announced that they ran out of pasta sauce after I had placed my order and paid. I had no choice but to opt for something else.

I chose the Zesty Aglio which is spaghetti cooked with chili flakes and chicken ham. It is slightly more expensive than the Tomato Pasta but the cashier decided not to make any adjustments to make up for their oversight.

The pasta was quite good though the spaghetti was kind of clumpy. But I am not complaining as it was very tasty.  Very garlicky. And fiery too. I like! And as I was enjoying my pasta, I noticed an uninvited lunch companion. This guy.

See Mr Fly? The fly was also present on my first visit but it was more active then and I couldn't get a proper shot.

It looked like it was on stage under the spotlight, ready to break into song.

Well, that was a good lunch! I am still hankering for the Tomato Pasta, so I will be back. On my way back to office, I had to struggle with this.

There's a beautification program going on in my area.

It makes the whole place look so ugly and creates traffic congestion. I suppose you have to get ugly first before you become beautiful. Just like those ladies who go for facials and have stuff pasted on their face.

Darn! How am I going to cross the road? Luckily I don't wear stiletto heels. Sure koyak.

But I was in a good mood. Carbs make me happy!

Want to know another food that makes me happy? Indian food! Maybe one day I'll drop by here with my brother.