Salad Shack@Damansara Uptown (CLOSED)

There's a new salad joint in Damansara Uptown. Yay! It's called Salad Shack. Last year (in November) I caught a glimpse of their green signboard and couldn't wait for them to open shop. 

They are finally open.

I was greeted by this banner outside and this one inside.

No GST, no service charge. Nice. It's a very small place. Very cosy and neat.

This is the salad counter.....

.....with all the fresh greens and ingredients.

And not forgetting the sprinkles.

What they have are their Signature Salads, Create Your Own Salad and Signature Salad Shakers.

What on earth are Salad Shakers? Well, these are salads which are packed in a tall plastic cup (for takeaway/snack) where you pour in the dressing, cover the top and shake away! 

I find that it is too pricey and the volume of the contents would not feed a big eater like me.

There are 6 Signature Salads to choose from and apparently, you can choose to substitute the dressing. Say you choose the Smoked Duck Salad but you don't like Balsamic vinaigrette. You can choose another dressing of your choice, no issues. You can also change/add on ingredients if you wish. No hard and fast rules. I like that.

This is the beverage counter for bottled juices and mineral water. And the best part is, you can have free water from the water dispenser. And mind you, they don't use plastic cups. Those are glass tumblers. Nice.

So which Signature Salad did I choose? I wanted to try them all but obviously I'll have to do that one at a time hah..hah... I settled for the Spicy Thai Salad, large please. I had to add a protein, or else I will go hungry one hour later.

This was how it looked like.

Spicy Thai Salad

Yes, I'm thinking the same thing as you. It's all green.Where are the carrots? Tastewise, it was good due to the dressing. No, it's not spicy but had all the elements of sweet, sour and salty. I loved it.

Here's a closer look. You can see romaine, chicken, edamame and onions (buried underneath the greens). I feel that this salad needs more colors to jazz it up a bit, don't you think? After all, we also eat with our eyes and a colorful plate of salad looks more appetizing than one that is just largely green. I think the presentation can be improved.

On another visit, I tried the Smoked Duck Salad. It does not look very different from the Spicy Thai Salad except for the slices of smoked duck, walnuts and scant serving of shredded carrots.

Smoked Duck Salad

This was also very good. I liked the Balsamic Vinaigrette which was on the sweet side. Perhaps a bit too sweet for me but it paired well with the salty smoked duck. I like the walnuts and dried cranberries which gave the salad a pleasant crunch and tang. Lovely!

You know, this salad would look much better if the greens are tossed with dressing first and then set on the plate.

After that the cranberries, walnuts, carrots (more please) and cherry tomatoes go on top. A generous drizzling of dressing could then be applied over the ingredients and that would make the presentation better. Just my two cents worth lah.

This large serving cost me RM19.90 and sure, it's not cheap. You look at the plate of greens and then factor in price of ingredients, rental, salaries, utilities, renovation, set up costs, marketing etc it's clear to see that you don't expect to pay peanuts for that.

Interesting decor on the wall.

On another occasion, I had the Lime Peanut Salad with addition of smoked duck. I can't get enough of smoked duck and it sure beats chicken breasts I tell you. 

Peanut Lime Salad with addition of Smoked Duck

It doesn't look any different from the Smoked Duck Salad but let me show you the slight difference.

This one has baby spinach (I love this!), quinoa and crushed peanuts in addition to walnuts and cranberries. I've got to tell you that the Lime Peanut Dressing was da bomb! This is my favorite dressing so far. It's really good, you've got to taste it.

Overall, I would say that in terms of freshness of ingredients and power packed dressings, Salad Shack has got it made. This is my go to place now for satisfying and delicious salads. I wish I could afford to eat there everyday.

I was at this other place the other day and this was what I had.

OK, I won't say where this is. The greens were past their prime and though they were generous with the chicken, it did not taste good. And the two pieces of toasted bread? They were stale. The dressing was diluted and it did not taste fresh to me. So, now you know where I will swing to for my salad fix.

If you are in the vicinity of Damansara Uptown and in need of fresh healthy salads, you must eat at Salad Shack.