Thamar N.
Yelp
Being the first legit salad bar in Amsterdam, SLA has attracted some serious attention. It seems lately like every food blog is mentioning this new hot spot.
So, I was rather surprised to see that yelp hadn't jumped the SLA hype wagon yet. To the rescue I come...
Apparently salad bars have been quite the rave in such cities as NY and London, but with the arrival of SLA you can just hop to the Ceintuurbaan and grab a salad to go or have a healthy lunch or dinner upstairs at the well-lit & contemporary indoors patio or the terrace outside.
Admittedly, while I do like my greens I often miss my proteins when eating a salad. SLA's salads are however surprisingly satisfying. How so?
Well, first you select your leafs. You can select from e.g. spinach, paksoi and rocket leaves (I went for chard) Some little gem leaves are added to that as a filler. Next, you pick your source of grains, seeds, legumes (couscous, bulgur, quinoa, lentils). Lima beans was it for me. This step is what makes the salads substantial, I reckon. Then you get to choose 3 vegetables. The roasted pumpkin , cauliflower and wild carrot made it to my bowl. Finally, you select what dressing you would like to go with your salad. Now, here is where I screwed up. After having discovered people don't like being photographed with big ass cameras, I felt kind of awkward. This threw me off a little, so I made a rushed decision picking the lemon, avocado & wasabi dressing. Not very smart. The garlic, mint & ras el hanout dressing or the ginger, rice vinegar & sesame oil dressing would've probably been a much better choice. Luckily, I ordered the salad to go and disaster was averted by just omitting the dressing and just adding some argan oil & lemon juice at home. In the end, I was quite chuffed with the end result!
The basic salad costs only €6, a fair deal I think. Carnivores can upgrade by adding chicken, bacon, a cooked egg or smoked salmon. Vegetarians can choose from meat substitutes (€2 extra for each). Nuts or cheese toppings are €1 each.
I only have one remark: some grilled tuna, roast beef or duck slices would be a nice addition to the premium menu.
They also have a fair selection of fresh juices, so health freaks can lunch here at their heart's content.
No cash by the way, only pin !