Salads are tricky stuff, and honestly, it's not for everybody. Most of us do not want to have a salad as a meal unless you consider it a last resort, a side dish or maybe your savior after weeks of carbs.
There are a few restaurants in Colombo that offer good salads, but it's always the same ones, like the Caesar Salad, Greek, or Mediterranean. More often than not, some of them cannot be considered healthy because of the dressings. I for one do not want to spend 500 bucks on a salad.
Therefore, Saladgram is a wonderful exception! Their food is fresh, delicious, very healthy.
How to Order
It's a home-based business, so you can either pick up your order at No. 31/B, Dakshinarama Road, Mount Lavinia or have it delivered to your doorstep.
You can place your orders via their website or call at 076 670 0035. The site is smooth, user-friendly and informative. I recommend using the site because it's very easy.
The Food
They have a range of salads like chicken, egg, tuna, beef etc. The prices differ but almost all of them are below Rs. 500. You can select your choice of carb, dressing, and base, and you can opt for either small size or regular.
I first tried the Bean Sprouts Mango & Corn Salad (Rs. 220) with no base, egg as the protein and an olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lime dressing. It was amazing! There were so many veggies that you normally don't find in salads like radish, lotus stems, bean sprouts and the usual like carrots, mango, corn, croutons, red oak, and green oak lettuce. Everything combined together resulted in a very chewy, deliciously healthy meal. The mango added the sweetness which balanced out the flavors and the egg compensated the lack of a carb base. They even had tiny bits of cheese.
Next up, I tried the Mamma Mia (Rs. 350) which was a chicken salad. I selected rice as the base and a hot & spicy dressing. There was a sufficient amount of thinly sliced chicken with at least 1/2 cup of white rice along with lots of carrots, tomatoes, croutons, and a little bit of cheese. The veggies were fresh, the chicken was well cooked with very little flavoring and that hot and spicy sauce, mamma mia indeed! All of their dressings were homemade and this was probably my favorite. It spiced up the entire dish and added so much flavor, making for a great combo.
If there's one thing they could improve on, is to opt for red rice instead of white, which would then make the dish diabetic-friendly as well.
The Humpty Dumpty Salad (Rs. 330) was an egg salad for which I selected a pasta base with a mustard dressing. Tastewise, it was perfect, and there was nothing to complain. While the pasta was cooked perfectly, it did not overpower the salad in terms of its quantity. The addition of bell peppers incorporated that extra heat to it, but the mustard dressing had a tinge of sweetness to balance it out. The dressing itself was delicious enough that I tried a few licks on itself.
Last but definitely not least, was the Roasted Pumpkin & Beetroot Salad (Rs. 200) with no base and a mustard dressing. It's a great dinner choice, with the roasted pumpkin giving out its sweet flavor and the beets, lotus stems, spinach, and tomatoes supporting each other. The mustard dressing was the same as before.
Service
I was impressed with their service from the very beginning. They only deliver lunch and dinner, but they were more than happy to deliver my order in the morning as it was a close distance location. They're very thorough with their process, calling to confirm our order, especially if you're a new customer. I asked them to deliver it at 10 am and the rider was at my doorstep, sharp at 10. I'm not exaggerating.
Conclusion
If you're skeptical about salads or if you want to start your health journey, or if you're simply craving something clean, check them out! They will not disappoint.
