Fresh – Halloumi Salad

Another day, another salad and further evidence that I am a wuss. If nothing else #LastMonthWorkingInSoho is going to get me out of my comfort zone and reading unfamiliar menus within high pressure “give me your order now” work lunch rush hour!

For this lunch I went to Fresh on Lexington Street – another place I’ve been meaning to go but never managed it. I had attempted to visit earlier in the week but backed away after opening the door onto a queue of waiting customers inside – it’s definitely a popular spot.

My lunch was simple but tasty – a halloumi salad with a mix of the 6 different mixed salads made fresh that day and a selection of pickles, tahini & yoghurt poured on top. The five salads I had were: lettuce, carrot & spice, green bean, potato & cabbage. These were served a little dolmades, chilli, tahini, dill pickles and tomato paste.

Fresh – Halloumi Salad

I only had 5 of the mixed salads as the sixth one was a tabouleh (admittedly lovely and fresh looking) and I absolutely despise parsley. The guy serving me tried his hardest to convince me that this was lovely Turkish parsley and not the horrid European kind, but I had to break the news that any parsley or coriander would simply spoil the meal for me. He took it in good grace but advised I would never make a good Turkish wish if I wouldn’t eat or cook with parsley. In some circumstances that might seem very sexist, but this guy was friendly and humorous so it just came across as lovely banter with his customer.

The only disappointment was that they didn’t have the gorgeous couscous salad I’d seen a colleague eating the previous day (and the reason I’d headed to Fresh) – this is the downside of somewhere with fresh salads made daily, however the obvious upside is that they make fresh salads daily and keep the offering interesting so that you can go back without continually repeating your lunch choice.

Everything was lovely and very filling. Whilst being served I had also been talked into getting a juice – I wasn’t going to as the list of juices/smoothies was huge, but it was the friendly customer service that completed the up-sell to me as I was encouraged to take my time perusing the menu whilst my salad was put together. I went for the Appinger which was a mix of freshly juiced apple, pear and ginger – I’m glad I did as it was absolutely perfect for someone with the beginnings of a cold and delicious (I drank it before I remembered to take a picture)!

Overall impressions – wonderful customer service, zero hard sell and tasty food.

• Price – £5.50 for the salad & £3.50 for the juice
• Service & atmosphere – 10/10
• Taste – 9/10
• Likelihood to return when back in Soho – Definitely