Rabbit food no more, salads are fast becoming fancier and funkier. Weight watchers and vegetarians aren’t the only ones heading to salad bars for lunch nowadays. Those preferring a light lunch so they won’t be caught by the post-lunch Z-monster are wise to eat their greens.

Often these salad joints also include sandwiches, soups, and sometimes pastas, on their menus. Some outlets have dine-in facilities, but these aren’t exactly your sit-and-chat places. In fact, most cater to the grab-and-go busy executive working nearby. We bring you the lowdown on where you can crunch into a decent bowl of salad.

Juiced Rawbars

#B1-08 Republic Plaza, 9 Raffles Place, 6535-3230.
Open Mon-Fri 8am-8pm; Sat 9am-2pm.
This is a true salad bar, where juices and salads are the main items on the menu. Juiced Rawbars pride themselves in providing only fresh premium seasonal produce, mostly from Australia (after all, this is a Sydney import). Opened at the start of this year, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Design your own salad for $7.50, which comes with a Rawbar leaf mix, any six base ingredients from the 32 available, such as cous cous, beet, mushroom and kidney bean, and top it off with any of the 13 dressings on offer, such as Rawbar vinaigrette or the honey and mint dressing. If you want something fancier with your greens, pay an extra $1 to $2 more depending on the ingredient.

The juices and smoothies (there’s soy and low fat milk too) take up half the menu. Apart from traditional smoothies, there are citrus smoothies, exotic smoothies (mostly berry-based) and tropical smoothies (expect pineapple juice in most). Of course, you can also design your own juice, but what sets this place apart is that you can boost your juice with ingredients like echinacea, ginseng and spirulina. As much as it is primarily a salad and juice place though, the daily-made soups and freshly-made wraps are definite must-tries. Stop for lunch or pick a salad to complement your dinner on your way home.

Tossz

#01-29, 3 China Square, Pickering St., 6536-6280.
Open Mon-Fri 8:30am-7:30pm; Sat 11am-2pm.
As the name implies, you pick the ingredients, they toss. Here’s how it works: Choose a base salad of either mesclun ($4), romaine ($3.50), or iceberg ($3.50) and then pick a minimum of four ingredients from 42 available ($0.50 and $2.50 for each topping), such as baked tofu, bacon bits and green apples. Decide from the 15 salad dressings you’d like and ta-dah, you’ve got a salad. For quality control, most of their dressings are home-made. The honey mustard dressing and the fat free Asian dressing are the two most popular. If making a decision is too much of a strain during your lunch break, then there are ready-made salads to pick from. Apart from traditional salads like Greek salad ($4) and garden salad ($5.20), there are also special Tossz creations, such as blackened steak salad ($7) and the Southwestern salad ($7).

Post Express Deli

The Fullerton Hotel, 1 Fullerton Square, 6877-8995.
Open daily 7am-8pm.
Tucked away in the corner of the Fullerton Hotel is this tiny nook brimming with delicious salads, sandwiches and pastries. This three-month old deli offers mouth-watering salads that are both exotic and unusual. Must-tries include the Chinese roast duck salad ($6), grilled vegetables and cous cous salad ($5) and the shellfish salad with Thai guava and apple lily ($7). Being part of Fullerton Hotel, expect five-star hotel quality, right down to the last detail. Everything is made with the best and freshest ingredients—which means each bite is full of flavor and truly delicious. Because there are no seats at this deli, it really is a grab-and-go joint. But rest assured, each meal comes with sufficient utensils and napkins packed neatly so you can enjoy the food at your office desk, or leisurely on a bench by the Singapore River nearby. Post Express Deli makes deliveries at a minimum of $200 per order. Place your orders in the morning if it’s just lunch you’re after.

The Moomba Tuckshop

#B1-01 Bank of China Building, 4 Battery Rd., 6536-5235.
Mon-Fri 8am-6pm; Sat 8am-2pm.
This is literally a hole in the wall, and what’s more, it’s in the basement. So you could easily walk past and not even notice it. Obscure as it is, the Moomba Tuckshop has been a popular lunch-time place for executives who work around the area. Offering a selection of gourmet sandwiches, salads and pastries, there’s not a lot of space to sit and eat there, so when it gets crowded, you’re better off crunching into your salad elsewhere. Better still, have your lunch delivered to your office (a min. $20 order is required). The Thai chicken salad ($6) is a specialty, though you can find six other ready-to-go standard issue salads like chicken and egg salad ($6) and Caesar salad with fresh romaine leaves ($6) too. Service is fast and efficient, perfect for those who don’t have much time for lunch.

Something To Go

The Regent Singapore, 1 Cuscaden Rd., 6720-8000.
Open daily 8am-9pm.
For those in the Orchard Road area, Something To Go at The Regent Singapore offers some interesting salads. Spinach salad with citrus, papaya seed dressing ($9) and lemon and parsley tuna salad with black pepper ($12) are two that stand out from the usual options. A new salad that has just been added to the menu is Mozzarella Alla Caprese ($10). Created by their new chef Joseph Oldham, this is a traditional south Italian dish. Cheese made from buffalo and cow’s milk is accompanied by fresh ripe tomatoes, sliced basil, cracked pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Low in fat and calories, it’s a must-try. Not exactly a sit-and-eat place, the best part of the deli is that there are parking lots right outside the deli for a quick drop-in and dash-out.