Dressed   ( Relocated:  )

So I decided to opt for a healthy lunch today and decided to try out Dressed since it's been a while. After my lunch, I remember why I don't eat there anymore. The seating is very limited in the restaurant so I had to take away my lunch. There were a lot of people, so I waited around 10 mins for my order.

I got the lunch special ~ salad, soup & drink for $48. I had the cobb salad, chili and lemonade:The salad was over dressed, the greens were practically swimming in the dressing and there was just too much cheese. The avocados were hard which means they weren't ripe but the best thing of the salad was that everything was chopped up into bite size and didn't have the whole leaf of lettuce or big chunks of chicken.

I ordered the chili, but as you can see from the pic above, that is NOT chili, it's a tomato based soup with beans. Very, very oily and it wasn't even hot. I know you must think because I took the food back to the office it must be lukewarm, but no, it was very tepid, almost cold. My office is a 3 minute walk from Dressed.

The best part of the whole meal was the lemonade, not too sweet and very tangy. Great drink.

All in all, I think they do better salads at Taste across the street. Bigger portions of the salad at least!!!!

Salad usually creates an illusion of healthy or non-fattening image, However people usually neglect the fact that salad dressings literally contain loads of hidden calories that you could not imagine. Not to mention the lovely cheese that served with your salad. So when it comes to salad, you have to be very careful at your choice.It is difficult not to spot Dress given its location. The store was eye catching with white and green colour. The decor was relatively simple but I do love the real sunflower on the table.

In Dress, you could order from a list of set salads or make your own bowl of salad. For customised salad, there are three steps involved. First - chose three toppings from a list of ingredients, Second - chose the kind of salad leaves that you like, Third - chose the salad dressings. The chose range was wide, so it took me quite a while to decide my delicious bowl.The original price of this 3 steps customisation was just $58, but somehow you have to pay extra for meats or some nicer ingredients. My bowl of salad contains sun dried tomatos, grilled chicken, sweet corn and red pepper with romaine leaves and balsamic vinegar dressing. And guess what, the price on the cashier balance suddenly jumped up to $72! Even though the portion was pretty huge, I was surprised by the shoot up in price. Could I eat less so to pay less?Anyhow, Dress's salad was quite nice. The ingredients that I have chosen were all very fresh. I particularly like the sundried tomatos, it was very tasteful but a bit too sour though.

The service varies from person to person. I was trying to ask questions to this foreign domestic lady at the salad bar about some ingredients. She glanced me for a bit and pointed to the cashier guy and said in a rude attitude, 'I don't know, ask him!' Like I am in her way of cutting the salad leaves. The cashier guy was very helpful and knowledgeable. I wonder if he is the store manager.

Overall it was quite a delight to dine in Dress given the huge portion and the wide range of choice in salad toppings and sauces. If taken all the factors as a whole, it wouldn't be that pricy after all. www.cinnamon4coffee.blogspot,com

Saw some interesting smoothies, so got the Minted Avocado smoothie.

The other interesting one I wanted to get too was the Raspberry cheesecake.

There are nine smoothies to choose from and they mostly contain vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup.

On the poster, the nine smoothies were:
Mango tango (Mango juice, Apple juice, apple, mango and syrup),
Minted avocado (Avocado, mint leaves, milk, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup),
Peanut butter and jelly (banana, strawberry, peanut butter, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup),
Gingered pear (pear, ginger, milk, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup),
Pretty peaches (peach, mango, milk, vanilla yoghurt and peach syrup),
Banana and berry (Banana, mixed berry, apple juice, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup),
Raspberry cheesecake (raspberry, cream cheese, milk, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup),
Fruits of the forest (blueberry, strawberry, milk, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup),
The classic (banana, strawberry, apple juice, vanilla yoghurt and simple syrup)

I don’t usually like mint, because it is fake mint syrup or artificial flavouring, but here it is fresh mint that tastes Ok, same as the minted pea soup at the Limehouse.
The smoothie had a cooling lime mint colour, and it was thick with fine icy particles in it.

Although it was quite a heavy smoothie, it was very healthy in the sense that it was at the right sweetness level, it was not syrupy sweet, and you could taste each of the elements, ie the avocado, the vanilla yoghurt and the sweetness lingering.
The mint couldn’t be tasted at all, which was fine because I didn’t like mint anyway, and overall, you could also taste the slight savouryness of the avocado.

I was really surprised by it, and went back for the Raspberry cream cheese.

Getting “Dressed” with a Raspbry cheze cake Smu Fi
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2156979

Had the panini and salad set for $48

I opted for the chicken-lime chili panini, wiht mozzarella cheese. I couldn't taste the lime or the chili, but the panini and the cheese were great.

Only problem was it was way too small; like it said it was half a panini, but it was half a small panini, so it was tiny. Smaller than the panini pictured in the window.

The soup was white tuscon bean and sausages. It looked good, but had a generic 'vegetable soup' taste, with lumps of sausages.

Overall, it's not bad, but I wouldn't eat here again, and I was still hungry after eating - bad sign!

Today, I like to venture away from my usual salad joint, Metropolitan Café, and see how the specialist does.

I opted for Steakhouse, one of its designed salads which seemed to work out better than order separately on the dollar basis.

The good thing first. Unlike soaking wet salad I typically had at The Met, the amount of dressing here was just right, enough to coat all ingredient but not overwhelm them. This makes the overall salad feel light and the taste of each ingredient was still there.

I think they could improve a bit on its vegetable. The romaine I had feel clean and nice, better than sorta limpy/not clean taste I had at the Met. However, I missed a more lively taste in the vegetable. Serve colder might help, I think. Also, other ingredients felt clean, unlike those at the Met which, sometimes, I can sense it’s about time they throw them away.

The grilled steak was quite lean and its taste reminded me of steak sandwich I had at Subway which is not a good thing, IMHO. More or less remind me of a protein thing than some flavorful/worthwhile addition to the meal.

There was not much to talk about its “fresh” grilled flatbread. It neither adds any dimension to the dish nor deducts anything out of it. Skip it, you missed nothing. Had it, you wonder why it’s there. I think it’s just there to make it unique, ie a good selling/marketing point.

The soup can be improved. The seafood chowder was quite creamy but lacked the body. Could be great if they thicken it a bit more with potato or cracker. Also, there was no sea taste at all in the soup. Luckily, some corns were there to ‘bright it up’ a bit. Not recommend for this one.

The soup and salad set me back $93, quite pricey for this kind of establishment which are almost all white and look rather lifeless/sterile I want to leave as soon as possible. The Met is much better in this aspect. The waiter/salad assembler was quite nice though he forgot I ask for no tomato in my salad.

Will I be back? You bet. I cannot say this place wow me on any dimension but I felt like I like to give it another chance. But for the money, I think sticking to the Met wasn’t too bad even though it isn’t much cheaper. It’s like I know them better, both goods and bads, so I could live with it and overlook its flaws.

I went there yesterday and I am impressed with this restarurant. The staffs there are very friendly, and the ingredients are fresh, and I love their dressing. I ordered a salad with baby spanish, egg, avocado, white chedder and corn, and I had chosen the "Texus Ranch" dressing, the taste is strong and the texture is creamy, which I really like, and also the taste is really special, coz is a bit spicy. The restaurant is not fancy, but is really clean and tidy, coz this is my first time coming to this place, so they let me tried out the soup and different kinds of dressing before decide what to order. I really recommand this restaurant.
late but not least, they are doing a promotion, using HSBC card then you will receive a 15% off ^^

This wasn't meant to be my lunch place of the day, but because of the rain, and here I was. Maybe that's fate.

The "Celebrity Chefs' Design-a Salad" promotion was on, featuring the creations from the chefs from 3 celeb restaurants in town. For today, it was chef Harlan G, formerly from Harlan's, now with Tuscany by H. His salad was "Slow-cooked Salmon Salad" ($88).

The lunch crowds were yet to arrive, so I took the time to survey the salad bar. The place is much smaller yet more cosy than the ifc branch, and still boasts the signature green and orange decor. I thought it would be pretty crowded, but as many patrons opted to take away their salads, it was hardly full even at the peak of lunch time. (Well, the price tag plays a big part here too.)

Made to order, my salad came in no time. It was "slow-cooked salmon with Greek salad and honey dill yoghurt dressing", complete with the Dressed staple wholemeal flatbreads. Don't be fooled by the lawn of greens; it was actually very filling, because this was an enhanced version of the Greek salad - generously inside were olives, feta cheese, onions, diced peppers and avocados, all very nutritious stuff. The greens were crisp and served as a nice background for the slightly tangy dressing.

The piece of slow-cooked salmon was pink and tender. Don't expect the smoky aroma you find in your ordinary smoked salmon, it was relatively bland (thanks to the other strong-flavoured ingredients in the salad) but it balanced out the whole thing.

So where's the dill? The sprig on top of the salmon served more of an aesthetic purpose.

I would strongly recommend whoever coming to Dressed to have those flatbreads, not only for the carbohydrates (hopefully they'll feed the guys), but more for the "wheaty" wholesomeness to wrap up your meal.

Dressed may not be a place for cheap eats, but I think it's a better deal than Fatburger next door for you to get the same calories (yes, don't think salads are skinny rabbit food, some can have more calories than a burger !). What's more, you can get a taste of classy restaurant food at a fraction of the price. I'm looking forward to more of these collaborations!

huffy:

I have been wanting to try this salad place for a long time, today, I am hungry, my first try.
I went to IFC at 8:15pm, a male server served me.
I wanted to take the salad home, so I reminded him that the sauce has to be put on the side, separately. He said okay and repeated after me “sauce on the side”. I paid 70 dollars, expecting something fresh from the garden.

When I got home, all excited, you know what I found? Sauce in the BOX, the whole thing is ruined, and it looks like… you imagine what it looks like. Even McDonalds can custom made a Fish Filet without sauce in it for the price $14.60, I am expecting sauce on the side for a box of 70 dollars veggie would not be hard. There were no one buying salad, if he only care a little more the way he should have, I would have a fresh bowl of salad.

went to this place for salad with my bf that day. WE ordered one with salmon and the other one with chicken. the portion is so big. The vegie are fresh, but not cheap!! above $100 if with drinks..........only good for those real vegie lovers!!

是日晚餐, order 如下:

The Club - a mix of greens, ham, turkey, egg, tomato, swiss cheese, cucumber with russian dressing. overall it tastes just so-so, nth is outstanding from the bulk, tomatos and cucumbers are so small pieces that you hardly see. russian dressing is plain too, you cant tell what taste it's like exactly.
Own Choice of Salad - we had the iceberg + oranges + grilled asparagus + white cheddar + daikon with asian sauce. we love the asian sauce! it's a bit sour like the japanese salad, then together with oranges it's so freshing! a bit disappointed with the grilled asparagus tho, it's chopped into very small pieces, you cant taste it in a big bite. why cant they just make it a larger piece? it's a bit weird to have Daikon in salad but it's just a right match with our asian sauce! make the whole thing like a japanese salad! lucky!

overall,
"own salad" is nice that you can just tailor-made whatever you feel like.
although it's around $50 for just a bulk of vege, its big portion makes it worth.
staff is nice to offer help.
clean place.
too few seats there.
many choices among the choose-your-own-list have to add extra money. common toppings like tuna / ham needs a surcharge.
yeah i'll come again maybe in 2 wks time or more frequently. it's really nice choice for girls' dinner.