Friday, September 30, 2011

Something Healthy Wholesome Meals & Juice Bar

That is some name! No beating around the bush with what you are going to get here. Something Healthy Wholesome Meals & Juice Bar was a surprise to me. I ride my bike past it almost everyday, yet I didn't realize it was there until I stumbled across a description of the restaurant on another website. I was quite excited to try it as I am always on the lookout for good, affordable and healthy lunch options. It can't always be ramen...

Something Healthy is located down the street from International Village Mall in one of the new condo buildings. I am assuming they are fairly new as their website is nothing but a place holder, which I find strange in this day and age. There are a few pizza joints on this block and the Skytrain exit is right across the street so I imagine they must get some street walk ins.

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The inside is modern and clean lines. There are some window bar seats, a bench in the middle where you can wait for your food with a nice selection of health type magazines to read while you wait. On the side is some booth seating for maybe 12.

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Happily the bathrooms are clean and very spa like. I really like the detail on the floor.

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I was quite impressed with the selection they have in the ready made cooler at the front. To go packs of fresh hummus and crackers or veggies, pre-made paninis you can take away or have heated to eat there and some really fresh looking salads. They offer a menu of "burwiches" (explained to me as a yummy mix of a burger and a sandwich), pita pizzas and quesadillas. They have quite an extensive smoothie and juice menu as well.

One of the highlights of the menu, for me as a card carrying JC member, is the calorie count. I love, love, love that all of the menu items are under 500 calories. All burwiches are "served on sprouted flax or whole wheat bread, with a side of celery & carrot stick."

My first visit was for a Lean Beef Burwich $7.75= 425 Calories. "beef patty is made with parsley, bell peppers, onions and spices, topped with romaine lettuce, red onions, honey roasted red pepper ketchup, mustard & skim cheese"

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And a bonus dill pickle. I was really impressed with the sandwich. The patty was extremely flavourful and still really moist. Anyone who has cooked lean beef burgers knows how easily they can dry out. It was packed full of colourful and fresh veggies as well.

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This sandwich was a winner in my book. It was low calorie and it tasted good. I wouldn't complain if they added more veggies to the side, but I certainly did not leave hungry.

I went back for a second visit later that week to try one of the pizzas. Something Healthy is down the road from my favorite new pizza joint so I thought it would be interesting to see what the low calorie option would be like.

The pizzas are "whole wheat thin crust. Made with skim cheese= 350 calories" I chose the Hot & Spicy $6.25 "banana & bell peppers, turkey pepperoni & sun dried tomatoes".

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Looked and smelled great! They cook it in a pan so that it has a curve and lip on it so that the slices can hold the ingredients. Cool. I also enjoyed the pizza. It was quite spicy, there was some sauce on it that had some heat to it (although I am a lightweight when it comes to spicy). It was also packed with veggies. Again, this was a really fresh, tasty and surprisingly low cal meal.

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I was so pleased by myself for eating two low cal lunches in one week that I decided to get a raspberry bar!

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There was no calorie count on the desserts, but this bar was really good. The top was really crumbly and there was a generous amount of filling.

There was a mix of women and men coming in to get lunch on the days that I was there. There was a strong leaning towards yoga pants and small dogs, not surprisingly.

I did have one problem on my second visit that had (mostly) nothing to so. The woman in the kitchen was wearing short shorts. Cut off jean short shorts that were, apparently, not short enough as she had them folded up to make them shorter. Sorry for going all Stacey and Clinton here, but short shorts are never acceptable work clothes, especially when making my food. It was really off-putting.

Poor clothing choices aside, I really liked the meals. I am sad that my office is moving in a couple of weeks and that is going to put them out of my lunch time range. They are so close to my current office that I wish I had know, or that they were around, about them some time ago.

Something Healthy Wholesome Meals & Juice Bar on Urbanspoon

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