FRESH ON EGLINTON

Back in university, I ate at Fresh on Spadina quite often and it was a nice change of pace from the pizza and many sushi places in the neighbourhood. When I saw the signs for a new Fresh location at Yonge and Eglinton I was eager to add them to my lunch time repertoire. My first attempt to stop by was a false start. The dining area wasn’t open yet and only take out orders were being taken. I was tempted by the pre-made salad and sandwich selection, which is a nice addition to the neighbourhood after Sandwich Box closed down. After monitoring their twitter feed, I tried again in December after seeing that the sit down space was ready to go.

The food is fresh and although all the ingredients are vegetarian most dishes are quite filling and can be heavy on calories. Some of my favourites from the menu are the buddha bowl and the mushroom onion burger. On this visit, I ordered the Tangled Thai salad with a soup of the day, a bowl of spicy tomato puree with white beans. All of the salad ingredients had different textures of crunchy and crispy, which added layers to each bite. The shredded carrots, beets and jicama really made the salad more interesting to eat for me versus the usual leafy greens. The salad was dressed lightly and topped with crushed peanuts. When the soup arrived, I was surprised at how thick and loaded with beans it was. It’s a heavier soup and filling.

As we were eating, I couldn’t help notice plates of Quinoa Onion rings passing by. We quickly flagged down our server to add a plate to our order and I am so glad we did. The onion right were amazing, not greasy and oh so crispy. I can see why they’re so popular and am joining the fan club.