salad bars are everywhere in manhattan. every corner deli has the sneezeguard type salad bar which carries everything from fresh fruit to salad material to greasy chinese and fried bits. there’s also a ton of the ‘pot o salad’ type salad bars. here u grab a plastic bowl of greens (mixed or just lettuce or something fancy) and then tell the person behind the counter what you want in ur salad. you a flat rate for the bowl and x amt of toppings and then if you go over that number or want something special like meat then you pay extra.
i LOVE these salad things. at my last job i prob had salad 4 out of 5 days a week. here in melbourne i couldn’t find anything like this. no one had even heard of such a thing.
first i think it comes down to their definition of ‘salad’. they think of salad like the brits do. it’s this thing that you put on a sandwich and it consists of soggy lettuce and maybe some soggy tomatoes and always corn. instead of saying ‘i’d like a ham sandwich with lettuce and onion and mayo”, you’d say ‘i’ll have a ham sandwich with salad’ (and butter. the brits love their butter on sandwiches. they even tried to put it on peanut butter sandwiches).
if you’re eating out, you can get a ‘salad’ with your meal. and it’s generally a lot better than the lettuce tomato carrot crap variety you’ll get in the states. but it’s always seen as a side thing, not what you’d actually eat!
(kind of an aside here… a few months ago i waited on a couple from CT and she ordered a salad and he a bowl a soup plus their entrees or mains as they say here. i brought him his soup and noticed she kept looking at me so i went over. she wanted to know where her salad was and thats when i realised a cultural difference. here u don’t have salad as ur appetiser. it would always be served with dinner).
so anyway, there’s no where u can get a good salad from here. until just a few weeks ago. now i’ve found 1 place that does the whole ‘u pick ingredients’ thing. i checked them out today. they don’t have the greenery choices like u would at home. the greens looked very lettucey and kind of icky. and they didn’t have as many choices as at home (i noted a lack of stilton, walnuts, grapes, bacon bits and a very small selection of dressings).
but here’s the great thing… (and after bashing the brits, you’re the ones that will love this)… the place is named…. TOSSERS!! i swear to god. ill have to take a pix!