It can be difficult to find a real gem amidst the chain restaurants and coffee shops surrounding Oxford Circus, but the flagship branch of The Salad Project is one notable exception.
The concept here is simple: well-executed, chef-curated salads and bowls (essentially salads with rice or grains rather than kale or spinach as their base). Each salad and bowl has a standard base, topping, and dressing - kale and greens with pickled chillies, lime slaw, furikake, edamame and peas, topped with apple cider vinaigrette, for instance. From there, there’s an option of adding a premium topping - let’s say, sticky pork belly.
If this all sounds like a highly curated experience, that’s because it is. Former pizza delivery guy Florian de Chezelles and his business partner James Dare founded The Salad Project in 2021 with the aim of making eating well into a lifestyle, something they’ve accomplished through offering unapologetically healthy meals and efficient service, all in an all-pale green interior that just screams ‘wellness’.
Put simply, The Salad Project is a great choice for when you want to eat more healthily but also want someone else to put in the effort for you. While previous branches in Spitalfields and Bank (as well as a collection-only outfit in Mansion House) proved popular with office workers on a strict time schedule, the chain’s presence in London’s tourist nucleus finds de Chezelles and Dare seeking new audiences who might not be in such a rush, but who still crave a curated salad with ingredients they might not have thought to combine themselves.
The Salad Project also keeps things interesting via a range of collaborations with the buzziest names in the London and UK food circuits. A peek at the ‘Journal’ section of their website reveals, for example, a competition between MOB chefs to design the perfect Caesar salad for The Salad Project’s menu, and a limited edition plant-based menu designed by Deliciously Ella.