Extra Avocado? Lettuce Eat! CRISP SALAD WORKS @ Azabujuban

I'm not much of a salad-as-a-meal type of gal. Salad as a side? Sure. But as the main show? Get out of my damn face.
Especially in Tokyo where their idea of a salad is shredded cabbage and some sort of dressing.
I went to this one restaurant that served shredded cabbage topped with ketchup and mayo. No joke. Here's the beaut in all its glory:

It was so subpar I didn't even try to make a dent on it to be polite. Management needs to know that this barely counts as a salad, if at all..



Anyway, so when Afnan and Yousef invited me to have a post-workout dinner with them at a salad place, I was a little reluctant because I was starving and I thought a measly salad wouldn't fill me up. But I go with them anyway because I had just been freed from hermit-midterm life and I missed hanging out with them :) ... and I told myself I'd grab an ice cream after dinner #healthisalifestyle

Crisp Salad Works has a Chipotle Frijoles (I guess I can't say Chipotle since I've never been) kind of vibe wherein you order your salad base in the beginning, then they ask you the specifics (extra topping, what dressing, etc) as you go along the assembly line, then you pay at the end at the cashier. Then from there, everything is self-service.

This was my salad base! You have the choice to make up your own salad or choose from the options they created in the menu. I ordered the Harvest Bowl, which has spinach, green beans, grilled chicken, shredded white cheddar cheese, corn, wild rice, and almond slivers with lemon tahini dressing and an extra order of avocado (an essential to any salad, really). The original Harvest Bowl had a chili carrot dressing but Afnan recommended that I switch. She's quite the regular in this restaurant so I trusted her advice. (Sidenote: seriously Afnan and Yousef are regulars in so many restaurants and they go so often that the servers know not to put onions on Yousef's food because he's allergic)


And then they dump most of the salad (they leave out the toppings like avocado or the almonds) onto a chopping board and use this cool double-handled curved knife (I made the name up. Update: just Googled it and it's a two-handled rocking knife) to chop up the salad!

They then use those scrapers (like the ones Cold Stone uses!) to scrape the salad into the bowl so they can mix the dressing.

I ordered my dressing on the side for whatever reason and it turned out to be a good idea because I got to control how much dressing I wanted on it. I came back to Crisp again and ordered it with the salad and I feel like they mix in the dressing so well that you don't taste it as much.

All in all, it was a great salad. It was a big serving and left me at the right level of full where I couldn't eat any more but wasn't at undo-the-pants-button-to-let-tum-spill-out-a-little full.

I'm also a creature of habit, which means I haven't tried any of their other salads on the menu, but I do recommend the harvest bowl with tahini dressing and extra avocado (DON'T FORGET THIS IT IS ESSENTIAL).
The salad is crunchy from the veggies, sweet from the corn, tangy from the lemon tahini, and rich from the cheese and avocado. It's basically a party in your mouth and everyone's invited.

So take it from someone who isn't a big salad fan. Crisp Salad Works knows their stuff. Plus points because I get to order in English!!

My salad dates for that night! They weren't ready for this pic hehe

I guess down here I should add some quick notes that I find useful in a food blog.

Crisp Salad Works

• Price: about 1000 - 1500  yen for 1 person
• Fullness: Full and satisfied, but you could still ponder the possibility of grabbing an ice cream... or maybe that's just me...
• Vibe: Super casual, wear whatever you want 
• Sabeezy recommends: Harvest bowl with Tahini dressing and extra avocado 
• Good for: all types of lunches (early, late, regular, etc), dinner, eating with friends, eating alone, grabbing a quick bite, when you're on a #healthgrind but you're too lazy to cook
• Plus points: You can order in English(!), has avocado, tells you how many calories there are in each meal, wooden tables + healthy salad bowl = instagrammable! #healthy #salad #fitlife #girl #healthlifetstyle #followforfollow
• Minus points: Far from where I live :( Open more branches pls