Making friends with salad

01. Mar, 2012

I admit it, I’m not a big salad eater – tending to choose chips over the salad or veggie sides for my parma any day of the week. But I’m nothing if not open to new experiences, and the salads at Threefold have got me thinking there might just be more to the stuff than coleslaw.

Not that salad’s the only thing Threefold does. The cozy converted building on Flinders Lane has coffee, sweets and a hearty range of dishes like rabbit and prune terrine wrapped in prosciutto ($14.50/$18.50), slow cooked lamb with spicy, smoked eggplant and jus ($13.50/$17.50) and specials like spatchcock pie. Meals are artfully arranged along on a long marble table.

But I keep hearing about are the salads, so I choose three on one plate. I choose wisely.

First up, roasted roma tomatoes smothered over eggplant, with liberal amounts of mint and nuts giving freshness and crunch. Fantastic.

In fact, any way you looked at this plate it was gorgeous. So much so I had to get in a gratuitous rear shot.

Roasted baby beets, baby carrots and soft goat’s cheese. I don’t know if eating baby vegetables is akin to eating lamb but this was downright delish, with the warm cheese melting into the mix.

The middle salad of beans and shavings of parmesan rounded things off smartly and the whole plate was a happy contrast of flavours and textures. Plus I felt pretty smug just eating salad for lunch.

Thankfully, things aren’t completely wholesome and there’s a range of wines and beers available too, though not sure if salad calls for a red or white.

It’s nice to see someone doing interesting stuff with salads in the business end of town. Now all it needs it a decent dumpling place when I’m not feeling so virtuous.