I couldn’t stand the thought of another fast food meal during that week after having it back to back for 3 days. Hence I happen to accept an invite asking me to review healthy treats place which offers food for Body, Mind & Soul from Soulfull Restaurant. What a delight to find this place where they start each day by receiving the finest ingredients from the local market and freshly prepared the food with passion and care. And believe me it is not just the wordily claim but I agree to same after sampling their delicious food.
Food Tale:
The first impression was striking with the comforting ambiance of Green white and mahogany hues. Artichoke 3D wooden structure over the wall represents Soulfull. Artichoke is a healthy choice as it offers lots of flavors and nutritional value. It comes armed with a barrage of powerful vital antioxidants and cancer-fighting and phytonutrients. It also helps in generating energy. For these reasons, it’s considered to be the face brand.
Ambiance:
The place has about a dozen tables, and the service was excellent and everyone friendly. We were warmly greeted and contentedly seated by the host. This not-so-little Gem of an eatery is terrific as the food is prepared with your health in mind. Located conveniently at Shams Boutik on Reem Island it enjoys its privilege being swarming with office crowd at Lunch hours.
Soups & Vegetarian Options:
The soups, salads, and sandwiches are all so wholesome with homemade bread and high nutrition value. Our favorite was home-style lentil soup. Also, they have a rating on Artichoke Icon on the side of each dish mentioned on the menu, based on the balance of calories per nutrients. Salads presented made us believe that it is a Great Place to eat healthy foods. You will love them as vegetarian options on the menu as huge portions too.
The 2 salad I tried were:
KALE CHICKEN & HALLOUMI SALAD
Kale and Halloumi cubes were mixed with lettuce, semi sun-dried tomato, chicken, chia seeds and balsamic dressing. It was an addictive combo and was highest on calorie balance. A very healthy and delightful choice for salad lovers.
ACAPULCO SALAD
This colorful mixed plate of Grilled chicken, tomato, mix bell pepper, sweet corn, avocado, red beans, parmesan, flax seeds, mixed lettuce, jalapeño, tortilla chips with sour cream and guacamole has many aspects to play with and yet not a single ingredient which was irrational in there. I loved the inclusion of flax seeds and parmesan giving it entirely different texture and crunch.
I am always a bit skeptical about trying cold sandwiches ay restaurants and a bit picky in that regard. However, all three we sampled were amazing:
KAFTA SANDWICH
With tomato, vine leaves, mozzarella, mayo on oat bread served with tzatziki “yogurt mint” and pickles. It is a unique taste. We haven’t tasted any such thing here in UAE earlier.
CHICKEN AVOCADO SANDWICH
With avocado, baby spinach, honey mustard, and pickles in brown baguette served with green salad and baked potato this is similar to few other places however I wish my Chicken strips would be less grilled and juicier.
PORTOBELLO BUNLESS BURGER
It contains. Prime beef patty served with baked sweet potato “fries and wasabi sauce! This uniquely prepared and newly introduced dish on the menu has just 258kcal CALORIES & 8gm FAT.
From Zoodles (yes that’s what they call noodles prepared with Zeal) section, we tried YAKISOBA and Fusilli with shrimps. Yaskisoba was the traditional Japanese noodles mixed with your shrimps, cabbage, mixed bell pepper, parsley, and carrot; I feel its tad bit pricey though. I like the parcley and olive oil sauce in Fusilli version.
From Mains, we loved the garden style QUINOA BIRYANI with cashew nuts, broccoli, raisin, edamame, baby carrots, baby corn, snow peas, sweet peas, baby marrow and saffron. It was served in Moroccan tagine pot. It was very crunchy and healthy; I never imagined liking the taste of raisins and baby marrow with chunkiness of nuts so well.
Another excellent choice for mains was THAI GREEN CURRY with tender chicken breast, coconut cream, Thai eggplant, snow peas, green tortilla, Bok- Choy, and quinoa. We replaced quinoa with brown rice though regret trying the original combination. There is bearable heat in the dish and a robust Asian taste with a healthy twist. There was a lot of food, and we did take some home with us to enjoy over next meal. They did an excellent job on the packaging so once I got the food home, it was still intact.
I loved the assorted ENERGY BITES (DARK CHOCOLATE) of Dates, coco powder and hazelnuts, they didn’t fall apart, had a right texture, and a nice amount of freshness inside. My BANANA BREAD was good as well – hard to believe it’s made with coconut flour base hence no oily, greasy feeling that a lot of similar cakes have. Lite Carrot cake was neatly layered and is enjoyable too.
For what this place is, I highly recommend it! I like how they use REAL vegetables and meat and not merely the frozen boxed supply that every other site gets. And it has way less sugar and salt because if it since food is cooked fresh “a la minute” and not pre-prepared or reheated. They have a great line up of smoothies and healthy shake, My favourite was Carroteristics with Carrot and ginger in orange juice. They really encourage you to refer to the nutritional facts next to each item, so you know more about the food you eat. All in all, I love this healthy food discovery of ours and do highly recommend our readers to try out this venue and its offerings.
Essentials:
Level 1, Shams BOUTIK, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi
02 3048301
Everything looks Yum 😋