As Korea catches on the superfood craze, it seems as though trendy juice shops, salad boutiques, and yogurt stands have popped up on every corner. While we still aren’t yet sure of the health benefits that these “superfoods” provide, these salad restaurants offer a damn delicious meal that will leave you full and proud of your healthy life decisions.
ACRES | Gangnam-gu, Seoul
ACRES opened in early 2019 and quickly filled the void that many salad-lovers felt after Bad Farmers, the former reigning king of salad shops, closed down.
This trendy Garosugil cafe offers six different chopped salads, coffee, fresh juices, and teas. They also have “green plates,” which are healthy non-salad options like sandwiches and burritos.
The multilevel space boasts a cozy interior and a spacious outdoor patio, perfect for breezy summer nights.
Cafe Mama’s | Jung-gu, Seoul
The choice brunch cafe of Naver bloggers across Seoul, this trendy Parisian bistro-themed restaurant serves up yummy drinks, cakes, pressed paninis, and salads. It’s delicious, fresh and reliable much like Panera Bread in the U.S.
Bread is brought in fresh daily and salads are made to order with a generous amount of chopped dried fruit and nuts.
They offer a seasonal menu of autumn pumpkin salads and roasted chicken salads, but the stand-out is their ricotta cheese salad.
Served with a side of bread and topped with a generous amount of fresh ricotta cheese and a tangy balsamic vinaigrette, this salad is sure to satisfy.
Cheesy pressed paninis, fresh juices, and cakes are available as well.
La Ferme | Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Branding itself as a super food central, this beautiful Hannam-dong restaurant serves hot and cold dishes with quinoa, avocado, goji berries and more, with gorgeous plating, making it the perfect spot for a nice lunch or weekend date.
While the couscous and quinoa chicken are amazing and the squid-ink infused soups certainly peaked our interest, the best item here is the Avocado Salad.
Half a ripened avocado is sliced up and served alongside a big green salad with capers, red onion, and thinly sliced salmon. Additionally, you receive a thick slice of homemade bread with creamy avocado schmear.
Other superfood meals and hot dishes are available, as well as takeout for salads.
Plant | Yongsan-gu, Seoul
An all-vegan restaurant in Itaewon, Plant knows how to make a beautifully balanced and vegetable-packed meal that doesn’t leave you hungry.
Their hummus and roasted squash salad is a favorite, packed with healthy fats and a plethora of colorful vegetables that taste great and look amazing on the gram.
Their meal selection rotates seasonally and includes all the veggie goodness your body needs. Their tempeh rainbow wrap, for example, packs all the vitamins from A-Z. They even have burgers and pastas that are so well-made you won’t even notice that they’re vegan!
A daily selection of vegan baked goods, smoothies, and other vegan meal options available as well.
Again Refresh | Mapo-gu, Seoul
Large wooden bowl salads served with warm fresh bread, a cup of rice porridge, and pour-it-yourself dressing makes lunch a very dynamic meal for students in the tri-university area.
Salads start at 7,500 for a summer fruit or ricotta salad, and avocado or protein options like salmon and chicken can be added on for +2,500-3,000W. The cafe boasts more seating than most salad boutiques, but does not yet offer to-go or delivery options.
Cold-pressed juices and sandwiches and french fries are available as well.
What a Salad | Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Ever had that salad moment when the leaf is just too big and you’re stuck feeling like a socially awkward cow?
Enter chopped salads, the answer to all your salad troubles. Every salad at What A Salad is made to order as either customized or one of their popular preset salads.
From there, What A Salad workers, use long, sharp knife panels to slice, dice, and mix your salad to perfection. The salad is so finely cut you can eat it with a spoon with no problem.
The salad comes in a massive wooden bowl and certainly fills you until dinner. Instead of fresh bread, a bit of pita bread is offered on the side.
Root | Yongsan-gu, Seoul
A lovely second-floor cafe and terrace overlooking Hannam-dong and Itaewon-ro, Root is an airy cafe offering deliciously healthy salad power bowls and few creative veggie options like vegan sushi, poke bowls and toasts with toppings.
For those who aren’t a fan of the raw or smoked salmon frequent in the Korean salads, Root has a wholesome cooked salmon steak salad bowl that comes with a healthy portion of fish and three different types of greens and cabbage to add textural dimension.
This cafe is also very popular with those who dietary restrictions or special diets, as the staff will happily swap out one of the set bowls’ many toppings for a different ingredient upon request!
Cold pressed juices and super food sides available as well.
Salad Young | Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Salad Young has risen to popularity, competing with the other healthy restaurants. The Instagram-worthy interior design of the restaurant is a plus.
“Salad + Young = Not so fast!” is the place’s slogan as it promotes eating healthy and living a young and slow lifestyle. Their salad menus are filled with at least 60 different healthy ingredients!
The place serves mainly three different types of salads: with chicken, with salmon, and no meat. There are also sandwiches, wraps, and noodles available at the restaurant. On top of that, they also offer a selection of cold-pressed juices and traditional kombuchas as well.
March Rabbit | Gangnam-gu, Seoul
A salad hot-spot in the streets of Sinsa-dong, March Rabbit has been serving up beautiful salads with side scoops of house-made hummus and ripened avocado with great success the past few years.
The motto of this restaurant is to transform salads from”rabbit food” to a successfully filling and delicious meal. For example, the popular vegan salad called “Happy Vegan” contains fresh greens, lentils, hummus, tofu, olives, tomatoes, and croutons; a stunning variety of textures, temperatures and flavors for a simple salad.
Their menu is definitely the largest of this list, with sixteen set salads to choose from as well a make-your-own-salad option.
Also available are drinks, waffle sandwiches, soups, and ample seating!
Salad Seller | Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Traversing the backstreets of Hannam-dong, you may come across this quaint one-room cafe. Serving only hearty home-made soups, salads, and sandwiches, Salad Seller is a gourmet lunch boutique guaranteed to satisfy.
For a light lunch, choose the rainbow salad that comes with a variety of spring greens, arugula, dried nuts and fruits, and several types of soups. If you’re looking for something more filling, a warm avocado bowl with a bacon vinaigrette is a perfect medley of healthy fats and comfort food.
The cafe itself smells of bacon and butter with a large communal table to sit at. If it’s crowded, however, there is a small bar area and the option to take food to go as well.
Pressed sandwiches, fresh smoothies, and homemade soups are available as well.
Additionally, half-sandwich and half-salad/half-soup lunch specials are available Tue-Friday 11:30-2:30pm.
Honorable Mentions:
Salad craving but on a budget? Find 10,000W too much to pay for “rabbit food”?
Larger convenience stores such as 7/11, Lotte Market, and GS25 will typically carry small chicken or ricotta salads for a 3,900-5,000W healthy lunch on the go. Paris Baguette, another ubiquitous shop, has beautiful salad boxes from 6,000-7,000W as well.