Applegreen: Great Salad in Causeway Bay

As I am on a permanent quest to find good salad destinations in Hong Kong, I was absolutely delighted to discover Applegreen. It is a “California-style” eatery hidden in an anonymous-looking building just opposite the taxi-rank at Times Square, with a fantastic range of imaginative and tasty salads offering something beyond the usual Caesar/Nicoise options.

When you push the elevator button in what looks basically like an office block, the last thing you expect is for the doors to open and reveal the clean, minimalist space that is Applegreen. Pale woods with red accents work to create a basic but effective dining area which narrowly avoids coming across as a bland canteen as it always seems to be pleasantly busy, no matter what night of the week it is (although saying that, I have always managed to secure a table without booking). Added to this, the service is excellent – attentive without being irritating, staff attend to the buzzing restaurant without flapping or ignoring customers.

And while the Applegreen menu extends beyond salad to pasta and meat dishes (plus some very tasty appetizers and desserts, which definitely tarnish the I’ve-had-a-salad-halo) even my neanderthal companion looks forward to a visit to this restaurant, and will by-pass the rib-eye steaks and pork chops on the menu in favour of the seared Tataki Tuna salad with avocados and wasabi vinagrette.

Strangely the salads also come served with a slice of banana bread..I have not quite figured out the thinking behind that one, but have put it down to a nice little Applegreen quirk. Servings are also pretty huge, so if you do manage to make it past a hearty salad and banana bread to the delights on the dessert menu, you’re really doing pretty well..and besides, you can always reason that it’s nothing a few after-supper laps of Lane Crawford across the street won’t cure.

Applegreen 2/F Plaza 2000, No. 2& 4 Russell Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. 23681263