Best Tasting Healthy Menu's?!?

There was a topic a few months ago requesting some "Healthy Choices for Foodies." Unfortunately, that thread only got a few responses. Since I'm trying to be much better about watching what I eat (and I love to eat out), I'm looking for some specific places that offer healthy menus/alternatives/small meals that go beyond the typical salad fair.

So what's your favorite lighter/small meal and who has it?

Thanks for the input.

[Robin Garr]

So what's your favorite lighter/small meal and who has it?

I often make a meal from two or three appetizers, Keith, and did this just the other night at L&N Wine Bar & Bistro, where I had a really excellent sweetbreads special, heirloom tomato caprese and goat-cheese tart, with two or three 2-ounce "tasting glasses" of interesting wines. I left feeling comfortably full but not overstuffed, and could have gotten by on two plates if I really wanted to be abstemious.

Just about any place in town with a good app menu will accommodate this. Primo is another, where their excellent Neapolitan-style (true Italian) wood-oven pizzas make a decent single serving, and there are some interesting apps. This just scratches the surface, though. Putting together a couple of small plates is perfectly acceptable, and I'd say the menus at many top spots - Corbett's, Seviche, Cafe Lou Lou, North End Cafe all immediately come to mind - will accommodate this.

Also, doesn't De La Torre's AND La Bodega feature a tapas-only menu now?

Keith, I wrote a column a couple months ago in Leo entitled "The Invisible Menu Page" in which I told people they shouldn't feel so constrained by menus as they are written. If you make a reasonable request at a restaurant, provided they are not slammed, they will likely alter their regular menu items to your specifications, so long as they have the ingredients to hand.

This is especially easily done with saute dishes that are prepared to order. For instance, you might order a pasta dish but ask for "no cream or butter, please do a garlic/white wine sauce instead". Naturally, you cannot ask them to "leave the cheese off the lasagna" or to "lighten" anything that is assembled in advance, so read your menu with this in mind. And, above all, rely on your server to tell you whether the alteration you'd like to request is possible. Believe me - they know, and they won't steer you towards a difficult or impossible request because THEY'RE the ones that have to clear it with the kitchen staff.

So, yes - collect a list of restaurants that have healthy dishes on their menu, but, by all means, don't let that keep you out of your favortie high-calorie haunts. If you're a regular, we'll bend over backwards to accommodate you. We have one guy at Lou Lou that eats there at least once a week - his doctor told him NO MORE PASTA unless it is whole grain. So he was sadly telling us he wouldn't be able to see us as often, and guess what? We went out and laid in a supply of whole wheat pasta for him, and now he's happy as a clam and comes to see us twice as often (I'm not sure that's exactly what his doctor had in mind, but he considers himself "in compliance" now, heh.)

Ask for what you want! And if you're shy about asking in person, call the restaurant during off-peak times (3 PM is the best time to call any restaurant) and ask to talk to the chef or the sous chef.

I hope you'll let us know if you try my suggestions so we can see if my advice works out. Good luck!

I really like some of the naturally healthy menus around town. Lilly's is one that always pops into my mind when I start craving good veggies. Her cooking style and use of local products creates a very "California" feel.

Also Zen Garden vegetarian is one I go to when I want to eat healthy. I love soy products and can feel full but not heavy.

I haven't tried it yet, but I remember reading the lunch menu recently for Sweet Surrender. Right up my alley for diversity and healthfulness.

I'm going to Maido for dinner tomorrow night and plan on eating healthy. Clean sashimi for me, please, a boatload edamame, and a nice craft beer. My mom and sis are looking forward to trying things with alot more flavor, but they'll still go the healthy way. I always feel revived and peppy when I eat straight fish and veg, exactly what this girl needs tomorrow since later I'll be boogying to Vampire Weekend at Headliners!

My healthy choices are sushi/sashimi from the numerous great spots in town. Whole foods (while pricey) has an excellent salad bar with lots of tofu salads, pasta salads, etc. We always try to get fresh fish from Dolls and grill it ourselves. I really enjoy the veggie skewers with black bean soup at Havana Rumba, and they have some kind of wine/garlic chicken dish with veggies and potatoes. Probably not incredibly healthy, but it has to be better than a big mac. Also, if you are a sandwich fan- who isn't, we love the fresh ones at Paul's market. Great bread, boars head meats, and a wide selection of very fresh veggies piled on top.

But you are right- you can't go wrong with fish and veggies. I just wish it didn't cost so much when eating out.