I was invited to a food tasting over the weekend at The Lawn Cafe @ Biopolis (nearest MRT is Buona Vista) which was located on the first floor of one of the office buildings (Nanos) next to the newer The Metropolis. Being in such an area, I had initially expected The Lawn to be a similar setup like Salad Stop that catered to the working crowd.
When I arrived, I was delighted to get a whiff of grilled meats just like being at a BBQ. And yes, The Lawn wasn’t just an ordinary salad bar. It was one that served up premium grills to dress up your salad. Here, a salad ain’t a boring thing at all.
Salads are assembled behind the order & payment counter. On the right sits the grill where the meats are prepared upon order.
Mostly outdoor seating but there is a small air-conditioned room behind the pillar with more indoor seating if you find being outside too uncomfortable on a hot day. This outlet also offers its space for private or corporate events with a total seating capacity of approx. 120 pax.
On the menu, you can either pick one of three pre-fixed salad combinations or simply customise your own for more flexibility:
Step 1
Choose your base from either Salad Bowl $7.90 (mesclun salad + 5 toppings + 1 dressing) or Olive Rice $7.90 (olive rice + side salad + 1 dressing).
Step 2
Choose your grills from 13 selections (additional $2 to $4 each) of chicken, mushrooms, asparagus & eggplant, dory, prawns, duck and beef.
Step 3
Choose 5 toppings (for salad bowl) from 30 different ingredients such as couscous, corn, beetroot, sunflower seeds, parmesan cheese, granola, almonds, kidney beans and more.
Step 4
Choose 1 dressing from 13 selections.
Step 5
Complete your meal with any add-on of a Soup Shot (+$1), Soup Bowl (+$3.90) or Assorted Bun (+$1).
And here was what I had sampled
Their best-selling grills included the Chicken Breast with Maple Infusion, Butter-seared Pacific Dory with Parsley Rub, Char-grilled Prawns with Garlic and Aceto Balsamico Beef Cuts.
The dory fish was the clear winner for me since I have a penchant for anything buttery. It was perfectly grilled to an almost crispy exterior while the inside remained moist and flaky. It tasted fresh with no fishy or muddy smell and I just loved that butter fragrance that had penetrated the fish meat itself. This is a must try.
My second favourite would be the prawns though they were a tad too salty if eaten on their own. The garlic aroma was pungent but not overpowering and the prawns weren’t overdone so they still had that juicy crunch in them.
The beef was tender with no sinews and had an intense black pepper flavour. The chicken, however, was a little bland on the inside in comparison to the beef though I did like the use of rosemary in the marinate.
Overall I liked that everything wasn’t overdone or looked too charred and yet they all had this lovely smoky flavour. Do note all grill orders are only prepared on the spot so you are guaranteed to get only the freshest.
My salad bowl was made up of a colourful mix of corn kernels, chestnuts, grapes, roasted cashew nuts and parmesan cheese on top of mesclun salad. I thoroughly enjoyed this combination of contrasting textures and flavours that really worked well together. Sweet, nutty, sharp. It was the first time I had chestnuts in a salad and they were good. Just loved that natural sweetness.
I also tried 6 of their most popular dressings from top left in clockwise order:
Wafu
This was creamy and refreshing with a soury tang.
Me so Spicy
My favourite of all. It was spicy and packed full of belachan (shrimp paste) flavour. It also reminded me of tom yum and really whetted the appetite.
Honeyball
This was a little sweet and tangy. The taste of honey and Dijon mustard was hardly noticeable.
Maple Peanut
The taste of maple syrup was quite distinct but I couldn’t make out the peanut butter in it. It was heavily mixed with olive oil which didn’t do much justice to the sauce.
Perky Sesame Ginger
This was an interesting one, just like the ginger sauce from chicken rice stalls. Very gingery-pungent with a hint of sesame oil. Fragrant but it was very oily.
Red Island
My second favourite. This was creamy, rich and tangy with a tiny bit of heat from the garlic.
Every dressing came in a separate small container like in the above picture and would not be tossed with your salad so you can decide how much you want to add into your bowl. The portion of each dressing wasn’t huge so for someone like me who prefers saucier and moist salads, I could request for extra dressing at $0.50 more. The Me so Spicy, Red Island and Wafu dressings are highly recommended.
The olive rice is a good option for those who prefers a more filling meal with carbs. The rice was fluffy and infused with a lot of black olive flavour. It was flavoursome enough to be eaten on its own like a fried rice. The side salad of lettuce, carrot, corn and cucumber however, didn’t quite appeal to me in the way it was presented.
I could just easily order a olive rice with butter-seared dory and a salad bowl if I’m feeling ravenous. With a Me so Spicy dressing to spice things up of course!
This salad cafe is worth a try especially if you like grilled meats and fusion style salad dressings that you probably won’t find elsewhere. If you need to meat your greens, meat them here with grilled meats!
Currently, The Lawn has two outlets located at:
The Lawn At Biopolis
31 Biopolis Way
#01-07, Nanos
Singapore 138669
Tel: 6478 9739
Opening hours:
11.15am to 9.00pm (Mon-Fri)
10.00am to 4.00pm (Sun)
Closed on Sat
The Lawn At Shenton
8 Shenton Way
#B1-11, AXA Tower
Singapore 068811
Tel: 6534 8749
Opening hours:
Monday – Friday
10.30am to 9.00pm (Mon-Fri)
Closed on Sat & Sun
Website: http://www.thelawn.com.sg/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thelawncafe
The Lawn @ Shenton would be launching sandwiches very soon too. Follow them on their Facebook page for more updates.
PS: Thank you Wan Tin for the invite.