Vital Ingredient

If you want a salad, this place looks great. If you want hot food, which I did, then it’s so so. I had the chicken ramen which was just one grade above instant noodles you get at the super market. When I saw it, I added a 60p banana in case the water lunch was not going to be enough. It was fresh chicken (plus) & uncooked vegetables (why) with noodles that was definitely not ramen.
Salads — do it
Hot food — run away.

Hands down the best quick-​go salad place for lunch in central London. Really — I’ve looked around. The options aren’t exactly cheap (£5−6 per salad) but I’m always full with food left over and happy to note that I’ve hit (or almost hit) my 5 veggies a day in one sitting.
I usually opt to make my own salad —
Some of my favs including the
–spicy avocado (shall we go ahead and just called this guac?)
–quinoa base
–spicy chicken
Guest ingredients are also featured weekly and are seasonal. If you ever get to Vital towards the end of the lunch period, virtually everything is gone — so you know they are receiving fresh shipments each morning to satiate you appetite.
They even have the system for checkout down to a tee so when you approach the line reaching outside and around the corner, you know you’ll be up to the front in less than 10 minutes. In fact, I never appreciated this as much until a more recent visit to Tossed, where it took me 10 minutes to get served when I was only the 3^rd person in line (please explain why its necessary to write down everything i’m getting in a standard «create your own» offering instead of making it as you go?)
I’ve also had a go at the breakfast offering, though admittedly I’m less of a grain and dried fruit lover in the am.

I absolutely adore this place; it makes eating salads feel worthwhile and like a luxury rather than a chore!
Make your own using the huge variety of ingredients or choose a salad from the menu — you get a choice of salad leaves or pulses (Quinoa is my fave!) Every salad is made fresh in front of you and presented beautifully.
It isn’t particularly cheap but you pay for what you get — approx £5−6 per salad
The soups are also amazing! The chicken thai curry one is fabulous.
Top Tips;
1 — Experiment and make your own
2 — Try a soup
3 — Digress to your childhood and grab a jelly instead of chocolate!

I went to Vital Ingredient last week during lunch and had an amazing, freshly prepared caesar salad. And it was quite honestly the best salad I have ever had. The customer service was excellent and the prices were spot on. I am excited to try some more of their soup, smoothie, and salad options. Some of the best healthy eating I have ever experienced. I have quickly become there number one fan and I hope to see them expand to more areas.

Having actually survived on 1000 calories a day for a period of two months… and only becoming delirious on three occasionally those ladies were actually twins… I swear… ahem) I can now tell you my secret… salads…and Vital Ingredients was my saviour.
This place has the option:
1) creating your own salad
2) house salads — including (caeser, Tuscan pasta, Mediterranean, pacific prawn, Mexican tortilla, American cobb, tuna nicoise and Greek
3) soup;
4) snacks and deserts; and
5) smoothies and juices
Be warned it is expensive — around £5.25 for a large salad. But I say worth it. I highly recommend the mexican tortilla (with extra ranch dressing)…