Food review: Slim’s Healthy Kitchen, Lisburn Road

Slim’s Healthy Kitchen (SHK for short) is a novel idea in dining, at least for Belfast it is anyway. The premise is an emphasis on healthy, clean eating, and specifically for people sticking to a particular diet or work out regime.  Based on what your criteria is they have meals galore to suit any palate and requirements. For instance say you’re doing a lot of weight lifting and thus require more protein, they serve a meal that’s high in protein rich foods.  This sounds like the lay man could get left behind though.  Only one way to find out, and that was to try the place for myself –  Being a layman and all.  We visited Slim’s on a Sunday morning for brunch and the place was positively bristling, bikes we lined up against the front and a full size model cow was sat atop the roof.   Inside was a collection of cyclists, couples, families and some people just having a coffee. 

The Décor is a kind of outside inside feel, with fences, bushes and a massive tree helping make up a slightly more formal than picnic feel.  Indoor Alfresco we’ll call it.  A few minutes after entering a lovely lady found us some seats at a picnic table and gave us some brunch menus whilst taking a drinks order.  All very polite and speedy, so far so good.  A few minutes later we were shown the specials and an order was taken, and a surprisingly short time later we had our food.  I had the surprising combo of smoked cod, asparagus and poached eggs.   I have to say it was all cooked to perfection.  The cod was light, fall apart and flavoursome, the asparagus had a crunch and lacked that bitter taste it can have when over cooked, and the eggs were well set with a beautiful runny centre. 

It all went together too, some of the combos on the menu looked surprising to me but after tasting this I would be inclined to give them a go! The other 2 meals my group had was a spicy chicken and rocket wrap (it was hot) and a seasoned pork burger and sweet potato fries.  All were thoroughly enjoyed and clean plates were left all round.  I can’t attest to how these meals all fit into your current diet, but I can attest to the great experience and delicious food we had at Slim’s.  I find it refreshing that some-one is catering for all different types of palates and if there a market there, and there clearly is, then hopefully healthier eating establishments can pop up elsewhere.  They’ve recently announced plans to open in Victoria Sq and I hope it’ll be every bit as good as their Lisburn Road branch.  Thumbs up Slim’s, we’ll be back.