Oh, the salad! The proverbial healthy, low-calorie food, and an essential part of my New Year’s resolution to eliminate that lumpiness under my T-shirt that appeared after December’s excesses. In fact, I have been eating salad for the whole of January. The results, however, are unimpressive, to say the least. Perhaps I have fallen victim to a common delusion: the belief that you can add sizzling bacon, blue cheese and ranch dressing to your lettuce, and still have a low fat meal.
However, I haven’t lost faith in the body-shaping power of salads, and today, as part of my quest to shed those extra pounds, I turn to Gerbies, a new salad and sandwich bar that just opened in BKK1.
You can sit outside on the terrace, protected by a sunshade, and enjoy the strident honking, obnoxious engine roars and fetid exhaust smoke coming from the never-ending traffic. Or you can go inside and relax in a cool, well-lit room with dark grey walls and minimalist décor that makes you want to sit down and spend the afternoon working on your new book. Today, I enter Gerbies with Pascalle, a 27-year-old Dutch woman with a master’s degree in psychology and a compulsive (at times exasperating) tendency to psychoanalyse everyone.
The selection of warm salads is creative, with entrées like brouillée ($5.90), a salad made out of scrambled eggs and lardons. You can also choose from a considerable assortment of paninis and baguettes in the $4 – $7 price range. There are smoothies, Italian sodas and fresh juices.
I order a crispy squid salad ($5.90) and a young coconut ($1.50). The salad is ginormous: I don’t even think I finished it. For the record, that means a lot coming from a full-grown Spaniard. It comes with vinaigrette and some slices of bread. The waitress also places a small plate on the side with garlic mayonnaise, or aioli, as we call it back home. Just as I am about to dig in, the owner hurries to me and, in a motherly tone, instructs me on the proper way of eating salad: first, pour the vinaigrette, then add a few drops of Tabasco and, finally, mix it up. It is delicious. The fat pieces of tender, perfectly fried squid never end, and they go great with the stir-fried tomato and zucchini. The contrast of cold and hot ingredients makes it a delectable experience. Dip some squid in the garlic mayonnaise and prepare to be amazed.
Pascalle orders a tuna sweetcorn baguette ($4). The bread is alright, but not particularly crispy. I even dare say it is a bit chewy. What surprises me the most is that they have taken off the top of the baguette, leaving only about three-quarters of the original loaf. This is not fair – the four dollars you pay should get you the whole thing.
Gerbies is a wonderful salad place. Their salads are not cheap, but they are worth every penny. I wouldn’t recommend coming here for the sandwiches though, as they are pricey, and the bread is not particularly good. The service, including the very attentive and helpful French-Cambodian owner, is amazing.
As we wolf down the salad and baguette, Pascalle and I begin one of our usual therapy sessions. One has to let off steam sooner or later, and for me, the meetings with Pascalle are the time. She asks me what’s bothering me, why I have been so absent-minded. I tell her about my latest conversation with Lucio and the last, foreboding words that came out of his mouth: “I will get in the way every time, just like you did. You shall never know love again!”
To be continued…
Gerbies Salad and Sandwich
#78 Street 51 at Sihanouk Blvd