I love when the little ping of my inbox reveals event invites from the lovely Rachel who runs Boston Food Bloggers. I can’t resist attending events where I will get to hang out with local food bloggers, eat food, and sip drinks. So last Tuesday night I ventured over to Ufood Grill to chow down on some of their healthy goodies.
Megan, Amanda, Kathy and I hunkered down at a table, with some wine, to listen to the company philosophy, menu choices, and their nutritional information. I won’t bore you with the details, but the food choices here are healthier than typical fast food places. They don’t claim to be the healthiest options but they strive for healthier food so that it is something that you will consider and order. They also are focused on fast service, meaning that they aim to have food out to your within 3 1/2 minutes. Their strategies to achieve this were interesting, as well as their menu development. You can read more about Ufood Grill on their website, but I’m going to get to the important stuff… the food!!!
UFood Bistro Salad (312)– organic mixed greens. tomatoes. feta. walnuts. dried cranberries. blueberry-pomegranate vinaigrette.
First course… I really enjoyed this salad. The greens were fresh, the feta was crumbly, dry, and salty, and the dressing did a good job of tying the salad components together. I prefer goat cheese for salads like this, but it was really good.
UnFries (230)- baked french fries
Ufood french fries are not fried french fries. The fries are baked to keep the fat and calories down compared to other fast food establishments. The fries were crunchy and tasted really good.
Fire-Grilled Sirloin Tips– (410) 100% usda choice sirloin
I honestly can say this was my favorite thing I had all night. The steak tips were really juicy, seasoned well, the texture was good (not sringy or chewy) and cooker perfectly. Well, the last part is kinda a lie since mine were a nice medium rare and Kathy’s were more done. I prefer my steaks on the medium-rare to rare side so I was tickled pink about this but it shows that the kitchen didn’t fully cook mine, or keep all th plates cooks consistently. Still, I would get this again with the sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. The veggies were just that, veggies without butter, oil, salt, etc. It was refreshing to get things pure and simple.
Turkey Sausage Pizza- (536) Organic, whole-wheat crust. Skim mozzarella.
Oh and the food just kept coming… we next had the turkey sausage pizza. I feel that this could be great but the seasoning was to heavy on this. The photo even shows the seasoning that was added on top. Aside from the seasoning the pizza was good for a turkey sausage pizza, and for a meal under 600 cal.
Strawbanilla- (290) strawberries. bananas.apple juice. vanilla yogurt.
This is a was a good smoothie. I typically only drink smoothies for breakfast so I don’t know how likely it would be for me to actually order this but I enjoyed it.
Chipotle Turkey Burger- (491) turkey burger. lite jalapeno jack. spicy chipotle mayo
Oops! I took apart my burger prior to the photo. I really enjoyed this burger because it was not dry and the spicy chipotle mayo brighten the flavors of the burger.
I removed the bun so I would not be eating a lot of food with gluten since I have been having issues with it lately (more on that in another post). We actually asked about gluten free options, as well as other food allergy options, and were informed that the are quite a few alternatives for people. The man said that are options, but at that point he didn’t give specifics. I think he didn’t want to make a mistake about which was gfre and which wasn’t. We received a packet of information at the end and it explains that there are a few gluten free options- burgers w/o buns, veggie sides, hearty Three Bean Chili, etc.
Chicken Tinga- (447) tinga chicken slow-cooked inadobo sauce. tinga salsa.
No me gusta. I had a bite but the rice was wet but undercooked and I did not like the seasoning for the pulled chicken. I would never order this.
Berrylicious– (260) blueberries. strawberries.raspberries. vanilla yogurt. apple juice.
I typically go for berry smoothies when I do order smoothies so I have had my far share, and can say that I would order this one first. We had thimble size servers so I’m not sure of the actual serving size but the smoothie would make for a great meal or a light lunch. If you think about it, it would make for a great soda replacement because you would be receiving more nutrition than just junky sugar.
Chicken Pesto Grilled Panini- (630)chicken breast. pesto. tomatoes.skim mozzarella. ciabatta.
The panini typically comes with chicken but this was served without. I think that it is a good option of a quick meal on the go. The vegetarian option was really good. The bread was toasty and not oily, which often happens when ordering a panini out. The Ufood Grill panini is healthier that Panera’s, saving you about 150 calories.
Better Bacon Cheeseburger- (630) 100% usda choice ground lean beef. lite american. turkey bacon
Truth be told I skipped this entirely. I was getting maxed out on food and I was not in the mood for another burger. Kathy, Megan, and Amanda split half this burger. They were not that impressed with it- check out their recaps for their thoughts on this and everything else.
Passionate Peach- (230) peaches. strawberries. passion fruit juice. vanilla yogurt.
Another impressive smoothie. I don’t typically come across passion fruit juice so I was excited to have this in the smoothie.
Pesto Pizza- (536) Organic, whole-wheat crust. Skim mozzarella.
This pizza was much better than the Turkey Sausage Pizza. The pizza is roughly the same in calories but I think that the flavor much better than the turkey sausage one. Ufood Grill has several vegetarian options on the menu, this being one of them, and I think this is executed very well.
Fresh Falafel- (730)baked falafel. roasted red pepper hummus.pickled beets. lettuce. tomatoes. spicy tahini sauce.
I understand that they are trying to make a falafel healthy but there are just somethings that need to be served in their full fat glory and falafel is one of them. Their tahini sauce reminded me of russian dressing, which of course made me just want salad.
Getting to attend this event opened my eyes to everything that Ufood Grill had to offer. They specailize in healthier, fast food meals. A lot of their food is fantastic and this is a place that I would stop into to get a meal on the run. I’m so glad to hear that they are in Logan Airport so that I can grab a turkey burger from them and skip the golden arches or the mystery meat chinese places.
Check out Ufood Grill’s website for company information, locations, and their full menu.
