WHEN you're dieting walking through the city centre becomes a test of willpower. Everything you want to eat (pasties, milkshakes, croissants) is out-of-bounds, while everything you can eat (supermarket slimmers' sandwiches) is bland and unsatisfying. And those McDonald's billboards look more tempting by the second.
This is a great place to know if you often find yourself wanting something fast and tasty that isn't full of fat or sugar
If this sounds familiar, check out Kukoos before you crack and start bulk-buying Happy Meals. This streetfood cafe and takeaway on Oxford Road doesn't promote itself as a diet-friendly zone but one look at their salad bar and you know you're on safe ground. With its mix of raw vegetables and wholegrains, it looks a picture of health. But just as importantly, it looks appetising. Forget iceberg lettuce and a sad bit of cucumber, these salads are colourful and lively with lots of fresh herbs, spices and exotic ingredients.
The Kukoos chefs make ten or so salads daily, all inspired by the street food of India, Morocco and Lebanon, and the selection is always changing. We had the tabulleh – a lovely sight with all that fresh green parsley, a zingy summer slaw with red cabbage and red onion, a Moroccan couscous, a delicious rice salad with pomegranate seeds, and an addictive channa chaat – a chickpea-based salad from India. Other options included golden quinoa, baba ganoush, fattoush, mixed green salad, and grilled cauliflower salad.
And as long as you resist the hummous dressing (we didn't), you're on the right side of healthy. Next time, I'll skip it – you don't need a dressing with that much flavour already packed in. Kukoos is owned by the award-winning Zouk restaurant so they know how to create big, bold tastes.
The salad was a meal in itself but we were given two of their hot wraps to try as well. Despite being stuffed already, I couldn't leave their spinach and lamb wrap alone. The spicy lamb had a real kick to it and the bread was super-soft. My friend had a delicately flavoured falafel and hummous wrap, another triumph.
If you use the Kukoos meal deal, you get a salad and a wrap for £5. Sold separately, salads are £4.90/£5.50 and wraps are £3.75.
Kukoos also does £1 snacks such as onion bhajis and generously-filled samosas, handy if you're hungry and on-the-go. And there's an imaginative range of home-made drinks such as lassis and Indian lemonade – read our write-up on smoothies at Kukoos for more on these.
We visited at lunch time but you can stop in any time from midday till 10pm. Kukoos is a great place to know if you often find yourself wanting something fast and tasty that isn't full of fat and sugar. The mix of grains and vegetables in their salads means they fill you up for the rest of the day, not just a few hours. The only craving I got after visiting Kukoos was for my next visit.
Kukoos is on Oxford Road, just a minute's walk from Cornerhouse. Learn more about Kukoos.
