Grains Salad by & Atta, 1Fukuoka Building, Fukuoka

 

It seems that the return visit to this place has occurred much faster than I anticipated! But then again, seeing that so many new restaurants. bars, cafes and everything in between have set up shop here, it is no surprise that a return visit would eventually come. As the previous post about Takohashi Honten was like a gluttony experiment, I have decided to eat something a bit more healthy. And I mean very healthy.

This is a fancy front counter!

Located at basement level, lies a humble establishment called &Atta ( no it is not a typo, the & logo was deliberately there). They serve salad and grain bowls and healthy desserts that provide a different form of sustenance, compared to the usual bowls of ramen and rice you would probably get elsewhere. I know that Japanese food tend to be healthy. But this takes the cake. They have a variety of salads to choose from. But for my first encounter, I think something spicy would suit me best. So I ordered a red bowl which was for 1530 yen, which comes with boiled pork, a vast array of veggies and their signature grain mix. This is probably my most expensive salad yet! 

Looks like an edible forest!

Well I came in with an open mind. At least I know that I would not feel like a bloated mess after this. And I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The bowl itself was beautiful, hitting me with various colours. You can see every ingredient in full display. With the grains as the centerpiece, the veggies and the pork are laid on the side, showing everything that they have. It was a nice display. But the most important part is the taste, which was actually pretty good. The grain mix really is the star of this dish. I thought it would be something like granola, which is half true. There were chewy bits and crunchy pieces mixed together, creating a contrasting experience which I really enjoyed. I suspect the chewy parts to be barley but I am not too sure. They were very flavorful and provided a nutty after tone. And it seems to work like rice as well, which was pretty surprising. 

 

A bit of everything that is tasty

The salad itself is ok, lots of fresh leafy greens, tomatoes and a few root veggies for good measure. The sauce on the other hand, was not ordinary. Similar to the grains before, the spicy miso that came with this bowl was quite intense as it had a punchy fiery kick to it. The miso paste had the typical sweet and nutty taste to it. Just that someone may have taken some jalapenos, blended them down, fry them and then mix it into everything. This was greatly appreciated, as the pork, although fresh was somewhat bland. It is just boiled pork after all. So if you like spicy, this is for you. 

For a salad place, the menu is quite impressive. 

Although this bowl is a bit on the high side, I did not mind it at all. It may not be in my weekly lunch rotation. However, if I somehow feel like I need a break from fried chicken and ramen, I would probably use this as part of my arsenal. If it were slightly cheaper I would definitely rank it much higher. Having said that, I would probably come again to try the other varieties of salad bowls that they have. The seafood one looks very promising. So if you would like to try the red bowl, or other stuff that they have, they are based as the same floor as the subway station. The specific address is as follows:

〒810-0001 Fukuoka, Chuo Ward, Tenjin, 1 Chome−11−1,  1Fukuoka Building ディング B2

Front of the house.