This cute and quirky cafe is tucked away on a side street in a somewhat trendy neighborhood of Casablanca lined with boutique shops and popular restaurants. The interior is decorated in whimsical and vibrant colors, making it an enjoyable place to get a quick bite. There are fun circular mirrors and other patterns found throughout the building that really help to liven the vibe. There are also several swinging chairs that hang from the ceiling if you want to feel like you are on a playground while dining. It’s definitely not a tourist restaurant, and it’s usually filled with stylish young 20-somethings enjoying their meals.

Although the menu centers around salads, it also offers plenty of customized bagels, sandwiches, quiches and soups. For people who want to make their own salad, you’ll be offered a huge lineup of toppings including shrimp, crab, lox, bleu cheese and ziti pasta. Interestingly for being in Casablanca, the bagels are all New York themed and include names like Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, Flushing, Empire State along with several other New York neighborhoods, landmarks and boroughs.

I was in the mood for a little more than just a salad, so went for the Flushing bagel with a fitness salad and a coke. The bagel came with smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado and cucumber, but the salmon was shredded pieces of nova lox and not the full cuts that you often get. While it was tasty, don’t go expecting a New York quality bagel — it didn’t have the normal chewiness and was more like eating bread. The salad was better and came with salmon, tuna, cucumber, hearts of palm, corn, edam cheese and romaine lettuce. The dressing was similar to a thousand island base, but when mixed together was a bit too much and would probably be better if it wasn’t so heavily coated.

For a healthy dessert, I went with a carrot and orange smoothie that had just enough sweetness to hold over my craving. Other options for your sweet tooth include cheesecake, mixed berry smoothies and fresh fruit cocktails.

Before and after the meal, service was top notch and cheerful. The one person working behind the counter was nice and helpful in explaining our choices in English and our food came out quick. If you’re looking for a fun atmosphere with great choices for healthy salads, look no further than Garden Bar a Salades.