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10 Healthy, Cheap Lunches You Can Get Delivered Right Now

Waimai doesn't have to kill you.
2020-09-03 11:00:00
Photos: Brandon McGhee

We hear so much about how delivery isn't good for you. Well, what are you ordering? A Habit Burger and malted shake aren't going to improve your waistline or leave you feeling light and energized. But there's plenty of dishes you can order on the delivery apps (Ele.me, Meituan, Sherpa's) that won't leave another jelly roll over your abs. In fact, there's been a big trend of healthy delivery in the last couple years in Shanghai, with dozens of shops now competing for that salad money.

We picked ten places with healthier menus and offered up just one suggestion from each, from lowest to highest price (not including delivery fees). With vendor discounts on Ele.me and Meituan, prices can often be lower than what we've listed here.

Banana GG

391 Xiangyang Nan Lu, near Yongjia Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Banana GG

The Price: 76rmb

The Dish: Prawn Mango Salad

Available on: Ele.me, Meituan

Not a big portion but this salad comes with three big, grilled tiger prawns and an avocado (perfectly ripe when we ordered), fresh mango slices and oranges. Salad base is a mix of both greens and kale.

Little Catch (Yanping Lu)

2/F, Block C, 98 Yanping Lu, near Wuding Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Little Catch (Yanping Lu)

The Price: 65rmb

The Dish: Spicy Mayo Salmon Poke Bowl

Available on: Sherpa's, Ele.me, Meituan

Little Catch are the OG poke bowl store in Shanghai, even if they are now down to just one location on Yanping Lu. They have a ton of options and things to customize, from turning the rice into grains or even into salad. And that spicy mayo... it's kinda the foundation of their business.

The Rabbit Whole

1/F, 1535 Huashan Lu, near Tai'An Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
The Rabbit Whole

The Price: 52rmb

The Dish: Chicken Wrap with Mixed Salad

Available on: Ele.me, Meituan

A better version of your normal lunch-time Subway wrap: a spinach tortilla rolled around smoked chicken breast. Side salad comes with chickpeas, sweet peas, corn and quinoa.

Free Table (Julu Lu)

B1, 158 Julu Lu, near Ruijin Er Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Free Table (Julu Lu)

The Price: 58rmb

The Dish: Sirloin Steak Kale Salad

Available on: Ele.me, Meituan

FreeTable has two stores. Among their specialties are a bunch of dishes with kale, so we went for this kale and quinoa salad with walnuts, squash, mushroom, asparagus and soft white cheese, covered in steak. Honey mustard dressing on the side had a pretty good zip to it.

Sagreen (Changning Lu)

B1, 890 Changning Lu, near Huichuan Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Sagreen (Changning Lu)

The Price: 53rmb

The Dish: Chicken Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Available on: Sherpa's, Ele.me, Meituan

Sagreen is a fairly big chain that specializes in all things healthy, from salads to cereal bowls and poke. This chicken number comes with large chunks of — they say— "sous vide" chicken, mushroom and pumpkin, plus carrot, corn and broccoli.

Green Fork

B1/F, 333 Zhaojiabang Lu, near Damuqiao Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Green Fork

The Price: 52rmb

The Dish: Grilled Salmon with Asparagus

Available on: Ele.me, Meituan

Simple and straightforward. Big portion of salmon with a side of asparagus, over multi-grain rice cooked with sweet corn.

0ºC D Cal

1213 Beijing Xi Lu, near Xikang Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
0ºC D Cal

The Price: 49rmb

The Dish: Caesar High Protein Quinoa Salad

Available on: Ele.me, Meituan

Like FitBee, this hard-to-pronounce chain (... zerodegreeceedeecal?) with five stores labels most dishes with calorie counts, which they try to keep low. This high-protein salad was one of the few that they didn't label but it contained so much grilled chicken breast and beef that you couldn't see the quinoa/cranberry grain underneath.

Fitbee

1/F, 242 Julu Lu, near Ruijin Yi Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Fitbee

The Price: 48rmb

The Dish: Kyoto Quinoa Bowl Salmon

Available on: Sherpa's, Ele.me, Meituan

FitBee on Julu Lu is crazy popular, judging by the number of orders. Ele.me says it does 9,999+ in a month. I mean, you can even order a simple sliced chicken breast on the side for 13rmb. Ground-breaking advances in the field of convenience right there. We went for one of their new items, a super protein boost (42g) from salmon, edamame, an egg, and kidney beans, plus rice mixed with quinoa and broccoli. FitBee gets points for labeling each dish with the calorie count, the protein amount, and how much fat and protein the meal includes.

Bowl Shakalaka (Shaanxi Nan Lu)

350 Shaanxi Nan Lu, near Nanchang Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
Bowl Shakalaka (Shaanxi Nan Lu)

The Price: 42rmb

The Dish: Tofu Bowl

Available on: Sherpa's, Ele.me, Meituan

This store only has a single location, just behind IAPM on Shaanxi Nan Lu. They are not strictly vegetarian and do pokes and grilled meats, but we went for the fried soft tofu over black rice, with pumpkin and other veggies.

GuaKa (Yan'An Xi Lu)

2/F, Building 2, 200 Yan'An Xi Lu, near Nanjing Xi Lu View Listing Taxi Printout
GuaKa (Yan'An Xi Lu)

The Price: 39rmb

The Dish: Grilled Tofu Healthy Bowl

Available on: Sherpa's, Ele.me, Meituan

Guaka is inspired by American chain Chipotle, where you pick your different components for a meal and they assemble it in the bowl you want. For this tofu bowl, we added a bunch of veg to the tofu, half an egg, and a brown rice base. Multiple locations in downtown.

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