Healthy, low-calorie, low-fat restaurants in the GTA?

[jnfr]

Recently, I found out that one of my favourite restaurants, Pickle Barrel, is evil in that their amazing pastas have mostly over 100% fat content and over 1000 calories (although their Rose Mc-something menu is terrific...)

Long story short, I am looking for more restaurants around the GTA (pref. Markham) or North York that serve low-calorie, low-fat food at a low price (as in, just a casual restaurant, nothing fancy). I hear the pho is a pretty healthy choice, other than that I'm not sure.

Help? What are your favourites?

[UrbanPoet]

thats nothing new...
To me it seems kinda obvious their food is calorie dense. IF you eat a big bowl of pasta with cheese and sauce... (enough to make you stuffed) the calorie count is gonna be huge!

TRy Vietnamese resturants, or THAI.
Middle eastern food is nutritious.. Shawermas.

[*Lady*]

I think LOW-fat/calorie restaurants is a bit of an oxymoron.

Everything is always so greasy and the portions are huge.

I suppose pho isn't too horrible compared to pickel barrel (i love pickel barrel too!), but the broth has a lot of added oil and the beef is usually a fatty cut. So its not my idea of 'healthy', but yeah, its healthiER for restaurant food.

I think your best bet might be getting a roll of sushi at a Japanese restaurant. That's portion controlled and low in fat.

In Richmond Hill, there is this restaurant at Sixteenth & Leslie that advocates healthy eating -- http://www.nourishu.ca/
You can decide whether it suits your needs.

Can't really think of anything else... but I'll be watching this thread for sure too!

[MoonDoggy]

Pho isn't exactly "healthy". It varies from place to place cause some places might load it with MSG while others loads it with oil and fat.

Japanese places is pretty good if you eat the soba or sashimi. Sushi is pretty bad for someone who's on a low carb diet.

[UrbanPoet]

Pho isn't exactly "healthy". It varies from place to place cause some places might load it with MSG while others loads it with oil and fat.

Japanese places is pretty good if you eat the soba or sashimi. Sushi is pretty bad for someone who's on a low carb diet.

In general Viet food is pretty clean....

Examples.
1. Vermacilli! You can get it with Grilled Chicken or Beef. If you wanted too... you could skip the spring rolls and ask for extra veggies.

2. Pho is pretty low in fat... Its just broth. Its no matter how oily the soup is, it is nowhere near the amount of fat in the tiniest ounce of cheese you could most likely get on your typical pasta dish.

but yes your right. Its not TOTALLY healthy, but it seems like an angel compared to Pickel Barrel...
as far as sushi... You could go for brown rice sushi with extra sashimi! That'll keep the carb count low. But i think that whole "low carb" fad is phasing out... I think people finally realized "yes im losing weight by eating nothing but steak and eggs, but i feel like crap".

[uvadtmfub]

Cultures?

[MoonDoggy]

In general Viet food is pretty clean....

Examples.
1. Vermacilli! You can get it with Grilled Chicken or Beef. If you wanted too... you could skip the spring rolls and ask for extra veggies.

2. Pho is pretty low in fat... Its just broth. Its no matter how oily the soup is, it is nowhere near the amount of fat in the tiniest ounce of cheese you could most likely get on your typical pasta dish.

but yes your right. Its not TOTALLY healthy, but it seems like an angel compared to Pickel Barrel...
as far as sushi... You could go for brown rice sushi with extra sashimi! That'll keep the carb count low. But i think that whole "low carb" fad is phasing out... I think people finally realized "yes im losing weight by eating nothing but steak and eggs, but i feel like crap".

where do you go for sushi that they use brown rice instead of normal sticky japanese rice? I haven't found a place that uses brown rice yet.

carb is good for you, but most people eat too much carb. it's surprising how much people (especially asians) eat carb! it's a big problem for me just to do 40/40/20 split.

[funkyfr3sh_]

where do you go for sushi that they use brown rice instead of normal sticky japanese rice? I haven't found a place that uses brown rice yet.

carb is good for you, but most people eat too much carb. it's surprising how much people (especially asians) eat carb! it's a big problem for me just to do 40/40/20 split.

The only place I have seen it is in those Sushi Q kiosks (Markville, Eatons Center). Not sure what sit down type restaurants have this though.

[christinajia]

You can go to T&T supermarket to try chinese breakfast, I'm chinese and I enjoy the breakfast.
http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/specials/specials-e_ON.php?C=1208872111


Recently, I found out that one of my favourite restaurants, Pickle Barrel, is evil in that their amazing pastas have mostly over 100% fat content and over 1000 calories (although their Rose Mc-something menu is terrific...)

Long story short, I am looking for more restaurants around the GTA (pref. Markham) or North York that serve low-calorie, low-fat food at a low price (as in, just a casual restaurant, nothing fancy). I hear the pho is a pretty healthy choice, other than that I'm not sure.

Help? What are your favourites?

[audit13]

Based on the nutrition information found on noodle packages, they all seem have a lot of calories in a tiny portion. Not to mention the carbs:lol:

[gita]

Any restaurant can be healthy.

Just talk to the server and ask what the healthier options are or specifiy your requirements - no oil / steamed / baked / low-salt etc.

Always say no to the fatty foods added to meals like cheese, cream, bacon, or anything fried.

And eat only half of the portion served to you as restaurants give way too much food. Order extra veggies or a salad with your meal to fill you up.

Skip dessert and have fresh fruit instead. Your beverage should only be water, tea or coffee. Drink nothing with calories.

Every restaurant can be healthy if you use common sense.

[ShoppingMirry]

Any restaurant can be healthy.

Just talk to the server and ask what the healthier options are or specifiy your requirements - no oil / steamed / baked / low-salt etc.

Always say no to the fatty foods added to meals like cheese, cream, bacon, or anything fried.

And eat only half of the portion served to you as restaurants give way too much food. Order extra veggies or a salad with your meal to fill you up.

Skip dessert and have fresh fruit instead. Your beverage should only be water, tea or coffee. Drink nothing with calories.

Every restaurant can be healthy if you use common sense.

You're absolutely right. The Pickle Barrel menu is like a novel. Surely, pasta is not the only thing they serve there. I ordered their lettuce wrap appetizer as my main and it was awesome! You can totally make that yourself too!

Downtown has many more restaurants devoted to healthy dishes. My favourite is Fresh (http://www.juiceforlife.com). It's a vegan restaurant that even my meat-eating fiance can fill up at!!