Sampling the Menu at Ufood Grill

On Monday evening, Miss Yunks had the opportunity to attend a menu tasting at Ufood Grill with the Boston Food Bloggers.  The Ufood crew, including Tom Mackey, the Senior Vice President of Operations and George Naddaff, Chairman and CEO, hosted us in the Fenway location which is where Ufood is headquartered. We learned about Ufood’s history and plan for the future.  Ufood does not claim to be the healthiest choice in town; they do claim to be healthier than most other fast food chains, to taste great, and to have your order ready in 3.5 minutes.  The Boston Food Bloggers were lucky to experience all three of these claims.

We sat around small tables and were served by Ufood staff, unlike a regular Ufood experience where you order your meal at the counter, pick it up at the counter, and seat yourself.  Ufood makes an excellent option for a quick lunch on a work break because it’s ready in just 3.5 minutes and because it is 30-40% lighter in fat and calories than other fast food options.

And now for the food!

We started with the Bistro Salad, a mix of greens, grape tomatoes, dried cranberries, walnuts, and feta cheese topped with blueberry pomegranate dressing.  The salad tasted fresh, light, and refreshing.  This salad is simple enough that you could make it yourself at home, and also has a high enough quality that makes it perfect to grab on the run when you don’t have time to prepare your own salad.

Next came the Unfries.  Ufood fries are baked, not fried.  The baking process puffs air into the fries, giving them a crispy outside edge you’d expect from a fried fry.  These fries are delicious, and I would definitely rely on them to satisfy a fry craving.

The next dish had steak tips, mashed sweet potatoes, and broccoli.  I requested a plate without steak and Ufood was very accommodating for the vegetarians in the group.  The potatoes were full of flavor and tasted buttery – but Ufood does not use any butter!  The broccoli was just plain broccoli, no seasonings at all.  That was definitely unexpected from a fast food chain and a bite of broccoli with the mashed sweet potato was perfect.  I’m counting it as my vegetable serving for the week! (half joking)

The cheese pizza is prepared on a thin crust topped with tomato sauce, low fat cheese, and topped with tomatoes.  I don’t think it would satisfy a greasy pizza craving, as it’s not greasy at all, but it is nice to know that you can get pizza for less fat and calories than several other pizza chains.

Meat eaters tasted the Turkey Burger (with great reviews) and the Better Bacon Burger (with mixed reviews) while the vegetarians sampled the Veggie Burger.  I love ordering veggie burgers out because I always forget to buy them at the grocery store so I don’t eat them a lot.  And when I do eat them at home, I don’t have all of the burger toppings that I get in restaurants.  This veggie burger is served with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and a spicy mayo.  I don’t love to eat mayo – something about the texture – but the burger was tasty and my half was very filling.  A whole burger would make a very filling meal.

Ufood also serves smoothies and a few different ones floated around.  I sampled the Strawbanilla and it was great.  I love smoothies and there aren’t enough places to get them – at least near me.  I personally invite you to open up shop in Cambridge, Ufood.  Ufood has smoothies covered and even offers Enhancers, such as protein and energy.

I was beyond full at this point but the food just kept on coming.

Vegetarians were served the Margherita Panini, filled with tomatoes. skim mozzarella. fresh basil, sun-dried tomato, and pesto.  This is one of my favorite lunches.  Ufood even mentioned that Panera, located right next door to Ufood, sells a very similar panini.  What’s the difference? Ufood’s is lower fat, lower calories, and is ready in 3.5 minutes.

Tofusion is a dish of organic tofu, rice, and vegetables with a soy-ginger glaze.  This is also a dish that would be easy to prepare at home, but I never make tofu at home so it was a nice treat to taste it at Ufood.  Tofu is not my go-to protein of choice, but Tofusion would be a welcome change if I ate at Ufood often.

The Pesto Pizza is on the same thin crust as the cheese, and topped with a nut-free pesto sauce and low fat cheese.  I love pesto so I liked this pizza a lot.  I’d happily eat this pizza for lunch or dinner.

Showing its diverse menu, Ufood also let us taste the Falafel Wrap, filled with baked falafel.  This wrap was really unexpected on a menu of burgers, fries, and pizza, but it was also really delicious.  Full of low fat and fresh ingredients, this wrap would also be a healthy option in a Ufood lunch rotation.

For our dessert, we sampled Ufood’s froyo.  They have the tart yogurt flavor offered at other yogurt chains like Pinkberry and Red Mango, and they also have a berry, vanilla, and chocolate.  I tasted the tart and berry swirl and it was the perfect ending to this Ufood feast.  I’m not a huge froyo person – I would always chose a chocolate brownie over ice cream or froyo – but this yogurt is good.  My friend who is a huge froyo fan has tasted it and if she approves, then it really is good low fat froyo!

Thanks to the Boston Food Bloggers for the company, to Rachel for organizing, and to Ufood for hosting and sharing all of this delicious food!

[Full Disclosure: All food was provided for free and all opinions are my own.]