A while back, my parents and I went to 'Ashley,' an American-style grill & salad restaurant, similar to VIPS. Normally, I don't frequent these types of restaurants because I find them to be overpriced and not so veg-friendly. However, Ashley does a special weekday lunchtime deal of 9,900 won and they pride themselves on their "well-being" menu of fresh salads, so I figured it would be worth a try.
When it came to their interior, I think they went a little overboard with the feminine country-theme. There were so many clashing, kitschy patterns going on, it was a little overkill.
The place was mainly filled with single women, and mothers with their rowdy children.
As for the food, most of the entree dishes had some meat or dairy in them, but I was still able to fill up on the options that at least seemed vegan.
Fried Tofu and mushrooms (although I don't see any mushrooms).
'Royal Rice cake', which is basically non-spicy ddeokbokki.
Bagel and plum salad. I've never seen bagel chunks mixed into a salad of prunes and drenched in sweet berry dressing, but it was pretty good.
I thought this 'Autumn Baked Vegetable' dish would be vegan, but after one bite of the corn, I knew there was butter in it.
They had a 'make your own bibimbab' section, with a rice pot and a few different banchans, as well as a rather sad-looking nacho bar, and some soups.
I was expecting a big salad bar spread, but the salad bar was almost non-existent. They only had one bowl of iceberg lettuce, and a few different dressings. They didn't have any other veggies or salad add-ins for people to create their own salad concoctions. So that was rather disappointing, as it's probably the most obvious thing one would expect from a salad bar buffet. It also didn't help that we went during peak lunch service, so the place was bustling and the food was disappearing faster than they could refill the plates.
Their fruit section was rather limited and not very fresh: lychee (frozen), brown-colored pear slices, pineapple chunks, and canned peaches (not in the picture).
Without a doubt, the one food item that make it all worth it for me, was the edamame beans! It was the highlight of my lunch (is that sad?). It's so hard to find edamame in Korea, I was ecstatic to see them on the menu, and was determined to get my money's worth.
Anyhooz, here's what I ate. First 'appetizer' plate.
Plate #2.
My dessert plate. Notice the ice on these edamame beans? That's because the second plate of beans on the buffet line came out completely frozen! It was surprising to see that they hadn't even bothered to defrost them.
Overall, Ashley's was aiight. There were a decent number of veg*n options, but it wasn't anything to write home about, and I probably wouldn't go any other time besides weekday lunches, due to the increased price. I think I've just been spoiled by the Achasan Loving Hut buffet. :)