I think my generation (the Gen-Y, if you hadn't already figured that it from following this website) is starting to move towards the health food trend and overall fitness. Of course, there have been quite a number of "healthy cafes" popping up.

I've been to a number already and generally quite like them. So when Botanica Deli invited me to their newly opened cafe within the first week of opening, I was quite excited to try it.

The owners are from Singapore, and also engaged a Singapore-based interior designer to come up with the he concept for the cafe. The clean, tiled floors against the wooden panelled walls make the entire cafe pop with vibrancy and life. Potted plants carefully arranged around the cafe make the place seem like a beautiful indoor garden. The owners admit that they want to go for a "dining in the park" feel (without our excessive heat and humidity).

The Botanica experience of picnicking in an indoor park starts at the counter, where you order your salad/sandwiches/soups and pick them up when it's ready. The self-service element of Botanica allows for food to be prepared quickly, making it one of the new hotspots for the office crowd to frequent. Only a week into opening and the cafe is already filled to the brim with hungry customers at lunch.

It isn't surprising though... Botanica Deli's DIY salads are incredibly worth it. "As long as it fits in the bowl" is their selling point. You pay a fixed rate (RM24 for the large one - which is REALLY huge) for whatever it is you want in your salad and as long as it fits in the bowl you can have as much of it as you like. And it isn't a vegan place, so meat and eggs are optional ingredients available for you to pick from.

And healthy doesn't just mean vegetables. Healthy pasta options to add into the salad are also offered here.

But if you don't think salad would be enough to fill you up then definitely go for their sandwiches. Our favourite has to be the roast beef sandwich with mustard (RM24). This is, by far, the best roast beef sandwich I've had outside Katz in New York.

The turkey and cranberry sandwich (RM19.50) is a healthier option but it can get a little dry, which is typical of turkey. Despite the dryness of the turkey breast, the overall taste of the sandwich isn't too bad.

The highlights here are definitely the salads - both the ones on the curated menu as well as DIY. We tried a spicy tuna salad (RM19.50) as well as a DIY salad. For some reason, I don't know why we expected the tuna to be tuna flakes rather than raw tuna. But I suppose that's what make it extra healthy and without the added oil.

Our DIY salad was paired with their house dressing which was made out of a sriracha and miso blend.

Every main dish comes with a soup side during lunch - the soups change daily. The day we went to try the food at Botanica Deli, we were treated to a lotus root soup, a potato soup and French onion soup. If you want a just bowl of soup here without a main, it is RM9 for the small bowl and RM12 for a large one.

If you are the kind of eater who needs desserts, Botanica Deli also offers a good selection of cakes and desserts to choose from. We tried the banana and salted caramel cake as well as the carrot cake and a yuzu pudding. The banana and carrot cakes were both really moist and tasry, but not too sweet. The yuzu pudding was a little sweet/sour for our liking but it was very refreshing.

Right next to Botanica Deli is Botanica & Co., a night-time alternative with Western fare.

Botanica Deli G3A/G5 Verticals Podium, Bangsar South City, 8 Jalan Kerinchi, 59200 KL Open Mon - Sat 8AM-4PM (as of June 2016) Contact number: 0169656422

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