Gym Shack

If you have visited Viet Shack or Fusion Lab in the Arndale Market, Gym Shack is another venture run by the same guys. Gym Shack takes up residence where Simone’s: The Healthy Baker was. Instead of healthy bakes, we now have healthy meals! Here, I will go into the details of what you can get there.

Gym Shack Stall

Gym Shack

The menu board has a lot going on it which can make ordering from here rather daunting. To break things down for you, their main meals are the boxes which come as a regular box aka the Lean Box for £6.99 and under 500 calories or a large box aka the Hench Box for £8.99 and under 900 calories. Much like you would do at a Subway, you choose your carb(s), your protein, optional healthy fats (80p each), any salads and a sauce.

Gym Shack Menu – Photo by Gym Shack

If you are as indecisive as I was, you can ask the chef to do what they feel is best. You can also opt for one of the Greens, a set salad box costing just under £6. Having a cheat day? No problem, they also do burgers, wraps, bagels and pasta for £5 each.

They also do three types of protein smoothies costing £3.50 each and three types of protein brownies costing £2.50-£2.80. If you’re lucky, you can also still catch some of Simone’s regular healthy bakes on the counter!

The Food

Gym Shack box

The food is freshly prepared in front of you. I couldn’t choose which carbs I wanted, so I went with all of them. There is some salmon buried in the box and then I asked the chef to just add whatever salad and sauce he wanted on top. It’s a good meal and I felt full for ages after this. I love the colours of ingredients! The only downside was how overcooked the runner beans and broccoli were.

Overall rating and comments

8.5/10, -0.5 for the busy menu board. There’s just a lot going on and I feel it could be made better by breaking the Lean and Hench boxes into their own chalkboard. Having said that, the menu is pretty, so kudos to the person who designed this despite the constraints. -1 for overcooked veg. In all honesty, this is hard to get right as to keep them warm, it needs to undergo further cooking unless you were to cook it fresh each time. This is bearing in mind that they would need to deliver food quickly and efficiently for the lunch time crowds.

Would visit again?

Maybe. If I’m honest, I try to eat healthy when I’m cooking in the house so if I’m out and about, I tend to eat more unhealthily. I also don’t work nearby to make it a regular lunch option. I think this is a brilliant option if you are close to it and needed a boxed lunch that you know is freshly prepared and healthy too!

Information

Address: 49 High Street, Manchester M4 3AH