The Lunchpad

The Lunchpad is a fairly permanent "popup" located inside Noir Lounge, in Hayes Valley.  It has been operating for many years, and is open daily, so ... not really sure I consider it a popup.  More like a co-habitation?  In the evening Noir Lounge is a live music venue, a place to watch sports games on the big screens, etc, with a vibrant happy hour and bar menu.  But at lunchtime, The Lunchpad moves in. 

The Lunchpad has all your lunch basics of sandwiches, salads, and sides, along with all day trendy brunch (of course you can get avocado toast!).

Venue

Since The Lunchpad uses Noir Lounge as the space, the venue is kinda cool, not what you'd expect for a lunchtime sandwich shop.  Lots of assorted seating, and a real vibe to it.

Wooden Table with Eclectic Chairs.

Some of the tables and chairs looked like they came out of a refurbished furniture store.

Bar Area.

And since it really is space designed for happy hours, there are multiple bars.  This is the back bar.  Again, the upholstered stools gave it a real unique ambiance, as did the decor, all of which looked like it came from a second hand store.

Food

The menu at The Lunchpad is reasonably large, with sandwiches ranging from a "Build your own" grilled cheese with a bunch of mix-ins, to toasted items like a cubano, and classics including roast turkey, chicken, tuna, and egg salad, etc.  Any of the sandwiches can also be made into a salad for a low-carb option, and the menu has a number of other composed salads to pick from.  Sides were the part of the menu most interesting to me, as they had not one, not two, but three different kinds of slaw (horsey blue, chimichurri, or dijon sweet & spicy), along with several pickle options, housemade chips, and candied bacon.  Interestingly, no fries, perhaps they don't have a fryer?

Horsey Blue Slaw. $4.

I love slaw, and thus, I was there for slaw.  I knew I didn't want the chimichurri one, but either of the others had potential.

I wasn't really sure what "horsey blue" was, so I asked.  The answer was simple: "horsey" is horseradish, "blue" is blue cheese, "slaw" is, well, coleslaw.  Blue cheese horseradish slaw it was.

it was pretty tasty.  Fresh crisp cabbage, mostly green, with a few shreds of purple cabbage and carrots for extra color.  It was a bit zesty from the horseradish and a serious amount of pepper.  I loved how much pepper was in it, they really did not hold back on seasoning.

The blue cheese was the aspect I was most interested by.  I don't think I've ever had it in a slaw before.  I like blue cheese, but, only in certain contexts.  It actually worked well here, the creamy, tart, richness offsetting the sharp spice from the horseradish and pepper.  The blue cheese infused the flavor of all of the slaw, but there were also some sizable chunks mixed in.  I believe there was also a mayo base, as it was very creamy, and I don't think that was all from blue cheese.  Perhaps it was a blue cheese dressing?

Overall, this was pretty good, and certainly a unique spin on cole slaw.  It was fresh, crispy, creamy, and very flavorful.  $4 was a fine price for a reasonable sized side dish.

***+.