Protein box takeout in Mapo, Seoul: Why Starve Diet

Lately, I think the hardest part of dieting has been choosing what to eat when I’m out.

If I eat only salads every time, I get tired of them so quickly; but if I have a typical lunch or dinner, I somehow feel like I’ve let my meal plan downㅠㅠ So while looking around Gongdeok for somewhere to have a light, salad- or protein-focused meal, I visited Why Starve Diet Gongdeok Main Branch :)

Protein boxes instead of salad in Gongdeok

If you’re looking for a good salad spot in Gongdeok, this is somewhere worth keeping an eye on. Why Starve Diet was a little different from the salad-only places packed with vegetables that usually come to mind.

There are protein boxes where you pick a main protein such as chicken or smoked duck, then choose from different styles including Light, pasta, tofu noodles, oats, and cauliflower rice, so it was easy to tailor the meal to what I felt like having that day haha. When dieting, eating the same chicken breast and vegetables every day is bound to get boring, but the variety made choosing a meal-plan menu fun too haha.

There’s also space to eat right in the shop, so it looked good for dining alone or having lunch in Gongdeok. But I wanted to eat comfortably at home that day, so I got two menus to go.

The takeaway packaging was neat too, so it seemed perfect for picking up as a work lunch or carrying home for dinner after work. Especially when you’re dieting, if you get hungry on the way home, you end up tempted by other foods, right? haha Having it packed in advance like this was so convenient because I could eat as soon as I got home.

How mild was Chicken Light?

My first pick was Chicken Light! It’s a light-style protein box with sous-vide chicken breast and vegetables. For reference, I asked them to leave out the chickpeas and green beans—I don’t like beans haha. It’s the kind of combination you could call a diet-meal basic, but when I opened it, I loved that it was more generous than I expected. It wasn’t just a salad crammed with vegetables; there was a proper portion of chicken, so it really felt like a full meal haha.

Chicken breast can be hard to eat if it’s too dry, no matter how committed you are to your meal plan. Why Starve says it brines and tenderizes its meat in-house, then cooks it using steam and sous-vide methods~~~ When I tried it, the chicken was tender and easy to eat, and it was clean and mild alongside the vegetables. It’s the kind of flavor I’d think of on a day when I want something lighter than an oily, heavy meal!

When lunch is too heavy, I sometimes feel more sluggish in the afternoon, but Chicken Light was nice to enjoy lightly, just like its name :) If you normally like salads or prefer a classic diet-meal setup, Chicken Light would be a good one to try first.

The chewiness of Smoked Duck Tofu Noodles

And my second choice was Smoked Duck Tofu Noodles! Personally, I was really curious about this one that day haha. If you keep eating only chicken breast, sometimes you really start craving another kind of meat, right? I liked being able to choose a menu with smoked duck for a slightly different meal-plan combination!!

It uses tofu noodles instead of regular noodles, and I liked that pairing with the smoked duck too. The official menu introduces the Smoked Duck Tofu Noodles protein box as a combination of smoked duck and pleasantly chewy tofu noodles. The tofu noodles had that distinct springy texture, so there was definitely more to chew on than in a vegetable-only salad.

With the flavor of the smoked duck added in, it felt less like, “I’m eating diet food right now,” and more like I was having a delicious meal, which I loved haha.

Chicken Light is mild and clean, while Smoked Duck Tofu Noodles feels a little more flavorful! Having both packed up and trying them together, each had its own appeal, so I don’t think I’d get bored alternating between them. When I’m dieting, I think finding meals I can keep eating without getting tired of them matters more than simply eating as little as possible!!

In that sense, I liked that Why Starve Diet Gongdeok Main Branch has varied mains, from chicken and smoked duck to beef, and lets you choose a base to suit your taste haha. If you want something truly light today, go for Chicken Light; if vegetables alone feel a little lacking and you want more chew, choose something like Smoked Duck Tofu Noodles haha.

For office lunches and dinner takeout after work

Eating at the shop is nice too, but personally, I thought it was really great as takeaway!! Everything was packed neatly, making it easy to carry, and I could take it straight home or to the office and eat it right away—perfect for a busy office-worker lunch or dinner after work!! It could also be good for anyone near the office wondering what to eat every lunch break. Gongdeok has so many office workers that even picking one lunch menu can feel like a taskㅠㅠ

On days when heavier meals like stew or gukbap (rice soup) feel like too much, getting a salad or protein box to go like this would be a nice change~~! Of the two menus I tried, I’d recommend Chicken Light if you want a cleaner, milder meal, and Smoked Duck Tofu Noodles if you usually enjoy smoked duck and want the texture of tofu noodles too :) Bringing both home let me enjoy their different charms even more haha.

If you’re dieting in Gongdeok and tired of the same old salads every day, or want a satisfying meal with protein as well as vegetables, visit Why Starve Diet Gongdeok Main Branch!! It’s comfortable to eat in, and convenient to take home or to work like I did, so I think it’ll come to mind now and then when I’m stuck deciding on a meal-plan menu. Next time, I’d like to try the other protein-box combinations too, not just chicken or smoked duck haha.

On days when I don’t want to eat only bland food just because I’m dieting, or when I want a clean, filling meal in Gongdeok, this was a Gongdeok salad spot I’d want to get takeaway from again♥