Salamander

As a nighttime dining spot, Salamander is well-known for its high-voltage fusion cuisine, but it also does a casual, cafeteria-style lunch at very reasonable prices. Those who find themselves in Kendall Square area at midday can choose from an astonishing array of pasta and vegetable salads ($9 per pound), from mixed local greens to tropical couscous and rice with mango-and-mint dressing . The sandwiches, under headings "traditional" (for example, tarragon-chicken salad with Dijon mustard and sprouts) and "funky" (such as pastrami with horseradish-mayonnaise, watercress, pepper-jack cheese and shallot jam) are generous on style and substance, and come garnished with sweet-potato and other root chips. Desserts range from ginger-molasses cookies (75 cents) to fresh-cherry pie and a luscious peach tart (each $1.50). Beyond all this exotic fare -- and perhaps best of all -- you get to eat in Salamander's spacious, airy atrium, which will make you feel as if you've gotten a lot more than you paid for.

Salamander, located at 1 Athenaeum Street at the corner of First Street in Cambridge, serves its cafeteria-style lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 225-2121.

-- Sarah Lydon