Yuan Xiang Vegetarian Food

We have recently found a vegetarian food 煮炒 ("zi char") stall in Ang Mo Kio. When we first went there, it was in Blk 223F Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, but they have just moved to Blk 232 ~ not too far...

---

This is one of the few places we can find vegetarian satay

---

Dumpling soup

---

My DD simply loves hor fun

---

Mock fish with ginger and bean sauce. Really, the ginger made this dish - it was crispy fried and I loved it.

Zhen Ji Vegetarian

One of my favorite quick lunches is at the market food centre at Holland Drive (near the junction of Buona Vista Road and Commonwealth Ave). This is a stall that is famous for its vegetarian bee hoon. Recently, I also tried the vegetarian chicken rice, and it was also very good!

Vegetarian Bee Hoon

Vegetarian Chicken Rice

Where to find it:
 Blk 44 Holland Drive
 Holland Drive Market & Food Centre
 #02-26 Singapore 270044

What the stall looks like:

Daawat Tandoori

Having passed by the restaurant every day, it was only yesterday that we finally decided ot go in and give it a try. We were pleasantly surprised by the great food :-)

We had the vegetarian set meal, which has briyani rice and a naan (choice of plain, garlic or butter), 3 side dishes (of which one is a dal) and a raita. The dishes were really good! Finally, there is dessert and coffee/tea ~ you can change the beverage to a soft drink, but I got the tea, and enjoyed it.

Open Daily, 11am - 11pm
Restaurant Website
Email: daawat_tandoori@yahoo.com.sg

New vegetarian restaurant at Jalan Bukit Merah

We visited this restaurant for dinner last week, it is nice and simple.

SanSkruti

A couple of days ago, we chanced upon SanSkruti while looking for a place for lunch. It is an Indian vegetarian restaurant on Race Course Lane, and what caught my eye was that it served Gujurati cuisine. After looking through the menu, we decied to have the buffet, as it would allow us to taste a variety of dishes.

The dishes were pretty good, and prepared Gujurati style. There was kachori for starter, and the papad was nicely roasted. There was cabbage sag, palak paneer, channa, (one more dish I can't remember now) and, of course, dal and rice. They brought out the chappati as we ordered, so it was fresh and hot, with a generous dash of ghee. Dessert was gulab jamun was soft and well-soaked - delightful!

Forest Dew Vegetarian Restaurant

DH and I were on the way home one evening last week when 7-month old DD decided she was going to cry and cry and cry... We pulled into the next parking lot so we can get her out of her car seat & soothe her.

Turns out, we were right in front of a vegetarian restaurant!! We decided to get dinner there. Ordered two soups and two other dishes...

Since the lady said each soup was one portion, we ordered two - a Watercress Soup and a Salted Vegetable Soup. Turns out the portion was pretty large... Had I known, I would have ordered just one. The Salted Vegetable Soup had a nice herbal taste to it, and DH seemed to like the Salted Vegetable Soup.



We also got a Sambal Chicken and a Fish in Black Bean Paste. We were too eager to dig in that we forgot to take photos first! The sambal was fiery hot... I don't think I really tasted the "chicken". The "fish" was good.



Overall, it was a pleasant experience. The menu was extensive, I would definitely go back and try other items!

Forest Dew Vegetarian Restaurant
Blk 23, #01-523 Bendemeer Road

(Green+on+earth)

Last week, my DH and I was at Beauty World Centre, and trying to find a place for dinner. I knew, from times past, that there was the food court on the 4th floor...

So, up we went, and we found, to our delight, a new vegetarian cafe - ok, it is not so new anymore, as it is a year old, but given that the last time I have been to this building was almost 12 years ago, it is new.

Green on earth cafe looked inviting (especially compared to the foodcourt outside) with a simple decoration and menu that looked yummy.

We went in, got seated, and then baby started to cry, so, the first dish at this cafe was milk for baby!! The owner was realy nice lady, and got us some hot water to heat up the milk.


I tried the beetroot & orange soup, and it was good, although I thought it would have been better as a cold drink than a hot soup.


As a starter, we tried the "Vietnamese Roulade", essentially vietnamese style spring roll. Nice healthy alternative to the deep-fried version.


For main dishes, we got the Mapo tofu pot, which came in a hot claypot and was served with brown rice. We also got a specialty (I have forgotten the name) which was fried mock fish that comes with a lovely sauce and lettuce which is used to wrap the 'fish' to eat.


Overall we found the meal extremely satisfying, and will certainly come back!

----------
Green on earth cafe
144 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #04-03
Beauty World Centre, Singapore 588177
Tel: 64684748
Email: info@greenonearth.sg
Website: http://www.greenonearth.sg/

Vegetarian Villas

We came across a relatively new restaurant at Bukit Merah - Vegetarian Villas. The restaurant has an interesting concept of serving vegetarian Yong Tau Foo. Customers select items they want in their dish, and whether they want it in a soup or "dry". They may also add noodles or rice, or select a regular soup or laksa soup.

The restaurant also serve a few other dishes like claypot rice/noodles, satay beehoon and specials on certain days.


Our first time there, we also found out that some items go into the soup, while others are fried and served with sesame seeds in a separate bowl.

Overall, we quite enjoyed our meal, and have been back quite a few times since!

Vegetarian Villas
11 Jalan Bukit Merah #03-4458
(it is at a corner at Blk 11, which is beside the "ABC market")
Email: vegvillas@gmail.com
Tel: 6273 2337

[UPDATE: This branch has closed as of 2010]

Eight Immortals Vegetarian

My DH and I first went to this restaurant last week. We had heard about it from a friend, although I have also seen it while passing by on previous occasions, but never thought about giving it a try. The restaurant is not at all fancy, but is clean and brightly lit, with simple decoration.

We ordered a vegetarian fish soup, Peking duck (mock duck, of course) and a sambal kangkong. The soup is a milky soup with crispy fried "fish", tofu, preserved veg and some mushrooms. The Peking duck was served with cucumber and lettuce - which you are supposed to use to wrap the slices of "duck" in. Sambal kangkong is a local vegetable cooked in chilli paste.



We took a picture after all the food arrived (and we had already started on some of it!). We really enjoyed the soup, and DH liked the "fish" inside. The kangkong was good and spicy! I thought the Peking duck was a little dry, but still quite ok. Overall, it was a satisfactory meal :-)

Today, we decided to go again, and since we liked the soup so much, we got it again. We decided to try the gong bao "chicken" (gong bao ji ding) and the kai lan in "oyster sauce". The gong bao chicken is mock chicken cooked with cashew nuts and red chilli peppers. It turned out to be really good - better than most gong bao chicken we have had at other places. The kai lan was... well, kai lan! Perhaps we should go for more interesting veges next time!

Tonight's dinner came up to about $20 for the two of us.

Eight Immortals Vegetarian Pte Ltd
Blk 721 Clementi West St 2
#01-126, Singapore 120721
(beside West Coast Road Chinese Temple & CC)
(opposite Ginza Plaza)
Tel: 6774 6102

Note: They also operate outlets in various food courts around the island.

Ling Zhi Vegetarian Restaurant

Last weekend, my DH and I went to Ling Zhi Vegetarian Restaurant for dinner. There are two branches, one at Far East Square, the other at Liat Towers. We went to the Liat Towers branch, and above is the entrance to the restaurant.

    We had the "special tea" - it was a water chestnut drink that day. (picture above left). To start, we ordered spinach soup (picture above right). The soup is served in a bamboo cup - really cute! It is a simple and refreshing concoction, and is not overly spiced or savoury, which brings out the flavor of the ingredients. We enjoyed the simplicity of it all.

We ordered three main dishes. I really can't remember what the names are in the menu, so I will just describe them, and hope the pictures do them justice.

The mock fish consists of layers of beancurd wrapped in crispy seaweed-type "skin", with shreds of caramelised ginger on top, and chili sauce on the side. DH and I absolutely loved this dish.

The stuffed eggplant (picture above center) came in a claypot, and was served with four fried buns. I wasn't expecting the fried buns and had also ordered white rice! I ended not eating any of the rice. The eggplant was stuffed with tofu, and served in claypot with mushrooms and potato slices. The sauce was good (and went well with the fried buns). This is a tasty dish!

The only dish for which I remember the name on the menu is the "Bag of Treasures". This consists of veggies wrapped in beancurd skin, and served with broccoli, with a drizzle of a light sauce. Nice simple addition to the meal.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed dinner. It is known that this restaurant isn't exactly cheap - we spent over $60 on dinner for 2 - but it was definitely worth it!

LingZhi Vegetarian Restaurant - Liat Towers
541 Orchard Road,
#05-01 Liat Towers,
Singapore 238881
Tel: 6734 3788
Print-friendly website
Tung Lok Group website

Porta-Porta Italian Restaurant

Last night, my DH and I went out for dinner with a friend. Our friend had suggested an Italian place in Changi, and made a reservation for 7:30pm. Driving all the way to the other end of the island wasn't exactly pleasant. We set out - from the West side! - at 7pm, and traffic was stop-and-go most of the way. We had to call our friend to change the reservation to 8pm instead!

The restaurant is one of a row of old shophouses. It is a small place, with barely eight tables, but extremely cosy. We were brought bread (picture right) and olive oil with small pieces of vinegared eggplant which was really good. For starter, we also ordered smoked mozzarella - which we devoured before I remembered to take a picture of it!

My DH got a penne arrabiata in black olive sauce (picture left). It was excellent! The black olive sauce had crushed black olives in it, and the dish was nicely spicy. The penne was al dente, and nicely so (unlike some other places where it tastes hard).

I got the parpadelle in cream sauce with mushrooms. The parpadelle was excellent - it was extremely fresh tasted lovely. I have never tasted such great pasta in Singapore before! The cream sauce was light and the dish was served with a ton of mushrooms. The portions were hearty, and I was getting rather full towards the end.

After the main course, we decided to share dessert - a tiramisu, which was highly recommended (picture left). For good reason too, as it was one of the best I had tasted - the mascarpone was fantastic, and the biscuit layer at the bottom was soft and yummy "rummy".

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed dinner, and the atmosphere - definitely worth the 1-hour drive through traffic. It may be on the expensive side, with each pasta dish costing $24 or more, but certainly worth it. It also has an interesting selection of pasta, with different sauce options other than the common boring red tomato sauce. Indeed this must be one of the best Italian restaurants I have been to in Singapore!

Porta-Porta Italian Restaurant
971 Upper Changi North Road
Changi Garden
Singapore 507668
Tel: 6545 3108

Food Tasting at Silk Road Restaurant (Amara Hotel)

A couple of days ago, we were at Silk Road at the Amara Hotel for a "food tasting". The 9-course vegetarian menu is as follows:
Vegetarian Cold Cut Combination
~*~*~
Vegetarian Hot & Sour Szechuan Soup
~*~*~
Braised Vegetarian Chicken with Broccoli
~*~*~
Steamed Tofu with Mushroom
~*~*~
Steamed Winter Melon with Vegetarian Goose
~*~*~
Yam Ring with Seasonal Vegetables
~*~*~
Braised Mushrooms with Spinach
~*~*~
Braised Ee Fu Noodles
~*~*~
Mango Pudding

The first dish was nicely decorated, and very interesting but the portion was disappointingly small. The soup was pretty good - nicely hot & sour - very appetising.

The third dish had more broccoli than "vegetarian chicken", but since I love broccoli, that was just great. However, the next dish seemed to have exactly the same gravy, but more of it! While the gravy was fine with the broccoli and "vegetarian chicken", it didn't go that well with steamed tofu and mushrooms. Or perhaps I wasn't expecting to have more of the similar-tasting stuff...

By now, I was already starting to get kinda full, but the winter melon in the next dish was a nice touch, with a cool and light taste. The yam ring was not exactly what I expected - I didn't see a ring, just two strips of what seems to be fried yam... Looks more like "yam fries"! Hmm... was it too much to expect them to make a ring for individual servings?

After this was a dish of mushrooms and spinach. The spinach was ok, BUT they dumped a ton of button mushrooms on top of the spinach - uh, I could have gotten that out of a can. In fact, I probably could have made this dish myself! DH hardly touched it...

The noodle dish was rather disappointing, as it was utterly dry, and lacked... everything - it was literally just fried ee fu noodles! Ok, with a sprinkle of mushrooms. What did I expect? Well, perhaps some veggies, say strips of carrot and a few strands of greens, and a little bit of gravy would be nice.
However, the mango pudding was a nice sweet ending, with real mango chunks at the bottom.

SIX of the courses had mushrooms, and given the my DH is not a great fan of mushrooms, I ate his as well. I had totally "overdosed" on mushrooms by the end of the evening!

Overall, while many of the dishes were quite tasty, a few were rather disappointing. Also, the presentation was not at all appealing, except for the first dish, which we didn't take a picture of. Practically all the were dishes served in just a plain white bowl. It almost seems like they put in the minimum thought necessary so that they can justify getting away with it on the actual day, if we didn't say anything! I felt kinda bad that my sis and her fiancé had to pay $90 per person for this.

Silk Road Restaurant
Amara Singapore, Level 2
165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088539
Tel: 62273848
http://www.silkroadrestaurants.com/rest.html

Lemongrass Thai Restaurant

This evening we had a dinner date with another couple and their baby. We went to Lemongrass at Pasir Panjang, and it was pleasantly good.

The baby got her own chair and utensils, and she immediately busied herself playing with them. Overall the service was great. I also noticed that they now have a vegetarian section in the menu!

We got the mango salad and spring rolls for starters. The mango salad was really good - tangy and spicy! The spring rolls were tasty, but nothing too phenomenal. For mains, we got the tofu with basil, kailan with mushrooms and the green curry. We also got the thai style noodles (pad thai). I really liked the green curry. The tofu must have been made with tamarind, which gives it a slightly sourish-tangy taste!

Lemongrass Thai Restaurant
http://www.lemongrass.com.sg/

Earle Swensen's at Vivo City

My colleagues and I had lunch at Earle Swensen's at Vivo City today. I had originally thought it would be just like any other Swensen's, but no - it is supposed to be a "high class" Swensen's, and guess what, "high class" Swensen's doesn't have anything vegetarian on the menu! Oops, sorry, gotta take that back - forgot about the fries, and the ice cream...

Check it out for yourself - Earle Swensen's has its menu online!

The only saving grace was that it has a lovely salad bar, with nice & fresh produce. Trust me, I have been to salad bars in Singapore where the lettuce look pathetic! But not here. I loved the corn, and the Waldorf salad, and a ton of other greens they had in there.

Oh and I forgot to mention that, for lunch on weekdays, they have a set menu which is quite reasonably priced, that actually has one dish I could get - vegetable spaghetti!! Woohoo! That comes with the salad bar, coffee/tea and ice cream, all for $15.90++. Of course the spaghetti portion was also reasonably suited to the price, but I'm not complaining, as I actually already filled myself on the salad before the spaghetti was served.

Anatolia Turkish Restaurant

My friend first introduced me to Anatolia a few years ago. I have been returning to this restaurant many times since, and again this evening. The restaurant is a small and cozy place, in a quiet corner of Far East Plaza.

They are quite vegetarian-friendly, and what I really love is their lentil soup, salad bar, sutlac (rice pudding dessert) and of course turkish tea! In terms of main courses, they have vegetarian lamacun, pide and omelettes. There is, of course, also the turkish ice cream booth, complete with all the tricks that are really amusing to watch!

Anatolia Turkish Restaurant
14 Scotts Road #02-58/29 Far East Plaza
Tel: 6836 3352

The peril of eating alone in a foodcourt in Singapore

Imagine this: you are alone, trying to grab a quick bite at the foodcourt before heading off to your next appointment (whatever that may be). In the middle of your meal, you get up to get a drink (or a fruit or whatever). That takes no more than 1 minute, but the next thing you know, your food is no longer there!

This is no joke, and has happened to me before, and almost happened to me again this morning. Luckily I was quick enough to yell at the "uncle" to inform him that I wasn't yet done!

Somehow the foodcourts in Singapore seem to have a super-efficient system of clearing tables - when you don't want it cleared! As opposed to when you're waiting for someone to clear vacated table still full of empty dishes...

Miao Yi Vegetarian Restaurant

A Chinese-vegetarian restaurant, tucked away on the 3rd floor of Coronation Plaza. It may not be very prominent, but always seems to be very well-patronized every time we are there. As with all other Chinese-vegetarian restaurants, it serves the usual concoction of mock meat, but also has a great selection of tofu dishes.

When we were there last weekend, we tried a "soft tofu fantasy", which was tofu fried with a crisp brown skin but still white and soft inside. It was topped with crunchy bell pepper and TVP bits. Another dish that was a "first" for us was a sweet-and-sour mock duck (or some mock meat). The mock meat was crispy, and the sweet and sour sauce was just nice - not too sweet and not too sour!

This is one of vegetarian restaurants we have returned to frequently, as we enjoy the selection of dishes they offer.

Miao Yi Vegetarian Rstnt Pte Ltd
#03-01/02 Coronation Shopping Plaza Singapore 269707
Tel : 6467-1331

The NUS "Arts Canteen"

The canteen in the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore has recently undergone renovation and will begin operations again on 13 August 2007. Oh, yes and it is now called "The Deck".

Here's the layout of the new canteen.

Anyway, there will be a vegetarian stall there... I wonder if it will be the same stall holder as before, as I really liked how they always had a clear soup on the menu every day.

Imperial Herbal Sin Chi Cafe and Restaurant

Two weeks ago, I met up with a few high-school classmates for dinner. Being the only vegetarian, I was again compelled to be the one to suggest where to go.

Just for kicks, I called up Imperial Herbal Sin Chi Cafe and Restaurant at Vivo City, to ask if they cater for vegetarians. Yes, of course they do, you can ask the captain on duty for vegetarian recommendations!

Well, I certainly didn't forsee the difficulty finding parking on a Saturday evening, which made me half an hour late! By the time I arrived, my friends had already finished a (non-veg) starter, which was fine by me. Apparently, the starter was good enough to prompt one of them to make a reservation for her family lunch the next day!

As I wasn't up to eating too much, I ordered a soup for myself. We also got a dish of greens, a tofu dish, and a noodle dish which we shared. Overall, it was pretty good, and my friends also enjoyed the non-veg dishes they got.

Secret Recipe

On Friday, my colleagues and I went for lunch at Secret Recipe (at Anchorage). This restaurant has exactly two (2) vegetarian dishes on the menu - a vegetarian spaghetti, and some Japanese noodle dish. HOWEVER when I tried to order, the waiter could only tell me, sorry, the vegetarian dishes are not available!
What absurdity!

I asked what I could eat then, since we came in because there are some vegetarian options. Trying to be helpful, he suggested the prawn arrabiata spaghetti, without the prawns. Normally I would have just nodded and said ok, but that day, I just thought I'd ask, how much it would cost me to have the prawn arrabiata without the prawns.

To my disbelief, he said, we'll charge the same... the same as what? the same as the prawn arrabiata even without the prawns! Erm, the vegetarian spaghetti cost about $2 less than the prawn arriabiata, and I'm going to get charged for the prawns, when I don't want the prawns?

Finally I asked for his manager, who came out to explain, very politely, that they don't have vegetarian dishes because the factory did not send the material. Well, I don't really need to know that, nor do I care - I just want to know that I won't be getting charged for prawns that aren't going to be there! Eventually, he agreed to make a vegetarian spaghetti, but not before repeated warnings that the dish won't be the same as described in the menu!!