Naive

Read about this place and decided to try it out. Nowhere on the outside of the restaurant or the menu does it say that it is a vegetarian restaurant - which kinda confuses some people... I think the point is so that people don't go with a preconceived idea of what vegetarian food is...

The decor of the restaurant was simple and chic. The long wooden bench in the middle of the restaurant brings a very earthy feel to the place.

Before the meal, customers are given a mortar and pestle and are invited to partake in the "bloss" ceremony. "Bloss" stands for "blessings of the sesame seeds" :)


So you're meant to grind the sesame seeds and add it to your food - the seeds represents the blessings you receive everyday. Kinda therapeutic to grind the seeds up and adds a nice touch to a bowl of white rice...

Not hungry enough for a full meal so ordered a few things just to sample the food here. Order the Penang Rendang (spicy pan-fried mushrooms with steamed buns) $9.80+:


Man, I LOVE steamed buns, especially this type - I could eat it everyday and not get sick of it :) The rendang that the mushrooms were cooked in was spicy, flavourful and tasted very Peranakan. Yummy!

Also ordered the Tamarind Tofu Cake $13.80+ -


Beancurd and seaweed fried into tofu cakes with a spicy tamarind sauce laden with lemon grass and fresh chilli. Tofu cakes are what some veggie stalls call "veggie fish" - one of my fav mock meat alternatives. The tamarind sauce is spicy and sour all at the same time - again with a very strong Peranakan influence.

The food was good but prices are too steep for the small portions. For vegetarian food with a Peranakan touch, you're probably better off trying Whole Earth Vegetarian.


Naive
99 East Coast Road
Tel: 6348 0668
www.naivecompany.com

Epicurious

Came here for brunch on a Sunday and was lucky enough to get the last seat in the house - it's still a relatively popular place for weekend brunches.

The meal started with complimentary Mini Muffins -


So small and cute! Just the right size to keep us mildly satisfied while we waited for the rest of the food to arrive...

I had the Ratatouille Omelette (two-egg omelette filled with a herb, tomato, eggplant & zucchini stew and topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano) $12 -


Ok, so you can't exactly see the ratatouille, but it's inside the omelette :) I love omelettes of every shape and form!

Also tried the Veggie Pu Yi sandwich (char-grilled eggplant, bell pepper, artichoke heart & sun-dried tomato) $10 -


There's just something about grilled veggies - it's so simple yet tastes so good!

I was craving something sweet so ordered the Choco-nana Sandwich (chocolate spread, banana and strawberries) $5 despite not being a huge banana fan -


It was just ok, and it seemed a silly to be paying $5 for a nutella sandwich...

I've come here a few times and always had a good experience here. The food is consistent and relatively healthy, and there's such a homely feel about this place. A great option for a lazy Sunday brunch


Epicurious
60 Robertson Quay
#01-02 The Quayside
Tel: 6734 7720
http://www.epicurious.com.sg/

Genesis Vegetarian Health Food Restaurant

I've eaten here a few times - and also was asked to try this place by two other friends (who had no idea I've actually been here multiple times :). Since it seemed to be very popular, and the food is quite good, I thought it warranted a post.

One of my favourite things here is the Organic Mee Sua (brown rice mee sua, seasoned with a delicious cashew sauce and topped with cruncy raw vegetables) $5.90 -


Well, to be honest, I love mee sua - could eat it everyday and not get sick of it. I'm also a big fan of veggie fish, and this one is much healthier (less salty) than the others I've tried. The mix of mee sua, veggie fish and the crunchy carrots makes this a winning combination.

The other thing I love here is the Japanese Rice (seasoned with seaweed, soy, carrots, mushrooms and sesame, topped with fruits and and served on a delicious toasted nori sheet) $6.50 -


I tear off little bits of the nori sheet to eat with the rice - it's yums. Also love the raisins and mango bits, nice sweet touch to the dish.

The Rojak $3 here is also quite tasty -


despite the fact that it does not use prawn paste. Besides the usual pineapple, cucumber and turnip, they also put apples in this dish.

The Zha Jiang Mian (smothered in meat-like sauce and served with shredded raw carrots, cucumber and soy) $5.90 -


This is just ok. Well, for that matter, I'm not even a fan of non-veggie zha jiang mian...

The Mango Salad seems a tad bit expensive at $12 but it's meant for 2 - 4 persons -


Erm, we didn't know you were meant to mix this up before eating it :)

The Bak Kut Teh $6.50 is not that great here -


Well, of course it will never have the flavour of Bak Kut Teh cooked with meat. So it's not as tasty and the soup kinda thin in comparison.

This place can get quite busy during lunchtime, but do come here for some healthy veggie options!


Genesis Vegetarian Health Food Restaurant
1 Lorong Telok
Tel: 6438 7118
http://genesishealthfood.blogspot.com/

Franky's Kaffe Kitchen

Looking for a new place to try, as usual, and I suggested this place tucked away in a quiet corner of Millenia Walk. It was as quiet as I guessed it would be - nearly totally empty during Sunday lunch!

I'm quite a sucker for cheese fries so was quite happy to order this to share.


Cheese Fries for $7.50+ - I never understand why cheese fries cost so much more than normal fries... is melted cheese so expensive?!? Just ok but not worth the price I think.

Gerry tried the Vegetarian Avocado Sandwich $9.90+ -


I didn't get to try it so can't say how it is. I'm a newly converted avocado fan though - recently tried some in a sandwich with portobello and it's brilliant! I've always been kinda adverse to avocado just because the very first face wash that I used was Eversoft - avocado base - and the smell of avocado just reminds me of face wash :D But like I said, I'm a newly converted fan now :)

I had the Philly Steak Sandwich $11.60+ :


Yeah, sandwiches don't photograph very well. But this one was decent, a wee bit on the salty side though. I used to love the Phlly's Cheesesteak at the other side of Millenia Walk that's closed down some time back - this is a pretty good substitute.

We decided to order just one dessert to share and tried the Brownie $4.20+ :


I asked for a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to go with it and was totally surprised that they didn't charge me for it! Pretty amazing considering most other places would charge you at least $2.50 for a scoop of ice-cream. The brownie itself was not too bad, and the ice-cream wasn't cheap ice-cream or anything like that.

This place is perfect when you want to have a quiet place to catch up with friends. Service is friendly and food is decent (a few korean options that we didn't try). A good option when you're in the Millenia area...


Franky's Kaffe Kitchen
9 Raffles Blvd
#01-55/56 Millenia Walk Mall
Tel: 6336 7641

Oomphatico's

I was actually here twice - once in January and again recently in June. Ok fine, June is not that recent :P When I was here in January, it was for coffee so I didn't think it was worth blogging about. But after I had brunch here, I decided it was enough to make up a proper post :D

The menu here is kinda, well, confused. Besides all the breakfast dishes, there are also salads, sandwiches, pasta, soup, risotto and rice, pizza, pasta and noodles. It's confusing coz the dishes range from western (Spaghetti Carbonara) to Thai (Tom Yum Koong) to Fusion (A Thai in New York Sandwich - light chicken filet with basil sauce topped with a soft fried egg). Hence the many tags for this post...

But we were here during brunch so we stuck to the interesting sounding breakfast dishes. The Gorilla's Breakfast $14.00++ had olive bread, portobello mushrooms, arugula salad, sundried tomato and fresh mozzarella, served with fig jam -


Yup, in case you didn't already know, gorillas are vegetarian :D The bread can't be seen as it's underneath it all. I didn't try the fig jam but the other ingredients actually went pretty well with each other to make a very healthy and light dish.

The Pancake Lasagne $12.50++ is not quite pancakes or a lasagne...


Rather, it was zucchini, pesto and mango chutney between layers of crepes. Surprisingly yummy, yet another succesfully innovative dish! One gripe I had though - we ordered two of this and the second one came more than half an hour after the next one. Not sure if the waitress screwed up the order or the kitchen messed up, in any case, it was really annoying.

We also tried some desserts, Pom Pom (warm apple and raisin bread pudding with vanilla ice-cream) $8.50++ :


and Fragrant Attraction (delicate mounds of sticky rice cakes with spiced mango and coconut custard toppings) $10.50++ :


The bread and butter pudding was not bad but too filling for one person to finish on their own. Didn't like the Fragrant Attraction much, especially since I was recently in Thailand and really good mango sticky rice...

When I was here for just coffee, I had the Cafe Granita $9.50++ :


which I slurped up happily. Mostly coz I don't normally have this type of drinks (so fattening!), so when I do, I really enjoy it :D

Food here is interesting, and those dishes I tried were good. Might be worth coming back to try more dishes. It's got a nice atmosphere - perfect for a tete-a-tete with girlfriends or a family outing with the kids (especially since the staff are known to burst into song and dance and everyone are welcomed to join in). But do watch out for the spotty service...


Oomphatico's
163 Tanglin Road
#01-03 & 01-35/36 Tanglin Mall
Tel: 6733 9088
www.oomphaticos.com

Little Part 1 Café

K recently introduced me to this place and we've come here twice already :) I actually read about this place some time ago but could not figure out where to park so didn't bother coming. We ended up parking at Thomson Plaza and walking to the back door of the restaurant via the Thomson Plaza carpark exit.

The Mango Udon Roll $6.90 is an interesting vegetarian starter -


It's a rice paper roll with udon, mango, cucumber, avocado and mint leaves. The ingredients went together well to make a refreshing and light starter.

The Tofu Steak $5.90 wasn't what I expected -


The menu said oven baked tofu with wakame and assorted mushrooms so I wasn't quite expecting something with a sauce. It was still not too bad though...

The Salt & Pepper Calamari $8.90 was yummy!


It was perfectly fried - crispy and not overly chewy, served with a scrumptious homemade wasabi mayonnaise sauce.

The Little's Chicken Schnitzel $13.90 is their signature dish -


Huge serving! The chicken was coated with seasoned parmesan breadcrumbs and served with a clear wine sauce and mashed potatoes. I didn't like the wine sauce much so left that aside, but the mashed potatoes was really smooth, had bits of corn in it and were really good. A must try dish here!

The Bratwurst Brat $14.90 had a choice of sausages served with mashed potatoes -


Yet another huge serving! The sausages were tasty and served with the yummy mashed potatoes.

Little's Fish and Chips $12.90 was breaded dory served with chips -


I found it was a bit tasteless, which is weird as most reviews I've read said the seasoning is too strong.

K had the Four Cheese Fungi Crepe $12.90 -


which I took a bite of. Cheesy and chockful of mushrooms in a thin crepe - nice!

The Apple Crumble $7.90 with a scoop of gelato was really good -


The combination of a hot apple dessert and cold ice cream is just magic.

The food here is really good - huge portions at great prices. The chef obviously takes pride in every dish as you can see the care that goes into it. Mostly healthy too, with a range of vegetarian options. The place is a bit small so don't be surprised if you have to wait. The only thing that put me off before was the parking situation but now that I have a solution to that, I'll probably be back here a lot in the future :)


Little Part 1 Café
15 Jasmine Road
Adelphi Park Estate
Tel: 6451 7553
www.littlepart1cafe.com.sg

Food #03

Read about this place on IS Magazine and decided to check it out with K & M. We managed to get a lot along the road right outside the restaurant - lucky us :D The place stands out among the dilipidated shophouses around it, the interior decor is industrial - raw, basic and simple...

I started with the Leek and Potato Soup $4 :


I didn't like it very much - a bit too thin and not creamy enough for my tastebuds... but definitely a generous portion.

For the main coure, I had the Tempeh Burger $11 :


This is the first time I've had Tempeh. Tempeh is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybean particles into a cake form - it has a nutty flavour and texture. I'm not too fond of the tempeh, but loved the rest of the burger, the fried egg was a nice touch.

K had the Eggplant stuffed with mixed summer vegetables, Tempeh and Wolf Berries with leek and rosemary Pilau Rice $14.00 :


Tried a bit of it and it was quite yummy!

M had the Mixed Grilled Vegetables Pizza :


Interesting place! Food was a bit iffy but they only just opened up on this visit, and have since more dishes like Shepherd's Pie that I would love to try so will be heading there again soon (I hope :). Check out Post-Museum next door!


Food #03
109 Rowell Road
Tel : 6396 7980
http://www.food03.sg/

Green Room Café

Sorry for the lack of posts! I misplaced the cradle for my camera and could not download any photos since the last post... then remembered I had the photo for this in my handphone - so here's a half-baked post to keep my regular readers happy :)

Meips, the birthday girl, wanted to try out this place so we came here for tea on a Sunday afternoon. It's located in Bishan Park and that meant it was nestled among lush greenery... perfect ambience for a lazy afternoon tea. Best of all, there's plenty of lots so parking is not an issue at all!

Already had lunch so I ordered the Daily Baked Apple Strudel $6.80++ for dessert :


Small chunks of Granny Smith apples (i.e. green apples) wrapped in filo pastry... tasted pretty ok, and I guess it's worth the price coz at least they had to bake it on the spot.

Matt had one of the main courses here (soba?) but wasn't terribly impressed. The vegetarian laksa here costs $12.80++ which I'm so not paying for considering I had vegetarian laksa at a food court a few streets away for just $2.50!

A nice place to chill out with friends over afternoon tea but not so sure if the food is good or worth the price.


Green Room Café
1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Bishan Park II
Singapore 569931
Tel: 6456 6556
http://www.aramsaspas.com/greenroomcafe.html

Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant (Far East Square)

At the birthday boy's request, we came here for dinner recently. Yes, the birthday boy is a vegetarian :) I've only had the Dim Sum and Hot Pot Buffet here, so was quite glad to try the ala carte menu...

I've been having vegetarian bee hoon for breakfast every weekend for as long as I can remember, and one of my favourite dishes is the deep fried beancurd - which is known here as Vegetarian Duck $24++ :


Seeing how there was a big group and it was a pretty small portion, and there were plenty other dishes, AND it's so damn unhealthy... I only took one piece. Mmmmm... deep fried bean curd... yummy!

First time I saw the name 'monkey head mushrooms', I thought it sounded very unappetizing, but really it's just mushrooms :) The Monkey Head Mushoom $24.00++ was cooked in a Szechuan style with chilli and cashew nuts :


I didn't like this much - the mushrooms were too hard, maybe overcooked? I've had much better monkey head mushrooms at much lower prices at other veggie places.

The Crispy Fried Mushroom Rolls $21.00++ was not too bad but such a mess to eat (well, for me at least)...


Coz the mushrooms totally fall out!

We also ordered the Yam Basket $27.00++ but it wasn't what I expected -


It's not quite like the traditional yam basket... but as I'm not a fan of yam, but a big fan of fried crispy stuff, I was quite pleased coz I had lots of fried crispy stuff to pick at :)

We also ordered the Steamed Eggplant $14.00++ :


which came arranged really pretty. It was a simple tasty dish - and yay, more fried crispy stuff! :)

I was quite opposed to ordering the Crispy Vegetarian Eel $14.00++ as I'm not a fan of eel - I don't like the way it tastes and the way it looks. Yes, I know this is not actual eel but just could not shake off the negative impressions...


It looks ugly! But tastes better than it looks - must concede and agree that it was worth ordering...

And I made sure we ordered my all time favourite noodle dish - E-fu Noodles $15.00++ :


Yums! I could have bowls and bowls of E-fu noodles!!! But I exercised self-restraint and only had... erm, two I think :)

I wasn't all that impressed with the food here - it was just mediocre and a bit over priced. Service wasn't that great either - they weren't very helpful or friendly. If I come back here, it will likely be for the dim sum and steamboat buffet coz that's real good value for money.


Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant
7-10 Amoy Street
#01-01 Far East Square
S049949
Tel : 6538 2992

Kashmir Restaurant

I always get to satisfy my craving for Indian (vegetarian) food when I'm out with K&M :)

This place was pretty quiet when we got there, but filled up soon after - apparently Indians eat dinner pretty late. K&M had been here before so I left the ordering up to them.

The meal started with the waiter bringing over a bowl and poured some water over our hands to wash it before what was surely going to be a "no utensils" meal.

The Wazul Chaman $9+ wasn't very tasty -


Only near the end of the meal did I realise that this was cottage cheese! I thought it was tofu - cottage cheese would explain why it didn't absorb the curry well...

The Tandoori Aloo $6+ was not bad -


Looks like potato skins right? Tasty, not quite sure what the filling actually was though...

The Mixed Vegetables $7+ was the best dish of the night!


Deceptively simple but so yummy! Must have been a million spices in it that gave it the amazing mix of flavour.

K, the pescatarian, wanted some fish so we ordered A. Tali Macchi $9+


And no Indian vegetarian meal is complete without Naan. We ordered 5 to share for $15+ but was way too much for us to finish.


Oops sorry for the blur photo :P

A satisfying meal that was flavourful but not overwhelmingly spicy. Always glad to have K&M to venture with me into Little India :)


Kashmir Restaurant
52 Race Course Road
Singapore 218563
Tel: 6293 6003 / 9666 5329

Devagi's Restaurant & Café

K had a friend in town and before bringing her to the Night Safari, we came here to have dinner. K loves the food here and was eager for me to give it a try...

We had Stir Fried Mushrooms $6.00+ -


A small portion for that price, but quite tasty.

The Stir Fried Spinach with Coconut $6.00+ didn't sound all that promising...


but I loved it! It was really yummy and the little bits of coconut added such an unexpected crunchiness to the dish.

I thought the Tofu Masala $6.00+ would be a curry dish but turned out to be dry -


It was just ok.

The Assam Fish Slice Curry $7.00++ is one of K's favourite dishes -


and for good reason - it was sour and spicy and very good value!

The Vegetable Briyani $9.00+


and Prawn Briyani $10.90+


were both really good - healthy (very little ghee used), yet extremely flavourful.

Devagi herself convinced us to try the desserts so we ended up ordering the Rose Falooda Ice Cream (ice-cream with vermicelli) $3.60+ -


and Gula Melaka Banana Ice Cream $5.50+ -


I didn't like either desserts. Vermicelli with ice cream is just too bizarre a combination and I'm not a big fan of gula melaka (except when it's inside onde onde). A bit of an acquired taste, I think...

The food was generally good but portions a bit small. Parking is a problem along the road but I always park at the HDB block behind the community centre. Come here for some tasty and healthy Indian cooking.


Devagi's Restaurant & Café
200 Upper Thomson Road
#01-03 Thomson Imperial Court
S574424 Tel : 6255 2440
www.devagi.com