Hungry Ang Mo | Food Blogger | Vegan

Jiv Jago Vegetarian Cafe
Location: 17 Bali Lane
Contact: 96796722
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 12pm-9pm. Sunday Closed

Recently I was lucky enough to sit down and interview Yuga and Vaishnavi, who are the husband and wife duo that run Jiv Jago Vegetarian Cafe - A 100% vegetarian cafe selling Western food. Below is the interview I conducted with this charming pair, I hope you enjoy!

Vaishnavi (left) & Yuga (right)

What was your reason for opening Jiv Jago?
Yuga: I’ve always wanted to start a business, and the freedom that it entails. In the past, I was a speech & drama teacher and have done independent film making too. It was only when Vaishnavi suggested that we go into the food business that I started to think about it seriously. Initially I was quite against the idea, because I have a phobia of carrying things! So I didn’t know how it would work out. It was only when Vaishnavi starting to plan the menu and when we found our perfect spot at Bali Lane, then I realized that we could really could do this!

Vaishnavi, how much pressure do you feel following in your mother’s footsteps?
Vaishnavi: Actually I don’t feel that much pressure at all. No one around me has any expectations that I should be like my Mum, they are just happy for me to go in whatever direction I want. Even my mother (Mdm Rajeswary – Gokul owner) lets me be free to express myself in the kitchen, so I don’t feel any pressure at all!

What are the pro’s and con’s of running a business/café as a couple?
Yuga: When we first started, it was not easy. I was totally new to the idea of what to do in a café. So definitely we really fought a lot at the beginning! The good thing is that we are able to spend much more time together as a couple.
Vaishnavi: The pro’s are that I can watch whoever he (Yuga) is talking to! Seriously though, we work well together, because Yuga is a people person, and does a fantastic job at entertaining the customers. I’m the exact opposite, so working behind the scenes plays to my strengths.

When you were designing the menu, what was your inspiration for serving Western vegetarian food?
Vaishnavi: Firstly, as vegetarians I believe we want variety in the type of Western food we eat. So I really wanted to open a café that served a wide variety of all different types of Western cuisine, instead of just pasta, for example. So we did our best to create a wide menu that served all sorts of Western items, such as burgers, chops, pasta, pizzas etc.
Yuga: We wanted to focus on one particular theme, which we decided would be Western, and then perhaps expand the menu further.

Various picture frames on the wall.

What are the best/most liked dishes at Jiv Jago?
Vaishnavi: Definitely the beef burger and spaghetti bolognese are hot sellers for us. Our mutton pizza is also a favourite with many of our regular customers!
Yuga: All our pasta dishes are very good sellers. The cheese fries are also quite popular. Each day is always different though, some days we have almost everyone ordering pasta dishes, then the next day everyone ordering chop dishes – So it is very difficult to order from our suppliers!

Looking at your menu on a whole, how many of the dishes are vegan friendly?
Vaishnavi: Dishes like the alfredo, al fungi pasta, and mushroom soup are not vegan friendly, because they are all cream based. Cheese fries also are obviously not vegan. Everything else on the menu is either vegan or can quite easily be made vegan. We even get customers who are vegan wanting to order the pizzas – So we just omit the cheese from the pizza and serve to them.

What are the plans for the future at Jiv Jago?
Vaishnavi: We are definitely going to add a lot of new items on the menu in the future. I do have a list of about 10 other items that I would love to add to the menu, so customers can definitely expect new items in the future!

Vaishnavi, how and where did you learn to cook?
Vaishnavi: I definitely learnt the basics from my mother. But for the rest of my cooking skills I learnt on my own, through improvising. So a lot of the time I still use the basics from my Mum, but then add my own ingredients, which I thought would make the dish even nicer. It was all very experimental!

Vaishnavi (left) posing with her mother Mdm Rajeswary (Gokul owner)

Readers’ Questions:-

Are you going to sell only Western food in the future?
Yuga: I also wouldn’t mind doing Western fusion food in the future! But for now, we will be sticking to only Western food.

A lot of people may be concerned that Western vegetarian food is not particularly healthy, especially with it being very heavy on mock meats. Is serving healthy food a priority at Jiv Jago?
Vaishnavi: We do have salad options at Jiv Jago, and we do get customers that don’t like mock meat. If customers want a pasta dish, for example, without mock meat – Then we have veggie galore and other pastas they can choose from. Even though some of our items do have cheese/cream etc, we still believe it is much healthier than eating meat! Also we definitely cater for customers who request for less oil, less salt, less spice etc.
Yuga: I believe that the term ‘vegetarian’ doesn’t always have to be associated with green and healthy. Vegetarianism, to me, is simply a choice of food consumption to avoid eating meat. Definitely we support healthy living and healthy food, but at the same time we wanted to open somewhere whereby vegetarians can pamper themselves. We want people to know it can be cool to be veg!

What makes Jiv Jago unique when compared to all the other vegetarian eateries in Singapore?
Vaishnavi: I would say it is the menu, because we have a wide spread of all sorts of Western food, which can’t be found anywhere else in Singapore!
Yuga: One thing is the menu, the other thing is that I believe we are a place where everyone can come, have fun and be as loud as they want. I want people to think that if meat-eaters have McDonald’s, then vegetarians have Jiv Jago!

Want more information on Jiv Jago? - Here is my full review of their Bali Lane outlet!

It is always exciting when I find out about a new vegetarian place in Singapore. But Sufood was especially interesting to me. The word Sufood may be new to Singaporeans, but it is a renowned vegetarian franchise in Taiwan. There are currently 18 Sufood restaurants in Taiwan. Singapore represents the first country outside of Taiwan that has a Sufood outlet. So can Sufood take over Singapore, as it did with Taiwan? Let's see...

Sufood
Location: #02-19, 252 North Bridge Road, Raffles City Shopping Centre
Contact: 63335338
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am-3.30pm & 5.50pm-10.00pm

Sufood recently commemorated their Singapore launch by breaking the Guinness World Record for serving the most amount of pizzas in the span of 12 hours. They served a total of 3,574 - A large number. The number of vegan pizzas they served during this record is a much easier to count - 0. The event raised $12,015.50 for the Breast Cancer Foundation.

The seating of Sufood is quite large, with a total of 140 seats. I was amazed to see that at dinner time the restaurant was totally packed. On a side note, Sufood are looking to open four more outlets in Singapore by 2015, and eight by 2018 - Talk about expanding fast.

Currently, Sufood is only offering a set meal, which is priced at $25++. So this set meal will be the focus of my review. The set meal is eight courses in total, and claims to have a total of 200 ingredients used in all their dishes. The menu offers mainly Italian fusion food, with no artificial flavours or MSG.

To start off the set meal, customers will get Rosemary Breadsticks, with a choice of their mustard or blueberry sauce for dipping purposes. If you're vegan, you will have to go with the blueberry, as the mustard contains dairy. The breadsticks were softer than I imagined, and didn't have as much rosemary as I was hoping for. Dipping into the blueberry was interesting, and reminded me of my childhood jam sandwiches in England. The blueberry dip is actually very mild, some might find it is too bland.

6/10

There are a total of four salad options for the set meal, with two of them being vegan. I picked the Mushroom Salad. Warning, this dish (and a few others) contains onions/garlic, so Buddhists take note - Although these dishes are quite clearly stated on the menu. 'Salad' seems like quite an odd term for this dish, as there was little green colour on the plate. I did really enjoy the various species of mushrooms though, which were tender and juicy.

7/10

We moved onto the soup options, and I decided to go for the Mushroom & Pea Pottage. This soup actually consists of three different types of mushroom (button, shitake and king oyster), which are cooked and blended together with sweet peas. Placed on top is a piece of sliced bread and two pieces of capsicum. The soup didn't really capture the different flavours of mushroom inside, and the pea flavour was quite minimal as well, I didn't detect any sweetness. With all that being said, I really like the concept of pea and mushroom soup, and if the flavours could be intensified then I would adore this dish.

6/10

When it comes to the main courses, you can't help but be impressed with the quality of plating for the dishes. This Baked Potato Al Funghi looked like a work of art on the plate. It is true we eat with our eyes, and my eyes were very happy. The baked potato was cooked very well, with a chewy and slightly crisp outer skin, matched with fluffy inner potato. The mushrooms couldn't have looked better, and the taste was splendid too.

7/10

Another main dish I sampled was the Spaghetti Pesto. I've always been a big fan of pesto sauce, I love the earthy and herb flavour that it has, and I was very pleased to find that this sauce was vegan. Overall this was probably the best dish of the entire meal . The spaghetti was very well cooked, and the ingredients tangled amongst the spaghetti were cooked perfectly. The pesto sauce was smooth and really succeeded in bringing out the superb natural flavour of the basil. Large portion size, too.

8/10

Customers who choose the set meal also have a choice of one drink and dessert. For the drink I selected The Very Berry and for dessert I picked out Osmanthus Flower Jelly. Desserts are a little tough for vegans, with the jelly being the only dessert suitable for the vegan diet. The jelly was sweet and captured the flower essence well. The juice was fine enough, but fresh juice always appeals to me more.

Drink: 6/10
Dessert: 7/10

Conclusion - The staff at Sufood are remarkably trained (they were actually sent to Taiwan for two months to undergo training), and the restaurant in general is immaculately run. I must say that only a couple of dishes impressed me on the set meal, but I still consider it worth of the $25++ price tag. It will be interesting to see if Sufood can take over Singapore, judging by their early popularity, I would say their is a good chance they can.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 8/10
Service - 9/10
Value - 7/10

I received a comment recently from a lady named Sarah, who urged me to go and visit a humble little vegetarian stall at ITE College West. When I arrived there I suddenly realised it was the school holidays and the stall would probably be closed. I went into the food court expecting it to be closed, but thankfully it was open, and my trip was not wasted. The ITE canteen is open to the public, but unless you drive, it can be quite a troublesome place to get to. From the outside it just looks like a typical trite vegetarian stall, but sometimes special gifts come in plain wrapping paper.

Tian Yi Vegetarian
Location: Blk 3 Matrix Caferteria, 1 Choa Chu Kang Grove, ITE College West
Contact: None
Opening Hours: Daily 7.00am-3.00pm. Closed Sunday.

The name of the stall is just 'vegetarian' on the outside, but the Chinese characters on the menu read 'Tian Yi'. Here is a look at some of their more popular items.

At the side of the stall, there is also a more elaborate menu. The prices at ITE canteens (and all Singapore school canteens for that matter) are really cheap. So if you want an affordable meal, Singapore schools are where you should be going.

After speaking with the delightful husband and wife owners, I was surprised to find they had a well-known vegetarian stall formerly at block 526 Jurong West (also called Tian Yi). This stall was so notorious, it was even featured in Shin Min newspaper - Particularly focusing on the stall owners ability to make roti prata at an alarmingly fast speed. The wife explained to me that many of their loyal Jurong customers don't know that they moved to the Choa Chu Kang ITE (they moved to the ITE in January 2014). I am hoping this post will reach some of their former customers, who wondered what happened to the stall.

This duo have actually been selling vegetarian food at various stalls in the West for 16 years now. The husband owner is always very keen for customers to try his roti prata, which he makes the dough from scratch. This dough is unfortunately not vegan friendly, however, as the margarine he is using has mild solids inside. Like I mentioned, this couple are really humble and friendly, and have an infectious generosity.

I heard from my reader that the Wanton Noodle from this stall is especially nice, so I couldn't resist trying it. Overall, I must agree that this is a pretty splendid version of wanton mee. What is really brilliant about this dish is the 'zai er' (crispy beancurd skin), which is made from scratch by the lady boss. It is a lot thicker and puffed up than the regular kind of zai er, and is sinfully greasy. The noodle is perfectly cooked, and the wanton has a tasty filling. The only things I would like to see improved about this dish is fresher wantons (the skin had a texture a little too tough/stale for my liking), and a more intense tasting sauce. All in all an excellent dish, though.

Price: $2.60. 8/10

Next dish we tried was the Bak Chor Mee. This dish wasn't quite as impressive as the wanton mee. The downfall of this dish was the inadequent sauce, both in terms of abundance and taste. I also wanted to see more mushroom pieces, there was sadly no mushroom in the dish at all. Replace the horrid mock fish ball with some mushrooms, and I would be a happier ang moh. The saving grace of the dish is the splendid beancurd skin and fresh crunchy vegetables. The noodles were once again of good quality also.

Price: $2.60. 6/10

Conclusion - It is difficult not to fall in love with the owners of this stall. I do hope I can connect them with the customers they lost when moving. Having said that, the difficult location and early closing time will inevitably make it tricky for customers (aside from staff and students) to visit this stall. If you are able to visit though, it is well worth it.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 9/10
Value - 8/10

My ears always prick up when someone tells me you can find the very 'best' ... dish at a certain stall. For this particular review, I have to thank Peggy for suggesting that I pay San Yuan Vegetarian a visit to try their 'unbeliavably good' kway chap. This stall is located directly opposite from West Coast Plaza (the plaza itself has a Real Food and Roti Alka's Kitchen inside). This stall is quite famous, and one can often find a long queue of people eagerly waiting for the dishes available at San Yuan.

San Yuan Vegetarian
Location: #01-149, Blk 726 Clementi West Market & Food Centre, Clementi West Street 2
Contact: 67759083
Opening Hours: Daily 5.30am-3.00pm

If you're looking for the typical bee hoon and dishes, then you can find it at San Yuan. I recommend that you go for their made to order dishes instead though.

Before we get to the kwap chap, I decided to get the Nasi Lemak. This simple dish has one clear superstar on the plate, and that is the red chilli. This chilli paste (which is made from scratch by the stall) is without doubt the best chilli paste I have eaten in Singapore - It is amazing! The chilli is not spicy at all, and has multi-layers of flavour and a gritty texture. Not only is the chilli to die for, but the coconut rice is also exeptional - Aromatic, full of flavour and perfect slightly firm texture. I did find that the other ingredients, such as cucumber and mock meats were somewhat unimaginative - But this dish is a must order just for the rice and chilli.

Price: $3.00. 8/10

So here is the famous Kwap Chap. This dish wasn't quite as amazing as I was hoping it would be. Firstly, I must emphasise that my preference when it comes to kway chap is for it to come with two plates. The kway soup and the dry ingredients (such as beancurd, tofu and mock intestines) to be on a separate plate swimming in a more intense dark sauce - This is how a good kway chap should look. I simply can't appreciate kway chap when all the ingredients are dumped into one bowl. This is definitely a decent version of the dish, and I really enjoyed the flavour of the broth, and the texture of the kway (which is so often cooked poorly) was perfect. But if compared with Tian Yi, I still don't find this kway chap to be in the same league.

Price: $3.00. 7/10

Conclusion - I've recently been making an effort to seek out great vegetarian stalls in the West of Singapore, and San Yuan is one of those stalls that definitely impressed me. The nasi lemak is a must order, but I am sure that there are many more great tasting dishes at San Yuan that you can explore.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 8/10

The 2014 main durian season has arrived, and of course I am very happy. In 2013 I succeeded in featuring many species of durian (especially the more common species), that can be found in Singapore. For 2014, I will most likely be focusing my attention on durians that come and go very fast, but are certainly worth tracking down. For my first durian post of 2014, I return back to Ah Seng (the undisputed king of durian sellers) to see what rare offerings he had throughout June-July 2014.

Ah Seng Durian
Location: Blk 20 Ghim Moh Market, #01-197
Contact: 94656160

I've spent years looking for it, and finally I managed to get my hands on Ai Ching Guo durian. Last year, ai ching guo was a durian that I was determined to find, but this little durian can be quite elusive. The crop for ai ching guo is very low - Only a few durian stalls stock it, and if they do, its only a few pieces which don't tend to last more than a few days. The shape of this durian is petite, with an abnormal lumpy outer shell.

The name Ai Ching Guo爱情果 literally means 'love fruit', and one can see that when chopped the shape of the husk does somewhat resemble a heart shape. This durian is big seeded and has a smooth, yet slightly powdery flesh texture. The overall taste is milky and mild, and might be a suitable 'introductory' durian, for those who are not ready for more intense durian flavours. Not a durian that I would eat again though.

Price: $7.00/kg. 6/10

Another rare species that Ah Seng was gleefully stocking when I visited was a durian named Batu. This durian was coming from Batu Pahat, in Johor and is available for only a few weeks. The durian itself is unusually long, almost like a rugby ball.

Out of all the durians I consumed from Ah Seng during the beginning of the main season, Batu was certainly my favourite. This is an intensely bitter durian. I can only think of tawa durian as a possible contender, who might be able to usurp batu as the king of bitter durians. Batu, unlike tawa, is a large seeded durian, and has a pale yellow colour. I absolutely loved the bitter alcoholic buzzing aftertaste, which this durian has in abundance. Not only did it have great bitterness, but it also had other layers of flavour, unlike XO, which is a bitter durian with quite one dimensional layers of flavour. Overall batu is a top notch durian, which definitely should be sought after when in season - You will only have a few weeks!

Price: $7.00/kg. 8/10

Kim Zhu is another durian I have previously never heard of before this season. This durian has a long season, and can be around for 4-6 weeks, starting in late-June usually. This durian is one of the smallest you are likely to find. The biggest kim zhu will still only weigh around 700 grams. Although it is small, the inside is packed with flesh, making it probably one of the best value for money durians around. Kim zhu has a delicate flavour, which supposedly has an aftertaste of pomelo (I couldn't detect it myself though).

Price: $7.00/kg. 6/10

Black Thorn in Singapore? For those who know Malaysian durians very well, you will know that the black thorn (otherwise known as 'orh chi') is one of the most synonymous durians from Penang. So how did black thorn get to Singapore? Well, apparently many years ago Pahang, Johor plantations took black thorn seeds from Penang and started planting them in Johor (similarly to how Muar plantations started growing red prawn from Penang seeds). The black thorn flesh is more orange, and the seeds are quite large. The flavour is an intense mixture of bitter and sweet, with a slightly fruity finish.

Price: $10.00/kg. 7/10

Conclusion - It has been an interesting beginning season so far, but I must say the quality of the durians has not been good so far. I am hoping that things will pick up towards August and September, when the season will be ending.

There are a handful of vegetarian stalls in Singapore that have become extremely well-known for selling only bee hoon. In fact, if you ask any non-vegetarian what is the first thing he/she usually thinks of when they think of vegetarian food, probably it will be bee hoon and dishes. Vegetarian food is so much more than that. But for this review I will focus on the aforementioned stereotypical vegetarian meal. Bao Bao could arguably be the most famous vegetarian bee hoon stall in all of Singapore, with there being ridiculously long queues for breakfast and lunch time. Their bee hoon usually sells out totally by midday, so I would recommend you visit as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Bao Bao Vegetarian Food
Location: #01-148, New Upper Changi Road Hawker Centre, Blk 58 New Upper Changi Road
Contact: None
Opening Hours: Daily 7.00am-1.00pm. Closed Monday & Thursday

It is worth visiting this stall purely to watch the amazing speed in which the auntie produces a plate of Bee Hoon and Dishes. She can assemble a plate of bee hoon literally within 5 seconds, it is quite a sight to behold. This famous bee hoon is the white variety, which is my personal favourite. It is hard to argue with the quality of this classic dish. The fried beancurd sheets are crispy, the bee hoon well flavoured, the mock char siew is sweet and chewy - It is a perfect breakfast meal.

Price: $2.50. 8/10

Conclusion - If you're looking for one of the best vegetarian bee hoon in Singapore, then there is no doubt you should be paying a visit to Bao Bao. This simple stall undoubtedly produces fine tasty bee hoon, which fits perfectly as a breakfast meal. The queue is often frighteningly long, so it is a good thing the auntie works at the speed she does.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 7/10

The first half of 2014 has really seen a lot of new and exciting vegetarian eateries open up in Singapore. The R.E.A.L Hut is one of those which have opened recently in 2014. This restaurant abides by the motto 'relax, eat and love', which makes up the name of the restaurant - REAL.

The R.E.A.L Hut
Location: #01-197, Blk 46 Sims Place
Contact: 68469976
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 11.00am-9.00pm. Closed Monday.

Here is a look at the menu. Many of the dishes are Taiwanese influenced, but all sorts of cuisines can be found here.

I was feeling a little under the weather this particular evening, so I decided to pick the Immune Boost as our choice of beverage. Inside this pot is a concoction of fennel seeds, cloves and orange peel.

Price: $5.50. 6/10

We decided to commence our meal with a side dish named Vegetable Sushi Roll. The concept of wrapping vegetables in nori roll is not revolutionary, but I've always liked this healthier way to eat sushi. Unfortunately for this version, I found the combination of vegetables and nori to be way too dry. It was really crying out for a zesty sauce, like the one at New Green Pasture (Fortune Centre). Definitely a healthy choice, and the mayonnaise (which is vegan) does bring it to life somewhat. But it really needs a textural moisture, which a good dressing would ultimately bring.

Price: $5.00. 6/10

R.E.A.L Hut have a number of dishes all from different culinary influences - A Korean style dish they have on their menu is the Kimchi Noodle. Kimchi is a fermented vegetable preparation, usually consisting of radish, cabbage or even cucumber. Shrimp paste is used in traditional kimchi, but is obviously omitted here. This soup based noodle dish was quite flat taste wise. Unless you literally bite onto the kimchi cabbage, it is really difficult to get that wonderful sweet and sour kimchi flavour onto one's palette. The kimchi flavour was totally lost in the soup, which caused me to feel quite disappointed. I like the use of seaweed and thin rectangular pieces of tofu inside, but the flavour of the dish really needs to be turned up.

Price: $8.90. 6/10

To finish the meal off, we selected a piece of Carrot Cake. The desserts at R.E.A.L Hut can be seen at the point of sale area of the shop, and there can be found a limited range of vegan and non-vegan desserts to choose from. The carrot cake is totally vegan. This cake didn't have enough moisture, and could have done with another layer of 'cream' in the middle. Also, the cake didn't have the right balance of spices (cinnamon, cardamon, ginger) inside. I did like the orange rind that was sprinkled on top, but improvements in all other aspects need to be made. Having said all that, vegan cakes are not easy to master, so we shouldn't be too hard on them.

Price: $5.50. 6/10

Conclusion - For the positives, I really enjoyed the polite and friendly attitude of the staff running R.E.A.L Hut. The restaurant had a nice and peaceful atmosphere. Unfortunately the disappointment came in the form of the food, which I all found to be totally forgettable. On a brighter note, I am sure with a few tweaks here and there, the quality of the dishes can improve significantly.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 7/10

If you look at vegetarian hawker/coffee shops in Singapore on a whole, I can't help be resign to the fact that most are selling the same dishes, cooked the same way - Boring. There is however, once in a while, a vegetarian stall that really stands out as being special. In 2013, Tanaka Vegetarian Food (Fajar) clearly stood out to me as being the best vegetarian hawker experience I have ever had. Mr Goh, has recently been expanding the Tanaka name, with another outlet opening near to Marsiling MRT. Woodlands and Marsiling are particularly pitiful places to be a vegetarian, with so few options around - So it is great that Tanaka can provide an option for those living in that area, especially as it opens in the evenings as well.

Tanaka Vegetarian Food
Location: Blk 306A Woodland Street 31
Contact: None
Opening Hours: Daily 6.00am-9.00pm

For those who have visited the Fajar outlet, the dishes on this menu will be familiar. There are a variety of dishes available, but their mee rebus is particularly lauded for its quality. For those who don't cosume egg, please make sure to specify when ordering, as Tanaka does have eggs in some of their dishes.

Here is a look at some of the dishes available.

Nasi Lemak, on appearance, would seem like one of the most simple dishes to make. Chilli, rice, cucumber and then a number of mock meats usually make up the contents of the plate. Simple it may seem, the key to any good nasi lemak lies in the chilli and coconut rice. If those two aspects are sub par, then the entire dish is ruined. Both those two aforementioned aspects were outstanding from Tanaka, and really brought the dish to life. The red chilli paste is fragrant and smooth, and the rice was full of coconut flavour, without there being a compromise in the texture. Really top notch nasi lemak.

Price: $2.50. 8/10

When visiting the original Tanaka, I was highly impressed with their Chicken Rice. I loved how fragrant and full of flavour the rice was, without the usage of any animal products. The chicken is made from beancurd sheets, and when combined with the red chilli and dark sauce, it really makes it superb. Tanaka knows how to flavour rice perfectly, and the highlight of this dish is definitely the rice - It is beautifully infused, and I could happily eat it by itself.

Price: $3.00. 8/10

Conclusion - I really hope that Tanaka expand even more in Singapore, so that more people can enjoy the sensational dishes that Mr Goh concocts. The dishes are what you would expect from a stall, but they are all made exceptionally well. I can only think of Miao Shan, who might give Tanaka a run for their money in terms of best vegetarian stall in Singapore. Definitely a must visit stall.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 9/10
Value - 8/10

I'm constantly captivated by finding famous vegetarian hawkers in Singapore, and for today's post I will share with you arguably the most famous veggie stall in Tampines. If you're visiting Ren Xiang during peak timings, then expect there to be a long queue of customers waiting for their many offerings. The aunties running this stall are very warm and friendly, not the mafia thug aunties that run most stalls. So, without further delay, let's find out if the food at this stall is worth joining the queue for...

Ren Xiang Vegetarian Food
Location: #01-80, Blk 419 Tampines St 41
Contact: None
Opening Hours: Daily 6.00am-4.00pm. Closed Tuesday

Ren Xiang have a variety of different dishes available. I asked the auntie owner which of her dishes does she consider the best, she replied 'all of them are good' - I love that confidence.

I heard a lot of good things about the Ren Xiang Nasi Lemak, so that was the first dish I decided to order. This dish is vastly different to how we think of a traditional nasi lemak. There are no mock ikan bilis, no peanuts, no hash brown, no cucumbers - This is essentially not a nasi lemak. It more closely resembles economic rice and dishes. The rice is infused with coconut and pandan, and the traditional red chilli paste is present though. Although this dish may be stray away from convention, it is still an impressive mound of delicious food, which I fully enjoyed wolfing down.

Price: $2.50. 7/10

One of my all time favourite local dishes is certainly Lor Mee. I love the thick strong tasting gravy (especially when huge amounts of vinegar is added). The lor mee from Ren Xiang was definitely above average. There was a wide variety of different beancurd, mock meat, tofu items all inside the bowl. The gravy was thick and full of flavour, but I wish the auntie added more vinegar inside. Yellow noodles are not a favourite of mine, but the awesome gravy more than made up for it. Definitely a dish that I would order again.

Price: $2.50. 8/10

Conclusion - There is no doubt that Ren Xiang is a fantastic stall, and my only regret was not getting the chance to check out more of their dishes. I was a little surprised about their version of nasi lemak, but it was delicious nontheless. Certainly worth making the trip to Tampines to eat - Enjoy!

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 8/10

Just when I think that I have discovered almost everything (vegetarian wise) in Singapore, out pops an eatery that has seemingly existed for years without my detection. I'm not sure how many years exactly Southern Palace has been around for, but judging from the worn down menu and interior of the place, it has been there for a long time. This Chinese shop house is quite large, with ample seating.

Southern Palace Vegetarian Restaurant
Location: 654 Geylang Road (off Lorong 40)
Contact: 68461773/68461772
Opening Hours: Daily 9.00am-9.00pm.

Southern Palace had a list of six daily specials that were available. These dishes change regularly.

If you don't feel like ordering their special made to order dishes, then economic rice/bee hoon and dishes are also available.

Before starting my main meal, I opted to pick out a sinful looking Curry Puff. Priced only at $1, this larger than usual puff is definitely value for money. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed by the quality of the pastry shell, it didn't have that crisp yet chewy texture. Instead it was powdery and broke apart easily. The potato stuffing was well spiced and cooked well, just not enough to make up for the poor pastry.

Price: $1.00. 5/10

For this review, I decided to focus more on the Southern Palace daily specials, therefore I selected their Sliced Fish Bee Hoon for consumption first. By default this soup will come with milk added, so it is important for vegans to request for the milk to be omitted when cooking. It was a cool (by Singapore standards) and rainy afternoon, so this dish went perfectly with the weather. The mock fish and other ingredients were well done, and I particularly loved the additional seaweed on top, which was fried prior to adding into the soup. Even without the milk, this was an excellent version of this dish.

Price: $4.00. 8/10

Lastly, we decided to order the Nasi Lemak. Presentation wise, I liked how it arrived on the green banana leaf replica plate, visually it looked great. The dish itself was a bit hit and miss. The red chilli was quite unusual, the texture was almost like jam. I also didn't understand why there were two separate mock meats, which were both almost exactly the same. I enjoyed the peanuts and pickle, and the rice was acceptable, but lacking that delicious coconut aroma.

Price: $3.00. 6/10

Conclusion - Mixed feelings about the food from Southern Palace. I would certainly recommend that this restaurant is worth visiting, especially for the fish bee hoon - The rest of the items that I sampled were quite forgettable though.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 6/10

Vegetarian dim sum! Singapore has a great abundance and diversity when it comes to vegetarian food. But one aspect of Chinese cooking that is noticeably lacking is dim sum. Yes, I am aware that places like Ling Zhi are offering dim sum, but frankly I found the quality to be nothing short of awful. So it is easy to see that Singapore is desperately crying out for a good vegetarian dim sum place - Xin Man Yuan may be the answer to those cries. This traditional style vegetarian eatery opened its doors recently in Chinatown. Don't be confused, this place is located at People's Park Centre, not People's Park Complex.

Xin Man Yuan Vegetarian Restaurant
Location: #03-32, 101 Upper Cross St, People's Park Centre
Contact: 64380048
Opening Hours: Daily 11.00am-10.00pm

There are two options at Xin Man Yuan, you can either opt for the buffet spread, which costs $18.80++. Or you can order from the a la carte menu. Here is a look at the buffet spread.

If you're ordering the buffet spread, you can order dim sum, but only a limited amount. Pictured left are the types you can order.

The interior of Xin Man Yuan is nothing unusual. If you've visited traditional Chinese eateries like Miao Yi and Lotus, then the vibe of this place will be very familiar.

Here is a look at the full dim sum menu. There is an incredibly impressive array of selections, most priced at $4.50.

The a la carte menu is quite extensive, but has the typical array of Chinese dishes. Many of the dishes are quite mock meat heavy.

I won't deny that the main reason for my excitement to visit Xin Man Yuan was to try the dim sum. My first selection was the Delicious Chestnuts Siew Mai. Immediately upon sampling this dim sum, it was clear to me that it was miles ahead of any other dim sum I have tried in Singapore. I have also had the pleasure of trying the supposed best vegetarian dim sum in Hong Kong (Three Virtues), and I would say this is even better. The skin was soft and delicate, and the mixed mushroom filling was splendid. Yes, I am sure for non-vegetarians this dish will be missing the taste of smell of pork, but for vegetarian siew mai, this is as good as you will find.

Price: $4.50. 8/10

The next dim sum I picked out was Steamed Veg. Shrimp Dumplings. This can also otherwise be known as 'har gow' or more accurately put in Chinese 'xia jiao'虾饺. This is another synonymous dim sum in Hong Kong, which is a prerequisite 'must order' item. This dish is basically a steamed Chinese dumpling with a prawn filling. I loved the fresh taste and distinguishable prawn flavour of this dim sum, and I really had to restrain myself from ordering another 10 portions.

Price: $4.50. 9/10

In my aim to give a professional review of this place, I thought it would only be right if I ordered some items from the a la carte menu. Overall the dishes I ordered from the menu were really underwhelming when compared with the dim sum. Starting with the Special Indonesian Curry - 'Special' is certainly one word I wouldn't use to describe this dish. To the contrary, the flavour of this curry was incredibly bland and flat. It was almost as if the chef added oil, chilli, turmeric and coconut milk, and then forget to add anything else. I also found the mock meat used in this curry to be particularly unpleasant.

Price: $10.00. 5/10

Another dish from the menu which fell a little flat with me was the Jin Du Special Ribs. I've order many mock rib dishes in the past - When I saw this item of the menu it reminded me of the good old days when I would visit Loke Woh Yuen for their amazing mock ribs. This dish was a far cry from those glory days. The sweet and sour sauce was really forgettable. The chef really needs to take lessons in making Cantonese style sauces to really improve this dish. The mock meat used for the 'ribs' was quite interesting. It comprised of tube-shaped beancurd. Interesting choice, but didn't resemble ribs in the slightest.

Price: $10.00. 5/10

Conclusion - If you're looking for good vegetarian dim sum, then Xin Man Yuan is a place I would highly recommend. Their dim sum is really exceptional, there is no doubting that. In terms of the rest of the menu, I do think significant improvements need to be made. But I would definitely return again just for the dim sum.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 6/10

If you're working in the CBD you will be pleased to know that the number of vegetarian options has really increased over the last six months. Pure Mind is located inside The Arcade, an area which can get very busy during the lunch rush hour. There is quite limited seating (only about four or five tables), so I can imagine that it may be difficult to find a seat when things get busy. Pure Mind opened in April 2014, and are hoping to open more outlets in Singapore in the future.

Pure Mind Vegetarian
Location: #01-34, 11 Collyer Quay, The Arcade
Contact: 62228022
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7.00am-4.00pm. Closed weekends.

The owner of Pure Mind is Linda Tan - She opened this eatery as her husband is a vegetarian, and wanted a place for other vegetarians to eat in the city. She named the place 'Pure Mind' as she feels CBD workers are under a lot of stress in their working lives, therefore wanted there to be an eatery where customers can slow down and clear their mind from stress.

The menu at Pure Mind is a mixture of Asian and Western delights. There are a number of dishes that are by default non-vegan. But the chef auntie confidently assured me that almost all dishes can be made vegan. She even bragged that items like mushroom soup can be served vegan. Great to deal with staff that are educated on what being vegan entails.

First dish I picked out was the Veg Mutton Rendang. I usually have quite high expectations from rendang, as it is one of my most beloved dishes. I must say that this rendang was one of the better renditions that I have tried in Singapore. The only qualm I have is that the spice level may be a little too much for some. The aroma and flavour of the dish can't be beaten though. Customers can choose between white or brown rice (brown is $1 extra). The poppadom and broccoli acted as good accompaniments to the excellent curry. Definitely a dish that I would order again.

Price: $7.90. 8/10

The next dish was my personal favourite, and ranks as one of the best paste dishes I have tried in Singapore. This is the Spaghetti Bolognese. The default version of this dish comes with cheese, which I asked to be omitted. The clear hero in this dish is the tomato sauce. The flavour captured was simply phenomenal. It has a strong aromatic beefy flavour, which matched excellently with the rich and tart tomato. Put this sauce in a cup and allow me to drink it please chef. The spaghetti was slightly low quality (although well cooked), but the sauce more than made up for this minor flaw. Delicious dish.

Price: $6.90. 9/10

Conclusion - The only issue Pure Mind has is spreading the word about their eatery, and hopefully this post has allowed that problem to be solved. Although this place closes early (and is also closed on the weekend), you will definitely want to find time to visit Pure Mind, if you don't leave with a pure mind, you will definitely leave with a satisfied stomach!

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 8/10

I recall first hearing about Onn Vegetarian a few years ago by a few of my readers. Unfortunately due to my own personal laziness, it has taken me quite a while to eventually make the effort to visit Onn - What a mistake it was. I am about to conduct a review on what might possibly be the best vegetarian hawker in Singapore, so please brace yourselves folks. For those wanting to visit Onn, you will be pleased to find it is just a stones throw away from Kallang MRT. It has been located at this coffee shop for five years now.

Onn Vegetarian
Location: Blk 5 Upper Boon Keng Road, G5 Food House
Contact: 91526917
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 7.00am-2.30pm. Sunday Closed

The menu at Onn is intriguing to say the least. Pictured (the three A4 white sheets) are the regular items that customers can expect to see sold every day.

What really excited me about Onn are the daily specials. The chef changes these dishes all the time, to the point where some specials appear only once a month. That can give you an understanding of the repertoire of dishes that this man is capable of producing. Customers can expect around 4-5 daily specials each day. The variety and abundance of dishes is really restaurant quality - Sensational.

The man behind the dishes at Onn is Chef Wai. Having spent 15 years as a pastry chef at establishments such as Westin Stamford and Les Amis, it is clear this man has a lot of experience in the kitchen. Those years as a pastry chef are definitely reflected in the remarkably beautiful plating of every dish. Interestingly, Chef Wai is also the reason behind the name 'Onn'. His ex-colleagues gave him the nickname 'Onn', as his hometown is Anson, Perak - Which in Cantonese is pronounced 'Onn Soon', hence the shortened nickname 'Onn' was born.

Onn Vegetarian is not only about Chef Wai. It is run by a duo, with the other half being John Tan. John spent 23 years (prior to Onn) working in supermarket chains, and also having a short stint with DFS Changi Airport. John and Chef Wai make a fantastic team. Chef Wai is a shy and reserved individual, whereas John does very well engaging with customers. Their objective for opening Onn is to encourage more people to switch to a vegetarian diet, eat healthy and most importantly enjoy eating vegetarian food.

I visited Onn on two separate occasions (something I seldom do), without question the best dish I sampled was the Green Curry with Organic Brown Rice. I've tasted many green curries in my time, and always failed to appreciate this dish. This was the first time in my life I tried green curry and loved it. This dish is practically flawless. The freshly grounded spices and enhanced sourness made the curry base absolutely delectable. There were a wide variety of ingredients inside, such as mock fish, cherry tomatoes, baby eggplant, brinjal, long beans and celery. The only tragedy is that John told me this green curry only makes its way to the daily specials once or twice a month - I don't know if I can go without this sensational dish for so long!

Price: $7.00. 10/10

One very unusual and interesting ingredient that could be found in the green curry are these small cute little baby eggplants.

If you're a soup lover, then Onn will occasionally serve magnificent double boiled soups. On this particular day they were serving two varieties, I picked the more affordable Si Chuan Tomato Enoki Soup. The key to the success of this soup is the 榨菜 zha cai vegetable, which is Chinese pickled mustard plant. This vegetable gives the soup a lovely saltiness, but doesn't have the spice (thankfully) that more traditional sichuan style zha cai has. In fact, the more more closely resembles a Cantonese style ABC soup. Once again there are a wide variety of ingredients used inside. Typically, soups like these are formed by adding the left over stems and pieces of vegetables used from other dishes. Onn, however, only use freshly chopped vegetables for this dish. Take this soup when it is steaming hot, that is when it is at its best!

Price: $5.00. 8/10

Another special dish I sampled was the Roasted Meat & Char Siew Organic Brown Rice. For this dish, the rice is flavoured just like chicken rice, very flavourful. On top of the rice there are two varieties of mock meat. The kind with the orange top is specially imported from KL (can't be found in Singapore). This variety adds a fatty texture to the dish. The other mock meat is the more typical kind. I preferred the latter mock meat.

Price: $5.00. 7/10

One of the dishes I selected from the regular daily menu was the Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle. This dish represents one of the more affordable items on the menu, opposed to the more costly daily specials. This dish had a pleasant braised flavour, which matched very well with the fresh texture of the noodles.

Price: $4.00. 7/10

Mee Soto is a quite well known dish in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, but can be seldom found in a vegetarian version. This dish was once again beautifully plated - It really makes such a big difference. I found that the flavour of the broth didn't quite have the intensity that I was looking for, but nevertheless it was highly enjoyable.

Price: $4.50. 7/10

Lastly, we have the Thai Style Fish Served with Organic Brown Rice. This was another splendid dish with a great diversity of ingredients and superb flavour. Usually when cooking Thai dishes, cooks tend to blast the dish with unnecessary spice. For this dish, I was pleased to discover that aroma took precedence over spice. In fact, the dish was not spicy at all. I loved the slight sourness of the dish, and the fact that all the ingredients were cooked to perfection. The mock fish chunks were nice and chewy, and went well with the sauce.

Price: $7.00. 8/10

Conclusion - As the Hungry Ang Mo, I go around Singapore all the time eating good vegetarian food, but it is only on very rare occasions that I come across an eatery that is out of this world - Onn Vegetarian is one of those places. If you're a foodie, then making the pilgrimage to Block 5 Upper Boon Keng Road should be considered compulsory. Onn shows off the beautiful flavours and colours of vegetarian cooking in all its glory, like a peacocks feathers. A remarkable and unforgettable stall.

Overall Rating
Food - 9/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 9/10
Value - 8/10

I return back to the West of Singapore, this time to review Gui Pin Vegetarian Restaurant. This eatery was recommended to me a couple of times, so it was only fitting then I made my way down to check it out! Without further delay, let's further explore this restaurant...

Gui Pin Vegetarian Restaurant
Location: #01-126, Blk 376 Bukit Batok St 31
Contact: 90292443
Opening Hours: Daily 7.00am-9.00pm

The menu at Gui Pin is a little mock meat heavy, but it is difficult to blame vegetarian eateries for picking these dishes. Although not healthy, it does help to glamorise the menu by having these replica meat items.

First dish I selected was the Salted Fish Fried Rice. Overall this dish was quite a disappointment. The quality of the rice used was very poor, I could tell this by how horribly broken it was. Moreover, the rice was overcooked. To make matters worse, the fried rice didn't have any aroma at all, so the taste was really quite bland - I didn't detect any salted fish taste. Not a dish that I would order again.

Price: $4.00. 4/10

The second dish I ordered from Gui Pin was Fried Dong Fen. This is quite an uncommon dish, that is seldom found available in vegetarian hawkers/restaurants, so I was definitely curious to try. Unfortunately, this was another dish that ranked as a monumental disappointment. It was a dish with literally no flavour at all, almost tantamount to eating plain white rice. I was happy that they offered lime on the side, but even when drenched in lime juice, the dish still had almost no flavour at all. One of the most forgettable dish I have eaten since running this site.

Price: $5.00. 3/10

Last dish of the evening was the Mamee Chicken. This dish did bring me out of the depression that the previous two dishes caused, somewhat. The portion size was healthy and the mock meat was chewy and succulent. The mock was nicely coated with the predominately sweet sauce, and even though the price was a little steep, the portion size made up for it.

Price: $8.00. 6/10

Conclusion - Nothing much to add about this eatery. Overall it was a disappointing experience, and not a place that I would consider returning to again. Their menu is quite vast, so perhaps there are some hidden gems there, but the dishes I ordered definitely didn't impress me. The only positive is that the staff are open and friendly.

Overall Rating
Food - 4/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 5/10

I recently got a message from a long time HAM fan named Valerie, who suggested that I visit this stall, particular for their vegetable curry. The stall is run by Ah Kiat, who opened this stall way back in 2007. Ah Kiat (or Kit) became a vegetarian in 2004, and began learning to cook vegetarian food in Buddhist temples. After which, he slowly became working part time in vegetarian stalls, before finally deciding (with great encouragement from his wife) to open his very own vegetarian stall.

Mei Jing Vegetarian Food
Location: Beo Cresent Market & Food Centre, 38A Beo Cresent
Contact: 94307692
Opening Hours: Daily 6.00am-2.00pm. Closed Sunday.

If you don't feel like rice and dishes, then Mei Jing does have a number of special order dishes, all priced at $3.

Here is a look at the economic dishes that were available. A lot of fried and mock dishes, but there were also a pleasing amount of vegetables to choose from.

When I was placing my Economic Brown Rice and Dishes order I kept a particular look out for Ah Kiat signature vegetable curry. Along with the curry, I picked eggplant and potato. The latter two dishes really were just cooked in the typical vegetarian hawker way, nothing special to note. The vegetable curry was indeed delicious though. The curry sauce was smooth and silky, with the vegetables soaking up all that sauce. Definitely worth ordering the vegetable curry.

Price: $3.50. 7/10

As well as brown rice, we decided to sample one of the tze char dishes, which was the Fried Black Kway Teow. It is difficult to find a really well cooked hor fun in Singapore, mainly cause the wok hei cannot quite get there. This was one of those hor fun variants that didn't quite have the wok aroma that I was looking for. I did like the freshly cut ingredients, and the flavour was improved when the fresh lime was sprinkled over the top. I've had better though.

Price: $3.00. 6/10

Conclusion - This is definitely a stall that is worth visiting, especially for the vegetable curry. The service of the stall was definitely top notch, and I would be curious to visit again to try more of their tze char dishes.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 7/10

I may not be the best food blogger in Singapore, but one thing I can guarantee is that I will visit any vegetarian place that my dear readers ask me to visit. Recently I received a recommendation from an anonymous reader, who suggested I venture to the Serangoon North industrial estate, to try a vegetarian stall named Kang Le. This stall is located on level 6 of the east wing, of the Mapletree industrial property. In Chinese 'kang'康 means healthy and peaceful, while 'le'乐 means happy. With such a positive stall name, surely the food must be good!

Kang Le Vegetarian Food
Location: Level 6 Canteen, 6 Serangoon North Avenue 5 (Mapletree Industrial Property)
Contact: 98731180
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 6.00am-6.00pm. Weekends Closed.

The stall is run by a husband and wife duo. The wife is usually in the kitchen at the back, preparing the food. While the husband is at the front of the stall serving the customers. The husband was quite reserved and expressionless when we were talking with him, but his face light up when we asked if we could take a picture. The wife is a cooking fanatic, and has attended several cooking courses, receiving several certificates for her cooking ability in the past. Both are fully vegetarian, and launched this stall over two years ago.

Kang Le do have a number of made to order dishes, but it is their economic rice/bee hoon and dishes that really looked most attractive to me. The vegetables looked fresh and vibrant. Moreover, there was a surprisingly large array of dishes to choose from, considering this is just an industrial food court/canteen.

Here is a look at some of the Dishes that are available. I especially loved the way the auntie cooked the bittergourd. It was sliced thinly, and looked super fresh. Moreover, it was combined with black bean, which is really a flavour match made in heaven. The curry mock meat and potatoes were both coated in very nice sauces, it was only the long beans that I found to be lacking in aroma. Really tasty and good quality dishes overall though.

Price: $2.50. 7/10

The only made to order dish that was available on this particular day was the Bak Kut Teh. I was chatting with Henry Wang recently about the cost of Chinese herbs sky rocketing recently in Singapore. Due to that reason, dishes like bak kut teh now seldom have the wide range and depth in flavour, due to cutting corners on herbs. This bak kut teh had a clean taste, but didn't have the potency and depth that a well made bak kut teh soup would have. I did like the mushroom derived mock meat and the floating Chinese celery (one of my favourite ingredients), but the soup flavour could definitely be improved upon. This dish is additionally served with brown rice and fried beancurd.

Price: $3.00. 6/10

Conclusion - Those who work in and around the Mapletree building should certainly consider themselves lucky to have such a nice little vegetarian stall available to them. Due to the location and opening times, I doubt this will attract many of my readers to make the journey to visit this stall - But if you do, the fresh dishes are well worth it.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 8/10

It never fails to excite me when I find out about a new vegetarian eatery opening up in Singapore. I get even more excited, however, when the stall/restaurant seems to be doing something out of the box. 33 Vegetarian Food is a stall that is specialising in mock chicken - Almost all of their dishes involve mock chicken in one form of the other. 33 Vegetarian officially opened on the 13th August 2014, and their opening day (when I visited) was met by a long queue of eager customers.

33 Vegetarian Food
Location: #01-33 Blk 409 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10
Contact: None
Opening Hours: Daily 11.00am-8.00pm. Closed Wednesday.

The uncle who runs this stall is Mr Sow, who has a really interesting story. Mr Sow was previously selling real chicken rice at this same stall for 15 years. His vegetarian epiphany came last year, when his wife started working in his chicken rice stall. His wife was trying to become vegetarian (due to their devotion to Guan Yin) and didn't like chopping/killing of chickens. Therefore, Mr Sow vowed to change his stall into vegetarian chicken rice, so he and his wife need not have to kill and chop chickens anymore. Both Mr Sow and his wife became full time vegetarians in January 2014.

As I mentioned earlier, the menu has all sorts of different chicken dishes. Not a place to consider visiting if you're someone opposed to the idea of mock meat.

We started our feast off with the Vegetarian Steamed Chicken Rice. Before I start, I asked the auntie taking orders if the rice contains any margarine, butter or dairy products, she was adament the rice does not contain any of the aforementioned. Mr Sow's rice was very good, the grains were firm, and flavourful. However, the rice didn't quite manage to capture the same level of flavour that Mr Goh's Tanaka chicken rice does. The steamed chicken 白鸡饭 was soft and doughy, which was not to my preference. However, if anyone should be able to mimick real chicken, then Mr Sow should surely know how to.

Price: $3.00. 6/10

Along with steamed, 33 Vegetarian is also selling Vegetarian Roasted Chicken Rice. This version is identical to the steamed chicken dish, with the only exception being the mock chicken used. The fried layer beancurd sheets were tasty overall. I certainly preferred this mock to the prior one, when combined with the rice it was really delicious. One glaring omission in both the chicken rice dishes is the lack of any dark sauce. For myself, no chicken rice is complete without the orange chilli and dark sauce. Orange chilli was provided on the side, along with ginger.

Price: $3.00. 7/10

Sawadeecluck, the next chicken dish to our table was the Thai Vegetarian Chicken. For this dish, the chicken is served on an oval plate, lying in a shallow puddle of Thai style sauce. The chicken used is the same as the steamed chicken, but this time it is heavily deep fried. The fried batter is very light, so I didn't feel that 'jialat' sensation, which I usualy get after eating fried food. The soup and chicken were the highlights of the dish, but the let down was the Thai sauce. The flavour of the sauce really didn't bare any similarity to Thai sauce, and seemed more like it came from a bottle. A better sauce would have really propelled this dish to much higher levels.

Price: $3.00. 6/10

Vegetarian Chicken Curry Noodle was the next dish I sampled. I was pleased that this dish didn't have any overwhelming spice level, and was thickened perfectly thanks to the coconut milk used. Although this is branded as 'chicken curry' there is not really any noticable presence of chicken inside. Instead, mock mutton mushroom style meat is used. I loved how well the potatoes were cooked, and how they managed to absorb the magnificent flavour of the curry. Definitely an above average dish, that I would order again.

Price: $3.50. 7/10

Lastly, we have the Vegetarian Chicken Burger with Fries. This was probably the most disappointing dish I sampled from 33 Vegetarian. The mock chicken burger was quite tasteless, and there was too much mayonesse inside. Moreover, there was a lack of any real imagination or creativity in the burger - Definitely not a burger that will cause Vegan Burg to be quivering in their boots.

Price: $3.50. 5/10

Conclusion - I felt like I was growing feathers after this overload of mock chicken. Yes, the food is hardly healthy, but I was really moved by Mr Sow's heartwarming story of conversion to vegetarianism, so I really wish nothing but the best for his new vegetarian stall. I can only hope more meat stalls have this same epiphany in the future.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 8/10

Whenever someone asks me where I can find the best vegetarian bee hoon in Singapore, there is always one stall I will certainly recommend - Ruyi Yuan. Their HQ, which is in Redhill has been serving outstanding white bee hoon for decades, and without fail always have long queues, no matter what day of the week it is. What many people don't know, however, is that beside from their famous Redhill stall, Ruyi Yuan can actually be found in two other locations in Singapore. Today I will feature their Toa Payoh outlet, which is actually run by the daughter (and her husband) of the original owner.

Ruyi Yuan Vegetarian
Location: Blk 78C Toa Payoh Central
Contact: None
Opening Hour: Daily 8.00am-1.00pm. Closed Monday.

If you're interested, these are the other two locations for Ruyi Yuan.

There is nothing else to order at any of the Ruyi stalls except for White Bee Hoon and Dishes. I will get straight into this, the bee hoon and dishes from this stall pales in comparison to the original Redhill outlet. The bee hoon doesn't have that same wok hei intensity that the original outlet has. The ingredients used inside are all identical to the original outlet, but didn't seem to have quite as much flavour as the original. The biggest difference was definitely the bee hoon. When compared with regular vegetarian bee hoon stalls, this would still rank as a pretty decent version - But when compared to her mother's stall, it didn't quite hit those levels.

Price: $3.00. 7/10

Conclusion - If you want the best vegetarian bee hoon experience in Singapore, then I can't emphaise enough how much you need to visit the original Ruyi Yuan stall. Frankly, her daughters stall can't compete with the original, not to mention the daughter is incredibly 'kiam siap' when ordering, always trying to charge additional if you customize what items you do and don't want.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 4/10
Value - 7/10

Woodlands is one of those areas in Singapore that really represents vegetarian hell. With such limited options, vegetarian residents of Woodlands really have a hard time finding food. There are slowly becoming more options, though. Tanaka have recently opened up another outlet in Marsiling, and now there is a take away vegetarian stall at the Causeway Point basement. But for today, I will be reviewing an eatery recommended to me by a reader named 'Pin', which goes by the name Rong Yuan...

Rong Yuan Vegetarian
Location: #01-07, Blk 371A, Woodlands Avenue 1
Contact: 98254782
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7.00am-7.00pm. Weekends 7.00am-3.00pm

This stall is run by a sweet husband and wife duo, who explained to me that they have been running this stall for 11 years now. This stall is typically open seven days a week, but they will usually close (to rest) the day after the 1st & 15th of the Chinese calendar. This stall has eggs, so be careful when ordering.

The dish I was most excited to try was the Dry Noodle or otherwise known as gan lao mian (干捞面). The name gao lao mian literally means dry tossed noodles, which is a perfect way of describing this dish. It is a dish that is almost identical to wanton mee, with the only omission being the actual wanton. Dry noodle should always come accompanied with a soup, which was also the case with this dish. Overall, I would say this dish ranks as one of the best dry noodle variants I've tried so far in Singapore. The shallow sauce was full of flavour, and the noodle texture was perfect. I loved the crunchy mock pork lard and fried beancurd sheets. If only better quality char siew was used, and the horrid mock seaweed jelly was removed, then this dish would have gotten at 10. Definitely a dish you should order if you're visiting this stall.

Price: $2.50. 8/10

Next dish I sampled was the Kway Chap. Kwap chap is a dish that requires several components to be perfect, but most important of all is the kway itself. The kway texture should be thin, but still sturdy enough not to break when plucked apart by chopsticks. For this kway, the problem was simply that the kway was too thick, and therefore made the dish feel a bit too heavy. Moreover, there was too much kway and a lack of other ingredients. The flavour of the broth was quite good, and the portion size was great for the price, but the kway was a real let down.

Price: $2.50. 6/10

Conclusion - I love the friendly attitude of the owners of this stall, and the dry noodle which they served me was really excellent. It is great to know that there is a good vegetarian stall, which is only a stone's throw away from Causeway Point.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 8/10

Previously, Serangoon seemed like a hopeless district for vegetarian to me, with there only being Nature Delights to speak highly of. Only over the last few years have I discovered even more great vegetarian eateries around the Serangoon area, the best of which still ranks as Miao Shan (in this bloggers humble opinion). For todays review I will be focusing on Piao Xiang Vegetarian, which is very easily accesible from Serangoon MRT. Just take Exit D, aferwhich (if your navigation is accurate) it is only a five minute walk away.

Piao Xiang Vegetarian
Location: #01-56 Blk 2 Lorong Lew Lian
Contact: None
Opening Hours: Daily 10.00am-9.00pm

Here is a look at the dishes that were available to order on this particular day.

Unfortunately when I visited Piao Xiang, they were selling nothing but rice/noodles and dishes. It is eateries like Piao Xiang which really makes my job/hobby as a food blogger very difficult, because they are selling the same dishes, cooked the same way. Their Brown Rice and Dishes was quite uninspiriing, and the only word I can think of to describe it is 'boring'. I'm not sure what else I can say.

Price: $3.50. 5/10

Next I selected the Mee Goreng and Dishes. The mee goreng was even more disappointing than the rice. It tasted soggy and old, like it had been left out for a long time. As for the dishes themselves, what can I say? Singapore really needs stall owners who will think outside the box, and use some originality in their cooking. I am yawning just reminising about this dish.

Price: $3.00. 4/10

Conclusion - There is nothing much more to add about this stall. It is one of those eateries that do their best to be as trite, typical and boring as possible - Void of any originality. Not a stall that I would considering visiting again - Especially with Nature Delights and Miao Shan in close proximity.

Overall Rating
Food - 4/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 6/10
Value - 5/10

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