Hungry Ang Mo | Food Blogger | Vegan

Since making the transition to a vegan lifestyle, one of the food items I was most teary-eyed at having to give up was pizza. Therefore, when browsing my local Cold Storage, I was surprised and excited to see a vegan pizza on offer. Vegan pizza is not something new to me, I have had the opportunity to sample many types in other countries. However, seeing a vegan pizza in a Singapore supermarket was a nice surprise. This pizza is supposedly unique for having fake cheese that really melts. Health wise, it certainly beats real pizza. There is zero cholesterol inside, compared to 15mg in a standard American pizza. Also there is 330mg less sodium, 10g less fat and 4g less saturated fats.

The pizzas come in a variety of flavours. For this review I went with the Pepperoni Pizza. The pizza is a little on the small size, especially for the huge price. Frozen pizza (the most common meal of choice of lonely, lazy, overweight, single Westerner folks) is something I ate quite frequently in England, but certainly it is no where near as delicious as freshly cooked pizza, especially when talking about the base/crust. The same can be said for this frozen pizza, the crust is simply too stiff and ridged.

After cooking was complete. I sliced a segment to see how authentic and oozy the 'cheese' was. Unfortunately, this replica cheese is a long way away from the real thing. It doesn't really have any cheese flavour or texture. There is a slight soft mushiness to it, but nothing like real cheese. The mock meat on top did have smoky flavour, but only vaguely resembled what real pepperoni tastes like. As I mentioned, size wise it is small, and could barely feed two people - Especially a self-confessed pizza gorger like myself.

Price: $17.95. 5/10

Conclusion - It was something that I simply had to purchase, in order to suppress my curiosity. However, moving forwards, it is not something that I would purchase again. Pizza definitely can be made vegan, with there being ample delicious combinations that are possible. With that being said, a pizza that can achieve authentic fake meat and fake cheese still has a long way to come - In the future, no doubt, it will eventually be concocted, though.

So often as a vegan, people will assume that the only thing left to eat on such a restricted diet is - Salad. I am willing to disagree with that perception entirely, however, for the purpose of this post, let us just assume that the aforementioned perception is accurate.

In which case, I am going to share with you all my personal favourite salad dressing, the Thai Peanut & Line Dressing. Certainly with the inclusion of peanuts and lime, this is definitely a Thai style salad, however it is intentionally lacking any of the burning spice, usually associated with Thai food.

The vegetables for the salad are quite flexible, but I certainly consider red cabbage to be the most vital of the ingredients (the most nutrient dense also).

Sauce Ingredients
Garlic (3 cloves)
Fresh Coriander (bunch)
Peanut Butter (3 Tsp)
Lime Juice (4 Tsp)
Tahini (2 Tsp)
Light Sauce (1.5 Tsp)
White Vinegar (1 Tsp)
Ginger (1 Tsp)
Honey (1 tsp)
Sesame Oil (1 tsp)
Sunflower Oil (100ml)

Instructions are not really necessary for this salad, basically just mix all of these ingredients together in a large bowl. After which, add whatever vegetable ingredients that you choose. This really makes eating raw vegetables an absolute delight. An extremely healthy delectable vegan concoction that can be eaten as a meal by itself, or also as a side dish. Enjoy!

This review has been a long time coming. Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant ranks as one of the most popular vegetarian establishments in Singapore. Famed particularly for their buffet options. There are two types of buffet available. The Steamboat Buffet (Mon-Thur) and the Asian Buffet (Fri-Sun). As I visited on a Thursday, only the steamboat option was available. Seen as though I am not a huge fan of steamboat, I decided to order their a la carte menu instead - Which offers a vast array of options also. This restaurant certainly has a touch of elegance, located within the pristine Quality Hotel. But, lets find out if the food is anything special...

Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant
Location: 201 Balestier Road, #02-00 Quality Hotel
Contact: 62540090
Opening Hours: Daily 11:30am to 3:00pm & 5:45pm to 10pm

Starting with the Dim Sum. I have to confess, dim sum has never really been my favourite thing to eat, and perhaps the reason for that is that there has not been a good meat-free dim sum invented yet. The dim sum from Lotus certainly met my expectations of what a typical vegetarian dim sum is always like. Yet, nothing exceed my expectations. There were three pieces siew mai dim sum in total. A good way to open a meal, but a little too doughy in texture, and lacking in any real flavour.

Price: $2.00. 5/10

The Minced Meat Eggplant was certainly the standout dish that I sampled that evening. What was unique was the purple skin of the eggplant was, in fact, removed during the preparation. This does make a significant difference in the texture, as the eggplants seem much more creamy and soft, without the hindrance of the skin - I am surprised more restaurants are not testing out this skinless eggplant style of cooking. A quick mention on the sauce, with was flavourful, but a tad heavy on the salt. Very satisfying dish overall though.

Price: $8.00. 8/10

One of the specialty dishes, which Lotus Vegetarian boasts of, is the Herbal Chicken Soup. This dish certainly did surprise me, but largely for all the wrong reasons. The biggest error in this dish was a lack of any herbal taste at all, therefore the title of the dish is very deceiving. The broth was just a normal typical conventional style, with quite trite ingredients inside. Comparing this to traditional herbal chicken, there is a vast difference in quality. Hopefully this dish can be improved upon in the future.

Price: $12.00. 4/10

From the disappointing, to the delicious - Here we have the Steamed Fish. Starting with the mock fish, due to it being steamed, it has a much more healthy feel to it, unlike the fried type. Additionally, this had an extremely strong fish taste, which I loved. The layout of the dish was perfectly done, with soft silken tofu laying on the bottom, followed by the fish, shredded vegetables, and finally wearing a crown of fresh coriander on top. The coriander in particular suited well with the mock fish. The presence of the preserved sour plum really added to the authenticity of this traditional teo chew dish.

Price: $10.00. 8/10

Conclusion - As you have probably gathered from this review, my experience at Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant was a mixture of highs and lows. The steamed fish and eggplant were outstanding dishes, which I savored. However, it is impossible to ignore the disappointments, which especially came in the form of the herbal chicken - A dish which requires the chef to seek serious self-evaluation. Price wise, of course, this is an expensive restaurant, perhaps the buffet would represent better value...

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

I've had this small little stall recommended to me be a couple of people now (sorry, I neglected to remember your names). Can there be any greater pleasure in Singapore, than settling down in a hawker centre with one of our innumerable delicious dishes and a kopi or teh (or kopi-o and teh-o for this newly transformed vegan) along side it? I doubt so - So make sure never to take this for granted. Overseas no such luxury is available. Without further delay, lets begin the review...

Yuan Xiang Vegetarian Food
Location: Blk 211, New Upper Changi Road
Contact: Unknown
Opening Hours: Daily 10am - 10.30pm

This stall deals strictly with zi char dishes, with there being no white/brown rice and dishes options. Luckily though, the zi char dishes are quite affordable, as was the case with this Pineapple Rice. The portion size was generous, and there was enough wok hei flavour (my favourite aspect of Chinese cooking) to leave me feeling content. Ingredients wise, there is nothing special, just the typical peas, carrots, pineapple etc. Overall a satisfying start to my eating experience at Yuan Xiang.

Price: $3.50. 7/10

The next dish that found its way to my table was the Char Kway Teow. For those vegan eaters, make sure to specify that you don't want eggs in this dish. The kway noodles hit the mark in terms of texture, as did the other ingredients in the dish. However, I found that flavour wise the dish was a tad too bland. Char kway teow simply must be packed to the brim with smokey flavour - Unfortunately for this dish, that essential flavour was only present as a subtle undertone, rather than leaping out from the dish, as it should be.

Price: $3.50. 6/10

Conclusion - Come prepared with a Chinese dictionary when coming to this outlet, as a number of the dishes have only Chinese characters, additionally the friendly auntie that works at this stall can speak little English. Food wise, I found the dishes I sampled to be average in quality. There is a menu packed with a myriad of different dishes, but unfortunately I was alone on this particular day, and there is only so much one stomach can take! Good place to eat for those in the Bedok area, not somewhere I would consider travelling long distances to eat at though.

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

Having recently made the conversion to a vegan lifestyle, one of the things I naturally assumed I would have to sacrifice was desserts. So often we rely on butter, milk and eggs as the staple for making cakes and other such sweet treats. Now, I myself don't really have an overwhelming sweet tooth, therefore it was a sacrifice I was willing to make - Yet, when I heard about an establishment creating totally vegan desserts in Singapore, I felt obliged to go there and see what this place was all about.

Delcie's Desserts & Cakes
Location: 951 Upper Serangoon Road
Contact: 97892309
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 11am-8pm. Closed on Monday.

This outlet is easily within walking distance of Kovan MRT, you will want to take Exit B, and just walk straight for 3-4 minutes. Once entering Delcie's you will surely notice there are no seats or tables. This outlet acts more of a pick up source for customers that order birthday cakes and what not. There are slices of cakes, brownies, muffins etc that can be purchased fresh in the store, though.

I must admit, upon scanning the refrigerators of goodies, I was tempted to test out how they tasted, especially to see if they had the same texture as non-vegan desserts. Prior to this review, I also did a video interview with Delcie herself. Unfortunately there was some problem with the camera and it didn't turn out. I do hope to bring you all a video interview with her soon though.

As mentioned earlier, there is no where to actually eat the desserts within the shop. Therefore I brought them home and took the pictures in the comfort of my living room. First up, we have the Fudge Brownie. For the price, it is quite a small square of chocolatey goodness. However, the brownie is delectably rich, with the chopped walnuts on top adding a welcome added flavour. The texture was also almost identical to that of a 'normal' brownie, so full marks for authenticity. Only downside is the price.

Price: $3.20. 7/10

Sticking with the theme of chocolate - Here we have the Mud Fudge Slice. Admittedly, I have never been a big fan of chocolate cake, so will this slice convert me? Not quite, but it certainly was tasty. Usually chocolate cake is too overly rich for my liking, this one certainly didn't fall victim of that, though. It was packed with chocolate flavour, yet was still light. I am not entirely sure where the fudge element comes into this cake, but nevertheless highly enjoyable.

Price: $7.80. 7/10

Arguably one of the desserts that attracts most attention is the Molten Choc Cupcake. As is the case with a number of the desserts at Delcie's, the customer can heat this cupcake up for a completely different experience or eat it cold. On this occasion, I decided to eat it cold. For me, this cake certainly lived up to the hype. The highlight was the hard chocolate centre, which contrasted expertly with the outer sponge layer. On top is frightfully authentic cream, topped with broken chocolate pieces. Delicious!

Price: $6.80. 8/10

Unquestionably, the desserts I had the biggest itch to sample was the Blue Forest Cake. Once again, Delcie achieves a practically identical incarnation of the classic and traditional black forest cake. The jam on top has sufficient tartness, the mock cream has great texture, and the sponge layers were light. Apart from the molten choc cake, this would certainly rank as my personal favourite.

Price: $7.80. 8/10

Conclusion - Having celebrated my birthday back in March, I was at a loss as from where to source my birthday cake (yet still maintain my vegan diet). It is outstanding that there is somewhere like Delcie's that caters to vegans who still want to enjoy delicious desserts, without the harmful animal products inside. Quality wise, there is no arguing that these cakes are superb, most of the time it is difficult to distinguish between them and their non-vegan counterparts. Nevertheless, you must be prepared to pay big bucks for them.

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

With it being June, durian season is in full swing - So inevitably I found myself in the Geylang area parading around the side streets examining the various durian stalls. After this exhausting procession was complete, I chowed down at Tian En, a humble vegetarian stall, which is a stones throw away from Aljunied MRT. Packeting the food is the favoured option for most, as the seating area of this small hawker is extremely limited. If you come during a peak eating time, expect to struggle to find somewhere to sit.

Tian En Vegetarian Food
Location: 88 Lorong 25A Geylang
Contact: 97668199
Opening Hours: Unknown

Brown/White Rice and Dishes is the most common selection by most customers, although it is not exactly cheap. The eggplants were cooked to perfection, mushy and creamy just how a good eggplant should be - But were let down by a lack of flavouring. The side dish that gets most attention from customers is the curry meat and potato. This dry lemon grass infused curry dish was definitely the highlight for me. Those with hawk eyes will also spot, at the back, that I ordered a curry puff too. This curry puff was quite uninspiring, the crust was powdery, and almost uncooked, with the filling being somewhat bland also.

Price: $4.30. 6/10

To get a balanced assessment of this stall, I also order one of their zi char dishes, Fried Hor Fun. The dish had a heady amount of bean sprouts inside, which were still half-raw. This may not be to everyones liking, but I didn't mind it. The noodles had a nice paper thin texture, and the dish did have an undertone of wok hei (smoke) flavour. As regular readers will know, just a little bit of wok hei isn't enough for me. I prefer it to have a thick and strong wok hei aroma, ala Lin Lin.

Price: $3.50. 7/10

Conclusion - No complaints overall, this is a pretty solid eatery that serves tasty food. The cramped little corner street hawker isn't an ideal location, and hardly makes for a peaceful eating experience, but nevertheless a good choice for those packeting food.

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

One thing Singapore can be certainly guilty of, is having very little locally grown fresh produce. This is understandable, due to the limited land space. However, hidden underneath the characterless soulless capitalist concrete slabs are small locally run farms. Most of which can be found in the Lim Chu Kang district, but for todays adventure we go to a mushroom farm, in the Seletar farmway area, which is at the back of Jalan Kayu. Not so long ago, these farmway roads were peaceful and pleasurable to walk and cycle on - Now unfortunately they have been ruined by more mindless development, which sees huge trucks constantly bulldozing down the thin roads - What a pity.

Mycofarm
Location: 9 Seletar West Farmway 5
Contact: 67730377
Opening Hours: Daily until 5.30pm

As well as being able to purchase mushrooms from Mycofarm, you are also able to tour around the growing areas. There is the option to take a free tour, which is quite basic. Or, you can take a paid tour, which is apparently much more detailed. There are several shed like buildings, which house these mushrooms. Pictured are the Grey & White Oyster Mushrooms, which apparently take only a few days to fully grow.

Here is the shed which houses the King Oyster Mushroom, this thick stemmed fungus is a personal favourite of mine. The sheds are fully air conditioned, to suit the mushrooms ideal living temperature of 15-20 degrees celsius.

Inside the office area is a small shop, which have a variety of fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms and packeted mushroom soup (not suitable for vegans). I was slightly stunned by the price tags on some of the mushrooms. For example, the Bai Ling mushroom can be purchased from NTUC for $2.80, here it is being sold at $5.00 (same size). Other fresh mushrooms on sale were portobello, king oyster and shitake. All looked fresh and delicious, but didn't have the prices I was hoping for.

Conclusion - Considering that I don' live very far from Seletar, visiting Mycofarm was merely a cycle ride away for me. If you're debating whether it is worth traveling longer distances to visit, however, I would say unless you're fascinated by mushrooms, then it is not worth it. The area is small, and there is not much to see. Moreover, the price of the mushrooms were much more expensive than I was expecting.

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

Organic SunnyChoice represents another emerging organic meat-free establishment in Singapore. The focus of todays review will be of their outlet in The Rail Mall. However, they do have a second outlet positioned on Bukit Merah Lane 1. As with a lot of organic restaurants, there is a grocery section selling anything from oat milk to nutritional yeast. The shop itself is small and comfortable, it was relatively quiet when I was there, but have been told it gets somewhat hectic during the weekends.

Organic SunnyChoice
Location: 434 Upper Bukit Timah Road, The Rail Mall
Contact: 68922383
Opening Hours: Daily 10am - 9pm

Organic vegetarian eateries do seem to follow a similar suit, when it comes to the menu design and contents, SunnyChoice is no different, as you can view for yourself.

Seemingly no organic health food place would be complete without vegetable sushi. This Vegetable Sushi contains no rice at all, and instead is purely vegetables. Some of the vegetables jammed inside are carrots, beetroot, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and radish. Along side the sushi is a wasabi and soy dip, which packs just enough spice. Overall it was a satisfying and refreshing dish to start things off.

Price: $6.00. 7/10

Lei Cha is undoubtedly one of the most nutritious and healthy meals one could order in Asia. The bright green soup is packed with various vitamin dense herbs, and the bowl contains several vegetables and grains that contain very little oil or salt. This particular rendition was well done - The ingredients inside included si jiao dou (winged bean), tofu, leafy vegetables and salted radish. These fresh ingredients were all on top of brown rice. Si jiao dou is one of my personal favourite vegetables, so I was exuberant when I saw it in the bowl.

Price: $7.50. 7/10

Next dish was Nasi Lemak, unlike the traditional coconut rice, this dish had a more healthier option - Brown rice. Other parts of the dish included a slab of mock fish (which was moist and had a lovely fishy flavour), a crunchy mock ikan bilis, archar (pickled vegetables). These ingredients all mixed well with the aromatic red chili paste. Quite different to the traditional hawker centre nasi lemak, but I personally liked this healthier version.

$7.50. 8/10

Conclusion - Organic vegetarian stalls are cropping up all over Singapore now, and they seem to be surviving very well. Not only attracting strict vegans and vegetarians - But also meat-eaters who simply want to eater healthier more often. The food sampled was all a pretty decent standard, and I really enjoyed browsing their grocery area too.

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

I have been shivering with excitement lately, due to finally getting my hands on nutritional yeast - An ingredient notorious for having an extremely authentic cheese flavour. My first experiment with nutritional yeast came in the form of Mac 'n' Cheese, a dish I simply adored back in my dairy eating days. The recipe for the 'cheese' sauce came from Apple's delightful dessert blog, although I did tweak it a little myself. Let us first tackle the 'cheese' sauce, as that it where the biggest potential pitfalls lie...

Vegan 'Cheese' Sauce:-
1/4 cup margarine
1/3 all purpose flour
3 cups soy milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tsp tomato paste
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder (I used fresh garlic)
1 Tsp lemon juice

I also personally added a pinch of...
Balsamic vinegar
Light soy sauce

For instructions on the steps you need to take, just follow Apple's post. Aside from the cheese sauce, I added sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas and breadcrumbs on top. With this being my first time experimenting with nutritional yeast, I was a little underwhelmed by its lack of authentic cheese flavour. But nevertheless, it does make for an enjoyable sauce. Make the sauce more watery than usually before putting it in the oven, as a lot of the moisture will be lost in the oven cooking time (this is a mistake I made).

Enjoy!

Clarke Quay, Singapore's answer to an upper class version of Geylang, offers many attractions to the general public - Whether it be getting drunk, or picking up loose women, or getting drunk, or picking up loose women, or getting dru.... I digress. Surprisingly though, lurking underneath the shallowness of Clarke Quay, there are two pretty outstanding vegetarian eateries. The first being Real Food, the second being the focus of todays review - Genesis. So lets see what this vegan eatery has to offer...

Genesis Vegetarian Health Food Restaurant
Location: 1 Lorong Telok
Contact: 64387118
Opening Hours: Mon-Thur 8am-8pm, Fri and Sun 8am-3pm. Closed Saturday

The menu looks stylish and is very easy to read, with an explanation underneath of what is in each dish. They also make it clear which dishes contain onions and garlic, which will make life much easier for Buddhist vegetarians. The menu is separated into Western, Chinese (noodles/rice), salads, side dishes, desserts and drinks. The Western, in particular, looked quite interesting.

In addition to an excitable array of solid food, Genesis also offers some eyebrow raising drinks. These include, almond rice milk, acai berry juice, organic herbal tea, and the one you see pictured - Sesame Oat Milk. Visually similar to the Clarke Quay river water, this drink is black and murky, but thankfully unlike the Clarke Quay river water, it is not ridden with toxins and chemicals. Quite the opposite in fact, the sesame seeds are renowned for strengthening the body, and preventing high blood pressure. The drink was not overly sweet, and had a delightful creamy quality to it.

Price: $3.50. 7/10

One of the dishes that is most synonymous with Genesis, is the Original Dumplings (Big Wantons). Personally, I am a fried dumpling lover, with the kum loo wantons from Zen Fut Sai Kai being, in my opinion, the best in Singapore. I am less passionate about steamed dumplings, but this variety was certainly delicious. The dumpling stuffing is certainly the highlight of the dish, it was moist and packed with flavour. I found this dish was missing a dipping sauce of some description, though. Eating the dumplings without a sauce, I found a little dry.

Price: $5.00. 7/10

The tradition of wrapping and cooking rice in a lotus leaf has existed for thousands of years in Chinese culture. The Chinese population are generally divided on how they prefer their rice to be cooked - Soft/mushy or hard. I fall into the latter category, therefore this Lotus Leaf Rice was a little too soft for me. Within the rice, there were green peas, carrots, mushrooms, and lotus seeds. The aroma of the leaf certainly did penetrate into the flavour of the rice. A great tasting dish overall.

Price: $7.90. 7/10

Lasagna is a dish that can easily go wrong. So far the best lasagna I've sampled has been from LivinGreens, so I was curious to see if the Genesis version could beat it. The answer is, not quite, but it still is a decent lasagna. A key ingredient is black lentils, which give the lasagna great flavour and also makes it very filling. Initially when it arrived, my worry was it would be too dry. Thankfully this worry was misplaced, as the ingredients were sufficiently moist. There were a myriad of different flavours all conglomerating together to make an extremely competent lasagna. Definitely one to order.

Price: $7.90. 8/10

What better way of finishing the meal off with a slice of pie. I only wish this Avocado Key Lime Pie arrived at the end of the meal, for some perplexing reason it was served first as a starter. The flavour and texture of this pie were both off the mark for me. The texture of the crust/base was too soggy and fragile. The avocado pie filling had a strange raw flavour to it, almost like raw lime rind. Perhaps an acquired taste for some, definitely not something I can appreciate though.

Price: $4.00. 4/10

Conclusion - The dessert was a sore spot in an otherwise fully satisfying meal. Considering the area, I find that the pricing is quite reasonable, and the quality of the food (while not faultless) is definitely well above average. I certainly would suggest ordering the lasagna, as I enjoyed that the most. But I am sure there are other dishes on the menu that are equally as good. Definitely one more valid reason to head to Clarke Quay often!

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

One would suspect being vegan would limit the amount of dessert options a person could partake in. However, with a little creativity, a lot of previously forbidden non-vegan desserts can be reincarnated in a much healthier and just as delicious form. The Rawpple Pie (apple pie) recipe posted here is not only vegan, it is raw - None of the ingredients in this dish have been cooked. This is a particularly fitting recipe, due to dates being in season in Singapore right now.

Ingredients:-

Crust
Almonds (2 cups)
Pitted Dates (2 cups)
Cinnamon (2 tsp)

Filling
Green Apples (1)
Red Apples (1)
Pitted Dates (1 cup)
Cinnamon (5 tsp)
Honey (1 Tsp)
Cashews (1 cup)

Instructions
1. Blend the almonds, dates and cinnamon until coarse. Then take mixture and spread into a pie/cake tray. Press firmly.
2. The ingredients for the filling should be blended together with one cup of water until it reaches a smooth sauce texture.
3. Slice 2 green apples and 2 red apple very thin. Layer the fresh apple slices with the filling sauce until the pie is full.

Personally, I was overwhelmed by how delicious this dessert was. Note, included in this dish were honey and roasted cashews, therefore technically my version was not raw. However, you can easily replace this with raw honey and raw cashews. Incredibly simple and easy to make (providing you have a decent blender), certainly something I would urge everyone to give a go.

Enjoy!

For this post, I am bringing you a dish involving an ingredient that is immensely popular in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. Gongura, is also known as roselle leaves or sorrel leaves - It is a sour green, which is packed with nutrition. I have made this into a dry curry, but by adding more water you can increase the amount of sauce. A cautionary note on the gongura, when cooking, it will shrink dramatically - Therefore use a high quantity as stated in the ingredients below. You can find this plant occasionally in Mustafa, or any of the side street grocers in Little India.

Ingredients

Mustard Seeds (1 Tsp)
Onion (1 large)
Green Chili (3)
Gongura (1 large bundle)
Turmeric (pinch)
Cumin Powder (1 Tsp)
Coriander Powder (1.5 Tsp)
Pepper Powder (pinch)
Ginger Garlic Paste (1 Tsp)
Mock chicken meat (you can also use paneer, potato or any ingredient)

Instructions
1. Slice green chilies, add oil, and cook in a pan. After which, add the gongura leaves and cook until completely shrunk and starchy/sticky texture is gone.
2. Once cooked, add the mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. In a fresh pan, add oil and mustard seeds (wait until the seeds pop), then add diced onion. Shortly after, add salt, turmeric and ginger garlic paste.
4. Wait until onions are well cooked. Then add cumin powder, coriander powder and pepper powder. After cooking these spices for a minute - Add water (amount depending on how much sauce you want).
5. Then add in your blended gongura mixture into the pan and mix together.
6. Finally add the mock chicken and mix.

This dish is fast becoming one of my most beloved Indian concoctions. I urge everyone to give it a go!

Bhojan ka anand!

Ice cream - One of the most guilty sins for those battling weight and health issues in their lives. So often we have associated this food with ill health and obesity. Brownice may now have something to say about that, offering delicious ice cream desserts that are not toxic to the health. As the name of this eatery craftily implies, the ice cream is actually made out of brown rice, as well as fruits and nuts - This eatery is totally 100% vegan, no dairy products or eggs are used in any of these delicious desserts.

Brownice
Location: 8 Sin Ming Road, Sin Ming Centre, #01-03
Contact: 64566431
Opening Hours: Mon-Thur 1pm-11pm, Fri-Sun 1pm-12am.

A vast ocean of unique and unusual ice cream flavours welcome visitors to Brownice. What is superb about this establishment, is the willingness to allow the customers to sample all the different types of ice cream, before committing to buy any of them. On this particular evening, some of the ice cream flavours on offer included - Banana oats, pumpkin coconut, hazelnut chocolate, dark chocolate, strawberry, apple cinnamon, orange chocolate, peppermint chocolate, green tea.

Seasonal flavours can also be found - Most notably, mao shan wang (durian) flavour - Which was sadly not available during my visit. Brownice existed in a different form in the past, as part of Real Food Organic Cafe - As the ice cream stall located inside the restaurant. There is also a delivery service available, for more information on that, the well designed Brownice website can assist you.

After a myriad of taste testing, and stern deliberation, the two scoops that I ultimately decided upon was the Strawberry and Apple Cinnamon. Starting with the strawberry - It consists of organic brown rice milk, strawberry, evapourated cane juice and glucose. What I loved about it was the fresh and zesty taste of the strawberry. So often, with strawberry ice cream, you receive that horrible artificial sugary 'strawberry' flavour on the palate, which I simply detest. Cinnamon is such a comforting flavour for me, so I adored the apple cinnamon also. The texture of both scoops was remarkably like real ice cream.

Price: $3.80 (per scoop). 7/10

In addition to ice cream, there are also a number of other dishes on offer. Arguably the most popular of those is the Mudpie. Some may feel their wallet begin to weep upon looking at the price. However, for the size of the piece of pie (and considering the ingredients too) I believe that it is well worth it. The pie consists of two layers of French chocolate ice cream, hazelnut chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate ganache and topped off with caramelized salted almonds. The only gripe I had with his dessert was the base. It was made from brown rice also, but was too light and hollow for my liking - Something denser would have suited me better. Other than that, it is a beautiful conglomeration of rich chocolate flavours and interesting textures, which tasted wonderful.

Price: $9.80. 8/10

Conclusion - Long time followers of my blog will know that I am certainly more of a savory food lover. My passion and knowledge for the world of sweet desserts is quite limited. With that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Brownice, and I found the price and quality of everything I sampled to be excellent. It is so seldom that vegans can find credible alternatives to the dairy obsessed world of conventional desserts. So, I for one, am hoping Brownice continues its success for a long time to come.

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

I'm back with another quick Indian cooking installment. This Fodni Mirchi can be simply translated as tempered green chillies. Green chillies vary in level of spice and aroma. For this preparation try to get those which are less spicy. I actually slit these chillies vertically and removed the seeds and stem with a spoon - As this is where most of the spice originates from. If you can take a lot of heat, then feel free to leave them in (but still slit them nevertheless, so the masala can go inside when cooking).

Ingredients

Mustard Seeds (2 tsp)
Oil (4 Tsp)
Salt (pinch)
Black Salt (kala namak) (pinch)
Green Chillies (6 - Or however many you wish to make)
Turmeric (2 tsp)
Hing (1 tsp)
Lemon Juice (half a lemon)

Instructions
1. Add oil into pan or wok, once oil is hot, add mustard seeds.
2. Once mustards seeds start to crackle, add turmeric and hing.
3. Continuously stir in order to avoid burning these spices, then add salt and black salt.
4. Shortly after, add all the green chillies and cook until the skin of chillies becomes soft.
5. Sprinkle the lemon juice in the pan, and toss one final time.
6 Serve.

This fodni mirchi originates from Maharashtra, and acts as a delightful accompaniment to curry, rice, chapatti, bhakri.

Bhojan ka anand!

Syed Alwi Road has recently greeted another 100% vegetarian establishment to its famed area, in the form of Namastaey. Those who have been following my blog will know that I recently made the transformation to a vegan lifestyle. Eating at Indian eateries can be difficult as a vegan, however, after discussing with the waiter, he was more than willing to convert the dishes into being dairy free. Enough talk, lets see what Namastaey has to offer...

Namastaey India
Location: 80 Syed Alwi Road
Contact: 63922449
Opening Hours: Unknown

The menu offers the typical Indian delights, more North Indian based though. What was more surprising was some of the prices. For example, plain basmati rice being priced at $4.20 seems unusually high (hence I didn't order any rice in this review). What seemed a little more pleasing was the bhatura, which cost only $2.60 - However, after ordering it, it simply never arrived, this was after asking for it on a separate occasion also. Pretty unacceptable service, even more so as the restaurant was virtually empty. Waiting time for all dishes was very high.

Considering how overpriced rice was, I decided to order bread only, to accompany the curries. Starting off with the Tawa Roti, this flat bread was charred nicely (as you can see my the beautiful black markings on the bread). Also the bread was served fresh from the tava, as indicated by the puffiness of the bread. A simple, yet tasty bread.

Price: $1.80. 7/10

Plain Naan is probably one of the most widely known Indian foods on the planet, yet very few people actually know how a great naan should be. Chewy, yet not too tough. Flaky, yet not too brittle. Soft, yet not too doughy. Charred, yet not burnt - It is safe to say, getting a naan perfect is quite a uphill task. Namastaey does have a pretty credible rendition, however. The naan was charred expertly, and had a delectable chewy yet light quality, which made it incredibly addictive.

Price: $2.20. 7/10

As a starter, I went for the Aloo Chaat. Due to this being made vegan, yogurt and mint chutney was excluded from this dish. Therefore, if vegetarians order this dish, prepare for it to look quite different from this picture. The potatoes in this dish were fried perfectly, but the dish is a little on the dry side, without the chutney and yogurt. The fresh tomatoes do add a bit of much needed moisture, and I would have liked to have seen more of them in the dish.

Price: $4.20. 7/10

This Bhendi Masala suffers from a few problems. Unfortunately, the bhendi (ladyfingers) that are found in Singapore is of very poor quality - Consequently, the ladyfingers are sometimes old and tough in texture, as was the case in this dish. Therefore, on a couple of occasions I had to spit the ladyfingers out, as the skin was too tough. Let me just emphasize, this is not because the ladyfingers were not cooked sufficiently. It is due to the ladyfingers itself being too old. The spices were solid and flavourful, but too much whole garam masala inside, as I will explain about more in the next dish.

Price: $8.50. 4/10

A fiercely debated topic amongst Indian cooks is whether to use whole garam masala (whole pieces of cloves, cardamom etc) inside curries, or to simply use powder. For myself, whole spices inside the curry is fine, as long as there is not too many. For this Maithi Mutter Masala, there was simply way too many. To the extent that every single spoonful I was having to dissect the whole spices out of it. It is not a pleasant experience for the consumer. The texture of the sauce is silky and rich, but the flavour of maithi leaves is lost in the dish. It would have been a decent enough dish, if not for the constant annoyance of having to pick out the spices.

Price: $8.00. 5/10

Conclusion - There is certainly potential at Namastaey, but unfortunately it is currently not living up to it. I was very encouraged by the willingness of the staff to make the dishes vegan for me, however, this fond memory was soon erased by the slow service and forgetting my bhatura. As I mentioned, forgetting orders in a packed restaurant is understandable - But forgetting orders when only two tables are occupied is unpardonably clumsy. Regrettably, Namastaey represents one of the more forgettable vegetarian restaurants on the Syed Alwi stretch - I can't see myself being a regular visitor.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 2/10
Value - 6/10

A sincere thanks to Karlyne (Soy Bien) for bringing this new place to my attention. Vegetarian Era opened its door late-July 2012, and upon arriving, it still looks fresh and clean in appearance. The stall prides itself on selling eight dishes only, but take great care in making sure these dishes are as flawless and unique as possible. The stall is 100% vegan - No eggs, no milk, no meat and no onions and garlic. This stall is a venture by well-known vegetarian author Henry Wang. He intends to open a second Vegetarian Era outlet in Hougang Central, sometime in September 2012 - He will be offering eight more unique and exciting dishes in Hougang - Such as assam laksa and Hainanese beef stew - I can't wait!

Vegetarian Era
Location: Blk 122 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3
Contact: 96109123
Opening Hours: Daily 6.30am - 9.00pm

Henry Wang's most well known book is 'D.I.Y Vegan Sauce', which is a bilingual (Chinese and English) book based on sharing the most delicious sauces he knows, this book can be found in Popular and other book stores. Having had a lengthy conversation with Henry during my visit, it was great to hear about his fresh vision of offering dishes in Singapore that are unique and special - Instead of the typical trite vegetarian dishes that have now become common place in Singapore.

Presentation wise, this Hong Kong Style Vege Char Siew Rice arrived beautifully. Vegetarian char siew can so often have that undesirable doughy texture, and little flavour - Therefore it was pleasing to see that high quality mock char siew was used in this dish, it had a great texture, and had top notch sweet flavour. Although the char siew tasted great the highlight of the dish was the rice - It was not merely white rice - Instead, it was a succulent ginger rice, which was oozing with flavour. Probably the best rice I have eaten in Singapore.

Price: $3.00. 9/10

I followed the previous dish up with yet another rice dish, this time it was the Hainanese Fragrant Rice, which can more easily be conveyed as - Chicken rice. The chilli sauce in both this dish, and the char siew dish was exceptional - I am not someone who likes overly spicy chilli sauce, therefore I was pleased this sauce had little spice - Yet had wonderful sweet and tangy flavours, which complimented the beancurd sheet chicken and rice sublimely. Another outstanding dish.

Price: $3.00. 8/10

Conclusion - What a breath of fresh air the Vegetarian Era chain of eateries could bestow on Singapore. I will eagerly await the opening of their Hougang outlet, to see what are the eight new fantastic dishes offered, but until then, I urge everyone in Singapore to give this place a try. As someone who has reviewed literally hundreds of stalls and restaurants, I must admit I get tired of seeing the same dishes, that are cooked the same way, over and over again. Therefore when I find somewhere like Vegetarian Era, it ignites that curiosity/interest I once had for exploring different vegetarian cuisine. Definitely a place you must visit.

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

In Singapore, we know of many places famous for one dish in particular - Li Wei and its chicken rice, Tian Yi with its kway chap, Lin Lin with its hor fun - The list can go on and on. Now to add to that list of specialty eateries is this humble stall, recommended to me by a reader named Rachel. This stall has gained popularity specifically for its mee pok, although other dishes are also sold.

Mee Pok Vegetarian
Location: Block 630 Ang Mo Kio St 61
Contact: Unknown
Opening Hours: Daily 24 hours (sometimes prone to randomly closing)

Of course, it is an inevitability that I will be reviewing the mee pok. But before we get to that, let us have a quick gander at another dish they sell. This is the Kway Chap. The sizing for this dish comes in two types - Small and large. The small size costs $2.50, while the larger one is $3.00 (this is also the same for the mee pok). Overall, while this kway chap is nothing to jump up and down about, I did find it to be a satisfying rendition of the dish. The kway noodles were firmer than usual, which I didn't mind. The soup base and the sauce which accompanies the other ingredients were both tasty. What was lacking though was the red chilli, which is essential in traditional kway chap.

Price: $2.50. 7/10

As in my mind, I was expecting this to be an outstanding dish, I must admit that the Mee Pok did eventually come as a disappointment. The problem with this dish was the most common mistake in all Singaporean cooking - Too much spice. It is important to know the balance between including spice and the spice being unbearable - This is especially important in a dish such as mee pok, which should traditionally have a punch of vinegar. On the brighter side, I found the noodles fresh and bouncy. I'm left with little to say about fish balls, as personally I can't stand those rubbery textured jelly monstrosities.

Price: $2.50. 5/10

Conclusion - Funnily enough I found myself opting for the kway chap far more than the mee pok. If someone didn't tell me prior that this was a famous dish, then frankly I wouldn't have noticed. While the mee pok was not a disaster, I just found the flavours to be too rudimentary. Worth a visit, but don't set your expectations too high.

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

I always get a little giddy whenever I go into some deserted industrial area and stumbled upon a vegetarian stall in their small coffee shops. This coffee shop is especially small, dark and depressing, with it being virtually empty most of the day. However, nestled amongst this gloomy setting is a pretty outstanding vegetarian stall, that will be the focus of todays review. Prior warning, Chinese characters are used for most dishes and Chinese language is used by the staff. If you can't speak or read Chinese you're going to encounter problems here.

De Sheng Vegetarian Food
Location: Block 4011, Techplace 1, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10
Contact: Unknown
Opening Hours: Unknown

The Economic Rice options are surprisingly vast for such a small stall, with there being a wide selection to choose from. Although, as is the problem with most Chinese vegetarian stalls, there is just too much mock meat dishes. Give me more ladyfingers, give me more eggplant, give me more vegetables! With that being said, the dishes did taste good. One other criticism I had was the dishes were very cold, which made me wonder how long they were festering there. Considering business is dreadfully slow in this JTC, I am fearful that it is longer than the regulated two hour limit. Satisfying food overall.

Price: $2.50. 6/10

Already stuffed from the previously dish, ordering this Duck Rice was probably a mistake in retrospect. The portion sizes of all dishes from this stall are huge, therefore really good value. I was a little disappointed that this dish had only plain white rice. That being said, all other aspects of this dish were spot on. The mock 'duck' meat is derived from mushroom stems, which had a nice chewy texture, and packed with moreish juices. Fresh coriander is sprinkled liberally on top, which compliments the mushrooms ideally. For a coffee shop in an industrial area, this is really an exceptionally satisfying dish.

Price: $2.50. 8/10

Conclusion - As I was eating alone, I left this small coffee shop extremely full and equally as satisfied. As far as JTC coffee shop stalls are concerned, this is probably the best I have eaten at, and one I would certainly encourage you to make the visit for - Especially for the duck rice. I also ordered their chicken rice on a separate visit, which was equally as delicious.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 5/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 9/10

Today's recipe is another vegan Indian dish, which is one of my personal favourites. Baingan Bartha (similar dish known as kathrikai thayir kothsu in South India) is a dry eggplant curry, that is heavy on smokey flavour and garlic. Typically curd (yoghurt) is added to the dish at the end, as I am vegan, this is being excluded from the preparation. Feel free to add fresh grounded coconut to the dish, if you want to make it more of a Maharashtrian vangyachi barith style dish.

Ingredients
Eggplant (4 large)
Cumin Seeds (1 Tsp)
Oil (4 Tsp)
Curry Leaves (handful)
Diced Onions (1 large)
Spring Onion
Diced Garlic (half a head)
Diced Green Chilli (1 piece)
Turmeric (pinch)
Hing (pinch)
Garam Masala (2 Tsp)
Red Chilli Powder (1 tsp)
Peanut Powder (2 Tsp)
Coriander Leaves (bunch)
Salt (to taste)

Instructions
1. Firstly, the eggplants must be smoked/cooked. The ideal way to be this is smoking them over an open flame. If this is too messy for you, then you can cook them in the oven on a high heat. After they are well cooked, remove the skin from them completely.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering of cumin seeds, curry leaves.
3. After a few second, add the diced onion, spring onion and salt.
4. Once onions become transparent, add green chilli and garlic.
5. Then add the spices of turmeric, hing, garam masala and chilli powder. (at this point also add curd if you desire).
6. After the raw flavour of the spices is gone, then add your soft and gooey eggplant. Cook for 3-4 more minutes and sprinkle fresh chopped coriander to finish.

Bhojan ka anand!

Just a few weeks ago I published a review on a new and exciting vegan eatery in ang mo kio called Vegetarian Era. As I eluded to in this review, a new outlet in Hougang was planned, and sure enough, here it is! The banner looks identical to the ang mo kio outlet, however, what has changed is there are eight brand spanking new dishes to choose from. What is so superb is these eight dishes are unique, and not what one would typically expect from a vegetarian stall - Focusing mainly on Penang and Hainan specialties.

Vegetarian Era
Location: Blk 805, Yong Soon Coffee Shop
Contact: 96109123
Opening Hours: Daily 7.00am - 9.00pm

When I heard about the eight new dishes, certainly the one that got me most excited was the Hainanese Noodle. As chef Henry is a Hainanese himself, I had high expectations from this dish, and overall it delivered. In all honesty, it is difficult to find a flaw with this dish - The radish was beautifully stewed and bursting with flavour, the noodles had ideal texture, the mock meat (both monkey head and mushroom stem) matched with the soup, the raw coriander added superb freshness and aroma - All in all, delicious!

Price: $3.50. 9/10

Pumpkin Mee Java is a dish introduced to Malaysia by South Indian migrant workers many decades ago, it also goes by the name mee masak. This version has a perfect pumpkin sauce, it is not too rich and has a lovely natural sweetness from the pumpkin. The yellow noodles were cooked well. Another unique dish, which was pleasing on the taste buds.

Price: $3.00. 8/10

The next unique dish is Famous Assam Laksa, which is the first vegan assam (Penang) laksa that exists in Singapore. Having tried the original Penang version of the dish, I do notice the flavours in this version have been tweaked slightly. It is less sour, and has a stronger ginger flower (bungah kantan) aroma. The mock fish is soaked in the soup and has a somewhat powdery texture, which personally I enjoyed. The traditionalist may prefer more sourness, but I reckon most will appreciate and enjoy this dish just how it is.

Price: $3.50. 9/10

The only rice dish available at the Hougang outlet is the Iron Rice Bowl, which is also incidentally the most expensive dish available. The praise worthy aspects of this dish are the salted fish pieces, which had authentic fish flavour. Additionally, the vegetables and mushrooms were all cooked well. Being someone who prefers harder rice, I found that the rice was a little soft and mushy. Nevertheless, a satisfying dish overall.

Price: $4.00. 7/10

Conclusion - Henrys (the owner of Vegetarian Era) vision of transforming the vegetarian scene in Singapore is truly inspirational to me. Readers should be happy to know that his vision does not end with just two outlets. He is planning a third outlet (located in Eunos) by the end of the year, which will be serving eight peranakan/nonya dishes to the public - I can't wait for that!

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

Tofurkey Vegan Pizza

Thai Peanut & Lime Salad Dressing

Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant - Boon Keng

Yuan Xiang Vegetarian Food - Bedok

Delcie's Desserts & Cakes - Kovan

Tian En Vegetarian Food - Aljunied

Mycofarm - Jalan Kayu

Organic SunnyChoice - Bukit Timah Road

Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese

Genesis Vegetarian Health Food Restaurant - Clarke Quay

Rawpple Pie

Indian Cuisine - Gongura Curry

Brownice - Upper Thomson

Indian Cuisine - Fodni Mirchi

Namastaey India - Farrer Park

Vegetarian Era - Ang Mo Kio

Mee Pok Vegetarian - Yio Chu Kang

De Sheng Vegetarian Food - Ang Mo Kio

Indian Cuisine - Baingan Bartha

Vegetarian Era - Hougang