LivinGreens - Farrer Park

I am sure almost everyone in the Singapore vegetarian/vegan scene know about Barbara and her LivinGreens eatery.  For many years, this establishments has been sitting comfortably along Beach Road.  However, a couple of months ago, LivinGreens uprooted and shifted to Rangoon Road.  Although Little India is a hustling bustling mad house most of the time - Rangoon Road is actually surprisingly quiet, which makes this eatery pretty difficult to just stumble upon, unless you're specifically looking for it.  This is a 100% vegan establishment.











 
LivinGreens
Location: 89 Rangoon Road, Urban Lofts #01-04
Contact: 98574881
Opening Hours: 11:00am-8:30 pm (Mon - Sat). Closed on Sundays.


Barbara has used this location change as motivation to also change the look and content of her menu.  Currently, there is a temporary menu offering quite a large selection of items.  But in the future Barbara is planning to expand this menu even further.  For those who have been to the old Beach Road outlet, the menu should seem quite familiar to you.  I was pleased to see her lasagna (which I praised so highly in my first review) is still on the menu.


For those who don't know about the story of Barbara Chin, it is really quite an amazing one.  Born in Eastern Malaysia, Barbara worked as a beautician for several years.  It was only in the late 1990s that she decided to make food look beautiful instead.  This change was inspired by her husbands unfortunate cancer diagnosis.  After researching, she was convinced that a change to a vegan diet could reverse this invidious disease.  It was this event that has inspired the last 15 years of vegan cooking that she has brought to Singapore.


'Ma Lak' Noodle was the first dish to arrive at our empty table.  Traditionally a spicy dish, I was pleased that the spice level was quite subtle.  The noodles were fresh, and the carrots and other vegetables still had some crunch.  The most interesting aspect of this dish were the three handmade 'meatballs'.  These balls were moist and juicy.  My only criticism would be the salt level of the dark sauce was a little too high.  The fresh coriander on top added superb extra flavour.

Price: $7.90.     7/10 


It was difficult for me to withhold the urge to order lasagna, but I decided variety is the spice of life, and went for the Shepherd's Pie.  Growing up as a child, shepherd's pie was one of those dishes I ate on a weekly basis.  Barbara has clearly worked diligently to make this dish as healthy as possible.  The pie is stuffed internally with a variety of vegetables.  Even tempeh is inside, which was a welcome surprise.  The pie has a slight sourness from tomato, and a glorious natural sweetness from the carrots and other vegetables.  It may not be like my mother's shepherd's pie (a wacky mess of cheese, potato and gravy), but Barbara's is undoubtedly better for ones health.

Price: $9.90.     8/10


No meal is complete without something sweet to cap things off.  There are a handful of dessert options available on a daily basis.  We went for the Orh Nee, which is a traditional Chinese taro/yam paste dessert.  My problem with this dessert was the overall lack of sweetness and flavour.  The syrup sauce (probably derived from molasses) couldn't sufficient bring to life the ultimately bland flavour of the taro paste.  Perhaps my Western palate is still not used to the subtle/tasteless flavours of Chinese desserts, so this may be a dish others can enjoy.  The presentation was definitely top notch.

Price: $4.50.     6/10


Conclusion - It is hard not to love LivinGreens when you know the story behind its creation.  I will be curious to see what new dishes are added, once the finalized menu is sorted out.  Definitely the lasagna and shepherd's pie are must-try dishes.

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