Boneless Kitchen - Bukit Merah

I wrote a post back in August 2013 about a new stall called Hanyi Vegetarian, at the Tai Seng area.  People got excited about this stall mainly cause they were selling vegetarian Korean food - A completely untapped market in Singapore.  After spending many months at Tai Seng, Hanyi has recently rebranded themselves as Boneless Kitchen, and switched locations to Bukit Merah.  Not only that, it is now a restaurant - Not a food court stall.  The new location should be familiar to veggie food hunters, as it is literally two doors away from Nature Vegetarian.  One would have to question the ethics of opening a vegetarian place right next to another existing meat-free restaurant (and inevitably stealing their business).  Surely it would be better for everyone to open in an area that has no existing vegetarian eatery.  Just my two cents, onto the review...





Boneless Kitchen
Location: #03-4458, Blk 11 Jalan Bukit Merah
Contact: 90232725
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 11.30am-9.30pm.  Monday Closed


One thing is clear, the owners have definitely taken greater steps to improve the menu at Boneless Kitchen.  I was really impressed by the design.  Moreover, I loved how they added dairy, egg and spice icons to the menu to avoid any misunderstandings with customers on other diets.  Good job!
Here is the other side of the menu.  One side focuses mainly on Korean and other Oriental dishes, while the other side (pictured) has more Italian dishes.
We started our meal off with the Kimchi Pancake.  I had mixed feelings about this side dish overall.  Upon tasting, it is clear that the quality of the kimchi is very good.  The kimchi is made from scratch and really has good flavour.  What I didn't like was the actual 'pancake'.  The best way I can think to describe the texture is that of a super flat and thin roti prata or chapati. Full marks for the idea of a kimchi pancake, but I thought the texture and design of the pancake could be improved.

Price: $3.00.      6/10


We moved onto the main dishes, starting with an Asian dish we have the Braised Meat with Rice.  This dish reminded me of the classic Taiwanese dish lu rou fan (滷肉飯), except the mock minced meat is not on top of the rice.  For this dish, the flavour of the mock soy granules was pretty good and thankfully not too salty.  When it was all said and done though, there was nothing too memorable that I recall from the experience.  Not bad for the price, though.

Price: $4.50.     6/10


Lastly we picked out of the Italian pasta dishes, and went for the Mushroom Pasta.  For vegans visiting Boneless Kitchen, you have two pasta options to choose from - This one and aglio olio.  Overall this was the best dish of the evening.  The cooking of the spaghetti was very well done, although the pasta quality used could have been better.  I was really impressed by the taste and texture of the creamy mushroom sauce (which I confirmed is vegan), and the dried herbs used.  Portion size was good, definitely a dish worth ordering.

Price: $7.00.     7/10










Conclusion - Overall there is no doubt that improvements have been made from the Han Yi days.  The quality of the food can still be improved, but is not bad overall, and the prices are reasonable.  I did find the ambiance of the place a little dead, with it being quieter than a library inside. A more lively atmosphere would also be a step in the right direction.

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