Tian Yi Vegetarian - Teck Whye

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