Southern Palace Vegetarian Restaurant - Paya Lebar

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