iVege - Macpherson

I mentioned just a few days ago that I consider Xuan Miao Vegan and Victor's to be the two most successful vegetarian stalls at the infamous 79A Circuit Road Food Centre - Maybe I was wrong.  iVege is extremely popular vegetarian stall located right next to Xuan Miao Vegan.  Prior to opening there is already a line of hungry devotees excited to try their food.  I have stated below that their closing time is 9pm, but be warned, on busy days (weekends/public holidays etc) their food has been known to sell out by 8pm - The earlier you go, the safer your chances will be of filling your stomach.  So what is so special about iVege that it attracts so many customers, let's find out...





 

iVege
Location: #01-79, Blk 79A Circuit Road Food Centre
Contact: 81338744
Opening Hours: Tues-Sun 5.00pm-9.00pm.  Closed Monday.  


iVege likes to keep things simple, each day they serve just one special dish.  I have heard very good things about their chicken rice and nasi lemak - But it is their monkeyhead mushroom rice which seems to attract most praise.  This dish is available only on Wednesday, so I specifically went down on that day for this dish.  I must say, the attitude of the husband and wife duo that run this stall is quite poor.  They were nothing but cold to me, when I was trying to extract basic information from them (when I asked for the stalls contact number, he reacted as if I was asking for his wife's bra size) so that I could write this review.  I felt an almost arrogant air about them, which was coming across to me as 'we don't want or need your help'.  Humility and common decency seems to have been lost amidst their success.  Vegetarian hawkers are generally some of the most friendly and giving people you can meet in Singapore (yes, even mafia aunties), and I love to talk to them and find out their story, so that I can share it with the rest of Singapore in my reviews - But I took no pleasure being in the company of this pair.


Ok rant over, let's see the food.  Like I mentioned iVege like to keep things really simple.  Apart from their one special dish, the only other item available to order was their Ngo Hiang.  The name 'ngo hiang' is a general term used for a range of assorted meat preparations stemming from Eastern China (in China it goes by the name 虾卷).  The particular dish on offer at iVege should be more accurately titled ngo hiang hun, which refers to the specific method of preparation, which is rolling the meat (in this case mock meat) inside beancurd skin and deep frying.  I believe this ngo hiang hun was made from scratch by the owners, and went very well with the fresh coriander.  Their chili could have been better though.

Price: $2.50.     6/10


Now to the main reason I visited iVege, their Hsiang Choon Monkey-Head Mushroom + Soup + Rice.  The term hsiang choon is a poor attempt at spelling the Chinese characters 香椿, which is a strong tasting leaf (Toona sinensis), used in many Chinese dishes.  I couldn't really taste 'hsiang choon' in their sauce, but I loved the combination of monkeyhead mushroom (surely the greatest ingredient one can use in vegetarian cooking) and the sauce.  Moreover, the taste was really brought to another level thanks to the generous topping of fresh coriander.  The rice used was flavoured chicken rice, and was cooked well.  The soup was the only let down, it really tasted just like plain water, with a hint of kelp flavour.  This is not a complicated dish, it is very simple and easy to make, nevertheless I enjoyed it.

Price: $5.00.     7/10



Conclusion - Let me first start by giving my honest assessment of the food - It was good.  I really enjoyed the monkeyhead mushroom rice.  Having said that, the snobbish attitude of this husband and wife duo really left a sour taste in my mouth.  Seeing a vegetarian stall become successful is fantastic, but if the owners aloof attitude is a by-product of this success, then I truly feel 心寒.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 2/10
Value - 7/10