Vege Food Hub - Woodlands

This post represents Hong Yun Food House part two.  As I mentioned in my previous review of Miao Lian, it is extraordinary to find a food court or coffee shop in Singapore that has two vegetarian stalls inside - Hong Yun Food House is one of those.  This stall only opened up in December 2014, and still rather comically has the non-vegetarian 'Grill or Grill' sign at the top.  In fact, the first time I visited this food court, I totally missed this stall due to the signage (or lack of).  Once again, I must stress that you shouldn't be fooled by the name 'industrial', this food court is within walking distance of Woodlands MRT - Even better, this stall opens until 10pm six days a week.







Vege Food Hub
Location: #01-11, 35 Marsiling Industrial Estate Road 3.
Contact: Unknown
Opening Hours: Daily 11.00am-10.00pm. Closed Sunday.


The menu at Vege Food Hub is much more comprehensive compared with Miao Lian.  In fact, it is almost a restaurant standard menu, which is incredible for an industrial food court.  Most the 'special' dishes are available only after 2pm - This was done so not to clash with the other vegetarian stall in the food court (which closes at 2pm).  Before 2pm there is double boiled soup and a lunch time set meal.


The trio that run this stall are all relatively new to the vegetarian F&B scene.  The gentleman in the middle is the cook, while the two aunties beside him operate the front end of the stall.
If you're visiting before 2pm then the options at Vege Food Hub are a little more limited.  Aside from the soups, they have the Set Lunch, which consists of rice, soup, vegetable and mock meat.  

Price: $5.50.     7/10
Years ago, I would have probably ranked Chinese soup and congee as two of the dishes I hated the most (I still hate congee).  Then, around a year ago, Chef Wai (Onn Vegetarian) totally reshaped my perception of how good a Chinese soup can be.  Vege Food Hub have a number of daily double-boiled soups, with Watercress Soup being the one I selected.  This soup was certainly above average, and ranks similarly to San De Green at Yew Tee Point.  It doesn't come close to Onn, but having said that, they are not using mock meat in the soup here and less salt - So they deserve credit based on that.

Price: $4.00.     7/10
Next dish is a local classic, Hor Fun.  Comparing Miao Lian's wet hor fun and Vege Food Hub's dry hor fun it is quite a close contest.  Overall I would say Miao Lian is the winner (slightly) as the wok hei is stronger, it is a dollar cheaper also.  Nevertheless, this dry version was also decent enough.

Price: $4.00.     6/10
The Season Fish Steak with Spaghetti was next.  This dish was a mixture of highs and lows.  The broccoli was cooked well, and the mock fish fillet was one of the best I have tried.  The soy 'meat' was succulent and flavourful.  The big let down was the spaghetti.  It was swimming in some odd Chinese gravy, the only word I can think of is 'weird'.  Chinese cooks need to either learn how to cook Italian food or don't have it on the menu.  Spaghetti is not difficult to learn, it requires just a little outside reading to produce a simple spaghetti dish - Yet, no vegetarian chef in Singapore seems to be able to do it.  Enough whinging, still a dish worth ordering for the fillet and broccoli - Nicely presented in the bento also.

Price: $6.50.     7/10


Vege Food Hub have a couple of monkeyhead mushroom dishes (one of my favourite ingredients), the one I picked was the Monkeyhead Mushroom with Sze Chuan Sauce.  Don't be fooled by the name, although the name Sichuan is there, this dish is not spicy at all.  In fact, it tasted more like black pepper monkeyhead more than anything else.  The texture of the monkeyhead was delicious, and overall this was an enjoyable dish.

Price: $9.00.     7/10
Last dish we sampled was the Crispy Golden Duck.  This mock duck is handmade by the chef, and was one of the best mock duck/peking duck that I have tried in Singapore.  I remember many years back splurging on the 'famous' peking duck from Eight Treasures and feeling extremely disappointed.  That memory was still in my head when I tried this dish, so my expectations were subconsciously low. Having said that, I was genuinely impressed with this dish.  The center had more substance and chew, with the outer batter having that lovely brittle crunchy texture.  Great value for the price, it is half the price of Eight Treasures (and in my opinion tastes better).  Definitely a dish worth trying!

Price: $6.00 (large size is $12.00).     8/10




Conclusion - In the realm of vegetarian hawkers/coffee shop/food courts the food is often guilty of being repetitive.  The same dishes, cooked the same way, with the same flaws.  I really respect the menu that Vege Food Hub has been able to produce, so that customers can try special dishes, without having to go to a restaurant.  The food overall was excellent, I just hope it can be appreciated by the workers and other visitors who frequent this food court, as this kind of food is a little out of place in the context of the location.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 8/10