Nature Cafe - Jurong East

This post completes my trilogy of posts on Nature Cafe.  For those not familiar, Cafe Nature originally started out with just one outlet located at Bukit Merah.  This outlet has been running for over 15 years now.  It was only until recently that the owner decided to expand his operations and open two more higher class vegetarian eateries.  The first of these outlets I reviewed back in November 2014, located at Aperia in Bendemeer area.  For this post, I will feature the final outlet, which is located at Tradehub.











 
Nature Cafe
Location: 8 Boon Lay Way, #01-29 Tradehub 21
Contact: 65155939
Opening Hours: Daily 10.00am-9.30pm 


This Tradehub location was previously occupied by another vegetarian eatery called Cafe de Paradiso.  After this eatery closed down, Nature Cafe soon opened.  Surprisingly, Nature Cafe seems to be thriving where Cafe de Paradiso was once suffering.  Once again, the decor and ambiance of this outlet is outstanding - I still prefer the Bendemeer outlets ambiance, but this one is excellent in its own right.

The meal started off with the Petai Fried Rice.  One thing that must be said about Nature Cafe is that their prices (at all three outlets) are some of the most affordable in Singapore.  The food portions are usually large, and no matter what your budget, you will be able to find something on their large menu.  Petai bean is one of my favourite ingredients, and when fried with rice it really manages to transfer its aroma throughout the entire dish.  The rice was a little too soft for my liking, but I enjoyed this dish.

Price: $4.50.     7/10
Next up we have the Sweet and Sour Pork.  Finding a chef that knows how to make a perfect sweet and sour sauce is not easy.  I've eaten many acceptable sweet and sour concoctions in Singapore, but never a perfect one.  The only perfect sweet and sour sauce I've eaten (in my life) was at the famous Tung Fong Siu Kee Yuen restaurant in Hong Kong.  Since that life changing experience in Hong Kong, every other sweet and sour dish just seems so ordinary to me.  In this dish, I really enjoyed the mock meat that was used - It was chewy and flavourful.  I must admit, the sauce itself was nothing special, but the rest of the ingredients were cooked well.

Price: $8.00.     7/10
The most disappointing dish of the meal was the Hot Plate BBQ Sambal Fish.  The sauce in this hotplate just didn't suit my preference.  The sauce had a somewhat 'dirty' taste to it, and I failed to detect any BBQ flavour in it.  Having said that, I liked the shredded cabbage that was placed on top, and the mock fish was decent enough.  Not a disastrous dish, but not one that I would consider ordering again.

Price: $10.00.     6/10
In addition to a myriad of Chinese dishes, there is also a number of Western items on the menu.  The dish I decided to pick (after much deliberating) was the Fish Chop Set.  This set meal was presented beautifully on the plate, the 'S' shaped lemon cutting being particularly wonderful. The portion of pasta is large, and the taste was good.  The mock fish patty could have done with being a little bigger, but all in all this was a tasty set meal.

Price: $9.00.     7/10




Conclusion - As mentioned previously, what I believe is the key to the success of Nature Cafe is the affordability and variety that can be found in their menu.  On top of that, customers are getting one of the nicest ambiances in Singapore.  The Tradehub location is a little out of the way for regularly customers.  But due to the large amounts of office workers in the area, this outlet seems to be thriving and deservedly so.

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 9/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 8/10