One of the new kids on the block for vegetarian food in 2015 is Jadeite Vegetarian. Having first heard about Jadeite from Facebook (you can find their page here), their branding made me think that Jadeite was in fact a higher end vegetarian restaurant (similar to Sufood or Herbivore etc). Therefore, it was quite a surprise to find in reality it is just a small cosy little cafe with only about six tables. Nothing wrong with small and cosy, but the Jadeite branding doesn't quite match the establishment in my opinion.
Jadeite Vegetarian
Location: 470 North Bridge Road, Bugis Cube, #03-21
Contact: 91956939
Opening Hours: Daily 10.00am-10.00pm
Based on the description on the Jadeite website 'We serve a wide variety of traditional and modern vegetarian dishes to suit all taste buds' I must admit that I was expecting something more, and was a tad underwhelmed when looking through their menu. The menu is quite simple, with less (both in terms of quantity and imagination) dishes compared to a typical vegetarian shophouse stall.
It is also crucial to take note that egg is lurking in many dishes at Jadeite. Even dishes such as 'Pork Chop Rice' contains egg in the mock meat. Luckily enough, the staff working there is intelligent enough to warn customers about this in advance. For most eateries (especially those run by aunties and uncles) they will be using mock meat with egg in a lot of their dishes (even those stalls that claim there is no egg in their food). Moreover, dishes such as wanton mee are again not suitable for those who can't take eggs. Make sure to ask, clarify, and double confirm.
First dish I picked was the Penang Kway Teow. Having lived in Penang for many months, eaten countless variants of kway teow, and learnt to cook the dish myself from Penang vegetarian cooks - I must say that this version is not authentic to how Penang kway teow should be. The key to Penang kway teow is the savoury salty taste and the abundance of dark sauce. This version did have suitable flavour, and was not as bland as its pale look might suggest. However, it needed more dark sauce (I don't believe any at all was added), chilli, and needed to be cooked on a more intense heat. Not a disaster, but not a true Penang kway teow either.
Price: $5.00. 6/10
I initially wanted to order the pork chop rice, but after finding out that it contained egg, I switched to the Sambal Fish Rice. The mock fish and the Chinese celery went very well together. The chilli had a good kick to it, but the sauce was too one dimensional for my liking. I enjoyed the fried cabbage.
Price: $5.50. 6/10
Lastly, we have the Chicken Cutlet Rice. The mock chicken used was the deep fried crunchy chicken style, which were coated in a sweet and sour style sauce, once again with white rice and fried cabbage. The sweet and sour sauce was decent enough, and I've always liked that chewy sinful mock chicken. Not much skill or creativity shown in the dish, but decent enough.
Price: $5.50. 6/10
Conclusion - The most captivating thing about this eatery is the branding. Describing itself as a 'traditional and modern vegetarian bistro' it certainly excites ones imagination. Bizarrely though, in reality this eatery is serving a basic menu, with simple dishes. Perhaps in the future they intend to expand the menu significantly, who knows. For now though, I wouldn't feel inspired to return again.
Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 6/10
Value - 7/10
Jadeite Vegetarian
Location: 470 North Bridge Road, Bugis Cube, #03-21
Contact: 91956939
Opening Hours: Daily 10.00am-10.00pm
Based on the description on the Jadeite website 'We serve a wide variety of traditional and modern vegetarian dishes to suit all taste buds' I must admit that I was expecting something more, and was a tad underwhelmed when looking through their menu. The menu is quite simple, with less (both in terms of quantity and imagination) dishes compared to a typical vegetarian shophouse stall.
It is also crucial to take note that egg is lurking in many dishes at Jadeite. Even dishes such as 'Pork Chop Rice' contains egg in the mock meat. Luckily enough, the staff working there is intelligent enough to warn customers about this in advance. For most eateries (especially those run by aunties and uncles) they will be using mock meat with egg in a lot of their dishes (even those stalls that claim there is no egg in their food). Moreover, dishes such as wanton mee are again not suitable for those who can't take eggs. Make sure to ask, clarify, and double confirm.
First dish I picked was the Penang Kway Teow. Having lived in Penang for many months, eaten countless variants of kway teow, and learnt to cook the dish myself from Penang vegetarian cooks - I must say that this version is not authentic to how Penang kway teow should be. The key to Penang kway teow is the savoury salty taste and the abundance of dark sauce. This version did have suitable flavour, and was not as bland as its pale look might suggest. However, it needed more dark sauce (I don't believe any at all was added), chilli, and needed to be cooked on a more intense heat. Not a disaster, but not a true Penang kway teow either.
Price: $5.00. 6/10
I initially wanted to order the pork chop rice, but after finding out that it contained egg, I switched to the Sambal Fish Rice. The mock fish and the Chinese celery went very well together. The chilli had a good kick to it, but the sauce was too one dimensional for my liking. I enjoyed the fried cabbage.
Price: $5.50. 6/10
Lastly, we have the Chicken Cutlet Rice. The mock chicken used was the deep fried crunchy chicken style, which were coated in a sweet and sour style sauce, once again with white rice and fried cabbage. The sweet and sour sauce was decent enough, and I've always liked that chewy sinful mock chicken. Not much skill or creativity shown in the dish, but decent enough.
Price: $5.50. 6/10
Conclusion - The most captivating thing about this eatery is the branding. Describing itself as a 'traditional and modern vegetarian bistro' it certainly excites ones imagination. Bizarrely though, in reality this eatery is serving a basic menu, with simple dishes. Perhaps in the future they intend to expand the menu significantly, who knows. For now though, I wouldn't feel inspired to return again.
Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 6/10
Value - 7/10