I am back again to review another new face from 2015. Nomvnom is a vegan restaurant specializing in burgers and fast food. Hold on, wasn't there another vegan fast food burger eatery in Singapore? Yes, Vegan Burg. Hold on again, weren't Vegan Burg previously located at this exact same address? Indeed they were. If you feel skeptical about these two apparent coincidences, you would be right. Nomvnom is a 100% vegan eatery, with no onion or garlic in any of their food.
Nomvnom
Location: 50 Market Street, Golden Shoe Car Park, #01-28D
Contact: 97526125
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30am - 8.30pm
Nomvnom was created by Ng Wai Lek, who was previously the manager/director at - Wait for it - Vegan Burg. This is, of course, a shining example of the ugliness of business, and how the golden rule applies to anything and everything in life - Don't trust anyone. Either that, or use black and white paperwork to your advantage. A none compete clause (NCC) being the best way to prevent your staff from copying your concept. I'm not going to go into the details of the blow by blow between Vegan Burg and Nomvnom, but needless to say it is not pretty.
The Nomvnom poster displays a number interesting points about their food - No MSG, no egg, no trans fats, no onion/garlicand no original concept. To be fair, I did like how the burgers combined a worldwide spectrum of flavours, such as kimchi, hummus, daal, truffle and otak. But how well do these flavours match in burgers? Lets find out...
Here is a look at the complete menu.
Similarly to Vegan Burg, you can order the burgers as a set meal or individually by themselves.
I picked out the Truffle Fries to start my meal. Truffle fries have become one of Singapore's latest culinary trends over the last few years, although to be frank, most the truffle fries I've tried in Singapore are utter garbage, with super low quality rancid tasting truffle oil being used. Nomvnom decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of tossing the fries in truffle oil, they instead added a truffle sauce on the side for you to dip the fries into.
Here is the truffle sauce which accompanies the fries. I must say the sauce itself was well done, with a distinctive strong truffle flavour.
Price: $5.90. 7/10
Sweet Potato Fries are also available.
Price: $4.50. 7/10
The first burger that I tried was the Mammoth Truffle. I like the idea of using truffle sauce and double patty in a burger, and the flavours matched quite well together. One key mistake Nomvnom has made (in comparison to Vegan Burg) is their bread. Burgers need a bread that has a degree of firmness to it, otherwise it will wilt under the weight of the ingredients, and what you will get is a mess. Nomvnom have opted to go with the soft delicate Asian style of bread making, which really can't work for burgers. One bite and it was almost like the food version of Jenga, with all the ingredients slipping/falling everywhere - This is how important bread is! I also tried the potato croquette burger, which I forgot to photograph and had the same problems with that burger. This burger has potential when the bread is altered. The truffle sauce can be reduced also, as the sauce is also guilty of making it messy. This burger is the nightmare meal for a first date!
Price: $12.50. 6/10
The one burger I tried which was the easiest to eat was the Nom Nom burger. The nom nom burger is the most basic burger, but it was the one I enjoyed the most. As mentioned, I didn't have to fight to keep all the ingredients from falling out of the burger, and the taste of the patty was enjoyable. This is the burger I would order again next visit.
Price: $5.50. 7/10
Conclusion - Is there anyone reading this post that cares about business ethics (unless it concerns themselves)?...Nope, didn't think so - In which case, I do recommend checking out Nomvnom. Some improvements need to be made in their burgers, but it seems like they are on the right track overall. Vegan Burg was once the most talked about and successful vegan/vegetarian eatery in Singapore for a reason, and their food was not one of the big reasons. Vegan Burg thrived due to brilliant marketing and promotion of their brand, and really over-achieved when you see their product. Nomvnom are going to be facing a Everest-esque climb to reach that level...
Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 5/10
Service - 6/10
Value - 6/10
Nomvnom
Location: 50 Market Street, Golden Shoe Car Park, #01-28D
Contact: 97526125
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30am - 8.30pm
Nomvnom was created by Ng Wai Lek, who was previously the manager/director at - Wait for it - Vegan Burg. This is, of course, a shining example of the ugliness of business, and how the golden rule applies to anything and everything in life - Don't trust anyone. Either that, or use black and white paperwork to your advantage. A none compete clause (NCC) being the best way to prevent your staff from copying your concept. I'm not going to go into the details of the blow by blow between Vegan Burg and Nomvnom, but needless to say it is not pretty.
The Nomvnom poster displays a number interesting points about their food - No MSG, no egg, no trans fats, no onion/garlic
Here is a look at the complete menu.
Similarly to Vegan Burg, you can order the burgers as a set meal or individually by themselves.
I picked out the Truffle Fries to start my meal. Truffle fries have become one of Singapore's latest culinary trends over the last few years, although to be frank, most the truffle fries I've tried in Singapore are utter garbage, with super low quality rancid tasting truffle oil being used. Nomvnom decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of tossing the fries in truffle oil, they instead added a truffle sauce on the side for you to dip the fries into.
Here is the truffle sauce which accompanies the fries. I must say the sauce itself was well done, with a distinctive strong truffle flavour.
Price: $5.90. 7/10
Sweet Potato Fries are also available.
Price: $4.50. 7/10
The first burger that I tried was the Mammoth Truffle. I like the idea of using truffle sauce and double patty in a burger, and the flavours matched quite well together. One key mistake Nomvnom has made (in comparison to Vegan Burg) is their bread. Burgers need a bread that has a degree of firmness to it, otherwise it will wilt under the weight of the ingredients, and what you will get is a mess. Nomvnom have opted to go with the soft delicate Asian style of bread making, which really can't work for burgers. One bite and it was almost like the food version of Jenga, with all the ingredients slipping/falling everywhere - This is how important bread is! I also tried the potato croquette burger, which I forgot to photograph and had the same problems with that burger. This burger has potential when the bread is altered. The truffle sauce can be reduced also, as the sauce is also guilty of making it messy. This burger is the nightmare meal for a first date!
Price: $12.50. 6/10
The one burger I tried which was the easiest to eat was the Nom Nom burger. The nom nom burger is the most basic burger, but it was the one I enjoyed the most. As mentioned, I didn't have to fight to keep all the ingredients from falling out of the burger, and the taste of the patty was enjoyable. This is the burger I would order again next visit.
Price: $5.50. 7/10
Conclusion - Is there anyone reading this post that cares about business ethics (unless it concerns themselves)?...Nope, didn't think so - In which case, I do recommend checking out Nomvnom. Some improvements need to be made in their burgers, but it seems like they are on the right track overall. Vegan Burg was once the most talked about and successful vegan/vegetarian eatery in Singapore for a reason, and their food was not one of the big reasons. Vegan Burg thrived due to brilliant marketing and promotion of their brand, and really over-achieved when you see their product. Nomvnom are going to be facing a Everest-esque climb to reach that level...
Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 5/10
Service - 6/10
Value - 6/10