Divine Vegetarian Family Restaurant - Hougang

September 27th 2009 marked one of the greatest days in the history of Singapore - The Hungry Ang Mo published his very first post.  Over three years later, I decided to return to the roots of my very first post, which was this cosy Chinese restaurant in Hougang.  It felt somewhat surreal returning back to the origins of my blog, especially so as the look and feel of this restaurant remains exactly the same.  Speaking of the look, a lot of people see the signboard and confuse it with Divine Realm, which is also in Hougang - These two eateries are completely different and have no connection to each other.


Divine Vegetarian Family Restaurant
Location: Block 356 Hougang Ave 7 #01-803
Contact: 64877895
Opening Hours: 7:00am to 10:00pm

Since my first review, there have been price adjustments, with a lot of the dishes increasing in price.  With that being said, I still find that all the dishes are pretty reasonably priced.  Inflation is happening everywhere, so we can't be too surprised nor critical to see the price of dishes continue to increase over the years in Singapore.  I often find myself laboriously listening to people whinging about $3 dishes being too costly - Give me a break - If they knew how much rental and ingredients cost in Singapore now, I am sure they would be less critical.


A dish that I ordered all those years ago was the Crispy Noodle.  In England, this dish ranks as one of the most popular, although in the West it is known as 'chow mien', which locals rather clumsily pronounce cho mayne - I mock, yet I used to be one of those people.  One issue I have is crispy noodle should always be in a bowl, not a plate.  The customer must mix the noodle and gravy together in order to alter the texture of the noodles, and on a plate, this can prove quite cumbersome 麻烦.  The flavour of the dish was good, and overall I really enjoyed it.

Price: $3.50.     7/10


Another reason for my return to Divine was to sample a dish that was kindly recommended by a reader named Lixuan.  The dish that she was adamant I try was the Sliced Fish Bee Hoon Soup.  Lixuan was definitely wise to suggest this dish, as it tasted absolutely delicious.  The aspect of this dish that I was most fanatical about was the soup.  The fish flavour was incredibly strong, yet not too salty - Perfect for a rainy evening (which it was).  The other ingredients inside were mock fish, tomato, vegetables and seaweed.  For those who have chosen the vegan path (like myself), be sure to make it clear you do not want milk added to this dish.  If you do not make this clear, then the default dish will have milk added into the soup.  With or without milk, the dish still tasted very nice - So do your arteries a favour, and take the fat and cholesterol (aka milk) out of this dish.

Price: $3.50.     8/10


Conclusion - It brought a smile to my face to retrace history and visit this eatery again.  Moreover, it made me even happier to taste two good quality dishes.  The crispy noodle was decent, but the fish bee hoon soup should be what motivates you to head there immediately after finishing this wonderful review...Ready...Go!

Overall Rating
Food - 7/10
Ambiance- 6/10
Service - 7/10
Value - 8/10