I am eternally indebted to Heng Mui, one of my
facebook followers, who suggested I check out this new 100%
vegan eatery, located just behind The Verge. This establishment opened its doors in April 2013, and it brings to Singapore a completely unique approach to vegan dining and food. All the staff at this establishment are completely vegan. For Buddhists, take note of dishes that contain onion. Most of the local dishes are without onion, but the more continental dishes often include this pungent spice.
Veggie CottageLocation: 13 Dalhousie LaneContact: 67856771Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-8pm, Sunday 11am-4pm. Closed Thursday.The ambiance of this eatery is unquestionably the nicest I have ever seen in Singapore. Upon opening the door, you feel a peaceful and relaxing energy flow through your body. It also gave me distinct flashbacks to the times when I ate in small little cafes in England and Australia. What a wonderful and rare feeling this is, in such a bustling society like Singapore. This eatery is small and cosy, with a bookshelf and a small children's table. The signboards, menu signs and other design features were all handmade by the owners, and you can really feel the love that was put into creating this setting.
I started this particular stomach-filling session with the
Mini Cottage Pie. The menu at Veggie Cottage is currently a work in progress, with a series of new dishes planned to be introduced in the future. As of right now, the menu changes depending on the day, so it is best to check their
Facebook page or give them a call, in order to find out what is available that day. Upon consuming this cottage pie, it gave me a nostalgic flashback of old pie shops that are on every street corner of my old country (England) - Minus the freezing cold conditions of that country. This pie is filled with chiefly potatoes and carrots. These ingredients are encased in a delectably flaky pastry. The top of this pastry was cooked until golden brown, which added extra flavour to this moreish snack. Leave the fork on the table for this one, it is much better eaten with hands.
Price: $2.00. 8/10During my second visit to Veggie Cottage, the snack available was the
Cinnamon Roll. This was another well done snack, which had the right amount of sweetness, and a lovely cinnamon flavour shimmering throughout the entire bread. It was not too sweet, with a lot of the sweetness coming from raisins, which is definitely healthier than white sugar.
Price: $1.00. 7/10Veggie Cottage also has a number of eyebrow raising drinks on offer. One of those is the
Soy Latte. Once again, all hot drinks are entirely vegan, with soy being used as a replacement to cow's milk. The owners of this establishment painstakingly sampled numerous soy-to-coffee combinations, in order to find the perfect quality desired for these drinks. The result of this hard work is a great tasting, mild and creamy hot drink, which is a perfect accompaniment to the ambiance of the cafe.
Price: $4.00. 8/10Before we move onto the solid food, I decided to test out one more of the drinks, which was the
Plum Lime Drink. This homemade concoction was a pleasing blend of sweetness, saltiness and sourness - But thankfully none of these were too overpowering. Really great value also.
Price: $1.50. 7/10Moving on to the main meals, I started with the
Spaghetti Bolognese. Over my many years of food reviewing, I have learnt a painful lesson - It is practically impossible to find good Italian food in Singapore. Due to this, I have simply stopped ordering Italian food in Singapore. Having said that, this spaghetti is one of the best I have ever tasted in Singapore. I have finally found a chef in Singapore that knows how long spaghetti needs to be cooked for - Finally! Thus, the texture of the pasta was ideal. The tomato sauce was also packed with flavour. The TVP used inside added even more desirable texture and flavour. A couple of sprigs of coriander were placed on topped, which enhanced the freshness of the dish. This dish contains onions.
Price: $6.50. 9/10 ![]()
The dish I was looking forward to trying the most from Veggie Cottage was the fish and chips (just seems like a perfect dish for the ambiance of the eatery). But alas, the two times I visited it was not on the menu. Therefore, I settled with the
Hamburger with Fries. The fries were average, personally I am not a big fan of the crinkled variety. The burger was highly enjoyable, though. The mock meat patty was packed with flavour and matched well with the tomato, lettuce and pickle that were also sandwiched inside. It is certainly a relief being able to order a burger without the worry that cheese will be inside, or the mayo has egg. Good dish overall.
Price: $6.50. 7/10I also sampled one of Veggie Hub's local offerings, which was the
Nasi Lemak. Many aspects of this dish differ from the conventional nasi lemak. The rice is subtly infused with lemongrass, which gives an unusually refreshing feel to the rice. The other components of the dish all worked in harmony together. In particular, the stir-fried carrots and cauliflower were packed with flavour. One criticism I have is the chilli, which had a maliciously high spice level to it. If the spice level of the chilli was reduced, then I would have to say this dish was practically faultless.
Price: $5.00. 8/10I finished this highly satisfying meal off with the
Pandan Cupcake. One difficulty that vegan desserts (especially cakes) seem to have is replicating the texture and moisture of non-vegan desserts. Even vegan dessert guru
Delcie - As brilliant as she is - Can struggle with this issue. This pandan cupcake, is indeed, a little too dry and crumbly and doesn't quite capture the texture of a non-vegan cake. Nevertheless, the infusion of pandan works very well, and the sugar level of this cupcake was perfect.
Price: $1.00. 7/10Conclusion - Once the Veggie Cottage menu fully matures, I believe wholeheartedly that Veggie Cottage will be one of the best vegetarian/vegan eateries in the entire country. I intend to do a second review of this establishment in a few months, once the menu has been finalized. One small problem is the waiting time for the food, which is too long. However, considering this place is only a few weeks old, all I can say is this place is incredible. A breath of fresh air for the veggie scene in Singapore. I can't wait to see this eatery fully blossom. Overall RatingFood - 8/10Ambiance- 10/10 Service - 8/10 Value - 8/10
The dish I was looking forward to trying the most from Veggie Cottage was the fish and chips (just seems like a perfect dish for the ambiance of the eatery). But alas, the two times I visited it was not on the menu. Therefore, I settled with the Hamburger with Fries. The fries were average, personally I am not a big fan of the crinkled variety. The burger was highly enjoyable, though. The mock meat patty was packed with flavour and matched well with the tomato, lettuce and pickle that were also sandwiched inside. It is certainly a relief being able to order a burger without the worry that cheese will be inside, or the mayo has egg. Good dish overall.
