Quite a variety....

Though I don't dine at a vegetarian stall very often and most likely there's going to be the same few dishes that would be popping up in my mind when I'm talking about 'Vegetarian Food' and 'Hawker Centre'... But...

'Vegetarian Economical Meal' I was getting half a portion of Fried 'Bee Hoon' and 'Kway Teow' as a base. And on top of that, I'm getting ingredients like Mock Meat, Mock 'Char Siew' and 'Popiah'. Even though, as compared to the usual 'real' stuff, the taste of these dishes might lose out a lot, but they are actually preparing quite a vast variety of dishes over here. There's 'Curry Vegetables', 'Potatoes', 'Long Beans', etc... And most of them are freshly prepared. Not too bad for a stall that was hidden in a 'Hawker Centre'. Besides for the above, you can also order 'Cze Char' dishes over here too. Though they don't have a very big 'Cze Char' menu but, they do have the common dishes. :)

So where can you give the dishes a good try?

The name of this stall would be "Mei Jing Vegetarian Food(美景美食)". This is located inside 'Beo Crescent Market and Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Mondays - Saturdays: 06:00 - 14:00
  (Closed on Sundays)

* Click here for the location of 'Beo Crescent Market and Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Beo Crescent' Area.

Not for lunch.....

There are meals that are much more suitable to be taken for breakfast as compared to lunch. And here's an example of one of them...

'Vegetarian Fried Been Hoon'(Rice Vermicelli) This appears to be one of the few vegetarian stalls that are located inside this market. How should I put it.... Though the plate of 'Fried Been Hoon' comes with a big variety of ingredients('Mock Meats', 'French Beans', 'chillies') but the portion isn't big enough to satisfy my appetite during lunch time. On top of that, the 'Fried Bee Hoon' is a bit too dry for me, perhaps I'm a bit too used to the 'wet' vegetarian 'Fried Bee Hoon'. My favorite ingredient over here would be the 'Fried Spring Roll' that I have topped up. Not only it's crunchy outside, the good mix of vegetables inside made it pretty tasty too. Best of all, the Spring Roll ain't too oily, which makes it reasonably good. :)

So where can you give the 'Spring Roll' a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Ji Xiang'(吉祥). It's hidden inside 'Clementi Market and Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  Tuesdays - Sundays: 06:00 - 13:30
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here for the location of 'Clementi Market and Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get in
  'Clementi Market and Food Centre'.

Full Vegetarian Ramen

As usual, after all the sinful, meaty stuff over the last few weeks, it's time for a meal to get things right. Therefore...

'Organic Soya' On top of the usual 'Soya Bean' taste you are getting, it also comes with a strong 'Organic' food taste. In fact, I still prefer the taste of the normal 'Soya Bean' drink out there. However, if you are into 'Organic' food, you should really give this a try, since it still have this sweet and nice taste, especially when you have it warm. :)

'Kway Chap and Soya Ramen Set Meal' Initially, I only wanted to try the 'Soya Ramen'. But, somehow I ended up going for this set meal. For a start, the Ramen is pretty decent. It have similar characteristics of the normal bowl of Ramen. There's the thin Japanese Noodles, seaweeds and lots of vegetables. However, the only problem would be the soup being too bland. Even though the taste of the soup isn't thick and strong enough, but the sweet soup have this nice taste of 'Soya Beans'. Something different and deliciously nice to try :D As for the plate of 'Kway Chap' ingredients, this is kinda interesting to me. Besides for the 'braised peanuts' and 'braised eggs', all the other ingredients are pretty new to me. Can you believe it, besides for the 'Mushrooms', all the other ingredients were mostly made out of 'Soya Bean'. To me, the taste of the ingredients are pretty okay and not too salty, but the chewy texture just isn't there, which is a great disappointment. :|

So where can you give these healthy food a good try?

The name of this restaurant would be "O'bean Organic Soya Store". It's located along 'Tanjong Pagar Road'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  Weekdays: 10:00 - 22:30
  Saturdays: 10:00 - 23:00
  (Closed on Sundays)

* Click here for the 'Facebook Page' of "O'bean Organic Soya Store".

My First Attempt at Vegetarian Buffet

We were spending our own sweet time trying to pick the correct place for a gathering. After spending a few days looking at all the various options and discussing, we finally managed to come up with something. And this is my first encounter with...

'Vegetarian Buffet' They have all these nice starters for you to begin with. And it's not restricted to merely 'Dim Sum' alone, there's pastry, 'Sushi' and all sorts of cakes too. :P Furthermore, they have all these special booths making and preparing dishes like 'Chee Cheong Fun' upon ordering. And the chilli that they are providing over here really fit into the taste of the 'Chee Cheong Fun'.

However, if you are the typical rice or noodles sort of a person, they have lots of choices for you to try over here too. There's options like 'Fried Rice', 'Fried Noodles', 'Fried Kway Teow', 'Fried Rice Vermicelli', etc... And since there's all these filling main dishes, they have also provided lots of side dishes like 'Yong Tau Fu' and various types of vegetables dishes. And its not restricted to stir-fried vegetables only. In fact, more than half of the variety are pretty new to me too.

If you are big fan of Chinese food, you will know that an important dish is missing over here. And you're right, that missing dish would be 'Soup'. Over here, they have not only prepare a big pot of soup, there's like 2 or 3 different pots of soup for you to choose from. In fact, the soup are so tasty that I have used them as a substitute for my usual hot beverages.

And they also have these indulging dishes too. I have given the 'Chicken Rice' and 'Laksa' a try. The taste of the 'Chicken Rice' is pretty normal but the 'Laksa' is pretty much similar to the normal 'Laksa' out there. Even though the 'Laksa' isn't too spicy, but the gravy is both thick and smells nice. In fact, it's so good that I have gone ahead with a second serving. :P Before you overload your stomach with lots of food, do remember to leave some space for desserts. They not only have both hot and cold desserts over here, they also have a corner for the fruity 'Ice Cream' too. On top of that, the variety of beverages that they are offering over here are pretty interesting too. They not only have the typical 'Coffee', 'Tea' and 'Soft Drinks', they also have special blend of 'Tea' like 'Winter Melon' Tea. :) The 'Vegetarian Buffet' over here is very interesting and they really have a large variety of food over here. :P

So where can you give this 'Vegetarian Buffet' a try?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant'. It's located on level 2 of 'Quality Hotel'. (Hmmm.... speaking of 'Quality Hotel', it reminds me of the 'Porridge Buffet' in the same building too...)

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Lunch: 11:30 - 15:00
  Dinner: 18:00 - 22:00
• Do secure a reservations before you make your way down. Probably due to the reasonable price that you are paying per pax and the amount of dishes that you can try over here, it seems to be pretty crowded during the weekends.

* Click here to find out more about 'Quality Hotel'.

A test for your consciousness...

What if all the restaurants or eateries in this world are not going to put a price tag on all the food items on their menu? And, you can simply pay any price for everything that you have ordered and eaten, what will you do and how much are you willing to pay?

'Vegetarian Indian Buffet' Unfortunately, they are providing Vegetarian Indian Buffet that night. Actually I was looking forward to the ala-carte menu, but since I have step into this restaurant, I will simply go ahead with anything that they were offering that evening. Well basically, there are rice dishes, desserts, naans and all sorts of Indian dishes in this buffet spread. Since it's buffet style, that means, you can give everything a try. On top of the buffet spread, you can also place unlimited orders for the various types of beverages over here. I wanted to try the Mango Lassi over here but they don't have it that day, hence I ended up trying the thick blackcurrant Lassi, which is equally thick and good. :D By the way, according to my friend, the Lime Juice over here is pretty strong. After having a glass of Lime Juice over here, you might ended up drinking numerous glass of water to wash the sour taste away.

'Vegetarian Indian Food' Basically, this should give you a rough idea of the dishes that you can try over here. As mentioned earlier, I have visited the place on a weekend, therefore you will only be limited to the buffet spread. However, it seems that if you have visited the place on Mondays to Thursdays, you will be provided a ala-carte menu. Actually, I have taken a look at the menu and it seems to be pretty interesting. I would definitely give this place a try again. So why is this place a test for your consciousness? Basically, you can eat or drink as much as you can and simply pay a relatively low price for everything. In fact, I was wondering will there be chances that someone pays nothing for everything that he has eaten?

So where can you give the test a try?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Annalakshmi'. It's located along Havelock Road.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Lunch: 11:00 - 15:00
  Dinner: 18:15 - 21:30
• For Mondays - Thursday, you will be provided with a partial ala-carte menu and a buffet spread during lunch. Dinner wise, you will be provided a full ala-carte menu and a soup cum starter buffet. As for the rest of the week, you will be provided a full buffet spread for both lunch and dinner.
• By the way the interior of this restaurant is pretty spacious and the services that they are providing over here are pretty good too. Seriously, I really don't mind making another trip over here again.
• By the way, do try to secure a reservations before you pay the restaurant a visit. It can be pretty crowded during dinner hours. (By the way, the contact number of this restaurant would be '6339 9993'.)

* Click here for the location of the restaurant 'Annalakshmi' on Google Maps.

Vegetarian Food around the corner

Besides being the closest stall located near my previous workplace, this is also one of the best vegetarian stall around that area too. Introducing...

'Vegetarian Bee Hoon' I'm pretty lucky, as I'm placing my orders, the owner of this stall was in the midst of preparing a fresh wok of 'Bee Hoon'. After 5~10 minutes waiting, the stall owner finally placed a plate of 'Bee Hoon' in front of me. Although the variety of ingredients that the stall owner has added into the plate of 'Bee Hoon' isn't that great, but I can assure you that the taste is pretty delicious. For a start, I love the crispy brown pieces of 'Beancurd'-alike ingredient. The red coloured meat-alike ingredient are pretty nice too. On top of all these ingredients, the green chillies that was also added are pretty good. Seriously I don't think that I would have any difficulties finishing the whole plate of 'Bee Hoon' even if I only ask for the 'Bee Hoon' and green chillies only. (Kinda weird but that's simply how good the 'Bee Hoon' and the green chillies are. :P)

The name of this stall would be 'Zai Xing Vegetarian'(在興素食). It's located inside the coffee shop beneath Block 56, Tiong Poh Road.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Mondays - Fridays: 8am - 2pm
  (As for the weekends, I don't think they are open for business.)
• If you are looking for budget meals, ask for the cheaper set meals. You can also select the ingredients that you want, but take note of the prices the ingredients that you have selected.

^ Click here for the location of 'Block 56, Tiong Poh Road' on Google Maps.
~ Click here for the list of delicacies located near 'Tiong Bahru Market'.

Eating vegetables under the Sun?

I haven't had vegetarian Japanese food for quite some time, ever since the Japanese vegetarian restaurant (Zen) had suspended their business due to the ongoing construction works at midland plaza. Therefore when I found out about the new Japanese vegetarian restaurant, I decided to give it a try. :D

'Avocado Maki Roll' Since I haven't been drinking 'Avocado juice' for quite some time, therefore I decided to give this Sushi a go. How should I put this, although the taste of the 'Avocado' is pretty nice, but I personally don't find it strong enough.

'Shitake Mushrooms with Cheese' As compared to the sushi, this is definitely a much better choice. I think that the Japanese Shitake(mushroom) was deep-fried and prepared in the same manner as the Shitake tempura, followed by the step of putting a scoop of cheese on top of it and threw it into the microwave and let the cheese melt all over the shitake. Hence it end up to be super yummy and crunchy. As I took a bite off the Shitake, the cheese were melting inside my mouth and to some extend, the taste and texture of the cheese reminds me of a good mayonnaise sauce. This would definitely be one of the good dishes that I would highly recommend you to give it a try.

'Sashimi Set' Although it's known as a 'Sashimi Set', but frankly speaking, I think that the 'Sashimi' taste pretty bad. As for the rest of the dishes that comes with the set meal, although the 'vegetarian' Tonkatsu isn't as good as the genuine thing, but the crunchy texture and the taste were pretty acceptable. The long beans and assorted vegetables combination were pretty nice too. The not overly fried long beans are pretty crunchy and the portion that was given were pretty generous too. One thing that I loved about this set meal would be the Japanese pickles that was included in this set meal. The taste of it simply reminds me of the good old days when I'm travelling in Japan. According to my friend that was dining with me that day, some of the chef over here used to be working at the infamous 'Zen Japanese Vegetarian Restaurant' back then, which pretty much explains why the looks and the taste of the dessert, salad and miso soup look so familiar.

So where can you give all these delicious looking Japanese vegetarian food a try?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Bespoke Japanese Vegetarian Dining'(藤). It's located inside 'Sunshine Plaza'.

Notes:

• Lunch : 11.30am - 3pm
  Dinner: 5.30pm - 10pm (Daily)

* Click here for the location of 'Sunshine Plaza'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Sunshine Plaza'.

The taste of Soya Milk Ice Cream

It haven't been raining for the past few days and I just happen to be taking a stroll in the area that is located near Labrador Park. (Stroll? Yar right... The fact is I have alighted at the wrong bus stop and I'm walking backwards... :P) And for some reason, the information about this 'Soya Milk Ice Cream' started to pop up in my mind...

And here comes the actual product - 'Honey Lemon Flavour Soya Milk Ice Cream' Who says that ice cream can't be healthy. At least this brand has proven that by using 3x less fat, half the calories and absolutely no cholesterol and trans fat, the ice cream that was produced by them can be as good as some of your favourite brands of ice cream out there. Taste wise, I'm not sure about the other flavours, but although this ice cream doesn't have a very strong fragrance, the taste of it is too strong. Been greedy and since I have never expected it to be so strong, I actually pop a pretty big spoonful of the ice cream into my mouth. I regretted...=="" The sour taste of the ice cream was in fact too suitable for a crazily hot weather, but this has definitely taught me a lesson. :P

So where can you try this ice cream?

The name of the brand of this ice cream would be 'Soyato'. They used to have a branch located in basement 1 of Bugis Junction, but probably due to the number of ice cream shops located around that area and the price that they are paying for renting a shop over there, they have decided to wind up the shop in Bugis Junction. Although the shop is gone, but you still can try the ice cream that they are making through some of the direct distributors of 'Soyato' ice cream.

Notes:

• Looking at the ingredients that 'Soyato' are using in creating these ice cream, I think that even vegetarians can give it a try. :D
• The Facebook Page of 'Soyato' have listed down the details of the direct distributors of the ice cream and they are located in 'Jalan Eunos', 'Hort Park' and 'Alexandra Retail Centre'. Please click on the link below for more details.

* Click here to find out more about 'Soyato'.
^ Click here for the Facebook Page of 'Soyato'.

Post 200: 8 Treasures

Post 200... Woohoo it has been a pretty long journey to reach this far? Since, this is post 200, out of all the other contents that I have on hand, I decided to blog about this place since 2 '0' will make up the shape of '8'. Or perherps this is far too much to be a coincidences? :P Either ways, let's begin our journey for post 200...

So here comes our soup of the day.

'Hot & Sour Soup'(四川酸辣汤) Not sure is it me, but it seems that most of the Chinese style 'Hot & Sour Soup' tends to come with lots and lots of ingredients. Probably this is something that we, Chinese tend to do. :P The taste of the soup is pretty strong and seriously I didn't expected it to be so good. The soup also have the taste of the 'Szechuan vegetables'(四川菜), since they are using it as one of the main ingredient in making the soup. By the way a small bowl of soup can be shared by a group of 8. (Since we were a group of 4, therefore each of us had 2 bowls of the tasty soup. :D Good job.)

'Curry Mutton'(咖哩羊肉)
Usually when I ended up in a Chinese restaurant, I tend to
order a dish that comes with a bit of gravy. Since curry
is one of the most common food in Singapore, I decided to
go with this dish. All the mutton meat that were given are
bite sized. And the look and the shape of it reminds me of
the dish 'Ngo Hiang', sausage roll consist of minced pork
and prawn seasoned with five-spice powder. The taste is
pretty much similar and since I'm a big fan of curry, I
also ended up finishing all the vegetables of this dish
too. (By the way, the curry that was served here isn't
spicy at all and the gravy is pretty thick.)

'Sambal Potatoes Leaves'(叁巴番薯叶)
Probably I'm too used to have this dish prepared in very
exciting chilli, therefore for this dish, something seems
to be amiss. Though the taste of the vegetables still
remain in this dish, but it's just isn't spicy enough. :P

'Fragrant Cereal Beancurd'(麦片豆腐)
This is pretty good. Not sure how did the chef managed to
do it but although the main ingredients of this dish is
beancurd, but the texture of the beancurd is pretty much
similar to a fish cake or fried sotong ball. I'm not
exaggerating but the it's pretty chewy and this dish isn't
too oily. I would highly recommend this dish to anyone
who comes here for a meal or two.

'Marmite Pork Ribs'(妈密排骨)
Most of the places out there are preparing 'Coffee Pork Ribs'
and it's kinda of boring going for the same old dish over and
over again. My friend had placed an order for this dish and it
turn out to be pretty tasty. Pretty much similar to 'Coffee
Pork Ribs', you can taste the strong taste of the 'Pork Ribs',
but at the same time, it doesn't comes with the 'Coffee' effect.
(Keeping you too awake. :|) But I personally still find the
beancurd much more tastier than this dish.

So where can you try all these dishes?

The name of the restaurant would be '8 Treasures'(八宝) and it's
located next to the 'Buddha Tooth Relic Temple' in Chinatown.

... Oh, by the way... Did I forget to mention the fact that this is a vegetarian restaurant? The actual name of this restaurant will be '8 Treasures Vegetarian Restaurant'. Since the name of the restaurant contains the word '8 Treasures', some of their dishes also comes with the word '8 Treasures' too. For example: 'Treasures Beancurd'(八宝豆腐), 'Eight Treasures Hor Fun '(八宝河粉), 'Eight Treasures Herbal Soup'(八宝养生汤)... etc. We have tried the 'Eight Treasures Tea'(八宝茶), and the taste is pretty strong and a little sweet. Even up till the 3rd brew, the taste of the Tea still remains to the pretty much the same as the 1st brew.

Notes:

• The place is pretty small and crowded, therefore please secure a reservation to avoid disappointment.

* Click here to find out more about '8 Treasures Restaurant'.
^ Click here for their menu.
~ Click here for the location of '8 Treasures Restaurant' on Google Maps.

Misconception of Indian Food

Indian food isn't just about spicy food only. There were also delicious Vegetarian Indian food in Singapore also. Similarly, Indian food isn't just rice dishes only, there were delicacies like Naan, Thosai, Chapati ... etc. As for today, I am going to introduce you to a Vegetarian Indian restaurant that I have been going to for the past few years. :D

As usual food images come first :P.

Although I'm not a vegetarian, that doesn't mean that I don't like to eat vegetarian food.
In fact, I like the Masala Thosai here. Especially when the skin of the Thosai was pretty crispy and the amount of ingredients that the chef have stuff inside were pretty generous.
Note: Another misconception, Masala is a type of spice only. Therefore, if you like dishes with Masala, you can consider trying the Masala Thosai available at this place.

The restaurant behind the above dish would be 'Ananda Bhavan' restaurant. They have a chain of restaurants along the streets of Little India.

* Click here to find out more about 'Ananda Bhavan' restaurant.

Only restaurant in Singapore that serve Japanese Vegetarian Food

There are all sorts of Japanese food restaurant in Singapore. For example: Izakaya, Ramen shops, Shabu Shabu restaurants... etc. However, there is only one restaurant in Singapore that serves 'Shojin Ryori'. But what is 'Shojin Ryori'? The ingredients for making 'Shojin Ryori' are vegetables only. The chef will only be using vegetables to create all sorts of food items. For example: vegetables meals that look and taste like Unagi Don or Tempura, various types of Tofu set meals... etc. Basically, there are all kinds of 'Shojin Ryori' available in Japan.

The following photos were taken at the restaurant 'Zen' that is also the only restaurant that serves 'Shojin Ryori' in Singapore.

Unagi Don Set Meal

Udon Set Meal

I'm so sorry that I had completely forgotten the name of this set meal.

	Paper Claypot and Soba Set Meal It seems that food in this place never fails to amaze me. This is probably my first encounter with a claypot full of vegetarian ingredients. Example: vegetarian prawn, fish cake, etc... :D

The above were photos of the interior of the restaurant.

Note:
This restaurant is

• slightly a bit costly
• the set meals were delicious
• it is highly recommended to eat a lot of vegetables for a meal or two
• Lunch: From 12noon ~ 3pm
• Dinner：From 6pm ~ 10pm

* Click here for the map of 'Zen' restaurant.
^ Click here to find out more about 'Shojin Ryori'.

Cheap and delicious Vegetarian food @ Holland Drive Market and Food Centre

I had just posted an article on vegetarian food in this blog. This would be the other place that I would highly recommend you to try and experience cheap and delicious vegetarian food. In the past, when I happened to be around that area, I would make the extra effort going to Holland Drive Market and Food Centre to eat the vegetarian food available there. Even up till today, I still find the experience good.

This is getting more and more like a custom of my blog, the displaying of photos.

The building still looks the same after 10 years or so.

This is the stall that I am talking about. It had been serving
cheap and delicious vegetarian food for a very long period of time.

The portion of food that was given was pretty generous.
There's like a mountain of ingredients that I can't spot the Bee Hoon at all.

Here's another photo of the food before I dig in. Ittadakimasu~~~

Trust me, if you have the time and happen to be in the Buona Vista MRT Area during breakfast and lunch hours, do make the effort to try the vegetarian food there and you will not regret it. :D

* Click here to find out where is Holland Drive Market and Food Centre located.