Saturday, February 27, 2010

LivinGreens Cafe

I have a non-vegetarian friend who has the opinion that nice vegetarian food are nice but oily or must be plain and tasteless so in order to correct her perception, I have to be careful in my choice to recommend her a good vegetarian place to correct her misconception.
I have heard much about LivinGreens and a quick search on their menu on their web : http://www.livingreens.com.sg/ , it seems to be the ideal place that could help me.
We met at Bugis MRT & took a 15min stroll (2 bus-stop from Bugis Junction) along Beach Road. It's located along a stretch of shop houses opposite The Concourse, being 2nd shop house beside the famous Bah Kut Teh corner coffee-shop.

They have a variety of salad that sounds interesting but on a safe side, as not a salad lover myself, we decided on the popular Sushi Roll found in most Fusion vegetarian cafe. It is a good starter choice as my friend enjoyed the freshness & crunchiness of the vegetables rolled in the Nori-seaweed.
Xiao Long Bao! Strongly recommended by the lady boss to try. The skin was thin and the mashed bean curb with some vegetables & their secret recipe of yogurt to create a meat resemblence won all praises from my friend. I guess one important ingredient was finely chopped water-chestnut that helps to make a good dumpling for a meat or vegetarian version. The only regret is that Xiao Long Bao is to contain some soup which the version they had was without/little to further close the gap of resemblance.
Still I miss the authentic Lasagna which in most western food restaurant doesn't have the vegetarian version. LivinGreen's come in a shape with an otah-like top with very soft filling of green and red pepper, mushroom and what we thought looked and tasted like brinjal though not listed in the ingredients on their menu. Quite nice with a good portion of salad.
Fried Green Curry Spaghetti, very strong Red curry flavour instead of Green curry taste in my opinion but the Sembolina spaghetti was well-cooked.
My non-vegetarian friend was overall very satisfied with the dishes and commented that this is the best vegetarian meal she had ever tried so far. So, mission accomplished! :-)
We felt that the only setback is their location, it would be more popular if located at more town or accessible area and will be a hit to the growing population of vegetarians and non-vegetarians looking for palatable, healthy food.
It's a great place for gathering too but may not be so not for a weekday nite as it closes around 8.30pm so one has to move to another place for dessert or drink if rushing down from work.

The Cafe is located at 325 Beach Road (Opposite the Concourse).
Open Mon-Sat 11am-8.30pm. Near 2nd bus-stop (bus 100, 107) from Bugis Junction towards Beach Road. Contact: 63965523; web: http://www.livingreens.com.sg/

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Miao Yin Vegetarian

Was craving for Western Food, hence was grateful to S who was at Bugis to help pack their Vegetarian Fish & Chips for dinner.
It came with generous portion of fries, with 2 deeply fried breaded mock fish which the mock fish was most likely a soy product. If not overly fried that had caused it to be too dry & chewy, the texture of the mock meat could be comparable to the McDonald's Mac-Chicken taste that is fading from my memory. Worth a try but must remind them not to overfry the vegetarian fish should you order next round.

Address: Blk 1, Rocher Rd, #01-506 Kopitiam (Rocher centre corner coffeeshop, 2 doors away from the vegetarian cake house, opp Bugis OG, near the famous Simaru Guan Yin Temple)

一心素食, Chinatown

Long time since last visited Yi Xin Vegetarian, this round I tried their Lor Mee.
Instead of the yellow noodle used in Lor Mee, they allowed change to their La Mian which was like Bai Yu Mian. I like the gravy, abit gluey & with shreds of bean curb skin & with enough vinegar pre-added, tasted much like the Sichuan Sour & Spicy soup base.
Very appetising on a warm day. :-)



Noticed that they now have more stock of variety of instant (for cooking & cup) noodles on their shelves. They had also added a browsing book shelf that while waiting for your food, you could borrow the books to browse.

Located at a coffeeshop at 39 Temple Street, 一心素食 is just near centre of street opp Lucky Chinatown, beside stretch where the corner has many nice stone carving statues. Opening hours: 8am to 10pm Daily.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Graces Court Cuisine

Graces Court Cuisine is the new English name for Grand Court Vegetarian Restaurant which had moved to old address of Classic Lao Di Fang at Hotel Royal @ Queens #02-03.
This is one of the earlier vegetarian restaurants serving authentic Chinese cuisine. :-)Once you step into the restaurant, you will be greeted warmly by their jovial boss.


It had been years ago since I last tried their dishes, and the braised Yee Mee do bring back the good old memories, very authentic taste. Delicious!
Next we tried their Assorted Dim Sum of vegetarian Har Gao, Siew Miao, Guo Tie (Steam & Fried dumplings), Carrot cake. I like their Fried Guo Tie which may not had looked nice in picture but tasted great with the ginger slices.
The mini vege buns were nice too & glad they served the Fried carrot cake which was soft and authentic. Was told they have more versions of Dim Sum but not on menu, so do ask the waitress if you are interested to try. Overall, the environment is bright & soothing. Can be a good place for family gathering as well.
They are also popular in the Vegetarian catering business for Birthday/Wedding Banquets and buffets. :-)
Graces Court Cuisine is located at Hotel Royal @ Queens
12 Queen Street #02-03 Singapore 188553
Tel: 62385085 Fax: 62385302
website: http://www.gracescourtvegetarian.com.sg/