Turning Herbivorous..

[Review #2] Tai Shek Hei House of Traditional Bamboo Noodles

2012-02-06T02:13:00.000-08:00

Address: 283/285 Joo Chiat Rd
Tel: 6345 5095

First, here's to wishing my readers a Happy Lunar New Year!! I know I'm really late on this... Well, better late than never! (Technically I'm still in time, since it's the last day of the LNY season! hehe ^^)

In Singapore, the LNY season is almost synonymous with the dish yusheng (aka lohei or that colourful veggie dish topped with salmon sashimi). And so, many people have been telling me "No worries even when you are vegan because you definitely won't miss out on this dish, all you got to do is just not top the dish with salmon sashimi!". Really.........?!

Indeed, the dish itself doesn't contain any meat if you don't top it with fresh salmon. However, have you wondered what actually go into the dish? Did you know that some versions of yusheng actually contain raw jellyfish? And... The vegetables that are included tend to be seasoned in order to achieve the vibrant colour, it also serves to remove excess water content from the vegetables. So, do you think it is really a simple vegetable dish that is healthy? You might want to think again...

Then again, I have side-tracked. (And sorry for beginning on such a controversial viewpoint since the beginning of LNY! ;D)

If you remember, I have reviewed this place previously. It earned the honour of being the first place I reviewed. Anyway, I went back to the place again for this year's (or should it be last year's?) LNY reunion dinner. This was one of the best options since we had to cater for non-vegan family members too. The best thing about this place is flexibility - they catered to our requested arrangement for a table with vegan dishes, and another with non-vegan dishes.

Note: I was a little more forgiving with my diet (in terms of spices), otherwise it'd be a challenge to eat with the family ><"

The first dish to start the night off was vegan yusheng - instead of raw salmon, they topped it with "vegetarian abalone" (mushrooms and something they said they made themselves). I'd have to say this is the most balanced and best tasting yusheng I've had this LNY. I have had 5 in total.. So maybe my view can be trusted?

Next up, a dish that contained very intricately carved vegetables - peacock with assorted vegetables. The head was made with green radish and the wings with cucumber. The visual impact of the dish took us by surprise. And this probably made the dish much tastier?

Previously, I also reviewed the spinach soup. However, that wasn't a full-on vegan version of the dish (which I now realise). This time, they said they added lingzhi and golden mushroom unlike normal days, and indeed it tasted different. It seemed to be a little more mild and watery.

The kids' favourite dish - deep fried golden mushrooms. The kids had been telling me about this dish since their last visit, and finally I got a chance to try the dish! Surprisingly, it tastes like (more refreshingly light) french fries!! The kids went crazy and order 1 more serving of the dish...

Next up, fried savoury tofu with mushrooms. This dish is honestly **YUMMY!** The blend of the crispy outer layer, soft and smooth inner layer of the tofu, and the sauce... Just give me a bowl of rice!!

Mixed vegetables with red capsicum, black fungus, and button mushrooms. Just another dish.. Nothing to rave about imo.

Last dish, fried mifen with beansprouts, red and green capsicums, and Chinese mushroom. I'm not sure what happened but this dish was exceptionally oily as compared to the previous few. Even the mifen tasted cloyingly sweet. It was as if the cook forgot that he added condiments already... I didn't like this dish.

Conclusion:

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 5/5 (always friendly and ready to meet your requests)

Ambience: 4/5 (we practically occupied like half the restaurant. so if anybody is to complain about the ambience, it should be the other guests! hahaha)

Price/Portion: 4/5 (for the vegan table, it is pretty reasonable for a LNY reunion dinner. If I'm not wrong, it cost less than $200 for 10 people.)

Bottomline: As always, friendly service makes wallets open~

[Review] New Green Pasture Cafe

2012-02-06T01:40:00.001-08:00

Address: 190 Middle Rd #04-22 Fortune Centre Singapore 188979
Tel:6336 8755

A while ago, during a casual chat with a friend, she mentioned this organic vegan cafe in Fortune Centre. Despite having been to the building multiple times, I have never heard of this cafe or remember seeing this name! She said that not only do they serve organic food, you can even purchase organic vegetables from the shop!

This shop is located at the very top floor of the building. You place your orders for food and veggie purchases at the same counter. Sadly, you can't pick the vegetables yourself unlike in the wet markets. (But assuming it is organic, the quality of the produce should be reasonably good right??). Anyway, place your order and take a seat anywhere around the shop (inside and outside seating available).

Self-serve free-flow (?) soup of the day and plain water are available. Well I saw some customers helping themselves to bowls of soup from a pot at the side of the counter and jugs of water.. So I thought that it is free. Always the kiasu Singaporean, I also went to try... Haha well I didn't get chased away or asked to pay.. So I guess they are indeed free!

Anyway, the soup that day was some corn soup with a herb base. It tasted pretty light and refreshing!

After quite a while, the food finally came. First up is mushroom sauce noodles recommended by my friend. Apparently there was quite a bit of mock meat toppings - e.g. fishball, eggs. Besides that, they gave a pretty generous serving of dihuangmiao vegetables (I don't know what it's called in English... but it's a member of the doumiao family. Does it help? =/), some mushrooms and carrot. It is served with thin and flat kway teow. Personally, I don't fancy sweet sauce or sweet tasting noodles. So I'd pass on this dish.. Regardless, the amount of sauce they give is really pathetic...........

Another dish I tried was just plain mifen in miso soup. This was a dish made on request as most of the dishes they offered were heavily spiced or contained brown rice. The soup tasted quite refreshing, however I didn't really taste any miso flavour?! Similarly, they provided a rather generous serving of dihuangmiao vegetable, along with a little mushroom, tofu, and corn.

You might think it weird, but I have to give special mention to the corn! (Pardon the half-bitten corn in the picture) It was the first time I saw corn cut into such small bite-size pieces! At first glance, I was wondering if it was done on purpose to imitate the shape of pork ribs? But on further thought, I like this idea a lot! Imagine munching on a whole cob of corn in public! That doesn't look very elegant... Not to mention the horrors of getting bits of corn stuck in the gaps of your teeth!!! Cutting the corn into tiny pieces, YES PLEASE! But putting less corn into my dish, NO WAY!! But oh well, that's what profit-driven business people would logically do :(

Overall, this dish wasn't outstanding in any way. But then again, this dish isn't on their menu so maybe it wouldn't be fair to judge them on that.

And finally, the last dish! It took a freaking long time because the staff got mixed up and someone took my order! I thought the staff would remember my order because I specifically asked them not to add any pepper or the Korean red pepper sauce(For your info, most Korean red pepper sauce contains garlic and many other things that are on my no-no list. And, commercially available kimchi is NOT vegan. Most brands include fish sauce or shrimps into the seasoning mix.).

Despite a long wait, the bibimbap dish finally came. When I placed my order for this dish, I was disappointed to find out that the shop doesn't offer the option of changing the brown rice to white rice. Since I was craving for some Korean fare, I thought I'd just go ahead and try the dish (since it was said to be highly recommended).

First, it was really hard to mix the rice and vegetables. In the end, most of the rice either got stuck to the sides of the hot stone bowl or became hardened rice crisps. I'm guessing that's partly due to the absence of the red pepper sauce (so I can only blame myself for that). They included a pretty decent mix of vegetables, and again, they included the mock egg (which imo is an unnecessary addition). Besides that, if I were to nitpick, the vegetables weren't colourful enough.

Conclusion:

Food: 4/5 (decent enough)

Service: 2/5 (for the most part, it is self-service. However the staff were unfriendly and seemed too busy to bother about customers waiting at the counter or missed orders)

Ambience: 3/5 (it's a quiet area where you can hang out with friends to catch up. Nobody to disturb you. However, don't expect a restaurant standard ambience. It's closer to that of a family cafe.)

Price/Portion: 3/5 (I found it a little expensive for a meal. It might be because I don't know how to appreciate organic food.. However, the portions would probably be more than enough for an average appetite.)

Bottomline: Don't think I will visit the place again. Probably not until I acquire a taste for organic food?

[Review] Kwan Inn Vegetarian Food

2012-01-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Address: Blk 134 Geylang East Ave 1 #01-229 Kim San Leng Food Centre
Opens 7am-10pm (closed on alternate Mondays)

Vegan people living in the east should be pretty familiar with this place. Recently, I was in the area for lunch and so I decided to try it out.

I heard their stir-fried horfun is good. But pity, they said that the kitchen was busy preparing other stuff and so I had to stick with other options :(

Since it was a rainy day, I opted for yong tau foo with handmade(?) youmian.

My first impression of the food was - SALTY!!! ><

The soup tasted like salt water! Although I chose a lot of vegetables, that didn't seem to help...

Second, I tried the noodles. The noodles seemed undercooked and really tough. I can't remember if they stated that it was handmade (but I was under the impression so...). But anyway I don't think it is.

Well there's nothing much else to talk about the vegetables.......

Conclusion:
Food: 1/5 (too salty!)
Service: 2/5 (the person taking orders was rude to me... besides it's pretty much self-service)
Ambience: NA (it's just a normal coffee shop)
Price/Portion: 3/5 (reasonable)
Bottomline: Don't think I will be going back there...

Dragon beard candy

2012-01-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most people are familiar with this food... It has been increasingly difficult to find! And even though you manage to find a store selling it, it doesn't taste as nice!!

I love this traditional Chinese sweet a lot - it is known as the Dragon Beard Candy. Why? Because the white exterior is actually composed of many strands of white malt "strings", which also looks like a dragon's beard. The interior consists of ground peanut.

YUM!

[Review] 7 Sensations Restaurant

2011-12-26T05:39:00.001-08:00

Address: 9 Raffles Boulevard Millenia Walk, Parco Marina Bay, P3-07, Singapore, Singapore 039596
Phone: 62988198
Website: www.7-sensations.com/

I heard about this place via my mum, who saw a rather good review on it on some other blog (I don't know who, seriously). After checking out the menu online and deciding that the fare offered was unique, it was on our to-try list for a while. It has a really interesting mix of both Asian (even Peranakan!) and Western fare. It is really rare to find a good vegan place that offers yummy Western-style food... So it was decided - we were going to have a meal there during the Christmas season! (To be specific, we were there for dinner the day after Christmas..)

Millenia Walk was, as always, very peaceful. Enter Parco, and go up the escalator, walk half a round, and this is the signboard that greets you. It looks somewhat mystical in this picture eh? thanks to great photography skills~ hahaha!

Anyway, back to the point, the place was so empty... However I saw a few tables were reserved. As a Singaporean, you'd think "must be bad" since its not crowded... But hold on. Try first then say. Actually in my opinion, the atmosphere felt rather relaxing and peaceful (maybe that's cuz I HATE! crowds). Anyway, the attending staff were very attentive and it didn't feel very stressful. You know how some places keep asking you to order... Or like how they keep walking about to "spy" on you? (Or maybe it's just me and my imagination...)

Back to the point... This is apparently their philosophy to food - 7 culinary elements have to be incorporated into their food. Sounds good? On their website, they boldly stated that "If it doesn't taste good it doesn't go on the menu". That is definitely a claim that requires guts to make. So how good is the food really?

Let me go off track for a while... I found the deco really pretty~ Maybe its because they are located in Parco Marina Bay that's why the decorations are more elaborate...

Ok back to the food. First dish - Forest Mushroom Soup. Chunky pieces of mushrooms with alfafa sprouts topping. Maybe it's because it is made with soy milk, the soup doesn't have milk or flour lumps, and it is slightly more fluid than normal cream soups. As it is not overly creamy, it is refreshing. I liked it!

Next dish was the soup of the day - Carrot Soup. It wasn't on the menu so I am not sure what exactly went into the dish, except carrot and visible specks of black and white sesame seeds.. I tasted some coconut and guessed that it might have been made with coconut milk instead of soy milk. I'm not a fan of coconut, so I'll pass =/

A dish that appeals to the eyes first - Vietnamese roll. It came with their "homemade sweet sour sauce". One ingredient I can figure out from the sauce is plum sauce. Besides that... You know what? I kinda forgot what I tasted. HAHA!

Upclose, you can see the ingredients being - radish (I think?), bean sprout, carrot, beetroot, lettuce, peanut topping, rice paper, and black sesame seeds. They might have been some other ingredients, I couldn't tell. I loved the texture of the rice paper roll - it wasn't hard nor was it limp! (FYI it is really hard to get the right texture for rice paper roll.. Try it and you might see why). Like all Vietnamese rolls, they can taste quite plain on its own. Drizzle some of their homemade sauce on the rolls... These rolls become really addictive!!

Next appetiser, Portobello Mushroom. From their description, I really do not know what fanciful ingredients went into the dish besides the mushroom, tomato, cheese and some vegetables passed off as salad.. First of all, I got to say that the look of the dish impressed me. The presentation is similar to those a posh artisan cafe/restaurant. PLUS the dish looked like a mini Christmas tree!! It is such a pleasant surprise~

Digging into the dish, you find 2 mushrooms stacked on top of each other, covered in melted cheese, sun-dried tomato (really?), capsicums and many other things... And finally, topped with something they call "mesolun salad". From what I figured, it was alfafa sprouts with some lettuce. Well I'm not sure.. If you were wondering, the black "chocolate-look-a-like" sauce on the plate is actually sweet sauce. Somehow it blends really well with the whole dish. No kidding. This dish was definitely a pleasant surprise.

And time for some boring, usual fare - Udon in hot soup. According to the menu, the ingredients are organic udon, wakame, mushroom, and tofu in miso soup base. But I tasted some ginger in the soup base? Anyways, the soup was rather refreshing (though I didn't taste any miso). I wouldn't specially order this dish the next time I go there, but it's great for those who aren't too receptive to the idea of dishes re-invented vegan style. Or for those ladies who do not want a dish that is too heavy. You can choose to have soba instead, and also, to have it cold too.

The next dish put a big question mark at first glance. "What is that? It looks like a piece of tofu."

No worries, that was the right dish - Vegetable Lasagna. Really fanciful wording in the menu again, I'm not sure what vegetables went into it.. But obviously you see alfafa sprouts on top.

Cut it open... And it looks like a huge mass of mushy pasta. Not to mention it doesn't cut easily. First impression - too wet and overcooked pasta! Munch into it, you'll feel like it's a dish for babies. Don't have to bite it cuz it's so soft! But the ingredients that I tasted (besides cheese), shocked me. It seemed like there was mashed carrot and sweet potato(!). Sweet potato!! That is just so unexpected and creative! But, this dish is for the kids without teeth. Adults, unless you like soft foods, you might consider passing this dish..

Vegan Pizza. Yes, pizza again! Unfortunately, this isn't as good as the one from Bora Bora Margarita Bar. Or maybe it just takes a little paradigm shift...

On the menu, this dish is described to be a "wholemeal pizza topped with soy protein, bell peppers and homemade tofu cheese". This is a traditional type of pizza with bread base (rather than the popular thin crust these days), so if you leave this pizza alone for too long, the base will get soggy. The tofu cheese was really puzzling... It tasted more like crushed tofu really. Unlike the crispy type of pizzas we prefer nowadays, this pizza is soft. So I guess it might be a dish that needs some updating...

After a mind-opening meal, I spotted an equally inspiring quote. Wise words. But how many can actually abide by this lifestyle? Not many I'd say..

I'll have to confess that I have, from time to time, eaten some fish due to the lack of vegetarian food options in some circumstances. I'm trying... But sometimes when it is a choice between starving and eating some non-vegan food, it is hard... Very hard............

Initially we wanted to order some dessert, mainly the egg-less cake. After speaking to the serving staff, we found out that the only vegan cake (i.e. egg-free and dairy-free) available there is the egg-less cake. Pity, it wasn't available. They sold some CNY goodies, but sadly, those aren't vegan either. However, stay tuned because we've heard that they will be launching a CNY menu! So maybe vegan people won't have to be left out on the CNY feast this time!

Conclusion:
Food: 3.5/5 (Some hit and misses)
Service: 5/5 (They are there when you need them, and they disappear when you don't. Amazing!)
Ambience: 5/5 (Peaceful!)
Price/Portion: 3/5 (The prices are pretty similar to other restaurants and cafes, however the portions are medium-sized. So watch out if you are a big-eater!)
Bottomline: It is a really nice place to dine at, occasionally. I wish they would cut down on the alfafa sprouts and sesame seeds... Will definitely be keeping a lookout for their CNY menu!

[Review] Bora Bora Margarita Bar - Sentosa

2011-12-20T02:05:00.001-08:00

Address: Palawan Beach 82 Lighthouse Beach Walk, Sentosa 099981
Telephone 6278 0838

It was a rainy night... And I was stuck in Sentosa with my omnivorous friends... We were starving........

And we came across this bar. And I worried. Then we read the menu. To my delight, the first 3 items read "VEGAN"!!! *cheers* Unfortunately, when you read into further detail, the first 2 items were not vegan, but rather, vegetarian. That is because they used mozzarella cheese. And so I erred on the side of caution and ordered the third item on the menu (which was called something creative like vegetable pizza or similar), where mozzarella wasn't listed as an ingredient. I confirmed with the waiter that it was vegan. So *fingers crossed*!

Can't remember whether I mentioned it before, but one of the food that was the hardest for me to give up after turning vegan is PIZZA! So vegan + pizza = HAPPY ME!

When the pizza came...

To my horror! There was cheese on top! So I panicked for a while and got my omnivorous friends to test the cheese for me.

And after some deliberation, they pronounced the cheese as "different from theirs". I'm not sure what that meant but, a rumbling tummy didn't need much persuasion to wolf the pizza down, vegan or not.

Regardless, I am really convinced that the cheese was vegan, even up till today. If you are a very, veeeeerrry strict vegan, please double check the type of cheese they use beforehand!

Conclusion:

Food: 4/5
Service: 5/5 (friendly, they check on you to make sure you're enjoying your meal!)
Ambience: 4/5 (it was a romantic, rainy night)
Price/Portion: 3/5 (can't remember the price but it was quite reasonably priced)
Bottomline: It was a nice serendipitous find! I would love to go back sometime soon.. If only it were not in Sentosa! Too far! :(

Vegan Starbucks Frappucino

2011-12-19T23:52:00.001-08:00

Guess which is the vegan Starbucks green tea frap? (NO LIGHTING TRICKS!!)

If you're thinking the one with a lighter green colour (i.e., the one on the left), I'm sorry but you're WRONG!! It was something I did not expect either.. When the orders came, I was like thinking "wow so if you use soy milk, the colour will be much lighter". What a fallacy! This drink proves that vegan food can be as appetising to the eyes (if not even more so)! If you think only dishes with meat=feast to the eyes, throw the idea out of the window right now!

On a side note, I felt that the soymilk flavour was so much stronger than the green tea that it felt more like a soymilk frap with green tea flavouring. Oh wells, but the taste kind of grows on you. Though it is really expensive as it requires a S$0.60 extra charge for soymilk, in addition to the already exorbitant price for the normal version of the drink. X^X

2011-12-12T10:02:00.001-08:00

How do you break the news to friends you haven't seen in a long while...?? Are they gonna think that you're such a pain in the ass?
Most probably, yes. Unfortunately.
Sigh~

My Kinda Veggie

2011-12-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

While browsing through a number of other blogs dedicated to reviewing vegetarian/vegan food in Singapore, I realised one thing - nobody mentioned anything about what they expect from their food! Obviously everyone has different tastes, but if nobody mentions by what standards they judge their food by, how can the reader ascertain if the review is "to their taste" (pun unintended, really)?

So... I shall put it plain what I expect from my food.

Checklist:

1) No garlic/onions/ginger/pepper/chili - no whatever spice stuff

2) No eggs

3) Dairy free

4) No mock meats

5) Not oily, or fried stuff

Basically one word - SIMPLE.

Sure, I do enjoy food from all of the above... Something which is really hard for me to give up is CHEESE........... But I TRY.

As I have mentioned in my first post, the process to turning vegan is a CONSCIOUS CHANGE.

I shall assume that the following remark will be targeted at those who didn't turn vegan for health reasons (If you did, I'd assume you'll be smart enough to know that the above aren't exactly healthy).

If you turned vegan for green reasons, think about it , why don't you also get healthier at the same time!? Kill 2 birds with 1 stone! There are so many vegans out there who complain about being fat or bad health..

That gives the meat-loving critics a chance to retort "That's because you don't consume meat, you don't have a balanced diet" blah blah blah... But think about it, eating all these mock meat stuff or oily stuff = no nutrition, only destruction!

Sometimes your body is smarter than you are (Unknown)

Are you that dumb?

[Review] Vegetarian

2011-12-01T00:22:00.001-08:00

Address: 89 Circuit Rd Hawker Centre

Honestly I can't figure out what the real name of this store is... It is in the fourth column of the hawker centre (counting from the side near the POSB ATM). But to make it clearer, refer to these pictures (cr Singapore Taiwan Vegetarian Cuisine facebook).

This is how the store front kinda looks like (it has changed a little)... The store is run by a middle age couple(?). Sometimes the queue can be kinda crazy - to the extent that you have to take queue numbers. The wait can get up to an hour (or so I heard).

This is their menu - only 5 items on the menu. Their most popular item is dry yu mian. I heard that it has chili so I decided against trying it. But after speaking to the uncle selling it, I found out that there is a non-spicy version. So hmmmmmm maybe next time. Maybe.

I heard a lot about how awesome this place is from my grandma. She was like "It is so tasty, so awesome, you have to try it!!".

Went to the hawker centre about 2 times but this store was closed.. So of course I went again.

And finally, I managed to taste this "amazing soup" my grandma had been raving about.

I ordered a mee hoon kway with soup. I am absolutely crazy about mee hoon kway these days.. Anyway, I remember asking my aunt about the ingredients a while ago... She told me that this store didn't include a lot of mock meat stuff and has a lot of vegetables.

After trying it, I can only reply "REALLY?"

Ingredients I tasted included (the obvious) spinach, roasted seaweed, bits of fried mock meat stuff, many other things, and GINGER. Besides the disappointment in the amount of mock meat and fried stuff in this dish, I felt that the kway was reasonably delish. However, it was a little soft and limp. Could it be due to the absence of egg? But if you are not picky, it will do.

My parents ordered the yu mian with soup. Same soup base, same everything, except the noodles. I felt that this noodles was really soft and slim. But I think it'll taste much better in the dry version than the soup version. I guess this is why that dish is their speciality.

Had been looking around for yummy vegetarian dumplings lately... But haven't found any to our taste.. So we decided to try this dish. Same soup base, same everything.

I'd have to say the yumminess of their flour really shines through this dish. However I was disappointed in the fillings of the dumpling. It was a whole lot of vegetarian fish paste and pepper!! There were bits of water chestnuts and carrots. It does taste really chewy and pretty similar to fish dumplings (minus the fishy smell). But sorry, I do not appreciate mock stuff. I love my veggies as they come.

Conclusion:

Food: 2/5

Service: 5/5 (really friendly)

Ambience: N/A

Price/Portion: 4/5

Bottomline: I don't think I'll visit this place anytime soon. Maybe only to try the dry version?

How can you...?!

2011-11-27T07:25:00.001-08:00

Seriously...
How can you eat them when they are so cute? It's like their pleading eyes are telling you to let them live... "Don't eat me!!"
(Ya I know... It's just a toy but it still does resemble a certain cute animal that humans eat right?)

Sometimes I question religious practices... Is it really a sacred act to sacrifice the blood of a living animal for a ritual? Really, is it an act that God(or whoever) will condone? Whatever happened to the teachings of kindness to all living beings? Hmm...

DISCLAIMER: I'm not speaking specifically against any religion.. It's just the musings of a little girl.

Anti-cancer plant

2011-11-27T07:17:00.001-08:00

Lately, many cancer patients have been turning to herbal alternatives because Western medicine often have (sometimes quite serious) negative side effects.

This plant is said to be beneficial. I have no idea what the name of this plant really is... but try it if you may~

May cancer vanish! Goodbye suffering, HELLO HAPPINESS!!

[Review] Choo Zai Zhai Vegetarian Food

2011-11-27T07:16:00.001-08:00

Address: Blk 79A Circuit Rd #01-89, Circuit Rd Food Centre
Tel: 6745 7934

NOTE: This place serves Taiwanese vegetarian food - so if you are vegan, remember to tell them "NO EGG PLEASE"!!

This is one of their most famous dishes - Fried Hokkien Mee. Honestly I didn't think it can taste this good without eggs or prawns! The dish contains carrots, vegetarian fishcake(?), caixin etc.. Although they didn't add a lot of ingredients, it is honestly AMAAAAAZING! For S$3.50 it is a very yummy and (can be quite) filling dish!

***HIGHLY RECOMMENDED***

Because the table beside ours ordered something similar and it looked so good, we were all tempted to try the dish. I don't even know if it is the same dish... But it doesn't taste so fantastic...? I found the soup base too peppery (you can even see the pepper bits!!). Ingredients included vegetarian ham, tofu, golden mushroom, clear noodles, scallion etc...

Conclusion:

Food: 4/5

Service: 3/5

Ambience: N/A

Price/Portion: 4/5 (only gripe not much veggies)

Bottomline: This place is a good fallback whenever I'm in the area because it is almost always open.

[Review] 8 Treasures Vegetarian Restaurant (Chinatown)

2011-11-24T01:28:00.001-08:00

Address: 282A South Bridge Rd
Tel: 6534 7727
Website: http://www.8treasuresgroup.com.sg/index.html

My first time to this place... Found out about this place via online reviews, and also while doing some research on a vegan restaurant for CNY 2012. I know it is still a long way, but it really is a tough hunt for a good place!

So why did I choose to visit this place? Because they listed in their menu "Vegetarian Buddha Jump Over The Wall". Knowing my grandma (who also just turned vegan due to health reasons) loves food like this (aka food that sounds like what she used to eat), I decided to try the food at this place...

I have been to Chinatown countless times and I have NEVER associated the place with food other than dimsum. Call me biased or ignorant, whatever, but it is like The Place. Just do a search for places to have dimsum and you'll inevitably see a lot of these places are located in Chinatown. Really.

The interior deco is very luxurious and very typical of a traditional Chinese teahouse.

First, we started off with soup - vegetarian sharksfin soup.

Ingredients included golden mushroom, fresh Chinese mushroom, cabbage, vegetarian mock ham, carrots, fat choy, cellophane noodles/harusame, goji berry(?), tofu etc (my memory fails me). The taste is not at all like the real sharksfin, but it is pretty decent. The only way I can describe it is - a very rich and luxurious tasting vegetarian soup.It was a tad too salty for my liking though...

Next dish, monkey head mushroom with broccoli, asparagus, and carrot. My first time tasting monkey head mushroom cooked in this style. Honestly I got a big shock! It has the texture of meat and yet it has a light mock meat smell. For a moment I wondered if I got the wrong dish.. This mushroom is just stunning! No wonder it is so expensive!! (Maybe the price can also be attributed to its resemblance to truffles?). Besides the mushroom, I felt the dish was so-so.

Next up, a vegetarian treasure box. It is a very creative dish imo - using a piece of tofu as the box and you can literally lift the lid of the box to reveal the treasure within!

A peek at what lies inside... The treasures include seaweed(OH YAY!) , golden mushroom, fresh Chinese mushroom etc. This seaweed, I believe, is the seaweed sauce I introduced in the previous post (probably from a different brand). But either way, look at how versatile seaweed is!! hahaha.. Overall I liked this dish, besides the fact that there was a little to much sauce inside the box such that the box collapsed upon impact and all the treasures flowed out freely..

And now for the dish that drew me there... Vegetarian Buddha Jump Over The Wall

The vegetarian sea cucumber that all the reviews were raving about... It does look similar eh? But it tastes nothing like it. Honestly.

Ingredients included broccoli, mock sea cucumber, cellophane noodles, cabbage, mushroom, danggui (beware it's bitter!), goji berry etc.

Note this place serves ONLY mixed grains rice. No plain white rice! To be fair, their rice wasn't dry like most of the places..

Overall, most of the dishes used similar ingredients yet they tasted different. I would say this place has some really creative interpretations of non-vegetarian dishes. However, I felt lost as the reception was empty when I got there... So I climbed up the stairs to the main dining area only to find that the place is rather tiny (but it has 2 floors for dine-in guests).

Conclusion:

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 2.5/5

Ambience: 4/5

Price/Portion: 2/5 Expensive! But creative.

Bottomline: I don't think I will pay to go there again..

All Hail Seaweed!

2011-11-24T01:22:00.003-08:00

If you didn't know, I'm telling you right now..

SEAWEED IS AMAZING!!

It is a magic ingredient imo... it works well whether in soups, stir-fries, salads, by itself, on bread, in porridges, on and in whatever! Not to mention it's numerous health benefits!! (I'm not sure how reliable this site is but it supports my point).

Vegan seaweed sauce~ For instant magic to your food!

There are a huge plethora of Taiwanese vegan products out there at cheap and reasonable prices. It is a headache just to work out which is the best buy! (In addition to the difficulty of finding shops that sell such products!)

Anyway, this is the sauce that I've been using lately... It really works wonders especially when added to plain soup!

For East-siders, I found this at a shop in Fortune Centre, Bugis. It costs around $3+.

[Review] Tai Shek Hei House of Traditional Bamboo Noodles

2011-11-24T01:22:00.001-08:00

Address: 283/285 Joo Chiat Rd
Tel: 6345 5095

First review!!

Ok technically this eating place isn't a vegan place... but! they do offer the option!!

So this means that people who are vegan can dine with their omnivorous friends here! That is a very good idea isn't it?

Anyway my meal at this place wasn't exactly vegan in any sense... Because it is the first dine-out place I went to after making my resolution!! So as you know, newbies always make stupid mistakes. haha...

Tried their VERY FAMOUS vegetable juice - and man, I'd rate it as a MUST-TRY!! It is quite unique, made of fresh vegetables and is very refreshing! Since I have no pictures of it, I shall attempt to describe it.. It comes in a tall glass, with a straw, the juice is green in colour, very fragrant, and you can taste bits of fibre it it... Sounds different enough?

(According to the boss, their vegetables are imported daily, fresh from Cameron Highlands!)

The next dish that was highly rated in other reviews... Spinach soup. If you're thinking "Come on it is just spinach + water = soup"... Then you're wrong!

They added seaweed, spinach, blended mushroom etc into the soup! How special it really tastes, you gotta try it for yourself!

It is actually just a tiny family restaurant... But I'd have to say the deco is pretty cozy. What's interesting is that they adopt an open concept kitchen, so you can actually see what the chefs are cooking.

Just a note to vegans looking forward to trying their famous bamboo noodles.. Sorry to disappoint but there's egg in it.

Book in advance if you're vegan/vegetarian in case they run out of vegetables!! Regardless what your dietary needs are, speak to the staff and they will be more than willing to help you out. Service here is definitely FIVE STARS!!

Conclusion:

Food: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Ambience: 3.5/5

Price/Portion: 3/5/5 Good for average appetites

Bottomline: I'd like to go back again soon!

What I'll say..

2011-11-23T06:49:00.001-08:00

In this blog, I'll be posting thoughts that I have concerning this new lifestyle of mine, food reviews and some food recipes that I have tried..

Feel free to leave comments~ *^^*

HELLO GRASSLINGS!

2011-11-23T06:45:00.001-08:00

This is my very first post.. One step forward to veganism!!

Honestly it has been (since a month ago), and still is everyday, a really tough decision to make! Consciously throwing away every bit of your past meat-eating and meat-loving lifestyle, consciously altering your entire mindset, and having to be conscious (and cautious) in every food-related decision you make.. You'll get really tempted by the smells of food you use to love every second of the day (I still get pangs of these cravings every so often)!! It really can get very tiring and tough in the beginning... But persevere!!

After a while, you'll naturally be able to resist the temptations and probably not even notice their existence! Not to mention you'll feel lighter and healthier!! After adopting this lifestyle for a while, I also came to think more deeply about our "normal" omnivorous lifestyle..

To be honest, there were so many contradictions in that kind of lifestyle!! A simple example - we often like to visit animals in zoos. During the visit, we often remark about how cute they are, and sometimes even feed them. However, did it ever strike your mind that the "cousins" of these animals you called cute, actually die for your food? Isn't that a really huge contradiction??!

Of course, we humans have become so accustomed to eating meat that such issues never cross our mind! But take some time to think about it!! Does it really make sense?

Adopt a compassionate lifestyle today! Throw away the idea that humans are at the top of the food chain! Adopt the thought that humans are superior beings because we have the power to choose! We are not subject to animalistic tendencies to kill other sentient beings (if you've tried it, you'll know how tough it feels).. Choose a lifestyle that is kind and build up your good fortune from today!

GO VEGAN!!