Annalakshmi

So we were wanting to do delivery for lunch cos we got bored of the food in our area. And then there's the vegetarian Indian food we attempted to go for once but failed because it moved away from Chinatown Point. Then I found out that they had relocated to Clark Quay area, and that their delivery service was still available. At $6 per pack, it sounded like a good deal. Minimum 5 packs to deliver, so we took orders around the lab. Their menu changes daily, with North and South Indian options each day. The website wasn't updated, so we didn't get what we were expecting. But since then, they have started sending me the weekly menu so now I'm always kept in the loop.

Heads up, the portions are HUGE. And it didn't help that I ended up with rice, and a potato side dish, and a rice yoghurt. That's on top of other side dishes and an Indian sweet. Too much carbos in a meal. I couldn't finish them. But it was a delicious meal, I really liked the spiced potatoes. There's also option for less rice and two chapatis, which some of us got. They even printed the best consumed by time. Which was unfortunately a little on the weird side for us. Because we are so near them, we were the first delivery location. I received my lunch at 10.30am. We ate at 12 noon. The consumed by time was 1.30pm or thereabouts.

Delivery - South Indian

Delivery - North Indian, with 2 Chapatis and less rice option

Then we had a farewell for an Indian exchange student who's vegan (for lack of a simpler definition. She's actually a Jain.) So we thought we could go to Annalakshmi itself for lunch. Their system is very unique. It's a non-profit organisation totally run by volunteers, and proceeds, if I'm not wrong, goes into the maintenance of the school of Indian arts known as the Temple of Fine Arts next door. So you pay however much you want, for a vegetarian buffet lunch! The art pieces on walls, we were told by an Indian colleague, were also all available for sale, and the proceeds goes to the same cause. Good food (for us) for a good cause (for them), isn't that a fantastic combination?

Because there's so many of us, we needed a reservation. With a big group, they requested a minimum payment of $12 each. That's still a very good deal for a buffet! The principle behind Annalakshmi is food cooked and served with love. The volunteers prep the food the way they would at home for their loved ones, no short cut. And because the volunteers rotate, that's the reason why their menu changes. The food on the buffet menu is pretty much the same as the delivery menu. Both the North and South Indian options are there for the taking. On top of that, we are entitled to drinks and chapattis and puri. Oh my, those piping hot and crispy puri are to die for. Deep fried doughs of happiness. I only allowed myself half... As much as I wanted more, I really needed to watch my fat intake. The lassi were great too. I had a mango lassi which I thoroughly enjoyed. The was also vadai at the buffet, which were puffy little fried doughs. With the variety of dips and curries available, you will find no lack of accompaniment for them. And I happily found the same spiced potato that I had (potato masala) previously during the delivery. Yes it's a lot of carbo, but I was going back so many rounds of this.

Lassi, vadai, rice, veggies and curries

Overall I loved the spirit behind this place, and the food too. True, the word 'vegetarian' turns a lot of the carnivorous colleagues off. One of them even claimed that too much veggies gave him indigestion for that day, not bothering to note the fact that probably his 3 puri and mountain of vadai was more likely the cause of the said indigestion -_-|||. Some of us thought we will return, but somehow never got around to it. Maybe we should really go back one of these days. 

Annalakshmi

#01-04, Central Square
20, Havelock Road
Singapore 059765
Nearest MRT station: Clarke Quay (Exit B) or Chinatown (Exit E)
Tel : 6339 9993

For delivery: 8181 3407

For catering: 97813593

Mai Zhi Su 麥之素

Because my hubby is a vegetarian, and because we stayed in Bishan for a few years, we frequented this joint. And still do. I found this place pretty much by entering 'vegetarian' and checking 'ang mo kio' in HungryGoWhere. Given how rare it is to find vegetarian places serving dinner (most vegetarian hawker stalls operate morning only), you can see why we always return here.

But that's not the main reason. Bishan area actually had a decent number of vegetarian places back then. But what brought us back is the quality of the food here. I love their rendition of sharks fin soup. Starchy soup with glass noodles and mock chicken etc, a dash of vinegar and pepper, and it's almost the real stuff minus the guilt of harming sharks. What's there not to love? 

Their nonya cod fish is also yummy. I know, it's funny when they 'speciate' the fish. Mock fish is mock fish, cod some more? But ignoring that, this is a nice spicy and sour dish. The mock fish used here is tender, not the usual tough ones. The gravy goes really well with rice. And ladies fingers (okra) with chilli gravy is really the best combination.

The hubby's fave - sambal kang kong. I prefer theirs to Zi Zai's, cause unlike the latter's, Mai Zhi Su's version doesn't come flooded in oil. 

We've also discovered and fell in love with their steamed tofu. Whole block of silky tofu covered in crunchy fried preserved turnip (cai po), flooded in a nice gravy, with broccoli on the side. Another dish that goes well with rice. I have yet to take a picture for this.

They also serve a good variety of one dish meals such as chicken rice, duck rice, macaroni soup, Ipoh hor fun etc. All reasonably priced and in the comfort of an air-conditioned setting.

Herbivore

This is one restaurant actually not found by me. Hubby saw it occasionally when we drove pass Fortune Centre. So when I suggested Bugis area for walk walk and makan for Valentine's day, he brought me there. It serves vegetarian Japanese and Western food.

We didn't have a reservation, so the only available seats were the outdoor seats, or we would have to wait. It was just after a rain, and nice and somewhat cool, so I accepted the outdoor table. After browsing through the menu, I was actually tempted by quite a number of interesting options. So we ended ordering quite a fair bit. An Unagi don set for him and a tempura soba for me. And to share we had Salmon Sashimi (??), Shitake mushroom with cheese, grilled asparagus and avocado maki.

The unagi don set looks like a regular Japanese set. Only it comes with mock unagi. I'm not a fan of mock meats, but I did sample a little of his 'unagi'. Seeing that I personally don't like real unagi, I'd say I actually prefer this version. And because I seldom eat unagi, I can't quite comment on this dish. He finished all of it anyway, so I guess it's yummy in its own way.

Unagi don set

I ordered my tempura soba for the simple reason of a hot soup on a rainy day, and no mock meat. Tempura eggplant, pumpkin, capsicum and mushrooms accompanying a hot bowl of soba. There really isn't much to complain about. The broth was decent, and I enjoyed my dinner.

Tempura soba

Next is the cutest dish of all. Vegetarian salmon sashimi. Looks every bit like real salmon sashimi. I texted this to almost everyone on my chatlists because I found it so amusing. Probably made of Konjac jelly, it was a little springy, a little juicy and overall actually not bad. Of course not as good as real sashimi, but it's as close as it gets.

Vegetarian salmon sashimi

Our next side dish was a no brainer for yumminess. Deep-fried battered cheese-topped shitake mushroom generously doused with teriyaki sauce. What can possibly go wrong? Crispy on the outside, very hot and juicy on the inside. The type of cheese they used tasted very much like McDonald's cheeseburger's, so I kept having this fast food sensation as I ate this.

Shitake mushroom with cheese

For obvious reasons, there's no pork bacon wrapped around these grilled asparagus. But I wanted some greens. These were quite well executed for a simple dish. The asparagus were cooked to perfection. None of the raw taste, but retained a perfect crisp. And not tough at all. Hubby is not even an asparagus lover but he liked this.

Grilled asparagus

The last side dish was a surprise. Hubby wanted sushi. I wanted no mock meat. So the only one that fitted our wants was the avocado maki. It did come with the tiniest bit of 'salmon' inside, but that's Konjac and I don't mind it as much as gluten. They came served prettily on a long dish, topped with a dollop of mayo, and drizzled with *surprise~* strawberry sauce! The combination sounds weird, I know, but it was yummy! The flavors all complemented each other, and their sushi rice is actually quite delicious. Much better than some of the regular sushi chains even!

Avocado maki

We enjoyed our dinner thoroughly, but it was pretty pricy. Since it was within CNY period, there was an additional $2 surcharge on every dish. Gasp!! But since vegetarian Japanese food is pretty hard to find, I guess they have the right to charge a little more. We probably may come back on special occasions.


Herbivore
190 Middle Rd
Fortune Centre
#01-13/14
Tel no: 63331612

Classic Lao Di Fang

Lynn asked me out for an impromptu dinner one day, and my hubby was supposed to pick me up from work that day. So she suggested that the three of us could go for a vegetarian dinner together at Classic Lao Di Fang at Park Mall. Having hubby there was good, because it meant that we could order more stuff.

The menu was mind-boggling, and it was hard to decide what to eat given the variety. After much discussion, we finalized to the following:

Dou Miao in Pumpkin sauce. Chosen because I wanted some greens. Couldn't really taste the pumpkin despite the brilliant yellow color. It was probably the most passable item we ordered. Hubby's choice - Spicy and Sour soup. It looked deceivingly harmless, but was really quite spicy when we started on it. With all the other spicy stuff we ordered, it got quite difficult to handle towards the end. And the serving was quite big too. We had two small bowls each.

Dou Miao in Pumpkin Sauce

Spicy and Sour soup

Lynn's fave - Crispy Yam Duck. She liked this from her previous visit. It's exactly as the name implies. Crispy layer on top of soft fluffy yam, served with a strawberry sauce on the side. It sounds weird, but it's a good weird. The Szechuan Spicy Chicken was interesting. Cold 'chicken' shreds served on a bed of cold vermicelli. The spicy sauce, and the accompaniment of cucumber strips and enoki mushrooms made this a refreshing dish, in a fiery way.

Crispy Yam Duck

Szechuan Spicy Chicken

Zoom in on the very cute 'drumstick'

All the dishes were eaten together with their fragrant brown rice. I loved it. It was a mixture of white and brown rice, but tasted so fragrant and wholesome.

Brown rice

We actually had another dish, some mango roll, which the camera missed. Hubby had a very fulfilling meal, just as we did. He did find it expensive, but that was comparing to Zi Zai, which is a coffeeshop, not a restaurant. Ignoring his comments about the price, this is actually an interesting place to try out a good variety of Chinese vegetarian food minus the frills.

自在斋 Zi Zai Vegetarian (Yishun)

This little eatery was found quite by chance. It just so happened years ago that the hubby found an injured pigeon while waiting for me. Being the kind to animal person he is, he brought it back and wanted to bring it to a vet. And it also happened that most vets don't do birds. So after a whole lot of googling and calling, we finally found one at Yishun who is trained with avians. So we brought the pigeon there. To cut a long story short, the poor bird didn't make it through its injury and died in the end. But the gist of this post is not the bird, but the place I found via HungryGoWhere for dinner.

So while we were in Yishun at the vet, I searched HungryGoWhere for a vegetarian place near Yishun. And saw Zi Zai Vegetarian with its pretty good ratings. And it was actually near where we were. So we drove over and had our dinner there. Hubby loved it, because he loves sambal kang kong, and really, not many places serve decent vegetarian versions of it.

And because we got a BTO in Yishun, we're now regulars at this little 小吃店. It's a corner unit below some HDB flats, and serves up good vegetarian zhi char. And another big attraction of this shop is its roti prata. Although the zhi char side comprises of almost entirely Malaysian chinese, the roti prata side is operated by Indians. In fact, I personally think the fat Indian uncle tosses the best prata. The prata here is crispy, fluffy and fragrant, which is already a plus. The second plus is the curry. I'm telling you, their curry beat many of the non-vegetarian ones. Its aromatic, thick, and oh so yummy. I love their prata so much that I usually order one on top of my dinner. And hubby's sister and brother-in-law love it too. They frequently ask us for dinner or breakfast there, since they stay relatively nearby at Sembawang.

The best roti prata - look how fluffy it is!

For dinner we sometimes order things from the ala carte menu, other times we order one-dish meals. For most part, I'll talk mainly about the ala carte menu since it's more 'colorful'. First up, the main reason why we keep coming back, at least as far as the hubs is concerned. The sambal kang kong. Theirs had a good balance of spicy and salty, and the seasoning is just right. And their kang kong are still crisp. I think the secret lies in that they had a good vegetarian sambal. Sambal by default contains dried shrimps, which is why most sambal kang kong aren't vegetarian. Many vegetarian places either use plain chilli, or some weird concoctions that resulted in a completely wrong flavor. Theirs is just right.

Sambal kang kong

Another dish that found its way to our favorites list is the hotplate tofu. Sizzling hotplate with a saucy mixture of tofu, capsicum, chilli and mock minced meat atop a bed of eggs cooked on the hotplate. Its sauce goes really well with rice. The other dish I really like is the preserved vegetables with eggplant. Another saucy dish that goes well with rice. The preserved vegetables lend a nice salty flavor to this dish, and the eggplant are cooked just nice - soft without being mushy. In fact, hubby eats this, even though he hates eggplants!

Hotplate tofu

Preserved vegetables with eggplant

Another dish that we occasionally order is the cereal oyster mushroom (although it says abalone mushroom on the menu). Crispy mushroom coated with cereal. It's nice to have once in a while, but usually gets quite sickening towards the end.

Cereal oyster mushrom

This place had formed a staple in our diet, because of the convenient location for us, and because hubby has a lot of choices here. And I really really really love the prata. Apparently the Tampines branch serves equally good prata too, cos hubby have a vegetarian aunt staying near there and she said so. My colleague staying in Bedok knows about that place too. So for those who go vegetarian occasionally, or just want a change from too much meat once in a while, or just want plain good prata, check out this place at Blk 236 Yishun Ring Road, #01-1000. Or its branch with the same name in Tampines.

Original Sin

It was our program's White Coat Ceremony day but XP and me didn't want to join the rest of the students (whom we don't know) for the ceremony. So we decided to have our own little white coat ceremony. Since we were in NUS, he suggested Holland Village. After a throwing out a few names, we ended up at Original Sin. I had previously mentioned to him that the vegetarian food here is pretty good, so I guess he wanted to try.

Original Sin is sort of a vegetarian fine dining restaurant - something quite uncommon in Singapore. We were pretty early, and it being a Monday night, the place was empty. We were seated indoor and had our orders taken in no time.

We ordered a Magic Mushroom to share - portobello mushroom with spinach, ricotta cheese, pesto, a tomato basil sauce, and topped with mozzarella cheese. Rich stuff. He ordered Vegetable Tandoori for his main, while I ordered Porcini (egg flat pasta with mushroom and cream sauce).

Magic Mushroom

Vegetable Tandoori

Porcini

Not too sure if XP enjoyed himself. He didn't comment on the food. I liked the magic mushroom for its richness, and liked my pasta because it wasn't overly rich. So contradicting, I know. I do like Original Sin, mainly because good western vegetarian food are hard to come by in Singapore, and hubby is a vegetarian, so nice to have a change from the usual Chinese or Indian vegetarian food occasionally.