Herbivore Vegetarian Restaurant

Herbivore is a Western and Japanese vegetarian restaurant located at the Bugis area. This restaurant was opened by the owner of Zen vegetarian restaurant. Not too long ago, I patronised Zen, a Japanese vegetarian restaurant. The menu is highly similar to that of Herbivore, only excluding the Western cuisine. Thus, I was eager to find out which restaurant fared better in terms of quality and value of the food. But what I really like about both restaurants is that a large majority( if not all) of the mock 'meat' in all of their dishes are made by the chef himself.

I accidentally deleted the photos of the dishes from my first visit, so I am not able to include them in this post.  On my my previous visit to this restaurant, I sampled one of their Western dishes, their chicken cheese burger, which definitely left a good impression on me. But this time, I decided to try out their Japanese dishes.




The interior of this restaurant.

 


Curry Udon $12
Before, I haven't heard of a curry udon. I love curry, but it was hard to imagine what it would taste like with udon.
Suprisingly, it is a fantastic combination. The rich and flavourful curry paired well with the springy udon. This dish also comes with potatoes, mock chicken, and carrots  I love the taste of the small chunks of mock chicken, and it really made me intrigued to find out how to make them from scratch! 
8/10


 

Unagi Don set $18
This set meal comes with miso soup, radish and sea weed salad, mash potato, as well as peach pudding. A rather large portion, and hence, quite value for money.
Initially, I was eager and excited to try out this set, as the one I tried at Zen was excellent. However, much to my disappointment, the Unagi Don set meal was not quite satisfying, and not up to the standard. The sister outlet of Herbivore, Zen, undeniably serves better Unagi Don set, and of better quality.  The rice served was a litle undercooked, and the unagi( 'eel') was hard. I figured that the Unagi is made with different ingredients as it tastes distinctively different from Zen's. 
5/10 


 

Tempura Hiyashi Udon $18
Not a bad choice if you would like to satisfy your craving for something hot and soupy . .
However, this set may be a little boring for an adventurous eater. But I love the taste of the beautifully fried tempura when they are dipped into the sauce. 


 

Unagi Maki $14
Each maki has avocado,cucumber and mock meat wrapped together by an Unagi.
An awesome combination! Although I would very much prefer the Unagi from its sister's oulet.
7/10




Teriyaki chicken don set $16
I heaved a sigh of relief when this set finally arrived.
Not because of how good the food looked, but due to the fact that I had waited more than 30 minutes for this set to arrive as they completely overlooked my order .
But the wait was worthwhile. The traditional japanese rice was well-cooked as compared to the previous Unagi set. It was sticky and firm, and had an alluring aroma. The teriyaki chicken was sweet and crispy, just the way I like it to be! 
8/10 




 

Herbivore Japanese & Western Vegetarian Restaurant
Location: 190 Middle Rd, Fortune Centre, #01-13/14
Contact: 63331612
Opening Hours: Daily 10am-11pm

GOOD NEWS: Herbivore is offering 30% discount from now till end of October!

 Let me digress a little here.

Fresh from the Salon!

Before realising what i was doing, more then half of my hair was gone. =x

okayz, let me end this post with my furry lil best friend!

Tigger staring mid air.

:)

xo

Tofu egg scramble & potato salad

Recently, I have been really thrifty- I try not to eat out often and bring home-packed lunch boxes to work every single day. This is due to the fact that I am saving up to fulfill my mission to try out all sorts of vegetarian delicacies around Singapore.( Sadly, I no longer receive allowance from my parents)
Yes, vegetarian food is getting pricy. I overheard someone exclaiming "Why would I want to pay for a bunch of vegetables" outside a vegetarian restaurant lately. Hm, I guess he would rather pay to have animals killed.

Anyway, let me share with you what I've made lately that I think is post-worthy.

Tofu & egg scramble

I placed silken chinese tofu on a cloth to absorb the water

Getting the ingredients ready!
(I ended up using 4 eggs)

YUMMERZ

Ingredients:(2 servings)
- 4 eggs
-extra virgin olive oil
-A packet of crumbled chinese tofu
-3 tomatoes
-3 sticks of celery
-1/2 carrot(diced)
-grounded pepper

Method:
-whisk the eggs in a bowl, add in salt and pepper
-add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into non-stick pan over medium heat
-add tofu into the non-stick pan(crumbling it as you do so), stir-fry until all water absorbed.
-add eggs and stir-fry for 20-30 sec, then carrots and celery
-stir-fry for another 30sec, then serve immediately.

what can I say other then yum yum yum!

I completed the Tofu egg scramble with canned campbell wild mushroom soup!
(It would have been perfect if I made fresh mushroom soup instead, but..I was too lazy!)

Potato salad! 

I love making potato salad. It is hassle-free, healthy, and a perfect side-dish or quick fix for tea-break. I used to take forever to make them, but I found out a short cut! That is to make full use of the rice cooker AND cook the CUBED potatoes as the whole peeled potatoes will take forever to be cooked.

There it is! Cubed potatoes topped with sliced cheddar cheese.
Place this into the rice cooker!

After you are done with the potatoes, you can choose whether or not to  cook your  celery and carrots or have them raw!

Potato salad with celery and carrots, with roasted almonds and raisins as its topping!
 The salad dressing is optional.
For this dish, I mixed in half-spoonful of thousand island sauce and mayonese as well as pepper to taste. After mixing, add in roasted almonds and raisins.
Perfect! :)

I had the salad with a yummy bowl of red bean soup!

Ahh, a filling meal without having to feel all bloated up. :)

I'll end this post with my lovely cat who refused to face the camera.
Tigger heard someone at the door! :)

Mid Autumn Festival!

The Mid Autumn Festival has come and gone.
When I was a lot younger, I'd always look forward to this festival. It was not just for the moon cakes, but the candle lighting session, being able to carry beautiful paper lanterns around, then after getting bored and without the adults looking, we would gradually create a mini camp fire as we(cousins and sisters) start lighting up candle boxes, leaves, plastics and everything else we were able to find lying around. How I miss those cheeky yet delightful times!

In recent years, this festival has grown a lot quieter for me. Now,the moon cake has become my main focus to mark this festival(not that I really mind :D) My parents were out of town that day, and my sister bought boxes of moon cakes home. We celebrated the day by munching on the beautifully made moon cakes, chatting while sipping Chinese tea. ( like some typical old-fashioned Chinese old man).

Here's a review on the moon cakes I had eaten:

Goodwood park hotel -D24 mooncakes

The D-24 mooncake is one of the signature mooncakes from the hotel.  Normally, I would have preferred the skin of traditional mooncake as they usually tastes better. However, the snowskin of this mooncake proved otherwise, as it tasted refreshing yet delicious. Also, there is a burst of sweetness and distinctive taste of the durian in one bite. However, as a durian-lover, I feel that the durian flavour could have more richness to it. But overall, a delicious mooncake! I made a mental note to take a picture of the sliced moon cake, but it slipped my mind as I was too eager to get a taste of it!     

ChinaTown Tai Chong Kok Confectionary- Vegan Mooncake

Are  you able to spot the difference between this traditionally baked vegan mooncake and a non-vegan one? The skin of vegan mooncake is matt as it does not have the shiny egg glaze at the top. 

This traditionally baked lotus paste mooncake is one of the best mooncakes I have eaten. The lotus filling has just the right amount of sweetness to it with the lotus seeds adding a nice crunch to each bite. The golden brown skin of this traditionally baked mooncake was plain awesome, even without the egg glaze! I just couldn't get enough of this! Thumbs up!

Finally, Peach Garden mooncakes!
Please pardon the camera quality!  The shiny surface makes it impossible to capture a decent photo!

Traditional lotus paste mooncake with macadamia nuts and lotus seeds.
Notice the shiny egg glaze on the surface of this non-vegan mooncake :)

The lotus paste was delicious, but a tad too sweet. Also, I have to comment that there should be more macadamia nuts!! As you can see, only the lotus seeds are visible here, the macadamia nuts were sparsely scattered and hidden deep inside. But I have to admit, the roasted macadamia nuts tasted heavenly!


I hope you had a great Mid Autumn/ Mooncake festival!

xo

Vegetarianism part 2

I found an interesting quote:


I do not say that one who is vegetarian is full of compassion and one who is not, is otherwise. We sometimes find people, who are vegetarians, are very bad people. Morarji Desai


Yes, I definitely agree! I am one apt example of an evil vegetarian! >:) hahaha. Alright, jokes aside. I know that this is not something for me to judge, but here's what I think:

I am a vegetarian, but I have to admit that I have a huge list of shortcomings. I do agree that one who consumes meat can be kind and compassionate, and ,ofcourse, does not neccessarily have to be a herbivore to be that. But why not make an extra effort to further the practice of compassion. It is definitely difficult to transform your diet completely, but you can make an effort to reduce your meat intake. Farm animals are abused and slaughtered as the demand for meat continues. As I have stated in my previous post, the benefits are undeniable.  I am not advocating that you have to become a vegetarian(unless you want to). I know this topic can be sensitive and even a huge turn-off to some. And I am fully aware that I  don't have the rights to tell people what to do and stuff like that, and that is why I have been avoiding this topic with friends. Of course, it all boils down to our own personal choice. I still love my meat eater bunch of friends. :)

There are many different types of vegetarians. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, as I include eggs and dairy products in my diet. I am on my own personal mission to become a vegan someday, But this is an extremely difficult and near impossible task for me as I am obsessed with dairy products, especially cheese and eggs!  >___>

Wish me luck!

xo

Credits to Vegetarian Cartoons

Farm animals are our friends too.
Have you wondered what it would be like if tables are turned?

spinach and green pea pasta

Somebody please tell me why do I always come up with the idea to whip up something nice for my family whenever the fridge is close to empty. 

Argh, so frustrating! 

 As today marks the end of the week, the fridge has almost nothing left already.(my family buys groceries once a week, every Tues ><) So I was left with not much choices, but to rake my brains over what to cook. After digging through the fridge( actually just visually sweeping through), I didn't take too long to come up with a conclusion- spinach and green pea pasta! 

Ta da~!

 I have to introduce this mock meat. It is made from soya bean product and mushroom. I don't normally favour mock meat, as they usually taste wierd and preserved food are never healthy. But this one Ive tried is amazingly tasty and addictive! Also, it never fails to spruce up any kind of dishes, fried or boiled. You can purchase this from any Giant supermarket! 

This is how the mock meat look like straight from the freezer!
For this dish, I minced 5 of them and left 8 meat balls as it is.
 

The ingredients!!

 

All ready, and served hot!
I left sauce at the bottom which is impossible to be captured by my camera!

ingredients

-approx 6 cups of fresh spinach (trimmed)

- 1 cup of frozen peas

- approx 5 cups of penne

-2 tb spoon of olive oil

-3 ribs of celery

-1 cup of diced roasted almonds(peeled)

-1 cup crumbled cheese

-1/2 cup minced mock meat and 1 cup mock meat

- Vegetarian Chilli paste

Method:

-Cook penne to al dente and keep warm.

-Add 2 tb spoon of olive oil to sauce pan, followed by the minced mock meat and peas-stir fry. 

-Add 2 cups of boiled water, followed by the meat balls and spinach

-Then toss in pepper and salt to taste, followed by a tb spoon of vegetarian chilli paste. 

- Turn the heat down and add in celery and crumbled cheese- cook for a minute or so

-Mix and allow all the flavours to combine

-Add penne in and mix well, sprinkle in the diced roasted almond.

Overall, I have received positive feedback.(yippee!)

 But my mum felt that fresh chilli padi could be added( which I totally forgotten about) to enhance the flavour of this dish! Personally, I think that more of the Chilli paste should be added as this dish is not sufficiently spicy for our liking!

  Rawr.

<3! 

Marché

I had dinner at Marché at 313@somerset recently. It was during the weekday, yet the crowd in the mall was crazy. I was so relieved that Marché was not as crowded as it was their non-peak hour when we visited. Thankfully, I was able to enjoy my dinner at a quiet corner in the restaurant away from the bustling crowd at the mall. Whenever I patronise,I am always fascinated by the vintage interior design of this Swiss restaurant. This restaurant has segregated eating areas, with each sporting a different theme. That day, i settled for a seat that is within an area that resembles a cottage.

Marché utilises a cashless system.  Every diner is given a card which records the purchase for the items ordered. But becareful not to lose this or risk being slapped with $100 fine! :<

Swiss Rosti Mushroom Ragout $14.80
Marché’s signature dish. Rösti! This dish made from potatoes is one of my favourite from  this restaurant! I really enjoyed the soft and fluffy Rosti which tasted heavenly when combined with the sour cream and lemon.  But what made this dish perfect for me is when I had the Rosti with the Mushroom Ragout and cream. They paired so well together , I was literally scraping for more.
8/10

Veg pasta with tomato sauce $13.80
This dish is highly suitable for the health conscious. The spaghetti was cooked to al dente, and  comprise of a good variety of vegetables-mainly brinjals, long bean,peas, and mushrooms. It was also not overly oily as well.  However,the tomato sauce was bland and I wish there were more sweetness and taste to it. Hence, I might have second thoughts about ordering this dish again on my next visit! 
6/10

Jambo & Guavas

On my recent trip to Malaysia, my family brought home some Jambos, also known as Rose Apples, as well as Guavas.  Fruits from Malaysia never fail to amaze and delight me with its sweetness and freshness. My all-time favourite, I could eat this everyday!