The Green Room Cafe (Bishan Park)

I've been told quite a few times that there was a nice restaurant in the middle of bishan park but i've never personally been there. Upon arrival, i noticed there were 2 such restaurants side by side and was forced to make a choice, feeling a wee bit exotic, i opted for the Green Room cafe instead of the Acacia which i will revisit at a later time. The Green Room cafe is a concept cafe from Asmara Spas to promote healthy eating habits which inexorably links back to the spa treatments they offer. How good is the food there though?

Location: Bishan Park (Directly behind the carpark)

Price Range: $20 per head

In the middle of nowhere has new meaning here

Enough said.

The outer alfresco hall

Menu and mission

Trees? Indoors?

Interior Shot

The location in the middle of the park is reminiscent of Bliss which is located a Punggol Park. Its interior was decent and casual with the exception of 2 rather large trees located right smack in the middle of the restaurant, making it an interesting decoration of sorts.

Vegetarian Mutton Curry with organic brown rice ($12.80)

Vegetarian mutton curry has been done many times and i have never had a good opinion of it since i perceive such foods to be filled with artificial flavorings and being totally unhealthy. This rendition was quite decent however, with the flavorings kept to a minimal and still having slight hints of mutton in it. It was not very spicy despite the use of curry leaves, cinnamon and ginger but complimented the organic brown rice really well. That said, the rice is very different. Thick, moist and chewy, this is akin to japanese rice only bigger. Interestingly good.

Indochinese Spring Rolls ($6.80)

Spring rolls. Why did i order this? Well, i figured they simply can't go wrong with spring rolls in vegetarian cuisine and i was proven right. Served piping hot, with a tangy lime, ginger and red chilli dipping sauce, this was easily enjoyable as finger food. Crunchy vegetables, spicy and sourish sauce, whats there not to like?

Portebello Field Mushroom ($12.80)

Ever since my first introduction to this big fungus, i have grown quite fond of it and its various permutations. This time, it was served with aged balsamic vinegar, homemade potato relish on a warm baked bun. The nachos went well with it as well along with the fresh salad that gave it an sweet, raw and healthy feeling experience. I was only disappointed with the size of the mushroom which really could have been bigger.

Bill

The bill for this meal came up to $38.13 which is quite a big sum to pay for the amount of food we had.

Overall Score: 6.75/10

Last Word:
After all the good things i have said about the place, why is the score so low? Well, the fact that the food is easily prepared and the contrast between the offerings and the price is the reason, it simply doesn't feel like value for money even though the food is actually quite nicely done. Reduce the price by 30 or 40% and i'll probably return. Moving forward, if anyone wants to try the place, it might be a good idea to go during noon to enjoy the casual surroundings better.

Ci Eng Vegetarian Cuisine

On my mother's 48th birthday, we brought her to her favorite vegetarian restaurant for a meal since she was vegetarian (that has changed though), and has been a pure vegan for 3 years. I do not claim to be well versed in this particular type of cuisine but i'll be doing my best to throw my prejudices away and give a relatively fair review.

Location: Blk 152 Serangoon North Ave 1, #01-336, Singapore 550152

Contact: 98639602 (Mdm Tan)

Price Range: $10-15 per head

As the location is somewhat of a humble coffeeshop in the vicinity of everyday housing blocks, i figured a snap shot of the location was unnecessary. However, being in such a location meant everyday low prices which does motivate somewhat. My mother does recommend the place and i have tried their spinach fried rice as well, which was really good.

Vegetarian Seafood Pot ($6-8)

This dish was an enigma of sorts because i couldn't quite understand what kind of seafood pot it was imitating. It contained assortments of bean curd ( the normal variety), button mushrooms, black fungi, snow peas and mini corns. The stock was quite salty and the bean curd which made up much of the dish really wasn't anything special. Serviceable but not something i'll order again.

Broccoli and Vegetarian Scallops and Fish Maw ($4-8)

Another lackluster dish, the broccoli was served in huge stalks and were difficult to chew on. The 'fish maw' was interesting because i couldn't make out what it was made of while the 'scallops' were made of 'dao gua' or 'dou gan' which did not taste the least bit the way it was supposed to. As a dish on its own, its rather bland and the broccoli could have been steamed longer before serving.

Sweet and Sour 'Pork' ($4-8)

The first item which actually tasted good. The sweet and sour 'pork' actually tasted authentic which is decidedly easy since the sauce is mostly vegetarian based in the first place. Being made of green peppers, tomatoes, pineapples, onions and tomato ketchup in general. The difference is the 'pork' which was deep fried as normal but is made of 'dou gan' instead. And even more surprising is that it actually works. This was quite easily enjoyable.

Vegetarian Shark's Fin Soup ($8-10)

It is a widely known fact that shark's fin itself has no taste, the real providers of taste in that department happens to be the stock or broth that houses it. So in this case, this doesn't taste much different from the actual thing. However, the broth used isn't up to par, probably due to the lack of chicken or seafood used in its stock. This resulted in a somewhat mild and bland tasting stew that has a long way to go before being a good sell.

Peking Duck ($8-10)

We called this out of curiosity and when it was served, it only resulted in even more questions as we struggle to understand why it was given its namesake in the first place. It tastes and looks nothing like Peking duck but that isn't to say it didn't taste good though. Similar to the sweet and sour 'pork' before it, this is made of beans and flour as usual and its seasoned with something akin to char siew sauce which makes it kind of sweet. The outer layer was thin and crispy with the inner layer actually having a texture very similar to chicken. Pretty nicely done.

Hot Plate Bean Curd ($4-8)

More bean curd again! This time, its done hot pate style with loads of spices and chilli thrown into the mix. The results are fiery hot and a little sweet at the same time in terms of the sauce used but the bean curd is sadly the same generic ones they used for almost every other dish. Average but could have been better.

Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaf ($4-6)

This is interesting. How did they get the item to have the taste of dried shrimp when its a vegetarian restaurant? I guess i probably won't get to know. Either way, the dish tasted authentic yet again rivaling similar offerings fried with dried shrimp made outside but of course, thats about all that is good about it. So if you didn't like it when its made of shrimp, you wouldn't like it when its made here.

Fish Head Pot ($5-10)

This is also pretty nicely done, making it actually feel like i'm having fish soup with all the assorted sweet taste and even a fishy smell to go with it. Intriguing but apart from the vegetable, which turn out to be sweet potato leaf and cabbage again, the other ingredients and the fake fish failed to stir my taste buds.

"Shrimp" fritters ($4-6)

Yet another item that actually tasted pretty good. (I believe deep fried stuff tastes good easily because its not good for you.) The 'shrimp', which should be a mixture of radish and flour, was crunchy and appetising when paired with the salad cream and oddly enough, there's minimal oil to be found.

The bill was actually around $40 for this meal for 6 people. (I lost the bill, sorry) There's a multitude of items to try and many things you never thought could taste as alike as it does here. And if my mother's happy, thats fine with me.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
I was quite surprised that quite a few items there were actually quite easy to stomach. This is because i largely assume vegetarian food to be the haven of artificial flavors and colors which does next to no good for my health. Still, i cannot deny that the food there wasn't too bad but i maintain my stand that as much as possible. Novelty aside, i would still prefer the natural stuff to something fabricated by man. If you are a vegan, you can give it a try because it does have some authentic stuff but if you are like me, a carnivore, stay away.