HOW TO BE A SOCIAL VEGETARIAN
Just because your friends have a hankering for meat doesn’t mean you have to sit the night out. We’ve rounded up five stellar vegetarian dishes that are available at these regular restaurants.
SAINT PIERRE #02-02B One Fullerton, tel: 6438-0887. From $68 for a threecourse set lunch
French fine dining has a place for vegetarians at this one-Michelin-star restaurant. With just a day’s notice, Chef Emmanuel Stroobant can transform the signature adventure menu into courses of the freshest vegetables. Think Japanese amera tomatoes with tomato confit in marigold oil and bright yuzu kosho – beautiful and totally meat-free.
HANS IM GLUCK Three outlets, including 9 Raffles Place, tel: 9738-5662. Burgers from $14-$17
This German burger joint has no perfunctory tofu burgers. What it has is 11 enticing vegetarian and vegan items, almost as many as the beef options. They are created not with the usual suspects but with olive, spinach, cheese, wheat and walnut, served on soft sourdough, multigrain or naked (without bread). The Horntrager, with a crumbly walnut patty, is excellent.
VENUE BY SEBASTIAN #01-02 Downtown Gallery, tel: 6904-9688. Small plates from $9
Vegetables play a significant role in many of the modern European-Asian communal dishes here. The most addictive is the fully vegetarian cauliflower florets fritti with spicy mint aioli. Balanced with brighter dishes like chilled romanesco with almonds, lemon vinaigrette and shaved parmigianoreggiano, the extensive menu has something for everyone.
POKE DOKE #01-95 Millenia Walk, tel: 9181-9140. $12.50 for the vegetarian tofu bowl
This is one poke bowl place that provides a properly satisfying dish just for vegetarians, unlike the overpriced salads that other poke bowl places might offer. Poke Doke’s version has tofu marinated in shoyu sesame sauce, served with cherry tomatoes, golden raisins and chuka wakame on a bed of salad and rice. Nutty, wholesome and filling.
ARTICHOKE 161 Middle Road, tel: 6336-6949. Mezze from $10
Trust decorated chef Bjorn Shen to turn run-of-themill Mediterranean sharing plates into exciting fusion dishes. Artichoke’s teriyaki eggplantbased baba ganoush topped with refreshing pomegranate, and meaty Iraqi spiced mushrooms with creamy fried egg puree and shaved parmesan, are among the unique renditions that will capture your imagination.