Good news for the vegetarians who live, study, work or simply hang out near Aljunied MRT station. The renovation works at Choice Coffee Shop is finally completed and guess what, one of the new tenants is a vegetarian stall. For the past few weeks, I had been tracking its progress whenever I passed by that area. According to my analysis, if an eatery with multiple stalls (hawker center, food court, etc) undergoes renovation or upgrading works, there is a chance of finding new occupants, and one of them may sell vegetarian food. Although the probability of that outcome is not high, there’s no harm hoping.
From afar, Lovingwell Vegetarian looked like a typical economic rice stall. If I had not bothered to step inside the coffee shop to explore further on Thursday, I would have missed this one because its sign board was blocked by a protruding beam hanging down the ceiling. On close-up examination of the menu, I could see that Lovingwell had much more to offer beyond the standard fare such as hor fun, fried rice, ... you get the idea. I made a mental note to bring my camera the next day.
On the day itself, I saw a the word “Su” displayed in a more prominent position of the stall. Guess they realized the problem too. Initially I planned to order bittergourd steamed rice. Unfortunately, bitter gourd was not available, so the stall assistant politely suggested that I could choose another side to go with steam rice. After much contemplation, I finally settled for braised bean curd.
The Food
One could see that the cook made an effort to present the dish nicely. He drizzled the entire content of braised tofu around the mound of steamed rice in the middle, painting a picturesque image of a garden surrounding a small hill.
I particularly liked the way the cook handled the bean curd, whereby the surface was pan-fried lightly for the fragrance while maintaining the softness and moisture inside, thus creating a very light and smooth texture. This was certainly not an easy feat, considering that silken tofu was used. Timing and the control of fire was crucial too.
Apart from the bean curd, the steamed rice deserved some mention too. It felt softer than the usual version boiled using rice-cooker. Being a lover of soft food, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The rice was very appetizing when eaten with the umami “oyster” sauce, which also endowed the rest of the ingredients with its savoriness.
Another commendable factor of this dish, to me at least, was the use of an assortment of mushrooms instead of mock meats. Chewing the succulent mushrooms was a delightful experience as I felt the oyster sauce juice oozing out with each grind from my molars.
In terms of taste and texture, I could not find any fault with this dish. I only found it a shame that they gave so little of the fresh and crisp broccoli.
Conclusion
Lovingwell Vegetarian is certainly off to a promising start, and I sincerely hope it is here to stay. After all I have yet to try my bittergourd steamed rice.
From afar, Lovingwell Vegetarian looked like a typical economic rice stall. If I had not bothered to step inside the coffee shop to explore further on Thursday, I would have missed this one because its sign board was blocked by a protruding beam hanging down the ceiling. On close-up examination of the menu, I could see that Lovingwell had much more to offer beyond the standard fare such as hor fun, fried rice, ... you get the idea. I made a mental note to bring my camera the next day.
On the day itself, I saw a the word “Su” displayed in a more prominent position of the stall. Guess they realized the problem too. Initially I planned to order bittergourd steamed rice. Unfortunately, bitter gourd was not available, so the stall assistant politely suggested that I could choose another side to go with steam rice. After much contemplation, I finally settled for braised bean curd.
The Food
One could see that the cook made an effort to present the dish nicely. He drizzled the entire content of braised tofu around the mound of steamed rice in the middle, painting a picturesque image of a garden surrounding a small hill.
I particularly liked the way the cook handled the bean curd, whereby the surface was pan-fried lightly for the fragrance while maintaining the softness and moisture inside, thus creating a very light and smooth texture. This was certainly not an easy feat, considering that silken tofu was used. Timing and the control of fire was crucial too.
Apart from the bean curd, the steamed rice deserved some mention too. It felt softer than the usual version boiled using rice-cooker. Being a lover of soft food, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The rice was very appetizing when eaten with the umami “oyster” sauce, which also endowed the rest of the ingredients with its savoriness.
Another commendable factor of this dish, to me at least, was the use of an assortment of mushrooms instead of mock meats. Chewing the succulent mushrooms was a delightful experience as I felt the oyster sauce juice oozing out with each grind from my molars.
In terms of taste and texture, I could not find any fault with this dish. I only found it a shame that they gave so little of the fresh and crisp broccoli.
Conclusion
Lovingwell Vegetarian is certainly off to a promising start, and I sincerely hope it is here to stay. After all I have yet to try my bittergourd steamed rice.
| Address | : | 56 Geylang Lorong 25A 388248 |
| Opening Hours | : | - |
| Bus Service | : | 2, 13, 21, 26, 40, 51 |
| MRT Station | : | Aljunied |
| Website | : | - |
Hi Prefer Vege,
ReplyDeleteAnother good post, but no pictures this time?
I also want to try the bittergourd steamed rice!
Keep up the good work!
Luke
Thanks for your instant comment. Actually I am still in the process of putting up the pictures. So sorry about it.
ReplyDeleteGiving this place a try tonight! :)
ReplyDeleteLuke
Cool. I hope they are opened though. I wanted to ask them on that day, but they were so busy serving their customers.
ReplyDeleteBased on what I gather from reading your blog, we do not share the same taste when it comes to food. So it will be interesting hearing your side of the story.