Barcelos

(Note: This is not a 100% vegetarian restaurant.)

Close to three months have passed since I visited NEX Shopping Mall for my post on Prata Wala. During this period of time, no new pure vegetarian eatery has opened. With the closure of Vege Sensation, a nearby pure vegetarian restaurant, the vegetarian scene of this part of Singapore only gets bleaker. Just when the cloud gets darker, I manage to spot a 1px silver lining in the form of Barcelos.

Famous for their peri peri marinated flame grilled chicken (The real fowl, not the gluten copy of one), Barecelos has recently opened an outlet at NEX. In case you don't know, peri peri, or rather piri piri in Portuguese, is a tiny and extremely spicy chili pepper used in Portuguese and African cuisines. Normally a flexitarian who doesn't take spicy food like me would have given this restaurant a miss. However the “Vegetarian Special” on their “Meal Deals” menu forced my legs to a halt. At Bugis, our local vegetarian haven, a discovery as such doesn't mean much, but it means a pretty big deal to vegetarians (The less strict ones I mean) at NEX and its surrounding area.

Not only does Barcelos respect the vegetarians by offering veggie options (On average of one item per category of the main course), they also cater to customers who do not take spicy food (Tangy lemon as an alternative to the peri peri sauce). The “Vegetarian Special” that caught my attention allowed me to choose one of the three vegetarian main courses. Stir fry sounded like something I could easily find in hawker centres or coffee shops. Veggie burgers was likely to use soy protein patty, which was not something I felt like having on that day. Pita became an obvious choice then.

The Food

Hawaiian pizza from Pizza Hut was the first thought that crossed my mind when I sampled my first bite of veggie pitta pocket. Maybe this was the end result of baking sweet pineapples with sour ingredients, in this case, tomatoes and the lemon juice found in the marinating sauce. Rest assured that one would not find hams or cheese or even their substitutes lurking in the tropical tasting fillings. Instead the pitta pocket had diced zuchinni to complete the list of "mixed fresh vegetables" as stated by the menu. Since I enjoyed Hawaiian pizza, which I had not touched since the dawn of my plant based diet, this dish brought to me an additional nostalgia.

Another pleasing factor was the huge pile of fresh and crisp lettuce that made up the side salad, that also contained cherry tomatoes and croutons. Although the mildly peppery dressing tasted decent enough, it was pretty much the standard fare you had at any other restaurants, vegetarian or not. Coupled with the fact that this was not a vegetarian restaurant, I suspected that the creamy dressing was not suitable for all categories of vegetarians (Definitely not the vegans since standard dressing, like the one I had, contained eggs and sometimes dairy products). As far as I was concerned, so long that it was not mayonnaise, I was all right with it.

I would very much like to end this section here with a simple "Overall, I liked this dish", but the steep price and 10% service charge made me nitpicked a little more. Apart from the price, it seemed like I got a discount on the portion size of my vegetarian set meal. Perhaps I was too used to being served both halves of the pitta breads, therefore getting only one just seemed too little to satiate my appetite. To make things worse, the corn cob shrivelled upon grilling. In short I could have filled my stomach at a much lower price if I dined somewhere else.

Conclusion

NEX and its surrounding area may be deprived of vegetarian eateries, but I do not see myself returning again to even try its other vegetarian dishes. Even though the tropical "Hawaiian" flavor does win me over, its price and the lukewarm attitude of the service crews deter me from stepping into Barcelos in future. At NEX, it's either Prata Wala or even Subway for me.

Address	:	-
Opening Hours	:	-
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Serangoon
Website	:	http://www.barcelos.com.sg/about-us.php

Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant

(Note: This is NOT a 100% vegetarian eatery. I asked the cashier if they used separate utensil for the vegetarian dishes. She did not seemed to understand my question and only told me the meat and vegetables were served in different trays. What an ambiguous reply. To play safe, I DO NOT recommend this place to strict vegetarians who do not want their cutleries and utensils to be tainted with non-vegan ingredients. Please see here for latest update.)

On Saturday, I went to NEX Mall to perform the mundane task of depositing a cheque. Whenever I stepped into NEX, I always recall reading one blogger's post lamenting its total lack of vegetarian eatery . Sorry for only remembering the complaint, not the blogger's identity. Anyway he or she is right. Despite boasting two food courts, a slew of restaurant Goliaths and of course its huge size, you cannot find a pure vegetarian dining place. Yes, not even a humble food court stall selling the most common vegetarian economic rice or bee hoon. However, for vegetarians who do not mind relaxing the standard a little, they can still find something to eat there. Based on what I read from the vegetarian blogs that I follow, there are some of them who are comfortable about dining in a non-vegetarian eatery, so long as there is a vegetarian item in the menu. In my case, I am not even a vegetarian, therefore this arrangement is more than enough for me. After I left the bank and having loads of time to spare, I decided to explore NEX, paying special attention to the details in the menu (If available for display outside the eatery). That was how I spotted Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant.

In Prata Wala (A cute catchy name there), only the cooking and ordering areas are enclosed in a unit. Patrons have to dine in the open but since everything is housed within the air-conditioned shopping mall, it is not much of an issue unless one needs more privacy. More importantly, I spotted two vegetarian dishes, namely vegetarian white rice set and vegetarian murtabak. That has already made it better than Subway on the second floor. As usual, my camera was not with me and besides I had eaten, so I planned to visit it on another day, but only after much hesitation.

You see, my relationship with Indian cuisine is not a fairytale. Unlike majority of the Singaporeans, I do not take hot and spicy food. There is neither a health nor a religious reason behind it. I simply fail to acquire this taste. My worst dining out nightmare is when a nimble hawker adds a dollop of chili sauce into my food without asking if I want it, just because I am a Singaporean. Therefore I tend to avoid cuisines that are meant to be hot and spicy, sadly missing out on an epic proportion of delicacies. Indian food is one fine example. I have never sampled anything beyond the generic roti prata with sugar or egg. Then again, this blog has made me a little more adventurous in my taste-bud. I am also getting a little tired of Bugis and Aljunied, as most of the places there have received extensive coverage in other blogs. Armed with a large water bottle, I decided to give it a go.

Again, what I had in mind, which was vegetarian murtabak, was not available. I asked for vegetarian white rice set and got the same reply from the cashier. She told me that the only vegetarian dish available was vegetarian briyani set. So there's a third vegetarian dish. In terms of price, I only needed to pay 50 cents more. It was certainly a blessing in disguise that the white rice set decided to take a break that day.

The Food

The vegetarian briyani set consisted of briyani rice, daal, achar, pappadom and 2 vegetable dishes of my choice. I selected potato masala and cabbage side dish, since they were the only ones that were not reddish in color, meaning they were unlikely to be very hot. And I was right.

The potato masala was not totally mashed up, so I could still feel the chunks that easily turned to a smooth paste as I chewed on them. It was also lightly spiced so the original flavor was more or less retained. When taken with the rice, the potato masala enriched the rice with additional creaminess. Speaking of the rice, it possessed the free flowing quality characteristic of basmati. As someone who grew up eating jasmine rice, I found the soft grainy texture refreshing. The rice was not heavily spiced to the point of overwhelming the fragrance of the rice. Instead it was only lightly salted to develop the savory taste. I could eat the briyani rice on its own. Another enjoyable factor of this dish for me was the daal, that tasted like a bowl of viscous minestrone soup. Surprisingly it was not spicy at all. Having more whole beans or lentils in it for the extra bite would make me love it more than I already did.

When compared to the rest of the ingredients, the cabbage side dish could easily fade into oblivion if not for the crunch to remind me of its existence. It was not awful or anything, just average and forgettable. Nevertheless, as long as it was not too hot, I was already grateful. The real sore point was the rubbery pappadom which I had expected to be crispy. Or was it meant to be this way?

What I adored most about this dish was in spite of its sinful appearance, the dish was not too greasy or over-seasoned. Instead it achieved its great taste by a clever combination of herbs and spices. Looks like I have another option when it comes to choosing a dish to feature in my blog.

Conclusion

It is wonderful to see more non-vegetarian eateries offering something for the vegetarians. Doing so actually incurs extra cost on the business as there is a need to purchase an extra set of utensils and cutleries solely for the vegetarian dishes. Therefore I deeply appreciate the endeavors of these eateries.

As for Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant, I am not sure where it stands. While it serves good food, I think it is equally important for them to be a little more precise in their definition of "vegetarian". At this juncture, I shall remain reserved on my judgement while waiting for an email reply from them to confirm the "purity" of their vegetarian dishes.

Latest Update: Click here to see the reply from Prata Wala.

Address	:	23 Serangoon Central NEX Shopping Centre #02-K5/K6
Opening Hours	:	Mon - Thu & Sun, 10.00am - 10.00pm Fri, Sat, Eve of Public Holidays, 10.00am – 11.00pm
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Serangoon
Website	:	www.pratawala.com