The days of being served up an uninspiring salad and a plate of mushrooms when you request “something vegetarian” are long gone, and good riddance too. Whether your reasons for seeking out something vegan, organic or vegetarian (or any combination of these) are for health, in the interests of animal welfare, for religious reasons or out of concern for the environment, there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan restaurants here in Singapore.
We checked out a range, from fine-dining organic food to local neighbourhood all-raw vegan dishes, where the chefs go to extra lengths to cater for the discerning foodie in search of healthier options. With such a selection of vegan and vegetarian restaurants popping up around town, it’s never been a better time to go meat-free! From hearty veggie burgers to ice cream, here are over 30 plant-based places to eat across Singapore.
Pano Kato
Love Mediterranean cuisine? Check out this gorgeous diner, started by the same folks behind furniture and homeware store House of AnLi. Located on the second floor of Tanglin Mall, the bright and airy space is decked out in white and rattan furnishings, along with lovely green accents for a tropical touch. On top of the relaxed resort-like vibes, you can look forward to a wide selection of vegetarian dishes.
Start with some delicious Greek dips and appetisers to share; popular items include grilled halloumi ($16), the trio of dips with pita ($24), and horiatiki ($22), a classic Greek salad. Then, indulge in family recipes served straight from the oven; one favourite is spanakopita ($26), a vegetarian dish of filo pastry with fresh spinach, feta, onion and eggs. Also on offer are healthy, meat-free wraps like the falafel wrap ($18), which includes a vegan falafel, hummus, tomatoes and capsicum. If you’re still feeling hungry, the Impossible Bolognese ($26) or vegan pizza ($18) will definitely fill you up.
Whatever you do, don’t leave without trying the homemade desserts. We’ve heard rave reviews about the restaurant’s Greek baklava ($16): layers of crispy filo, roasted pistachios and rosewater syrup, served with vanilla gelato and thyme honey.
#02-23 Tanglin Mall, 163 Tanglin Road 6235 5056 | houseofanli.com
Veganburg
Meat-free burgers can be tasty too! This is especially true at plant-based burger house Veganburg, where they come in flavours like char-grilled satay, featuring rich Asian peanut sauce drizzled over a grilled soy patty, and smoky barbecue, which comes with a delish mushroom patty. Go with a bun, or get your burger in a lettuce wrap instead. Visiting with friends? Order a side of creamy garlic fries or Shrooms Pops to share! Look out for the seasonal specials, too. Past renditions include the mouth-watering Curry Dhal Burg, which featured a signature potato and spinach patty and slow-cooked curry dhal sauce.
44 Jalan Eunos 6844 6868 | veganburg.com
MTR Singapore
Whether you’re vegetarian or a die-hard meat lover, Indian fare ticks all the right boxes with its amazing flavours and generally affordable price point. This award-winning restaurant serves fresh and authentic South Indian vegetarian food, prepared without artificial enhancers, MSG, preservatives or additives.
If you love spice, start with a serving of Pudi Idly ($5), flavoured with spicy chutney, ghee, spices and coriander. An idly is a savoury snack of steamed rice cakes made with a batter of fermented black lentils and rice. Another must-try is the Uddin Vada ($2.50), a savoury donut that’s also made from lentils. Served with sambar and chutney, the fritter is the perfect snack for any time of the day.
438 Serangoon Road 6296 5800 | mtrsingapore.com
Little Farms
Part café and part grocery store, Little Farms is popular for its fresh produce and all natural grocery options, including their always impressive avocados.
Amongst their curated list of products, Little Farms also carries a wide range of vegan and vegetarian dishes that often use ingredients that are available on the grocery side – one massive advantage to having an endless supply of high quality produce. Try the signature smashed avocado on freshly baked sourdough, which uses both cage-free eggs and Hass avocados from the grocery side. Another popular pick is the sweet corn fritters served with homemade avocado salsa.
Vegans can relish in the wide assortment of salad options. The Farmer’s Salad and heirloom tomato salad uses a rotation of fresh vegetables available. For wrap lovers there is the vegan burrito, which is filled with organic brown rice, spiced beans, mushrooms, semi-dried tomatoes, grilled peppers and a house salsa. Before you leave, don’t forget to take a stroll along the grocery aisles, where you’ll find a wide variety of vegan and vegetarian snacks.
491 River Valley Road, #01-21/22/23 Valley Point Shopping Centre | 6732 1241 | littlefarmscafe.com
Tea Villa Café
This vegetarian café serves up a wide range of cuisines – from Indian, Mexican and Lebanese to Italian and Indian Chinese fusion – with vegan, gluten-free, and onion- and garlic-free options available as well. There’s really something for everyone, making it an easy go-to for meat-free meals.
Whether you’re in the mood for pizza and pasta, tacos or garlic fried rice, the menu is vast, so there’s always something new to try. The French fries options alone are overwhelming (in a good way!) with six types to choose from, including a peri peri variety. We’re also really digging the dedicated page of eggless Belgian waffles – the 10 options include bananacaramel, Nutella, Oreo and sizzling waffles with chocolate sauce. You’ll also find a selection of eggless cakes, ice cream and other desserts.
Aside from the delicious food, the restaurant’s got a selection of over 100 teas – everything from fruit to herbal to Indian milk teas with spices.
97 East Coast Road | 8518 4250 | facebook.com/teavillacafesingapore
The Living Café
This Bukit Timah-based café is another mainstay on Singapore’s raw vegan scene. The whole idea here is to fully maximise food’s vitamins and minerals by consuming them raw rather than compromising their health-promoting qualities through the cooking process. All dishes are free of dairy, preservatives, artificial additives, refined sugars and red meat. While these guys do serve a small amount of white meat and fish, the majority of menu items are raw vegan. We’d suggest the avocado cucumber soup with chilli and lemon, and the build-your-own taco boats with raw walnut “meat”, guacamole and mango salsa. For dessert, don’t miss the range of raw cheesecakes and chocolates.
779 Bukit Timah Road | 6468 4482 | thelivingcafe.com
Whole Earth
This Peranakan-Thai vegetarian spot in Tanjong Pagar is a firm favourite with those who work in or frequent the neighbourhood. Popular dishes include assam pedas vegetables (a “sour and spicy” Peranakan dish), addicting olive rice, and bestseller Sambal King – okra, eggplant and long beans – to name a few.
76 Peck Seah Street | 6221 6583 | wholeearth.com.sg
Daehwa
Like its sister restaurant, The Boneless Kitchen in Tai Seng, this recently opened eatery serves meatless Korean fusion cuisine using plant-based ingredients; think kimchi soup, bulgogi mushroom stew, bibimbap made with tofu, and vegetable dumplings – yum!
#01-35 Galaxis Building, 1 Fusionopolis Place | 6254 8446 | daehwavegetarian.com
Afterglow by Anglow
This cosy vegan café is one of the original vegan hotspots in town. Its healthy menu features a mix of raw and cooked dishes. Highlights include the raw lasagne – layers of zucchini sheets with walnut minced “meat”, cashew cream cheese, dehydrated cherry tomatoes and herb pesto – the Cuban burger with a three-bean patty, flaxseed, purple cabbage slaw, tomato salsa and guacamole, and the signature avocado kimchi rolls. Dessert fans should definitely try the raw chocolate salted caramel fudge, made with avocado mousse, tahini layer, honey, pressed organic coconut oil, and a medjool date and walnut crust.
24 Keong Saik Road | 6224 8921 | afterglow.sg
Project Açaí
Health nuts with a sweet tooth will love this açaí superfood café, which offers low-sugar, gluten-free and vegan açaí bowls and smoothies, packed with flavour and antioxidants. Start with a blended Sambazon açaí base, and layer on all sorts of healthy toppings like fresh fruit, raw cocoa nibs, coconut shavings, goji berries, chia seeds, granola and bee pollen. Pronounced ah-sigh-ee, the superfood, which comes straight from the Amazon rainforest, is packed with antioxidants, fibre and omega 3, 6 and 9, and is known to help prevent heart disease and cancer, increase energy levels and help delay signs of ageing.
You can find Project Açaí in Holland Village, VivoCity, Orchard and Katong. project-acai.com
Loving Hut
This East Coast café does vegan versions of popular local dishes – think “three-cup chicken rice” (with vegan chicken meat), sesame “chicken” clay-pot rice, char siew and vegan laksa lemak – as well as vegan burgers, pasta and other Western food.
229 Joo Chiat Road, #01-01 | 6348 6318 | lovinghut.com.sg
Wholesome Savour
This casual Orchard-based vegan resto specialises in the preparation of nutrient-dense functional food. The menu has been carefully curated by in-house nutritionists, dieticians, TCM doctors and naturopathic doctors to ensure optimal health benefits and nutrient absorption. Each dish is free of gluten, cholesterol, trans fats, additives, dairy, preservatives and pesticides. Among the many dishes to choose from are the burrito bowl – quinoa with cashew sour cream, chipotle black beans, diced mango, avocado, pico de gallo, dehydrated chips and mycoprotein “chicken” – zucchini noodle and spinach carbonara, and fishless otah nasi lemak with mycoprotein “fish”. And, if you don’t want to dine in, Wholesome Savour delivers!
Palais Renaissance 390 Orchard Road, #B1-06A | 6736 0288 | wsavour.com
Joie by Dozo Restaurant
Located on the rooftop garden at Orchard Central, Joie (“Joy”) by Dozo Restaurant offers modern meatless fine dining. Choose from an elaborate six-course lunch ($39.80) or seven-course set dinner ($69.80) consisting of contemporary dishes with Japanese-European flavours.
#12-01 Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road | 6838 6966 | joierestaurant.com.sg
Genesis Vegan Restaurant
You likely wouldn’t stumble upon this place, as it’s tucked deep inside the basement of a rather empty mall. But it’s worth seeking out if you’re looking for Western and Chinese specialties done in vegan form. Don’t miss ordering the dumplings – they’re delish! Other firm favourites include the “chicken” rice and Nonya laksa.
Havelock II #B1-01, 2 Havelock Road | 6438 7118 | facebook.com/genesisvegan
Real Food
Apart from serving vegetarian dishes, Real Food – which has outlets at Orchard Central, Oasia Hotel Novena and 26 South Beach Road – makes a point of avoiding processed ingredients, artificial preservatives and trans fats. Fan favourites include the beet burger, steamed dumplings, and spicy tom yam soup with tofu, eggplant, mushrooms and pineapple, to name a few. For kids, they’ve got mini sourdough pumpkin pancakes, crispy veggie nuggets and a mushroom burger.
Elemen
This veg restaurant chain offers a modern interpretation of meatless cuisine with Chinese, Japanese and Western influences from lasagne and quinoa salad to Asian curry with crispy roti and a wild mushroom and truffle pizza. Don’t miss the five-course set for $26.80, or the eight-course set for $32.80! There are outlets at HarbourFront Centre, Millenia Walk and Paya Lebar Quarter, plus a new Elemen Classic outlet at Great World City, which offers a selection of Elemen’s most popular dishes.
NomVnom
This vegan fast-food chain offers over 20 different vegan burgers with patties made from soy, tempeh, jackfruit, potato or vegetables; the Beetroot Hummus burger has a mushroom patty, for instance, and the Terrific Light burger is cauliflower-based. It’s also got vegan soups, sides and a range of desserts including six- and eight-inch vegan cakes for purchase. If you can’t make it to the Clarke Quay or Tai Seng locations, you can order online – they deliver island-wide!
Original Sin
This long-time favourite in Holland Village is known for its vegetarian Middle Eastern and Italian cuisine, and for good reason. Everything here is fantastic – from the mezze platter with hummus, pumpkin and carrot dip, beetroot and almond dip, falafel, tzatziki and pita, to the moussaka – baked layers of eggplant, potato, tomato and lentils with Middle Eastern spices. We also love the Principessa salad with pumpkin, avocado, asparagus, mushroom, French beans, bocconcini and balsamic, and – one of our personal favourites – the Kashmir pizza with bocconcini, mozzarella, hummus, onion, asparagus, tofu, cherry tomatoes and tandoori sauce.
#01-62 Chip Bee Gardens, 43 Jalan Merah Saga | 6475 5605 | originalsin.com.sg
Smoocht
We’ll take ice cream any way it comes, including its vegan incarnation at Smoocht (previously called Brownrice Italian Vegan Ice Cream & Kitchen). Here, the ice cream is made from organic brown rice milk and evaporated cane juice. The shop serves flavours like hazelnut, Nutella, Earl Grey and French chocolate, mint, coconut and matcha, among others ($3.50 per scoop) – we’d recommend getting yours on a waffle!
• #01-03 Sin Ming Centre, 8 Sin Ming Road
• 319 Jurong East Street, #01-58
wellsmoochtcollective.com
Sufood
Hailing from Taiwan, this vegetarian chain offers a selection of pasta, pizza, rice and salad dishes. For lunch, there are fourcourse ($25.80), six-course ($31.80) and eight-course ($36.80) set meals available, though you can order à la carte, too. Popular picks include the five-grain rice with black truffles and mushrooms, avocado and macadamia salad, and wild mushroom charcoal tagliatelle.
#02-19 Raffles City Shopping Centre, 252 North Bridge Road | 6333 5338 | sufood.com.sg
Teng Bespoke
If you like Japanese food but want to go meatless, not to worry! This place serves vegan sashimi (prawn, salmon, squid, scallop and tuna) that looks just like the real thing. They’ve also got maki rolls to satisfy your sushi cravings, with the avocado maki considered a firm favourite. The menu’s also got salads, noodle dishes, hand rolls and more.
91 Bencoolen Street | tengbespoke.com
Not enough for you? Here are even MORE vegetarian and vegan options in Singapore…
Herbivore Zen
This is a great option for Japanese food. This small café serves udon, sushi, bento set and more. Dishes feature mock meat like chicken, pork and also mock unagi and salmon sashimi.
Fortune Centre #01-13/14, 190 Middle Road | 6333 1612 | herbivore.sg
Gokul Vegetarian Restaurant
Here you can find the very best in North, South Indian and Asian vegetarian food. With over 100 food items from small bites like samosa chaat, dosa to mains like tom yum noodle, Hokkien noodles and paneer fried rice to Western and Asian salads, it can be quite overwhelming, but the more the merrier, we say. All foods contain no onion, garlic and egg.
Locations at 19 Upper Dickson Road and 190 Fortune Centre (#01-07)
6396 7769 | gokulvegetarianrestaurant.com
Nature Cafe
This vegetarian restaurant has four locations in Singapore (Suntec City, TradeHub21 at 8 Boon Lay Way, The Aperia at 12 Kallang Avenue and 11 Jalan Bukit Merah), each serving up a wide variety of local, Asian and Western dishes made without MSG, alcohol, onions or garlic. naturecafe.com.sg
Genesis Vegan Restaurant
Genesis Vegan Restaurant has plenty of options, whether you’re in the mood for Western or Chinese cuisine. Their dumplings and homemade desserts (tofu cheese pie and apple pie) are a big hit.
Havelock II #B1-01, 2 Havelock Road | 6438 7118 | facebook.com/genesisvegan
LingZhi Vegetarian
From clay pot to steam-boat, Chinese favourites made from vegetables and mock meat here.
541 Orchard Road, Liat Towers | 6734 3788
Velocity@Novena Square | 6538 2992
lingzhivegetarian.com
Little Green Kitchen
Fancy going veggie at home? Seek out Little Green Kitchen, an East Coast cookery school that teaches vegetarian recipes from India, Vietnam, Thailand and more.
9763 1483 | littlegreenkitchen.com.sg
For Indian Veg…
Almost a third of Indians in India are vegetarian, so it’s no surprise that Indian vegetarian restaurants abound. These are our favourites in Singapore:
Annalakshmi
While Little India is the epicentre of Indian veggie restaurants, one of the city’s best is, surprisingly, on Amoy Street in Chinatown. Annalakshmi also has a most interesting concept: eat what you want, pay what you want. The restaurant is staffed by volunteers and all donations go to charity. And the home-style curries, breads and rice dishes are excellent.
104 Amoy Street (and other outlets) | 6223 0809 | annalakshmi.com.sg
Ananda Bhavan Restaurant
Celebrating its 90th anniversary next year, Ananda Bhavan is said to be Singapore’s oldest Indian vegetarian restaurant. There are now at least six branches, the one next to Mustafa’s being the most popular. Try the thosai set with accompanying curries and dhal.
95 Syed Alwi Road | 6398 0837
Komala Vilas Vegetarian Restaurant
The queue at the main Serangoon Road branch of Komala Vilas is already forming by the time the doors open for breakfast, and it rarely shortens. It has a great ambience and excellent South Indian dishes served with silver pots of masala tea.
76-78 Serangoon Road | 6293 6980 | komalavilas.com.sg
Vegetarian lunch ideas in the CBD…
Plant-based wraps, salads and more: Well Dressed Salad Bar and Cafe at Central Singapore (282 South Bridge Road)
Middle Eastern veg: Fill a Pita (#01-29, Nankin Row, 3 Pickering Street)
Rice and noodle bowls: Vegan Bowl (#01-39 3 Pickering Street)
Vegetarian Asian buffet: Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant (Chinatown Point)
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