Hong Kong - Three Virtues Vegetarian Restaurant (三德素食館)

Thanks to Clare's kind contribution! In her recent trip to Macau/HK, she visit quite a number of vegetarian restaurants/cafes which she would recommend should you visit HK too!
Below is her first post:
We stayed at Largos Hotel -- which is within walking distance to 2 Vegetarian restaurants:Pu Guang Vegetarian Restaurant and Three Virtues Vegetarian Restaurant.
Chanced upon this (three virtues) restaurant as they have a small dim sum outlet on the first floor of new JD Mall.


Dim sum price is very reasonable and they have a wide range of both savoury and sweet dim sum. They are not piping hot, but still the price will make you want to buy a few to eat while you shop! We went to dine at the restaurant after trying the delicious yam and carrot cakes we bought for breakfast.
Note: Exchange Rate is approximately 1 SGD:5 HKD

Satay HKD 36 (6 sticks)

One of the top 10 chef's recommendation. Sauce is not local style with peanuts, but rather light. Mock meat taste really good with the light satay sauce and is very juicy.

Fried rice with diced chicken and salted fish HKD 52

Portion of main dishes in HK is very huge too. Two of us couldn't finish the big plate of fried rice.But it tasted really good with bits of mock chicken and salted fish.

Dim Sum (Menu as shown below) is only served from 11AM, but you can go into the restaurant at 10.30AM as it takes quite a while to be served since the dim sum are freshly made and steamed.

NOTE: You do pay a higher price dining in the restaurant, as compared to buying takeaways in their outlet downstairs. Dine in dim sum for some costs HKD 11 per dish while some special dishes costs HKD 18 each.

Congee with seafood and vegetables HKD 25/bowl

Portion is just right for 2 persons if you want to try other dim sum. Congee is smooth and blends well with the vegetables and mock seafood stuffs. Most congee we have tried in HK restaurants are cooked with ginger.

Steamed dumpling stuffed with enoki mushroom and veg shark fins (No. 36 on the dim sum menu)

This dumpling was served piping hot and very soft to taste. Stuffing was generous with veg shark fins and radish. But we didn't taste any enoki mushrooms.

Fried Wontons (No. 24)

Nothing fantastic abt these wontons, as the skin's too thick and the stuffings quite little.

Steamed wrap glutinous rice with chicken (No. 22)

This is one of the most delicious wrapped glutinous rice dim sum ever tasted.Glutinous rice steamed until really soft and enoki mushrooms are like 'chickens' in the glutinous rice.

Overall, this restaurant is a MUST visit if you are in HK!

Location:

1. 1/F, 395 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong

Tel：(852) 2856 1333

2. 4/F, JD Mall, 233-239 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon

Tel: (852) 3622 1888

Opening Hours: Till 9PM

Website: http://www.threevirtues.com.hk/

Cambodia - Friends the Restaurant

Located in Phnom Penh, Friends restaurant is another place offering vegetarian options. There are 2 pages full of dishes available for you to choose from the menu.
I guess the special part of the restaurant is that it is a non-profit organization that helps kids get off the street by providing them housing, education and vocational training. Hence everyone at the restaurant works really hard, to learn some skills and to get out of the poverty cycle. I thought it is a very meaningful project started by the founder.
I loved the tapas served here.

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus on Cripsy Wanton Wrappers USD 4

This is one of the most popular dishes served. A mix of chickpeas and sun dried tomatoes blended together with some seasoning. Then it is served on fried wanton wrappers and decorated with fresh cherry tomatos and basil leaves. Definitely a great appetizer! I guess i'll try to cook this dish too!

Location: #215 Strret 13, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tel: 012 802 072
Website: http://www.streetfriends.org/

Cambodia - Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant

Sorry folks for the late updates! I havnt been eating out much as mummy has been cooking a lot lately. haha. Anyway, I just came back from my cambodia trip. Much to my surprise, most of the restaurants have vegetarian dishes. I guess its also because there are a lot of foreigners going to Cambodia in recent years. Hence I was quite happy to find it quite easy to find food for myself. Nonetheless, I managed to find a vegetarian resturant in Siem Reap.

Cambodians Favourite Salad USD 3.50

This is the vegetarian version of the traditional Cambodian Green Mango Salad, without fish sauce. Added delicate flavours of grilled peanuts and herbs. You would need to notify them if you do not want garlic in this dish. Franny liked this dish as it is good blend of sour and sweet taste.

Infinite Medley USD 4

This is a sweet lemongrass curry with a medley of eggplants. Im not really an eggplant lover, but this dish tasted similar to the Thai green curry whereby it is sweet rather than spicy. Nonetheless, we were given chili padi which is really spicy. You may also add beansprouts, long beans and rice vermicelli.

Vegetarian Oysters USD 5

This is my favourite dish for the night. Stir-fried oyster mushrooms with fresh herbs and beansprouts. It is very chewy and tasty with the mixed rice (white and brown). Definitely a mushroom surprise.

Mango Fruit Shake USD 1.75

Fruit shakes are must trys in Cambodia. This Mango fruit shake is really fresh.

All in all, it is relatively easy to find food in cambodia, however, you would need to remind them not to use fish sauce.

Location: Siem Reap Angkor, The Passage - Old Market

Opening Hours: 11am to 11pm; Tel: 092 733 150

Email: chamkar@gmail.com

Silver Stream Vegetarian Stall @ AMK - SHIFTED TO BEDOK

MOVED TO BEDOK NORTH STREET 3 Blk 539 MARKET
A Pity there is no signboard for the vegetarian stall. Nonetheless, it is not difficult to spot this new stall, as it is located just opposite the famous Tze Char stall in Ang Mo Kio at Blk 226. This is definitely a new competitor.
Thanks to Clare for her contribution once again!

Kway Chap $2.50

Served with a plate of mock meat, beancurd, preserved veg (mei cai) and tau pok.
The Beancurd is very soft and preserved veg is tasty, not too saltish.
Chilli sauce tasted well with kway chap, not too spicy or sour. Portion is just right for ladies. But you may order another bowl of Kway if you are a big eater.

Black Pepper Steak Rice $4

Its quite nicely presented, served with rice and egg. It would be better if there are vegetables available. The black pepper sauce tasted a little spicy but the veg steak is very chewy and good.

Other Recommendations: Mee Goreng, Char Siew Noodles, Minced meat noodles. In the coffeeshop are 2 other small stalls that sell hand made popiah and rojak. Hand made popiah is worth a try! Costs $1 per roll. (Do let the stall owner knw if you do not want eggs to be included)

Location: Blk 226F Ang Mo Kio Ave 1#01-697 Singapore 566226

Tel: 91182963

Operating hours: Daily from 6am to 9pm

Malaysia - Restoran Good Friends @ Genting

Another trip to Genting.. this time with the ex-colls... Genting has becomed quite vegetarian friendly of late. There are vegetarian choices available at most restaurants. I had mentioned the vegetarian food available at Genting earlier here. So this time I'm going to write about other restaurants.

Good Friends is located at the older Highlands Hotel, and I was quite happy to see a vegetarian section in its menu.

Vegetarian Braised Beancurd with Mushroom RM14

Me and Gwennie shared this claypot with a bowl of rice. Cost us around RM8 each. There are lots of ingredients in this pot. Comprises of Tofu, Mushrooms and Gingko nuts. It tasted a little bland, but it aint a bad choice still. Hence if you do get tired of the vegetarian stall at First World hotel, this restoran may be another choice.

Location: Level 2, Highlands Hotel

Opening Hours: Till 10+ daily

Xin Ming Vegetarian Stall @ Bedok

Once in a while I'll go to this stall for dinner when I got bored of the cheap $2 rice sold at Bedok Interchange. Anyway, this stall offers quite a wide variety of food, ranging from Mixed Vegetables rice to Tze Char, hence it does still quite attracted a couple of patrons. The stall owners have been operating this stall for more than a decade and hence has got their regulars. They were earlier located in the coffee shop located beside Shop and Save supermarket at the bedok central. However, since the coffee shop was rented to someone else, they moved to another coffee shop closer to the library side along the main road. Today, I've got news that they are moving again, to another coffee shop across the road, at block 418. Details would be posted later.

Mixed Vegetables Brown Rice $2.50

Ordered this when I can't make up my mind. 3 Dishes for $2.50 sounds quite reasonable for such a big portion served. I do not quite like the rice as I felt it was overcooked. The dishes (especially the braised egg) are still ok. If you do not mind cold dishes, brown rice is a better and healthier option.

Other than brown rice, I would normally order Duck Rice (comprises of vegetarian mock duck, egg and tofu) or I would eat the Kway Chap. However, the prices are much higher ($3 onwards).

Current Location: Blk 204, Coffee Shop
Opening Hours: Till 9+, daily

Loving Hut

Finally i'm writing about this cafe since it opened last week. Anyway, loving hut is a new cafe replacing the previous indinine. Its quite a pity as Indinine has built a reputation over the years. Anyway, If you do know where indinine has moved to, please let me know!
I'm quite happy that it is yet another vegetarian cafe replacing and this gives me more options to choose from since Im working at suntec.

Thats the cafe.. the Sofas are gone, but the tables, chairs are still the same. One thing is you wouldnt know its vegetarian till you see the poster or menus. This is a good marketing strategy, as loads of meat eaters shun the word veggie.

Thanks to Gill who made the trip down to lunch with me!

Mee Pok Dry ($4.80)

I remember seeing the price tag at $2.50, maybe my eyes did play a trick on me. Anyway, the portion was big and the soup tasted good. The most important part in making good mee pok is the tactics of cooking the mee pok. Luckily this tasted just right, it wasnt too soggy and in fact was chewy enough to make me finish the entire bowl. Ingredients comprises of fresh lettuce, minced vegetarian meat with mushrooms and fishballs. Soup is brewed with corn, sweet potato and carrots, making it real sweet. I like it! If you do order this dish, remember to request for no onions.

Silky Tofu Mushrooms Set $5.80

The silky tofu mushroom is served with brown rice and stir fried cabbages and completed with a soup. It is a big portion for 1 serving. If you are a small eater, I guess you may just order this set meal and add another plate of rice to eat with another person. The tofu tasted normal and i reckon the ingredients used on top is the same for my mee pok. The mushrooms are chewy though.

Tofu Jacket $3.80

Doesn't look good on pictures, but it is quite a surprise. The tofu jacket is a side dish we have ordered to share. 5 big pieces of Tofu stuffed with ingredients. I couldn't really make out wat are the ingredients (other than carrots and minced tofu), but it was really juicy.

Sunny Forest/ Rose lemon Juice $3.80 Each

Im not really into juices as I usually requests for plain water since most places do not charge a fee. Anyway, since I wanted to write about this place, gotta write something on the drinks... so we ordered the Sunny Forest and Rose Lemon Juices. Sunny forest is a lemon, mint and soda mixed drink. I thought it was good, and it comprises of a combination taste of sweet and sour. As for the rose lemon juice, there is far too much lemon taste that I could hardly make out the taste of the rose petals available. You can just order plain water to save the money.

Do request for no garlic/onions if you do not take them.

All in all, loving hut seems to be going all out this year to promote vegetarianism in view of the growing global crisis. They are planning to open (some are already opened) outlets in HK, Taiwan, USA, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, and this is definitely great news for us vegetarians. Do google for more information!

Location:

1. 3 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City Mall,
Sky Garden #03-016, Tower 2, S 038983
Tel: 65 6238 6755
Opening Hours: Till 9+PM daily

2. Parklane Shopping Mall, 35 Selegie Road #01-07, Singapore 188307

Opening Hours: Till 9+PM daily

Website: http://www.lovinghut.com.sg/

3. Blk 161 #01-3752 Bukit Merah Central (next to POSBank) Singapore 150161,

Open Hours 11am - 9:30pm except Monday 11am - 3:30pm