The Green Room Cafe

Went there with Gwennie 2 weeks back. Thanks so much for fetching me from work!

Anyway, I've long heard about the Green Room Cafe from the forums and papers and finally I had a chance to go there for a meal.

I guess the very first thing that totally captivated my mind and soul was the ambience and outlook of the cafe. Not your usual chinese restaurant I must say. It is very Fusion, and you may not even notice it only serves vegetarian food! It is located right in the middle of Bishan park where it is full of greenery and the feeling of nature just make you feel relaxed.

The interior of the restaurant displays a open "bar" style with white furniture. As that night was pretty cooling, we took seats on the outside, where the ventilation was great and Air was really fresh.

The cafe serves quite a variety of food, ranging from Western to Japanese and even local delights. We ordered a soup and two mains.

Laksa $12.80

I guess many of you might freak out on the heafy price! But well, this was the best dish of the day. The soup was very spicy which i think many may not be able to take it. I had to drink lots of water with it. Basically, it is rice noodles with mock prawns and mock abalone in the special laksa sauce. However the serving is really LARGE and you can't possibly finish alone.

Mushroom Soup $7.80

Not your usual campbell mushroom soup, as this is really concentrated with fresh mushrooms. It is very fresh, and definitely homemade 'wild and exotic' mushroom soup. I thought it tasted quite blend, but it was okay with the bread.

Soba $13.00

This dish is vegan and almost tasteless I must say. However, the full aroma of mushrooms is rather strong in this dish. It comprises of japanese buckwheat noodles with oyster shitake and shimeji mushrooms braised with aromatic vegetable stock and finished with fresh herbs and a pinch of chilli powder . The serving is really small which I find not so worth.

My overall experience was that the ambience was perfect, but I thought the prices are really on the high side, food wise, meet a standard, but not above it. And well, I guess you may visit it on special occassions like birthday celebrations, hot date (and HE is paying) or when you really run out of places. Still, it is a good place for people who want to look for a really secluded place to relax.

Another review is available from Jeffrey where he tried other the Scrunchy Nachos and Falafel.

Location:

Bishan Park II, 1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 10am - 10pm; Saturday & Sunday 8am - 10pm

Website: http://www.aramsaspas.com/greenroomcafe.html

Original Sin

Original Sin is the first and only Mediterranean vegetarian restaurant in Singapore and a sister restaurant of the Michelangelo's Group of Restaurants. Original Sin is named after the famous fresco which Italian renaissance artist Michaelangelo painted in the Sistine Chapel. It represents the passion, creativity and skill in our unique and flavourful cuisine.

This is one of my favourite places to go, but its a tad too ex to visit too often. heehee.

Anyway, last night I had a great get-together with my good pals irene and cheryl and we ordered 4 dishes to share.

Basilico Bruchetta

The bread was topped with fresh grilled eggplant, bell pepper slices as well as fresh basil leaves. I must say Im not a bringal person, but the eggplant was quite different, and tasted perfect.

Magic Mushroom

One of our favourites for the night. The magic mushroom indeed blew some "magic" into us. It comprises of the portobello mushroom mixed with fresh tomato and herbs and baked with cheese. Lasty it is topped with pine nuts. The mushroom tastes really Q and chewy.

Sicilian Pizza

Our favouite Mains of the night is this pizza. Comprises of sundried tomatoes, fresh vegetables and pepper slices. There was some special sauce on top making the taste unique.

Risotto

Another Main that we ordered is the Risotto, which tasted very cheesy and has a strong aroma of brocolli. Not exactly my kind of taste, but it was still okay

Chocolate Brownie

We ended the meal with a sweet dessert of Chocolate Brownie which is soft and tasted good as there is a well mix of walnuts in between.

All in all, I love the ambience of this restaurant as it is cosy and minimal lightings. The open kitchen concept was great and very modern styled. If you are into wines, this place is a award winning place for wines. Cost wise, definitely high end. We paid a total of $97 for the 5 items above. Do reserve seats on a weekend as it is normally full.

Location: 43 Jalan Merah Saga

Tel: 6457 5606

website: www.originalsin.com.sg

Claypot Rice

Tried my own version of Claypot Rice the other day..and I quite like the result.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms

Cai Xin

Vegetarian Sausage

Salted Fish (finely chopped)

Method:

Step 1: Rice cooking (2 cups of rice). Add in sliced ginger and mix together with water. Add in seasonings (Sesame Oil, Dark Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Pepper).

Step 2: Mushrooms - Marinate the mushrooms with Oyster Sauce and Pepper

Cai Xin - Boil vegetables till cooked

Salted Fish - Fry till fragrant

Step 3: Use the cooked rice and put into the claypot, adding the rest of the ingredients on top. Cook the rice for another 10 mins till the outer layer of the rice hardens. Ready to serve

Note: As most vegetarian mock meats are cooked, all we need to do is to heat them up. Hence you may choose not to fry them as it is more oily in this manner.