Vegan restaurants to start on those New Year resolutions

HRVST
HRVST proves that vegan food doesn't have to be all grain bowls and salads. Co-head chefs Addis Tan and Dylan Choong brings their experience in places like Tippling Club and Cheek by Jowl to present a modern, chef-ey take on meatless, dairy-less food. Expect trendy, sometimes wildly inventive dishes like bak kut teh-inspired barley risotto with young jackfruit and dough crisps, laced with housemade garlic and coriander oils. Other highlights include pumpkin fettuccine in a potent, creamy tom yum broth; and a carrot-deluge of grilled carrots, pickled carrot ribbons, carrot top pesto, garlic snow and hazelnuts. The space also encompasses a bar that serves pretty compelling vegan snacks like crispy fried chickpeas in an addictive sichuan-sour plum seasoning, and twice-cooked spuds with garlic aioli. Love what you're eating? They also retail their homemade nut butters, and a vegan bagoong (a condiment from the Philippines made from fermented seafood).

6A Shenton Way, Downtown Gallery, #05-01, Singapore 068815. Tel: +65 6920 7500
Afterglow by Anglow
This vegetarian-vegan joint is all about mindful eating — think descriptors like "farm to table", "eco-friendly", and "community-based". The menu here ticks many health trend boxes, offering a range of keto, raw food, or gluten-free dishes like almond "rice" sushi with homemade kimchi and avocado; and teriyaki mushroom "meatballs" served on salsa and lettuce. They've also got a whole selection of raw food mains, which are have been prepared with temperatures under 45°C. There's a raw crispy lasagna, made with zucchini sheets, cashew nut cream cheese, mixed herb pesto, dehydrated cherry tomatoes, marinated baby spinach, shiitake mushrooms, and a garden salad with honey-mint dressing. There's also an impressive-sounding selection of desserts, given the limitations — the chocolate salted "caramel" fudge is made with raw avocado and cacao, tahini, and a walnut crust infused with cold-pressed coconut oil and medjool dates.

24 Keong Saik Rd, Singapore 089131. Tel: +65 6224 8921
Prive
While the Prive cafes are known for their bistro fare like wagyu burgers, eggs benedict, and Hainanese chicken rice, they also cater a fair bit to vegetarian and vegan diners. It's no surprise given that Prive Group's charmain Yuan Oeij eats a vegan-leaning diet. While you'll find a couple of unsurprising options like wood-roasted carrot and lentil soup, and salads, it's the mains that truly shine. Head for the Middle Eastern-inspired avocado toast with pomegranate, pumpkin seed dukkah, and chipotle-cumin hummus, or a very satisfying Thai green vegetable curry that's completely meat and dairy-free. There's even a vegan 85% dark chocolate cake, which comes with a raspberry and chia seed compote.

Multiple locations, www.theprivegroup.com.sg
The Botanic
Salt Tapas & Bar has rebranded, and is now known as The Botanic, a nature-inspired, plant-focused eatery. Sustainability plays a big part here, from the wine list to the food menu, the latter of which is curated by executive chef Shannon Binnie, a protege of chef-restaurateur Luke Mangan. Being vegan herself, Binnie knows her way around making a plate of food taste good without meat or dairy. A good quarter of the menu is vegan (with another quarter being vegetarian) with dishes like charred eggplant with tahini, chickpeas, and a punchy chermoula; and vegetable red curry with coconut and tamarind rice. For desserts, there's the cendol pavlova, prepared with coconut, jackfruit granita, mango, and salted gula melaka. The drinks programme also follows a similar ethos with fresh fruit-based cocktails like the signature The Botanic, a sours-style drink with lemongrass, basil and lime-infused gin shaken with egg whites.

252 North Bridge Road, #01-22A, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore 179103. Tel: +65 6837 0995
Frunatic
Meals here are personalised and therapeutic, and have been designed to combat everything from fatigue and high blood pressure, to sleeplessness. They've got an in-house nutritionist, dietician, and naturopathic doctor, who work with their executive chef to create vegan and gluten-free dishes with superfoods and even Traditional Chinese Medicine. A tailored meal here usually starts with some kind of tea brewed with alkaline ionised water, before moving into a series of healthy snacks, smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and a main. Munch on crispy flaxseed thins seasoned with organic tamari, and chug down your kale-and-mixed berry cold pressed juice before starting on mains like vegan yong tau foo and raw pad thai prepared with zucchini noodles.

390 Orchard Rd, Palais Renaissance #B1-06, Singapore 238871. Tel: +65 6736 0288
Ganglamedo
With a name meaning "Snow Lotus", it's not surprising not find that Ganglamedo champions both a spiritual and physical wellness through food. The restaurant itself is done up like a health sanctuary — cue the soothing music and energy-channeling crystals — and serves contemporary vegetarian, Tibetan-inspired cuisine done without mock meats. Chomp into western-style dishes like cold truffle capellini with maitake, or head for more traditional ones like the Tibetan noodles with porcini, bell peppers, and sesame sauce. What you have to get though, are the soups — which are double-boiled and filled with all manner of good things like like cordyceps from the Tibetan city of Nagqu, matsutake mushrooms, and bamboo pith. The chef's deft hand for soups also translates to the stock bases that are used in their hotpots. Everything from the mushroom to tomato soup is slow-boiled for a deeply flavourful cooking liquid. Vegan options available.

40 Craig Rd, Singapore 089678. Tel: +65 6423 9788

End the reign of limp salads and tasteless mock meats with these vegan places proving that meat and dairy-less cuisine can be delicious.

Prive