Authentic Japanese Cuisine For Vegetarians

Herbivore 

Herbivore Restaurant

Must-Have	Baby (<1 yo), Toddler (1-3yo)
Air-conditioned	✓
Space for baby stroller	✓
No steps/ staircase	✓
Baby high chair	✓
Quick service	✓
Not crowded	✕

I was looking for beautiful food with good reviews. I found Herbivore restaurant and made a reservation for two adults and two young kids, and requested two baby high chairs. Herbivore is located in an old building, Fortune Centre near Bugis. We parked our car directly a few footsteps away from the lift at level 4. We arrived at Level 1 Fortune Centre around 11:30 am on Sunday. There are many eateries at level 1, mostly serve vegetarian, local food and dim sum. It was crowded but we managed to keep social distancing at the walkway. 

Herbivore Restaurant

Two groups of diners were already dining in Herbivore restaurant. It has peaceful atmosphere whilst dining there and is set to be a crowd favourite amongst vegetarians in Singapore. Herbivore offers nice Japanese cuisine serving a tantalising collection of dishes that are suitable for family gatherings, catching up with friends and colleagues. It has extensive menu for sushi, sashimi, bento and noodles, which reflects the restaurant's efforts to cater to every palate.

Mitoboru Maki -Dairy ($18)

It is not easy to find nice Japanese vegetarian dishes. Herbivore serves wide variety of sushi, sashimi, bento, hot and cold noodles. All sushi looked colourful, delicious and presentable from the food menu. Western food appeared ordinary to me. I was spoilt by choice. I decided to try Mitoboru Maki, which appeared unique and slightly different from typical sushi that usually wrapped with seaweed. It was beautifully presented, colourful and neat. Eight pieces of maki were served on a plate with some wasabi, shredded raw carrot and sliced Japanese ginger. 

Mitoboru Maki -Dairy

Each piece of Mitoboru Maki was big. It took a few mouthfuls to eat one whole maki. It was made of tomato, a sliced of radish, one half of mock meatball and fried sushi rice rolled with mock meat and vegetable. The mock meat was flavourful and taste was similar to real fish. Mock meatball texture was smooth, tender and easy to chew. Fried sushi rice was coated with bread crumbs and very crispy. Maki filling ingredients were mock prawn, avocado and cucumber. So far, this was one of the best dish I liked. 

Curry Inaniwa Udon - Non-dairy ($13)

We also ordered a bowl of curry Inaniwa udon. Inaniwa udon were made in Inaniwa area of Inakawa machi, Akita prefecture. They were hand-stretched, dried udon that slightly thinner than regular udon yet a bit thicker than somen or hiyamugi noodles, and they were cream colored. Thin Inaniwa chewy udon noodles soaked in a rich, fragrant curry sauce, served with a chunk of mock meat, carrots and potatoes. This curry silky udon satisfied my noodle craving instantly. The curry udon was rich and delicious, with slight sweetness in each spoonful of noodles. 

Chawanmushi Maki ($35)

Herbivore bento was amazing and food portion was really huge, good to share for two persons. Japanese bento was expensive but it was amazing and worth to try. I was impressed with the food plating and variety of interesting ingredients. I loved the food delicacy and I felt like eating in Japan because food was prepared by a Japanese chef. Four pieces of fried dumpling were crispy and juicy inside. Grilled mock ham wrapped asparagus looked so enticing. Each mock ham wrapped tightly around asparagus stalk. They looked similar in size and shape. It was delicious and satisfying. Asparagus texture was soft and almost creamy, and its lovely flavor came into full bloom. Salad was fresh and crunchy with sweet dressing. 

Vegetarian Chawanmushi Maki Bento

When it comes to lower-calorie dish, it's hard to beat vegetarian Japanese sushi. When a waitress came by, gently placing a big bento with six compartments before me, first dish I wanted to try was sushi. The sushi was tempting and a true indulgence. Vegetarian mock salmon colour, texture and taste were similar to the real salmon. The sushi was made by wrapping salmon, prawn, avocado, cucumber, mock meat floss and capsicum in rice and nori seaweed. Four pieces of sushi were succulent and sweet.

Vegetarian Chawanmushi Maki Bento

Vegetarian chawanmushi replaced egg with tofu and beans. The sauce was sweet and savoury. Nevertheless, I preferred the original chawanmushi, a small bowl of steamed egg with miso flavour. A nice and small teapot was filled with vegetarian soup. There were mock prawn, shiitake mushroom, carrot and enoki mushroom. Soup was tasty and refreshing, just like cleansing detox soup. 

Food was fantastic except the restaurant was getting crowded around 12pm though we came early. We were concerned with COVID-19 transmission, thus, we ate quickly and left the restaurant soon. If you plan to visit Herbivore restaurant, food menu is available at this link.

Location

#01-13/14
Fortune Centre 
190 Middle Road
Singapore 188979

Tel: +65 6333 1612 

Opening hours
Monday - Friday
11.30am to 2.30pm & 5pm to 9.00pm
Saturday, Sunday & Public holidays
11.30am - 9.00pm