Lunch at Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant

238 Thomson Road #03-09 / 10  Velocity@ Novena Square, Singapore 307683

Tel: 6538 2992

Website: http://www.lingzhivegetarian.com/home.php

LingZhi Vegetarian Restaurant is the vegetarian arm under Tung Lok Group, serving gourmet non-meat fine dining cuisine. There are two outlets currently, one at Liat Towers and the other at Velocity at Novena Square - we chose the latter for lunch.

I have been wanting to try a fine dining vegetarian meal for a long time, so I was glad to finally be able to get *Zachary to go with me.

From its exterior to the interior, the Chinese Vegetarian restaurant maintains a clean-cut and neat appearance, with a touch of understated elegance. The tables inside are well-spaced apart  as well.

One could choose to have buffet-styled lunch or order a la carte from the menu. The buffet items include soup, some fried items, mock meat items, vegetables etc.

We chose the latter, and their menu does consist of many tempting looking, innovative dishes. We ordered some dishes to share and try. There was also a pot of Chinese Tea (SGD$3.00 for 2 pax).

The first selected dish was the Golden Delight Soup (SGD$15.00) - basically shark's fin melon with lily bulbs, bird's nest and golden mushrooms in a clear broth. It was surprisingly tasty even without the presence of meat, having been infused with the stronger flavor of the mushrooms. The lily bulb added crunch to the soup, and the shark's fin melon looked exactly like shark's fin in its shredded form.

Curiosity piqued us to try the Vegetarian Satay (SGD$16.00) - 4 thick skewers of chestnut, mushrooms, green pepper and what seemed like fried flour or dried beancurd (taupok), all drenched in the dense coating of satay peanut sauce. It was a little spicy, but very delicious. The usuage of the fried flour / taupok as well as chestnuts gave the skewers a good bite as well.

We had a bowl of Udon Noodles (SGD$7.00) in a light tomato soup alongside some mushrooms and vegetables. The noodles were smooth and the light broth was tasty in a healthy manner.

Next, the Deep Fried Lotus Root Rolls (SGD$18.00) which had actually been named as "seafood rolls" or something on the a la carte menu, and that was the only reason I had ordered it (to try mock seafood). Turned out that it was all deep fried lotus rolls with a crispy exterior and sticky interior, stuffed with some vegetables. The taste was rather bland, and this dish was very filling.

Finally, the Claypot Eggplant which was cooked with potatoes and mushrooms in a viscous, spicy gravy. The eggplant were stuffed with tofu, giving it an extra touch of silkiness, but also making the dish more filling than it already is. The four fried buns served on the side are for dipping the thick gravy, and it was a good complement.

Overall, the dining experience at Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant was good. The food items were delicious despite the absence of any meat, and portions were rather generous. The only thumbs down would probably be that the ingredients were mainly using flour or carbo, so for those carbo-freaks, you might find these dishes a little too heavy.