I’m Ashley, a carnivore-turned-vegetarian-turned-vegan in Singapore who is very passionate about the vegan movement because I am opposed to animal cruelty and violence. (Click here if you’re wondering what I’m talking about or if you think I’m crazy.) While it was quite easy in practice to implement the switch from eating meat and fish and seafood almost exclusively to eliminating them from my diet altogether, the transition from vegetarianism to veganism has proven to be a continual, challenging and exciting learning process.
I’ve started this blog because food is incredibly important to me. I will not deny I have always felt that as a general rule, the taste of meat is superior to that of vegetables from a culinary perspective, but the idea of abusing and exploiting and eating the fellow beings I share this Earth with just for my momentary and selfish pleasure is disgusting and barbaric (sidenote: Roald Dahl’s short story entitled “Pig” was an amusing assessment of cooks and vegetarianism). But I had soon come to realise that meat is not the be all and end all. (I didn’t want to eat vegetables for the longest time because I thought they were ugly…) My experimentation with recipes and my fervent desire to try out new eateries and restaurants as much as possible have made me realise how easy it is to be vegan because vegan food can be so good. I love the additional thought and effort that has to be put in into creating a vegan meal as compared to an omnivorous/carnivorous meal since much more skill is required to bring out all the flavours of different foods when we take the dominating taste of meat out of the equation.
This blog collates my humble reviews of various cafes/restaurants/eateries in Singapore. I’m going to keep my reviews focused on whatever vegan fare there is although I have been vegetarian for a longer time. This is because there are so many more reviews of vegetarian food floating around as compared to the paucity of reviews of vegan food in Singapore. I’m also much more appreciative of my food now that I’m vegan (because there are so many things that are excluded from my diet), so I feel a greater urgency to chronicle my journey through the vegetarian/vegan/rare non-veg restaurants that have vegan options in Singapore. I hope you’ll find it useful.
VeganAsh 
Thanks a lot for ur blog n exvellent reviews.. Pls keep them coming..
Thank you for the encouragement, I’m glad you enjoy my reviews x
I would like to get connected with the vegan society members, please call me at 97526035. Joyce
Hi Joyce,
Thanks for your message. Please feel free to reach out to the Vegetarian Society (Singapore) through their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/vegetariansocietysingapore.
Cheers
Ash
Hi Ashley , your blog review very cool thanks
Russell
Thank you 🙂
Hi Ash, thanks for the great blog I just stumbled across! Wonderful. I live in Australia have been vegan for 19years now and had no idea about Singapore for vegans, I’ll be sure to link you up on our Adelaide Vegan page! cheers, greg
Hey Greg, glad you enjoyed reading my blog. Thanks for spreading the word x
Hi Ash,
I like clean, natural, sweet tasting food without too much oil. I am not a vegetarian, but I frequently enjoy all veg young tau foo soup during lunch. Recently, I saw a new organic veg cafe opening next to west mall ( directly opposite pasta mania) where I stay. I would like to put more veg options in my diet, but am concerned about calories since a lot of flour used to make mock stuff.
Anything I should look out for or avoid? So I don’t need to stick to ordering purely veg in clean sauce and half portion rice.
Thank you!
St
Hi St,
What is the name of the organic veg cafe? I could give you better advice if you let me know and if they had put up their menu online. But typically, organic veg cafes are the most health-conscious veg eateries in Singapore, which means they shouldn’t be using highly processed ingredients such as mock meat made from gluten.
Not all mock meat is evil though. Mock meat made from soy is healthier than those made from gluten, though still not ideal. My favourite mock meats are made from natural ingredients such as dried mushrooms.
Cheers,
Ash
Hi Ashley
Just came across your blog. Am doing my bit of research — just turned vegetarian a little over a month ago. Still learning, so it’s great hearing about your experience. Tips on restaurants and recipes are great too!
Have subscribed to receive your updates, etc.
Just wanted to share the cause that I came up with which made me turn vegetarian.
All the information can be found at http://www.facebook.com/lovetheaminals 🙂 Would really appreciate it if you’d take a look and hit on ‘Like’ if you’re as much against aminal cruelty as I am. (No, I’m not dyslexic — I do actually mean ‘aminals’. Have a read on my blog too to get a bit more insight on the cause.)
Look forward to reading more from you, Ashley!
Cheers.
Love,
The Aminals
Hey there, congratulations on becoming vegetarian and thanks for subscribing to the blog 🙂 I’ve just liked your Facebook page. Just browsing through your blogspot now. Cheers
Hi Ashley,
Love reading your blog – its really nice to see like minded people in singapore as being Vegan here seems so obscure. I get questioned so much about my vegan diet and i get lots of pressure from family and friends as i raise my young toddler on a vegan diet with as much raw foods as possible. I like your mexican snicker doodle cookies : ) i use lots of her recipes and i recently baked cupcakes from Vegan cupcakes take over the world for my son’s birthday and everyone was shocked the cakes were made without eggs and butter : ) Pls keep your writing coming – i look forward to reading more.
Best,
TL
Hi Tricia,
Thanks a lot for your encouraging message, and kudos on raising a vegan baby despite all the pressure you’re getting. I don’t have Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World but I have no doubt that book is amazing as well.
Cheers,
Ash
Wonderful blog. I regularly visit Singapore from the US, and I’m very excited to try your recommendations. Thanks so much for making it easier for others to live a compassionate lifestyle in Singapore.
Thank for your message! I trust you’ll have a good time exploring the vegan options in Singapore. 🙂
Ash
Keep up the good work. I’ve always thought of becoming vegetarian or vegan one day. Haven’t reached tipping point yet. But at least it’s good to know that there are nice places I can go to to eat if I do become one!
Hey Jonathan, thanks for the compliment! You know what they say… If you’re waiting for the perfect moment, you’ll keep waiting. 🙂 Perhaps you could try something along the lines of one-meal-a-day or one-day-a-week vegetarian/vegan to ease into things (like Veggie Thursday @ http://www.veggiethursday.sg) or maybe you could check out VSS’ 21-Day Veg Buddy Program (www.vss.sg/vegbuddy). Registration for Round 2 starts soon! Cheers
Hi Ashley, are you the girl who appeared on a TV programme called Share Something which is aired on channel 8?
Here is the facebook link incase your not sure what iam talking about.
https://www.facebook.com/Ch8.ShareSomething
Hi Alex, yep that’s me! There are two posts about it in Others: https://veganash.wordpress.com/category/others/. Cheers.
I was a former journalist in The Straits Times for about 20 years and have travelled all over Asia and the West tasting vegetarian and vegan food. My diet is now mostly raw vegan as I realize that vegetarian food can have healthy and unhealthy (especially if it is processed junk food, mostly sold in half-day hawker stalls) versions. In my humble view, the most tasty vegetarian/vegan food in the whole world can be found in Malaysia (though it is not necessarily the most healthy). Thailand and Taiwan are good too for tasty food. The most healthy vegetarian/vegan food can be found in the US (especially raw organic wholefoods).
Singapore vegetarian/vegan food is, in general, disappointing when compared to what you can find in Malaysia (perhaps it helps that rents are cheaper there and food that is not tasty quickly gets shunned by patrons). I once visited vegetarian eateries all over West Malaysia with some Malaysian veggie friends and the experience left me rather impressed compared to what you get in Singapore, which is mostly passable but unexceptional. Cheap and surprisingly tasty is what you find in Malaysia. Hence for those foodies out there who want to try the most tasty veg food in Asia without blowing a hole in your pocket, head to Malaysia. Their healthy and organic restaurants are far superior to those in Singapore. One reason why Malaysia veg food is so delectable is that they have the influences of Chinese, Indian, Thai, Malay, Peranakan and Western influences in their cuisine. Another thing is that many of the veg places are run by adherents of Yiguan Dao (the men can be identified by their crew-cut hairstyle) which places a premium on being of service to humanity. They are the people responsible for most of the Chinese veg places in Asia. As their beliefs prohibit livelihoods that exploit or harm people, many of them end up in the veg food business (though they allow the eating of eggs and dairy products, something shunned by Buddhist veg eating places).
Hello Ashley,
Glad to find your blog! Oh, I didn’t know it until now!
Anyhow, your blog is very beautiful and your posts are great!
Very useful. Hope more people become vegan in Singapore as well as other countries.
I finished my book and it will be published soon. Here is its Facebook page:
http://www.FaceBook.com/RethinkYourDiet
Best Luck!
Moein
Hey Moein
It’s great to hear from you, and thanks for your comments 🙂 Glad to hear you’ll be done with your book soon – must be exciting times. Let me know when you’re in SG again!
Cheers
Ash
Hi Ash, do check out Henry vegetarian now at blk 5 upper boon keng road. He has revamped some of his dishes. 🙂
Hi GW, thanks for the heads up, I’ll be sure to do so when I get the chance