Vegetarian dining in Singapore can be confusing; you have Chinese (Buddhist) vegetarian that is no eggs, no garlic, no dairy; you have Indian vegetarian that is just no eggs; and then you have vegan that is vegetables, no gluten and sometime no eggs. Elemen caters to all three groups.

elemen (properly spelt with a small ‘e’) is a dining concept focused on a modern interpretation of natural and meatless cuisine. At their flagship store in Koufu’s HQ in Woodlands, they have an open kitchen concept diner decked in the chic turquoise decor with brass trimmings.

April marks exactly one year since they opened at Woodlands Heights. This special outlet houses an elemen restaurant, a retail shop called elemenFarm market, as well as the elemen Academy for the training of meatless cuisine chefs.

The Cuisine

1. The elemen Appetiser 元素开胃三拼
2. Breadsticks with Raspberry Yogurt Sauce 火柴面包条与野莓优格酱
3. Churros Fruit Rojak 吉拿棒水果罗惹
4. Smoky BBQ Salad 烧烤酱沙拉
5. Double-Boiled Cordyceps Flower with Peach Gum in Superior Soup 虫草花桃胶炖汤
6. Freshly Roasted Tomato Basil Soup 烤番茄罗勒汤
7. Kale Tofu with Black Truffle Wild Rice 芥兰豆腐竹筒饭
8. Braised Tai Lok Mee 香焖煲仔大碌面
9. Classic Tiramisu 经典提拉米苏
10. Raspberry Panna Cotta 覆盆子意式奶冻
11. Asian Curry with Crispy Roti 亚洲咖喱配酥脆煎饼 (ala carte)
12. Iced Lychee Rose 荔枝玫瑰特调 | Apple Cider 苹果醋 | Lavender Rose Tea 薰衣草玫瑰茶

The elemen Appetiser 元素开胃三拼

Breadsticks with Raspberry Yogurt Sauce 火柴面包条与野莓优格酱

Churros Fruit Rojak 吉拿棒水果罗惹

In its literal sense, rojak is a melange of crunchy fruits and vegetables, coated in a sticky sauce made of fermented shrimp. It is sweet, salty, sour, crunchy and spicy all at once. The churros were replacements of the youtiao 油条 (dough fritters). Instead of the rojak sauce made with prawn paste, this one is entirely vegetarian, made with fermented yellow soybean paste known as tauchu. There were too little of the sauce to make any impression.

Smoky BBQ Salad 烧烤酱沙拉

I could taste mango, jicama, avocado and tomato. No idea what was the one item in the middle that provided the crunch. But the it was a better salad than the rojak.

Double-Boiled Cordyceps Flower with Peach Gum in Superior Soup 虫草花桃胶炖汤

Rather sweet tasting double-boiled Chinese soup. I like the idea of incorporating a tasteless peach gum for more texture in the soup. It was like having bits of fish maw in there.

Freshly Roasted Tomato Basil Soup 烤番茄罗勒汤

Western soup, it was like pomodoro with basil, no layering of flavours in there.

Kale Tofu with Black Truffle Wild Rice 芥兰豆腐竹筒饭

This was the only dish in the entire course that I truly enjoy, the only reason why I would return again. The kale tofu was like a nice piece of cod, soft, tender and flavourful with umami from the nori. The sauce was made from mushroom sauce and some more flavouring that would roughly made it a brown steak sauce.

But it was the black truffle wild rice that stole the whole show with its lingering nuttiness from the truffle and really delicious brown rice. I never thought I will say this – delicious brown rice.

Braised Tai Lok Mee 香焖煲仔大碌面

After coming back from KL, I could not help but order this tai lok mee to see if it would relive my memories of the KL Hokkien mee. It was almost there, with the wokhei and the black sweet sauce. Crunch was provided by deep fried bits of tofu, but it could not replace pork lard. The manager kept asking us to just enjoy the taste and forget that it’s vegetarian. Very difficult when that satisfaction of animal protein and fats were not replicated.

There were choices of Chinese desserts but we picked all the Western ones.

Classic Tiramisu 经典提拉米苏

It tasted like a normal coffee sponge cake.

Raspberry Panna Cotta 覆盆子意式奶冻

Panna cotta was like a milk pudding, but it was not cheesy.

Asian Curry with Crispy Roti 亚洲咖喱配酥脆煎饼 (ala carte)

I ordered one more main course from the ala carte menu, and the roti prata wasn’t too bad. The curry was an Indian curry with bits of bean curd.

I would prefer the assam style sauce they provided with the normal prata; anyway, I believed that curry sauce was vegetarian in the first place (although some famous prata place provided a fish assam sauce).

Iced Lychee Rose 荔枝玫瑰特调 | Apple Cider 苹果醋 | Lavender Rose Tea 薰衣草玫瑰茶

Drinks were extra, nothing out of this world. The apple cider was part of the meal, and I do not understand why they always provide an apple cider vinegar as part of the meal, not just here but also at Yushan Pavilion 钰善阁 @ Chengdu and Joie by Dozo @ Orchard. I guess you need such a appetising drink to lift the appetite for having no meat.

There’s also another special limited time Japanese seasonal menu, a collaboration with Chef Angus Chow. That was much better, but I would not return for the set menu from the regular stuff. Only a couple of items were good.

elemen @ Woodlands Height
1 Woodlands Height, Koufu Headquarters #01-02, Singapore 737859
Tel : +65 6513 7718

Visited Apr 2023

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