Stylish and Innovative Vegetarian & Vegan Fare at Sufood: Dining Review

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If you’re looking for some fabulous, stylish and innovative, meat-free cuisine, head to Sufood. Yup, the restaurant ticks all the boxes. Sufood believes in fuelling your body and mind with clean food, that is additive and preservative free. Serving vegetarian and vegan fare that is nutritious, honest and unbelievably delicious, is their mantra.

The popular Taiwanese chain opened its doors to Singapore’s foodies in mid-2014. Since then, Sufood has come to be a well-known choice for light and flavorful vegetarian and vegan Western and Asian fare. Things have evolved since my first visit to Sufood back in 2015, the menu is different and is constantly upgraded to keep things fresh.

On our recent visit, as soon as we stepped inside the restaurant, I knew we had begun on the right foot, pun intended! A cheery ‘Welcome to Sufood’ from the team and an attentive manager Susan made sure we were seated comfortably and all set to enjoy our meal. We were briefed on the philosophy and it was interesting to note that their target groups are not just vegetarians and vegans but also the meat lovers. Their endeavour is to make vegetarian dining more than just mock meat, and to debunk the belief that vegetarian food is boring by ensuring that their dishes packed a flavourful punch. In my opinion, they’re doing a damn good job!

The menu is structured well – you can choose from the 4-course or 8-course meals, or go a-la-carte. Most courses have a range of options, giving you the flexibility to pick and choose. We decided to go for the 8-course meal. Sheer gluttony, I know! But Sufood features on our list of Top Vegetarian Restaurants in Singapore, so understandably we wanted to try as many of the dishes as we could.

CNY Specials

Before we move on to the 8-course menu, they currently have a 6-Course Menu (S$33.80++) also on offer. And well, if you’re at Sufood for CNY celebrations, you have to toss to an auspicious Year with their Yu Sheng, a colourful medley of freshly prepared hearty ingredients including king oyster mushroom, corn, zucchini, beetroot, pomelo, purple cabbage, cucumber. Complementing the flavours is your choice of black truffle sauce or sweet plum sauce. The CNY special menu will be available from 1st to 19th Feb, and Yu Sheng  will be available from 16th Jan to 19th Feb.

The 8-Course Meal at Sufood

We then moved on to the 8-course meal (S$36.80++). The meal starts off with a jug of Mulberry Cider to cleanse the palate, and then served are Warm Rosemary Breadsticks with an amazing home-made sauce. The breadsticks are a clear winner – warm, spiced just right and tasting heavenly with the dip. I had to stop myself from reaching out for more than my share.

Next comes the SUFOOD Appetizer,  served as a trio of Japanese yucca root drizzled with a blueberry coulis, a vegetarian sushi look-alike of white water snowflake with sesame sauce, and a savory tomato jelly; all 3 appetisers very unique. We were told to sample the appetizer portions from right to left as they are arranged in increasing order of spice levels.

For the 4^th course, you get to choose from 5 salads. I opted for the Revitalizing Fruits & Vegetable Salad, a nice blend of watermelon, apple nuts and lettuce, on a bed of blueberry sauce. I enjoyed the refreshing taste of the dressing and loved the fact that the salad is the lowest on the calorie meter, but I would  have liked to see more vegetables in there.

For soup, I chose the Burdock Root & Cashew Broth (from a choice of 4). I simply loved the light broth, which was dense with the flavors of burdock root, gingko nuts and cashews simmered to perfection. I loved that the soup is not too heavy on spices or flavorings to confuse the taste buds.

From the huge choice of mains, we opted for the Star Pizza with Cream Cheese & Wasabi-Tomato Sauce. The Star Pizza is Sufood’s flagship dish and comes highly recommended by the chef. The crust is filled with cream cheese and the pizza is generously splattered with wasabi sauce and topped with salted seaweed. A word of caution – if you don’t enjoy seaweed (like me) then this dish may not be the best choice as the strong flavour and smell of the seaweed engulfs the senses even if you don’t eat the dish. I sampled the portion without the seaweed and was impressed with how well the the wasabi sauce and the cream cheese come together, but I mostly steered clear of it. Other recommendations for the main course would be the Zesty Oyster Mushroom Stone Pot 5-Grain Rice  and the Wild Mushroom Charcoal Tagliatelle.

By the time desserts came along, I was almost in a food coma. However, one look at the sweet treats and my senses opened up. The Snow “Bird Nest” (XUEYAN) Pudding is a vegan version of the original bird’s nest, resting on a bed of perfectly chilled bean curd. Not too sweet, not too rich, and would have been just nice and perfect to round up our amazing and healthy meal. However, my sweet tooth still called out to me and I decided to indulge in the Lava Cake. The cake with the chocolate oozing out and the ice cream on top, was delectable and did end up being the perfect end to an awesome meal. *The Lava Cake contains egg, so it is not suitable for the vegans and those who don’t eat eggs.

Sufood also offers a 4-course meal (S$25.80++). They also presently have a 6-course meal (S$33.80++) on offer that is a CNY exclusive.

Verdict

Sufood is a complete dining experience – food that is delicious and yet reassuringly healthy, amidst a warm and cozy ambience, and friendly, attentive staff. The restaurant scores high on the family friendly meter as well.

Sufood is not your everyday neighbourhood hangout. Given the price point, it would classify as mid-range dining, and the food and ambience make it a great choice for a celebratory meal too.

I absolutely love their concept and philosophy of making vegetarian food delicious and healthy, at the same time offering a wide range of dishes. The fact that they are constantly innovating on their menu also highly appeals to me – the chef told us to watch out for some exciting surprises in their menu starting April.

Do note that the CNY special menu will be available 1st to 19th Feb, whereas Yu Sheng will be available at Sufood from 16th Jan to 19th Feb 2019. The 8-course meal and the dishes we’ve reviewed here are available through the year. So, make your way there soon and enjoy some precious time with friends and family in a relaxed, fun and tummy happy way.
  

Sufood: Raffles City shopping centre, 252 North Bridge Road, #02-19, Singapore 179103. P: +65 6333 5338

Preethi & Ganesh

Preethi & Ganesh are our favourite writer-photographer duo. While Preethi is juggling two hats being mom to a naughty and adorable three-nager, and working as a HR Marketer; Ganesh is a Technology Sales Professional by week and a sports enthusiastic and passionate photographer over the weekend. While Preethi is a foodie, music lover, ardent toastmaster and a travel buff; Ganesh enjoys running (6 full marathons and counting) and plays cricket for a Singapore League team. Luckily for us, they share a common love for all things food (as long as its vegetarian) and enjoy working together on articles –  his captures add the spice to her words.