Healthy Meals

The Rebel Bar recently had a makeover of their menu to only comprise vegan-friendly items, which also implied that there was no trace of our familiar meats, dairies and eggs in the food they served.

Having a try at their Zoodle Bolognese (S$18.00) was in fact a curveball I threw during the Burpple Eatup as it was not one of the prescribed items we were supposed to have. However, I was most pleased with this “pasta” dish, as the zucchini was shredded into strands of noodles and topped with minced Impossible meat “bolognese” sauce. The flavours definitely hit the right notes and were sufficiently tasty, thanks to the other natural seasonings such as red onions, cherry tomatoes and spiced chickpeas.

Although this might be less hearty than our conventional pasta dish, I thought it was a nice entry-level dish for those who didn’t quite believe they would enjoy vegan food prior.

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Essentially their classic acai supplemented with the taste of sourish fruits, crushed nuts and coconut flakes, the flavoured granola would be found at the bottom of the cup. A little inconvenient, but I guessed it was still a reasonably-priced cup of superfood (S$9.50) on days when I wanted to feel a little healthier with my intakes.

I would say that they do have quite unique flavours that gave me reasons to come try out different combinations of the acai, granola and sauce. Probably another plus point would be that should you decide to call this in by delivery, you would get them at their original price (no platform mark-ups)!

Looking for salmon-anything? Pink Fish was the answer that I was returned with while I was searching for a nice lunch place.

The Hawaiian Poké (S$14.90 for a medium bowl) stood out to me because it contained avocado and had a mango hot sauce as its dressing. I was pretty happy as I slowly consumed my meal, not only because I wanted to savour the freshness of the Norwegian salmon, but also to make sure that the tangy sauce would not be too spicy for me to eat quickly.

Since everyone else seemed to have ordered their salmon burgers, maybe I should also give it a go during my next visit.

Finding a lunch place around the Tanjong Pagar area was more complicated then I thought, as most restaurants were packed with diners. Fortunately, I managed to secure a seat at Salmon Samurai rather quickly.

I ordered the Salmon Mentaiko & Chilled Citrus Ramen (S$9.90) which came with cold ramen noodles tossed in cold sauce and some sliced salmon Sashimi that were lined with Mentaiko mayonnaise before delicately finished with some flaming.

The meal felt healthy, and also somewhat hearty (probably because of the noodles), but it was also possible to select the mixed greens option to make this an absolutely healthy meal.

I would have loved to redeem the Burpple Beyond deals here, but since I am just buying this for myself, it was a better idea to order a Medium size healthy food for me.

Of course, the advantage of getting customised açaí bowls was that I got to choose my own combination of fruits and supplements. I would, however, recommend getting the açaí and chia pudding as the base, simply because it adds a lot more texture to the bowl on top of all the benefits that these superfoods would provide.

Good Bites started off at Bishan Sports Hall as the answer to healthy meals after a good workout at the ActiveSG facilities, and I first got acquainted with them through Deliveroo. What got me coming back for more was their freshness in ingredients and unadulterated preparation and cooking methods, which promised a healthy meal through their salad bowls. That was something that I did not get to see very much beyond the office districts in the city centre.

A Nom Nom bowl (from S$8.90), consisted of one base, one protein, two supplements, one topping and one dressing of choice. However, usually I would top up an extra S$2.00 to get their Baked Salmon as the protein, with their nicely-blanched broccoli and roasted almond flakes. On good days when I would crave for some sauce, I would fancy their Lime Balsamic vinaigrette, though they also prided on their Like Paprika Yogurt dressing too.

The best way to reward oneself after exercising the body, was to refuel with some quality stuff for that optimum nutrition and healthy living.

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Vegan-friendly Bibimbaps were nothing too new to us, but keeping it low-calorie and including ingredients like avocado and sweet potato would definitely be a must try at Dosirak. This meatless option, at S$9.90, tasted really delicious, all thanks to the kitchen crew who put in so much effort to prepare and make the best flavours for people with various dietary preferences.

“Let Omma decide” your five sides and add in your favourite sauce (Apple Cider Gochujang went best with this), shake your box well and enjoy the goodness of Dosirak.

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No kidding here. I actually liked their Grilled Australian Kale (S$10.00) done up by Campfire. Instead of the usual Kale salad or some sauté, the greens was grilled over flame before tossed in lemon vinaigrette dressing and garnished by some fried garlic chips. I liked the slight smokiness, plus the flavours of the grilled vegetables resembled the grilled Kang Kong that I would usually crave for when I patronised the Lok Lok stalls in Johor Bahru.

A note of caution though. Like most stuff that were grilled, you might want to watch for burnt portions, because I had a taste of one which almost made me stop consuming the healthy food immediately. That small bit tasted really bad.

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I’m attracted to the Medium bowl (S$14.90) for the mere reason of having both salmon and tuna in my bowl. Other than that, there are also options to the carbohydrates and four other add-on ingredients to be added into the bowl, with some default greens lining the base.

To me, Poké bowls are just way better than conventional salads because of the chunks of marinated raw fish that “substitutes” the usual grilled seafood or poultry variances. However, if I have another chance to choose my Pokés (what they call the meats), I will most likely not choose the Original flavours, for the Shoyu sauce does gather at the base of the bowl, making the finishing mouthfuls a salty experience.

Whenever I see those big brands like SaladStop, Omnivore and The Daily Cut in the town area, I wonder when such meal concepts will be brought to the heartlands. Pardon my ignorance, but there was actually one of such in the Toa Payoh neighbourhood that was already 1 year old!

Even though they have some preset salad bowls available here, I still went ahead to order a Build Your Own Salad Bowl (from S$6.90), which comes with one base (carbs), two crunches (fruits, veggies, roots or fungi), one healthy fat (dried fruits or seeds), one protein, one dressing and a romaine lettuce bowl. The serving portion was quite substantial as a meal (especially dinner!) and the price was very appealing, so yes, I enjoyed it to the last bite.

When Connexis is undergoing renovations, this area around One-North MRT station is almost like a ghost town during weekends, and finding a decent food joint after gym on a Saturday afternoon is like almost impossible, until I discovered Pita Pit inside Galaxis which opens till 6.00pm.

The Scrambled Eggs Pita (S$7.90) reminded me of a big purse with baby spinach, cheddar cheese, sautéed onions, tomatoes and mushrooms packed within a pita bread that is toasted before serving. And this being an all-day breakfast Pita, I really find it tasty, down to the last bite. Whoever had not eaten this should not stereotype that healthy food are not delicious, because this one will just refute that statement.

And if you’re not the adventurous type who will customise your own Poke Plates, the option of choosing from their preset combos is always there. It felt like I ate a clean dinner tonight.
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