Rediscover 8 Treasures Vegetarian Restaurant bits by bits (III) ...

This Photo from All About Veggies

Food Review – Eight Treasures Celebrates World Vegetarian Day Special Menu (Cont’d)         

I am not sure what customers are looking for when they go to a restaurant? The taste of the food is by all means very important, the atmosphere and the service too. For me, when I go to a restaurant, I want to feel it is welcoming – vibrant energy, lively atmosphere plus smiling faces of the staff, the attention to little detail, the design of the restaurant. Otherwise, I would eat simply at home or just in any food court that have vegetarian food.

8 Treasures Vegetarian Restaurants is one of those few Vegetarian Restaurants that have these essential elements. Their attention to little detail - making sure our tea cup is full, do we need more rice, introducing the dishes to us in informative way yet not overdoing it, providing good answers to our queries even when I have post sarcastic remarks (a little test :p).  

Having writing so much on the Appetizer and Tea, now come the other dishes on the special menu … As my photo didn't turn out well under romantic light (i missed out flash light), so beautiful  photo, check it out at - All About Veggies and Veggiebun's Food Trail

Mini Pot Vegetarian Shark’s Fin

Mini Pot Vegetarian Shark’s Fin  - Rate  5/5

I love this! Shark Fin has been prized for several hundred of years in China, since the Ming Dynasty. The ways it can be prepared is beyond imagination. Vegetarian Shark Fin Soup is also available in Vegetarian Restaurant (don’t have to kill shark to get fin!).  For this dish in 8 Treasures restaurant, it had few different types of ingredients yet there were well balanced, well presented and compliment each other that it is not a big mess in a bowl. 

The Chef must have cleverly place and “hide” the ingredients (time consuming, I guess). As a first time diner of this dish here, you don’t know what it is until you slowly discovered them – usually an idea of the Japanese Cuisine where concealment and discovery are a pleasure. It was only was one third through the soup that I discovered one slice of mock abalone – another mini surprise. The mock Shark’s Fin is great, even my non-vegetarian friend find it so real and nice.

Broccoli with Vegetarian Scallops &  Honey Sauce Mock Pork 

Honey Sauce Mock Pork – Rate 3/5

This should be the Vegetarian Version of the signature dish of Hangzhou – Dong Po Pork, is one of those dishes varies from restaurant to restaurant, my guess. This is a special dish in this restaurant and sometime guest have to wait till the restaurant have stock as told by Zenna. As I am not a big fan of mock stuff even I do eat some mock meat, I do not really crave for this. However, my non-vegetarian friend likes this mock pork with a beautiful gloss very much.

Broccoli with Vegetarian Scallops – Rate 3/5

Oh not I can’t really rate this, I was too impressed with the food presentation where the little chopped red chilli was sprinkle onto the garnish - English Parsley.  Am not eating mindfully yet I finished all of them rather fast.

Marmite Willow Mushrooms, Vegetarian Fragrant Peking Duck (at the both end)

Asparagus with Monkey Head Mushrooms (middle)

Asparagus with Monkey Head Mushrooms – Rate 4/5

Monkey Head Mushroom, I love it! So far, I love those in Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant and Naïve too. The reason is I could not recreate a good and tasty one at home (too labour intensive) and the ready-made instant monkey head mushroom that I get from Wholesaler is not cheap (S$9) and does not have that special taste from the secret recipes of the restaurants. For this special dish, it was presented in a lovely mini bird nest (crispy rice vermicelli basket). I wanted to eat the beautiful bird nest but was too hard for me to bite.

Marmite Willow Mushrooms – Rate 4.5/5

For this special event, willow mushroom was used – Fresh One, which is not a common items in most of the supermarket! Currently, mostly dried willow mushrooms are used in some restaurants on limited dishes. Willow mushroom is rather new to me and I don’t have much information on its nature and goodness. We get to taste fresh willow mushroom – rather special, creative and interesting. In their a la carte menu, it is abalone mushroom or another type of ingredient which I can’t remember.  

Vegetarian Fragrant Peking Duck – Rate 3/5

Peking Duck is a popular dish in Chinese Cuisine where due to long roasting process, the duck skin is extreme crispy and with deep caramelized flavour. It is usually serve only the skin wrapped in pancake with julienned spring onion and cucumber, without the duck meat or the meat eaten separately.  In 8 Treasures, this vegetarian peking duck is totally different and it has a crispy “duck” skin and using mashed yam to replicate the duck meat. Instead of using pancake, local lettuce is used for wrapping. As for the sauce, it is a special chilli with Thai flavour (I like it). As a small eater, consuming too much yam really makes me full but it would be a good dish for those looking for comfort filling food.

To be Cont’d …

Address:

Eight Treasures Vegetarian Restaurant 

282A South Bridge Road

Singapore 058831

Tel:65 6534 7727

(next to Singapore Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Free Museum in Singapore Chinatown)
http://www.8treasuresgroup.com.sg/index.htm