Fancy a Vegetarian Reunion Dinner? Visit Eight Treasures

Just a stone’s throw away from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown, Eight Treasures Vegetarian – located within a three-storey shop house – is a popular choice for both locals and tourists alike. With nine years of history and their creative vegetarian dishes alongside all-time favourites, it’s not hard to see why the restaurant still draws in a loyal crowd. Together with 8 OpenRice members, we tried out Eight Treasures’ $368++ Chinese New Year menu (good for 6 - 8 persons) earlier in January. Many non-vegetarians have the impression that vegetarian food would either be bland or the mock meats used would be made of flour and taste completely artificial. We were thus pleasantly surprised after we tried their ‘meat’ dishes, aptly named 手工菜, which were undeniably an art form. One may ask – why bother imitating meat if you want to encourage vegetarianism? That’s because it allows an easier transition for long term meat-eaters, who are thinking of changing up their diet. It also brings attention to the idea that meatless is definitely not tasteless.

Starting off with Veg. Sharks’ Fin with White Fungus & Wolfberries, this dish was a tasty combination of enoki mushrooms, beancurd skin, white fungus, wolfberries and sharks’ fin made from konjac (also known as konnyaku).

Then, we had Fruit Salad Veg. Chicken, where the chicken is made from potato and crispy deep fried beancurd for its skin.

The crowd-favourite Thai Style Veg. Cod Fish (rated 4.6/5) is made from soybean, wheat and wrapped with seaweed to assume the look of fish skin. The soft and springy texture of the soy won our hearts with just one thought on our minds – How can this not be fish?

A traditional classic – Veg. Abalone Mushroom with Tou Pau & Seasonal Greens consisted of shiitake mushrooms and blanched broccoli, along with abalone mushroom, which was also made from konjac.

We were once again impressed by the Cereal Veg. Prawns (rated 4.5/5), where the meat was tasty and bouncy, while its deep-fried exterior was coated with a crunchy layer of malt cereal.

The Fragrant Yam Ring was filled with mock chicken meat and seasonal greens, deep fried at high heat is surprisingly fresh and light.

This nondescript bowl of Braised Yee Fu Noodles was one of our top three favourite dishes of the food tasting session. Most of us agreed that this was no doubt one of the best Yee Fu Noodles we’ve had.

Our host, Zenna generously invited us to try one of Eight Treasures’ signature dishes (not included in the CNY menu we tried) – the Honey Sauced Veg. Pork, which resembled the dongpo meat with the upper layer made from konjac to mimic the fats and the meat layer made from soy.

What’s a Chinese New Year dinner without lo hei? With the recent raw fish scares, you might be worried about where to get your raw fish. Salmon slices in this Rainbow Yu Sheng are made from konjac, so here’s a great alternative.

We ended off our tasting on a sweet note with the Fruity Mango Pudding.

Click here to see our members' reviews! Takeaway of Happy Reunion Pen Cai (Vegetarian) is available at $168. Yu Sheng at $28.80 or $38.80. Call 65347727 for reservations. Please note that a 20% cash deposit is required to confirm all reservations during the CNY period. A receipt will be issued and no cancellations are allowed.

Written by Fiona Phoon