January 2012
Serving a whopping double whammy of both organic and vegetarian food, Chef Low Organic Kitchen isn’t exactly a conspicuous candidate for Most Popular Destination Restaurant. And yet, scarcely less than a year after its launch, that’s precisely what it has become. Weekends are chaotic, while weekdays see a steady stream of patronage that is every restaurateur’s wet dream. Considering most of the shoplots in 10 Boulevard – in which Chef Low Organic Kitchen is located – are vacant or not yet occupied, it makes the vegetarian eatery’s regularly packed houses an even more amazing feat.
If any vegetarian restaurant has the potential to rewrite the (mostly unjust) stereotype of organic, vegetarian food as being tasteless edible cardboard, Chef Low would have to be it. Flavours are generally vivacious, crisp and clean, while an almost ludicrously extensive menu (Thai, Chinese, Italian, Japanese) covers pretty much every culinary proclivity. The signature pumpkin floss squid eloquently exemplifies why the restaurant is so endeared: crispy, gossamer light floss coats ‘squid’ that is intensely moreish and not plagued by the ponderous textures of gluten. A herbal mushroom dish comprising voluptuous shiitake mushrooms suspended in a fragrant herbal broth is served piping hot, just the way any soup that’s not a gazpacho should be.
There are however misses: the Crystal Jade beancurd skin roll with vegetables wrapped in seaweed and fried is served with a sweet sour sauce that, although apparently integral to local palates, left me more than a little cold. By and large however, vegetarians have reason to rejoice. Finally, here’s a meat-free eatery that celebrates healthy eating while concurrently providing diners with dishes that are mostly a joy to the palate. Paired with the eatery’s special feel good tea, and it’s hard to leave Chef Low’s without an extra bounce in the step. Fay Khoo