Eat clean at these Chinese vegetarian eateries

Vegetarian food often gets a bad rep for being bland, boring and tasteless, as well as lacking the excitement of its meat counterparts.

But with many health and environmental reasons to go meat-free, the push to at least incorporate more vegetarian or vegan meals into your diet seem more attractive than ever.

To get you started on this journey, here are 10 Chinese vegetarian hawkers, eateries and restaurants that won't make you miss any meat feast.

Kwan Tzi Zhai Vegetarian Cuisine

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Kwan Tzi Zhai has been serving up yummy vegetarian food for over three decades. The signature dish here is laksa, which still retains its iconic spiciness and creaminess sans meat. Other favourites include popiah, chicken rice and yong tau foo.

134 Geylang East Ave 1, #01-229, Singapore 380134

Kwan Inn Vegetarian

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Kwan Inn Vegetarian has been serving up wholesome vegetarian cuisine since the 1990s, and has expanded to three locations in Singapore from its first outlet in Bugis.

Here, they offer mostly economy rice-style, where you get to pick the dishes to accompany a starch. They also have one-dish meals to choose from, such as vegetarian laksa and mee rebus.

Kwan Inn Vegetarian has multiple locations in Singapore

Zi Zai Vegetarian

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Zi Zai Vegetarian has five locations islandwide, one in the east, west and north and two in central Singapore. Laksa, Hokkien mee and hor fun are among the popular options as well as the crispy, moreish roti prata.

There is a range of zi char dishes to choose from too.

Zi Zai Vegetarian has multiple locations in Singapore

Bodhi Deli

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Bodhi Deli is another option near Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple in Bugis. The allium-free and eggless eatery offers meatless local favourites such as prawn noodle soup, chicken rice, lor mee and pumpkin porridge.

190 Middle Rd, #03-26A Fortune Centre, Singapore 188979

Yi Xin Vegetarian

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Yi Xin Vegetarian is another establishment well-loved for its tasty vegetarian cai fan (economy rice) options. So you'll be spoilt for choice. Alternatively, carb items like olive fried rice, fried noodle and ban mian are also available.

43 Temple St, Singapore 058584

Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant

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Lotus Vegetarian Restaurants serves up a wide array of vegetarian food. These range from local fare like chicken rice and nasi lemak to more unique iterations such as Firecracker Popcorn Chicken with Sichuan Peppercorns and Grilled "Fish" in Fermented Black Bean Broth.

103 Irrawaddy Rd, #02-07 Royal Square@Novena, Singapore 329566

elemen

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Established in 2015, elemen prides itself on executing modern interpretations of natural and meatless cuisines. Dishes range from kale tofu with black truffle wild rice to spicy oyster mushroom omelette pasta.

elemen has multiple locations in Singapore

Whole Earth

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Whole Earth has been awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand for six consecutive years from 2016 to 2022. They describe their food as being Peranakan-Thai but offer many Chinese-style dishes too such as Handmade Yam Treasure Ring, crispy beancurd roll and honey lotus roots.

76 Peck Seah St, Singapore 079331

Eight Treasures

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Located adjacent to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown, Eight Treasures has been focused on serving creative, delicious Chinese vegetarian food since 2007.

Offerings include Eight Treasures Herbal Soup, sweet and sour mushroom, black pepper Monkey Head mushroom, and broccoli with bamboo pith and asparagus.

282A South Bridge Road, Sago Ln, 058831

LingZhi Vegetarian

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LingZhi Vegetarian, one of the restaurants under the well-established Tung Lok Group, has been around since 1991.

Choose from a plethora of innovative dishes such as Chilled Cherry Tomato with Soda Plum Juice, Firecracker Monkey Head Mushroom, Vegetarian Goose and Crispy Beancurd Skin served with Pancake and Crispy 'Ma Po' Beancurd.

541 Orchard Rd, #05-01 Liat Towers, Singapore 238881

ALSO READ: Haig Road Food Centre: 10 best hawker stalls to try

This article was first published in The Singapore Women's Weekly.