The space is very welcoming with a combination of food trucks and container food stalls. In the middle of the venue is a large stage where live music can be found almost every night. Timbre+ is open air but is also completely covered overhead, which is so important in the constant and often unpredictable rain shower that is Singapore. The evening I went it was raining and from the outside it looked as though it was closed. I was happy to learn that there were plenty of open trucks and stalls still open.

Now for the important part, the food. I have to say I was disappointed. As a vegetarian not every restaurant is exciting for me, and this was no exception. There was an India vendor with vegetarian options, but the food was so bad I literally had to return it. I settled for a salad elsewhere that was good, but not worth a trip to the other side of the island. I did have some amazing sweet potato fries with truffle mayo aioli though, and a very large selection of beers and cider to choose from. My boyfriend and the friends that joined us are meat eaters and seemed to really enjoy what they had.

So what’s the verdict? It was a unique experience to try, particularly here in Singapore where food trucks are not the norm. Is there better food elsewhere in Singapore? Absolutely. But none with this particular vibe. I suggest you give it a try and see if you can find that one dish that feeds your soul and your body.

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Joie

Dining at Joie is an experience. It had the most attentive staff I’ve ever seen. They welcomed me by name and sat my party in a private room. And no glass went unfilled on their watch. The food was very creative. From the brightly colored salmon made out of carrot to the black charcoal tempura with flecks of “gold”, this food had flare. Even my ravioli came topped with truffle foam. I definitely wouldn’t have combined some of the ingredients together found in their dishes, such as the pine nuts, seaweed, pomegranate, sea grapes and avocado on the tartare platter, but somehow it worked. Everything I had was delicious, especially the simple cheesecake with raspberry coulis. I would definitely visit Joie again and am already planning what to get on my next visit. I suggest the 6-course lunch set menu, as the price is significantly less than dinner.

Tartare Platter from Joie

Duo Ravioli Platter

Vegetable Sashimi

Zen 

Zen is everything I was expecting, but not how I expected it if that makes sense. For starters, the website is nicely done so I was expecting a fine dining experience, but when I arrived I found it was pretty casual, so much so that there were electronic menus chained to the table and we had to order ourselves. The setting is also very casual. Located on the first floor of the Fortune Centre mall, Herbivore is surrounded by other vegetarian restaurants and grocers. That immediately put my fear that I would be served meat to rest. The only meat found on the menu was mock or soy meat and it was wonderful. I ordered Chili Cashew “Chicken”, Honey “Chicken”, and California Rolls. Both soy chicken dishes were served quickly and with a flavorful sauce that left little to be desired seasoning wise. I do wish the Chili Chicken was spicier, but I’ll be sure to ask for more kick next time. The California Rolls were ever better, with avocado, cucumber, soy crab and topped with a dollop of mayo. While everything was very good, it only left me curious. What about all of the other stuff on the menu? With its reasonable prices I will definitely be going back for a bento box and soy fried fish. Dare I say this might be my new favorite restaurant?

Chili Cashew “Chicken”

Original Sin

Seriously, there is no way to go wrong here. This has been my favorite restaurant in Singapore since moving here and it’s also one of my favorite neighborhoods. It makes for a perfect afternoon or evening outing. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever had, from the Falafel Salad to the Spanakopita. Original Sin is billed as Mediterranean vegetarian food, but they also do pastas very well, such as the creamy Absolut pasta made with penne, Absolut vodka, a pink sauce and cooked to perfection crisp veggies. It’s topped off with large ribbons of delicious parmesan cheese. They also have a veggie burger and an outstanding risotto. I recommend the set lunch, which finishes with a warm chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream.

Absolut Pasta

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My brother and I enjoying the food.

My main goal this year was to get closer to family. I flew my brothers out to visit me in March and was able to share my world with them. But it was a two way street and I quickly learned more about them. My youngest brother is a talented drummer, waiting for his time to shine. My older brother is a chef, and even though he’s very skilled at preparing meat and I’m a vegetarian, I saw how passionate and knowledgeable he is about food. The end result…my boyfriend and I are now part owners of a food truck with my brother. So this Christmas break was partially spent helping my brother on the truck and checking out some of the other trucks. Los Angeles is well known for its food trucks, and long gone are the days of the roach coach. Some of these new trucks are so state of the art and come with sophisticated menus and social media followings that I felt compelled to experience the scene.

Taste Therapy is the name of our Truck. For a couple of days per week it can be found catering to the lunch crowd at Universal’s South Weddington Park. In my down time on the truck I tried out the veggie burger and the soy chorizo fries. Delicious. I’m not usually into condiments on my burger, but the chipotle aioli made this burger! It was so flavorful. The fries were even better. They were cooked to perfection and topped with soy chorizo, queso fresco and jalapenos. They had just the right amount of kick to them. I didn’t try the meat items obviously, but our best seller, the Korean BBQ Sandwich, was in high demand that day. I love kim chi and am hoping for a vegetarian version of this sandwich in the near future.

These fries were amazing!

Siracha Brussel Sprouts

Falasophy 

I found this gem at L.A.C.M.A. on Wilshire Blvd. The street was lined with catering trucks, but the concept of simple falafel with flair had me. I tried the Bahn Mi Falafel, which had cilantro garlic hummus, pickled carrots, daikon, fresh cilantro, tahini and lots of fresh jalapenos. In the end I thought the falafel was pretty good and the kick from the jalapenos was for sure the highlight. It gave it a twist that I had never experienced before, making it worthwhile. I also tried citrus blossom lemonade, which was delicious and refreshing, and I tried the fried brussel sprouts. They had a sweet and spicy siracha sauce, which didn’t do it for me, but again, I don’t really like many sauces. Be forewarned, they are extremely greasy.

Green Truck

I also tried a bit of the Kale Yeah Bowl from the Green Truck. It had quinoa, kale, mushrooms, beets, carrots, and tomatoes. I was expecting it to be cooked, but everything was pretty raw and definitely fresh. Although the food left something to be desired and was rather bland, the concept of organic, locally grown food was appealing. I’d really like to try some of their other menu items such as the Mother Trucker Vegan Burger.

Kale Yeah!

Even my niece enjoyed the eats.

L.A.C.M.A, Universal City, and Abbot Kinney’s First Fridays are great locations if you are visiting Los Angeles and would like to go food trucking. There are some pretty famous trucks I’m still eager to try such as the Kogi Truck and what sounds like heaven to me, the Grilled Cheese Truck. Any favorites out there? Please comment below.

L.A.C.M.A. at lunch time.

Bahn Mi Falafel from Falasophy

Korean BBQ Sandwich from Taste Therapy

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After doing a lap around the grounds, I settled on a vegetarian plate with 4 different sides and white rice. I picked a cauliflower and cabbage blend with sautéed onions, sautéed spinach with slivers of garlic and chili peppers, BBQ tempeh strips with an island flair I couldn’t quite put my finger on and a unique coconut salad with green beans, coconut and ginger. This was so far from the flavors I’m used to. It was delicious and incredibly cheap! I paid the US equivalent of $3.70, including a Bintang beer. I don’t drink beer often, but I couldn’t resist, as this beer seemed to be half lemon. It had none of the bitterness of regular beer, making it very easy to get down. I only wish I had more of an appetite so I could try more.

Although I found plenty to eat, this event was really meant for seafood lovers. Every stall was packed with today’s catch; muscles, shrimp, blue crabs, red snapper, rainbow trout, prawns, salmon, etc. The smoke from the grills permeated the air and the lines were wrapped around the stalls. They also had some rare items such as an entire grilled baby chicken and fried critters.

I’m definitely glad we stopped in for a bite. It was a great meal and a great experience to see the small town come to life with its enthusiasm for eating well. If you happen to visit Gili Trawangan, I would highly recommend you do the same.

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Hello my name is Ravi and I am the carnivorous big brother chef!!

Phuket, Thailand
As soon as we touched down, the first thing right off the plane were tigers! No breakfast, just tigers, hot sweaty skin, and melting heat. We hadn’t planned on petting baby tigers, but you know what they say…when in Thailand. Soon after we headed out into a very mountainy area with big buddas, twisty, windy roads, beautiful beaches and the loudest insects on the planet. But before any of us could even think about all of that we had to have our hunger curbed. And to be honest we didn’t stop there. We ate and ate often, all trip, regardless of whether or not we were hungry. So I’m going to share some of the must try dishes in Thailand.

1. Fried cilli crab
This is a must! We had this at the Tunk Ka restaurant of Thailand. They pull all the crab meat out and fry it nice and crispy. It’s covered with a chili garlic sauce that’s kinda of savory sweet with hints of ginger and a nice spicey kick to it. Not to be confused with Singapore’s famous chili crab, this has flavors that are much different and is prepared without the egg thickener.

2. Som Tum
We had this in Koh Phi Phi from a street vendor, no more than 200 feet from the boat we took island hopping.You can find this in different variations all over Thailand. It’s a green papaya and mango salad with a spicy sugar salt combination and fish sauce. The flavors are magnificent- salty, sweet, pungent and fishy, a true umami. It’s crisp, crunchy, cold, refreshing and oh yeah did I say spicy. This dish may have been my number one must try BUT… eater beware because it’s FIERY!! And Koh Phi Phi is already a hot and humid place. It was 90 degrees when we got off the boat but and it made the temperature climb even higher. So maybe try this one at night.

3. Khanom Bueang
Pronounced Kanom Bwen, these are small pastries that look like tacos but are actually Thai crepes. They are made savory and sweet usually with some sort of cream and fish powder and are thin and crispy. I found these tasty little morsels at one of the many night markets in Phuket. They look extremely difficult to make but the lady making these was obviously a professional! One was filled with a sweet coconut cream and topped with lemon zest and the other was a sweet cream with ground shrimp on top. Its a must try not only for the taste but for the performance in the cooking processes. Its indeed an art you wont see anywhere else.

Night market photos

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