Naive

I am, not even remotely, vegetarian. I am resolutely omnivorous, although I have days where I have a weird vegetable cravings (think Sizzler's free-for-all salad buffet). Naïve has been on East Coast Road for almost a year. We knew that it was a restaurant but never really ventured over for a look see until after a vegetarian friend told us about it.

The Restaurant

The restaurant was almost empty when we arrived at just a bit past 9pm. There was only another table of 4 who had already placed their orders by the time we got there. Restaurant decor is fairly simple - not zen, but probably slightly zen-inspired. The restaurant space being fairly small (it is located in a shop house), seating is maximised by the use of a long table and bench seating in the centre of the restaurant.

The Menu

The menu features predominantly mushrooms and tofu. You would expect with a name like "Naïve" the food would be Western influenced. But that's not the case. The food is Asian-style with no eggs, onion, garlic or MSG. And nothing on the menu even vaguely resembles the mock meats that you find with the usual local vegetarian food. Things were looking up.

The menu is divided into several sections by key ingredient: each ingredient (e.g. monkeyhead mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, tofu) is prepared in at least 5 to 6 different ways/styles.  We ordered:

* Soup of the Day. The soup of the day was tomato-lemongrass soup. This was essentially a clear/thin tomato soup, with a slight scent of lemongrass. This was tangy but not very satisfying - the flavours would work much better in a thick soup instead.

* Autumn tofu. Warm tofu (one of my mom's favourites) with a savoury topping made of oats and fermented beans. This tasted almost exactly like mince meat sauce (the type that you get with zha jiang noodles), but without the texture. For the first time in my life, I actually liked tofu prepared this way.

* Tamarind crispy tofu cake: A mix of seaweed and tofu replicate the taste of fishcakes. The tamarind sauce was nice and tangy, and reminiscent of Penang laksa sauce. I liked this quite a bit, but could do without the tamarind sauce. There is a mango version available, which I suspect will be closer in flavour/presentation to the Thai fried mango fish dishes.

* Fried oyster mushrooms (spicy). I have mixed feelings about this: on the one hand, I liked the texture and crunch of the fried oyster mushrooms. When the dish was first served, I thought it looked like some kind of tonkatsu. On the other hand, while the flavour was spicy enough to be addictive (suggest you order this with rice), it soon came to a point when it just became too spicy to eat anymore.

* Penang Rendang. This was definitely odd: mushroom stalks are stir-fried in some spicy peanut-based sauce. Too spicy, and didn't quite work with the steamed mantou that the dish came with. I'm not sure how this can be one of the recommended dishes on the menu, but it is.

* Hong Kong noodles and vermicelli. The carbohydrates were largely forgettable. H. said that the HK noodles were quite tasty - I sampled but didn't quite register the taste as I was still smarting from the penang rendang. The vermicelli came with the same oat sauce that the Autumn tofu came with: nice, but a bit repetitive. If the service staff had highlighted that the vermicelli and tofu came with the same sauce, I would have ordered something else instead.

Generally, portions are fairly small. Each dish comes in nice/spiffy looking crockery (which takes up way too much space on the table) but is largely portioned for one person. This, coupled with the fairly expensive pricing, made dinner overall not very satisfying.

Service

Now, before the food is served, diners get a Japanese mortar & pestle filled with black and white sesame seeds. These are the implements for the "bloss" ceremony, described on the restaurant's website as: "Before the meal commences, diners are invited to partake in our Japanese-inspired ceremony. A set of Japanese mortar and pestle is provided and diners will spend 2-3 minutes grinding fragrant toasted sesame seeds which can be sprinkled onto the dishes. Sesame seeds are said to have numerous positive health properties. For us each small seed is also a symbol of blessings we receive every day. This is a very calming ceremony that our diners enjoy. They usually add it onto their food afterwards too."

Kitschy, quite fun, but I was wondering - as I was grinding the sesame seeds in the ceramic mortar - how in the world they manage to clean the grooves of the mortar/pestle.

The service was okay given the number of diners in the restaurant. We found that we had ordered too much food and it would have been helpful if the restaurant staff had told us that we had ordered too much/too little (e.g. like what you would get in the Chinese dim sum restaurants).

Overall

Dinner (inclusive of 2 non-alcoholic drinks) was $80 for 2 persons. While the food quality and style was quite good, I found dinner to be pricey - especially for vegetarian food. We might be back, not too sure about it, but it would be nice if the food portions and pricing were adjusted to fit local palates.

What? Who? Cheeky Monkey? Where?

Read about Makansutra K F Seetoh mentioning about Naïve's Cheeky Monkey in The New Paper (Jan 2010, I think) and I realized I have no encounter with this Cheeky Monkey at all!

So, I went to Naïve again. To check out the suspicious Cheeky Monkey? You may wonder what is this all about? Who is or What is Cheeky Monkey at Naive?

It is just the name of the item on Naïve's Fun Menu that usually would evoke few laughs. Cheeky Monkey ($12.90+) is fried chunks of monkey head mushroom tossed in crispy cereal with curry leaves and chilli. The crispy cereal bit together with the crispy curry leaves is simply delicious! Love the Fried Monkey Head Mushroom in it, very tasty and has a nice bite.

Using Monkey Head Monkey is another good alternative for the popular dish - Cereal Prawn.

For those who are allergic to seafood like prawn .Worry Not! Just enjoy this dish whipped up using Monkey Head Mushroom. Not a mushroom lover! Hmm..., then go for Tofu Cereal at Whole Earth.

One thing to take note: if you are ordering this for kids who do not take spicy food well, it is better to request the Chef to omit the chilli bits else you will have fun time doing treasure hunt (for chilli) or you will face a kid on fire(screaming).

 

All foodstuffs have the same gastronomical potential - imagination is the only limiting factor. Naive is one of the most popular Vegetarian restaurants, an innovative, young vegetarian eatery that give a new modern twist to Asian and Chinese Food. The dining experience here is far from dull - food here is colourful, imaginative and beautifully presented with flavour and texture.

Naive does not try to mimic regular food with mock meat but create a cuisine that is unique and makes plant-based and natural ingredients taste exciting. Indeed, not many restaurants could achieve such high standard with such high quality. Even my meat eater family members love their wholesome cuisine.
 

Looking carefully at their fun and scrumptious menu (with intriguing name) comprises good selections. Some of the items are easy on the pocket. For those on a budget , the on-going promotions is a bargain.

 

Ever since I came to knew about this new chic causal dinning vegetarian eatery, within a short period of 7 months, I have been back no less than 8 times and tasted many of the dishes on the menu and those new dishes that have been introduced from time to time.


What I Like:
Good variety of dishes. Food is good and hearty. Reasonable priced set-meal. Innovative dishes. Charming ambience. New generation Vegetarian Eatery that is friendly to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

It was a very hot day and all my wife & I wanted to do was to eat some delicious food and relax. And this restaurant called Naive did not disappoint. The food tastes great! I ordered their Golden Oats which is made of mushroom with a meat-like texture topped with lots of toasted, crispy oats. My wife ordered their mango tofu and I can tell that she definitely will ask me to come back there again. This is one great place to eat!  

Love how this place looks, from its quirky art designs, to the tables, really gives one a very Zen feeling.

Food here is certainly very interesting, much more than that of a typical vegetarian restaurant.

Love the Olive Rice and the Lotus Root Soup.

Healthy, Tasy and very filling.