Meatless Christmas Eve.

Christmas Greetings.

Glow.

I had an extra special Christmas Eve dinner this year with my dear wife and two very good friends. We had dined in a vegetarian restaurant at East Coast Road. Naïve serves meatless food like no others.

It didn't quite taste like normal vegetarian. Perhaps the secret was in the ingredient, Monkeyhead Mushroom.

The ambiance of the restaurant was really simple and pleasant, filled with interesting decals/wall prints. It was like dining in my own house. ;-)

At the start of the dinner, we had to do a ritual known as the Blessing of Sesame Seeds.

It was a way of giving thanks for our food. We took turns to grind the seseme seeds and later spread them on out food.

Someone hard at work... grinding away!

So what are the yummy dishes we had? First of all, the starter, True Tradition ($9.90). Braised mushroom in 5-spice sauce served with steamed buns aka Kong Bak Bao, but it tasted better and healthier!

For rice, we had the signature Oliver Twist ($3.90)! Its fragrant Thai rice mixed with olives and oriental spices. We also shared another bowl of steamed rice.

The side dishes, Cheeky Monkey ($12.90), monkeyhead mushroom in fragrant oats...

...and Mango Tofu Cake ($11.90).

For the main course, we had the Monkeyhead mushroom gently glazed with delicious caramelized sauce alongside fresh green ($19.90). Delicious!

Overall, the food was good and the service was prompt! The monkeyhead mushroom has this tender texture like juicy meat. I would highly recommend the Cheeky Monkey! Tho' I think the overall price was abit steep. Nevertheless, it was a brand new meatless experience.

You can tell from the looks of the satisfied diners. =)