Amid the many old‑school suburban kopitiams and restaurants along East Coast Road lies modern vegetarian café Naïve, which wouldn’t look out of place if it was located at hipper spots like Dempsey or Orchard. The interior is inviting, and with minimalist décor and wooden tables and chairs, is reminiscent of chic Aussie bistros. The menu here is equally simple—vegetarian dishes that are perfect for the health‑conscious. The size of the smallish venue (the space can fit about 40 people) also ensures that the vibe inside is calming, a world of difference from the bustling traffic just outside its walkway. Our starter of wolfberry soup proved to be a wise order—the essence and fragrance of the wolfberries could be tasted through every mouthful, which geared us up for the mains which, unfortunately, were slightly disappointing. The Enchanted Forest, wild mushrooms braised with wolfberry, herbs and broccoli; was generally tasteless and lacked fragrance; and while the Peaceful Plant, which comprised braised tender lotus roots with peanuts was alright, we could have gotten the same from the outside kopitiams at a cheaper price. Our olive brown rice was very good, thankfully, and one of the best we’ve had. But the highlight of our meal was the dessert, Cinderella—which was baby pumpkin blended with sago. The sago added just the right amount of starchiness and wasn’t too sweet. We also managed to round off our meal with a hot cup of homebrew tea. We’ll pop by again to try some of the dishes simply because we’re fans of vegetarian food, but we’re not quite sure if other non‑vegetarian diners will trot all the way East for humble Chinese veggie bistro fare.
