Anna Maya Vegetarian Cafe Thursday, 08 July 2010 13:34 Written by BEVERLY!

It was Julia's birthday and we decided to celebrate it with a small dinner in Anna Maya, since she is vegetarian. I've been keen to try Anna Maya out after she told me she loved it - they are (obviously) vegetarian, but also do a lot of vegan, and also macrobiotic food. To be frank, except for another Aussie girl friend's birthday last year (which we celebrated in a vegetarian restaurant in Singapore), I've never been to a vegetarian place before. In fact, I don't even eat vegetarian meals.

So it was with great novelty to me to go to Anna Maya. It's a little cozy cafe that looks like a living room, with wood antique furniture, lamps, and just a few tables squeezed in. It's very chill, and has a definite bohemian, laid back vibe. Their food is all about whole foods, and all unprocessed, with the daily menu simply scribbled on a sheet of brown paper.

The meal started off verrrrry slowly. We waited more than 30mins before we could order, despite the cafe not being crowded (and the diners were already eating). In fact, I ordered the orange and peach cocktail and it took 45 mins (!!!) to come out. When it did, it was served in a shot glass, not a regular-sized glass as expected. Very weird.

But then it picked up and went to super-stardom from there. We asked the Japanese owner to put together a degustation menu for us, a special request that she kindly accommodated. The meal was kicked off with a capsicum (red pepper) soup, which initially didn't excite me. It didn't have a swirl of sour cream on top, and at first I was disappointed, then realised this place is also "non dairy". The soup was divine - creamy, rich, and had a beautiful slightly-spicy tinge to it. Would have also loved to dunk some crusty baguette into it.... then realised they also only do "whole grains" so white baguette is out of the question :P

The salad set was so beautifully presented it made the fact that we're eating un-cooked veggies a whole lot more appetizing. I admit, I did struggle through it. I just don't know how to eat vegetables by themselves, like this, in salad form? It was just so foreign to me. Each dish was marinated or had some sort of dressing on it though, which was delicious. My favourite was the homemade tofu which actually didn't taste like any tofu I've ever had, and was freakin' awesome.

Next was the Chickpea pattie with fresh herbs and spices served on homemade whole wheat bun. It looked very suspicious. One bite and my suspicions were confirmed, "I think I'm eating cooked cardboard", I moaned. But I realised that it was just because I've never had a veg burger before, and my brain just kept expecting JUICY BEEF, so it was stunned into a state of confusion. A few bites in, I got used to the flavour and really liked it. The texture was creamy and I loved the fresh avocado, tomato, and lettuce.

The next fantastic dish was the Vegetable curry and brown rice, with fried tofu ball. This is probably the closest thing to a "regular meat meal". There are so many different veggies in the curry you don't really notice meat is missing, plus the rich spicy flavour was divine. The brown rice? MAN!!!! I haven't really hard brown rice before but now I wish I had. This one wasn't hard to chew and swallow as I'd assume brown rice would be, and it had a mild nutty flavour that was well suited with the spicy curry. I also enjoyed the Fried tofu ball, which was small but very tasty.

The Japanese soba noodles with sesame sauce was actually ordered on another night, but I just slid it in this post. It's fantastic. Silky chilled noodles topped with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and finely shredded seaweed. But the stunner is the sesame sauce - rich and creamy and slightly chilled, it coated the soba noodle strands and gave it a beautiful nutty creamy flavour. It's on the menu as a Main dish, but it by no means is sufficient (much like all their other Main dishes), and needs to be supplemented with other dishes.

Dessert I was VERY hesitant about. They didn't look very appetizing in the glass cabinet and they were made with tofu AND fruit. That's kind of in direct conflict of what a dessert should be (ie. should contain no fruit, and certainly no tofu!!)?? However, I fell in love. The Tofu cherry pie and Tofu peach pie was something I'd never have ever ordered in a million years. But they was outstanding. The crust was a buttery mix of nuts and spices, the tofu was creamy and non-tofu tasting. And the Banana pudding? A stunning chilled sweet dessert with soft bananas in some sort of smooth creamy sauce (not sure what it is since they are non-dairy. Maybe more tofu?). THE DESSERTS WERE AWESOME!! So much so I also ate my friend's plate of desserts, despite being stuffed up to my eyeballs.

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#3 RE: Anna Maya Vegetarian Cafe — julia 2010-07-12 18:47

Of course I would be happy to go whenever anyone decides to... We could take over the whole place with a Dolls dinner/brunch there :-)

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#2 RE: Anna Maya Vegetarian Cafe — CelestineChina 2010-07-12 14:09

This looks sooo awesome! I love tofu desserts.

I was vegan before coming to China (I chickened back into vegetarianism) so I love going to places that serve this kind of food. Looks delicious!

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#1 RE: Anna Maya Vegetarian Cafe — beverly 2010-07-09 23:04

PS: if any of you girls wanna go to Anna Maya and want company, let me know, I'd be up for it again :) Such a cool concept!

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