Ruyi Yuan has been one of my favourite vegetarian bee hoon shops in Singapore ever since I discovered the outlet at Holland Drive a few years ago. Sadly, that outlet has since closed down, and I haven’t had Ruyi Yuan on a regular basis since then as the other outlets were quite a distance to travel for weekend breakfasts.

We always order the regular bee hoon set which comes with white bee hoon, mock char siew, mock duck, mock intestines, tau kwa, fried beancurd, some cabbage, sambal and green chilli. There’s the option to have gravy ladled onto the ingredients and we always say yes to that! I love how delicious this simple dish is. The white bee hoon isn’t fancy, but it’s perfect for absorbing the savoury goodness of the gravy and lovely with the sambal chilli. The sambal here is more on the spicy side and there’s little sweetness, but I love the spiciness just fine. I enjoy mock meats very much, especially mock meats that are plump and juicy, rather than those that are dry. Thankfully, all of Ruyi Yuan’s mock meats are fantastic. The tofu dishes are also just as good, firm without being too dry. The cabbage is still firm and has some crunch to it, so it’s not melt-in-your-mouth like chap chye. I do like that it’s not too raw though.

Some people might say that the standard of Ruyi Yuan varies from outlet to outlet, with the original one at Redhill being the best, but to be honest, I don’t taste much of a difference between them after trying the ones at Holland Drive, Redhill, and now Tanjong Pagar.