· BURPPLE

Earth Day 2021: 8 Eco-Friendly Restaurants To Try

In honour of Earth Day, we've come up with a list of the most sustainable and environmentally-conscious restaurants across the island, featuring Green Common, The Goodburger Food Truck, The Social Space and more.

It's getting pretty common to see buzzwords like "organic", "sustainable" and "environmentally-friendly" being thrown around by restaurants these days, and we love it.

As the global F&B industry moves towards being more friendly towards the Earth, we round up a list of restaurants in Singapore that are wasting less food, serving plant-based food and offering less packaging, among other things.

Green Common

For All Things Plant-Based
The renowned plant-based grocery store and café Green Common recently opened in VivoCity. Launched by Green Monday, the creators of OmniFoods, this one-stop hub for plant-forward food features a massive menu of Asian-inspired and trending dishes such as Gardein 'Crab' Cake ($10), Sichuan Spicy 'Beef' ($13), and Omni Kimchi Fried Rice. Don't forget their yummy desserts like K-Pear Garden ($11) and HK Style French Toast ($13)!

The Goodburger Food Truck
Photo by Burppler Nobelle Liew

 

For Sustainable Burger
Previously located along Marina Bay, Singapore's hottest food truck has parked its wheels outside Coronation Plaza in Bukit Timah to dish up incredible plant-based burgers that taste like the real thing - only they're a lot kinder and better for the planet. Community favourites here include the Double Classic Set ($31) which comes with onion rings and coke and One Night in Bangkok ($20), a burger with an aromatic Thai-inspired kick.

Burppler Nobelle Liew also loves the TiNDLE What The Cluck ($18) 'chicken burger' that's "assembled in this grubby, saucy, elbows-deep-in sinful Southern-style fried "chicken" burger layered with crunchy pickles and a garlicky homemade sauce."

Open Farm Community
Photo by Burppler Giovanni Jacob

For Going Green In Dempsey
One of the first in Singapore to push the farm-to-table concept and local farming, Open Farm Community is a Dempsey Hill haven for locally-sourced ingredients and innovative seasonal dishes. It also limits single-use plastics as well as water, electricity and food waste. This means you can feel good about ordering favourites like Garden Pesto Pasta ($24), Steamed Tiberias Barramundi ($28), and Locally Raised Duck Rillette.

Be sure to take a walk through the garden outside and test your knowledge of herbs, from rosemary to dill and so much more.

Noka
Photo by Burppler Eat.Drink.Travel

For Japanese Farm-To-Table Dining
Launched by the same folks behind Open Farm Community, Noka is Singapore's first rooftop urban farm-to-table restaurant! Look forward to a menu that combines Japanese cooking techniques and sustainable produce to create dishes such as Kampong Chicken Yakitori ($12), Vegetarian Cabbage Roll ($20) and Black Cod Saikyo - Yaki ($38). And of course, with an abundant harvest of mint, butterfly pea flower, mushrooms, and many more outside, you can be sure your vegetables are as fresh as they get.

Flavours by Saute
Photo by Burppler Gerald Chai

 

For Earth-Based Dining
Flavours by Saute is a vegetarian and vegan-fusion concept focusing on green dining and Earth-based cuisine. With a creative menu spanning hotpots, pasta, pizza, burgers, salads and rice dishes, their dishes not only taste good, but is wholesome. Think House-made Nyona Otah Slices ($7.90) and Nanyang Curry Lion Mane Bread Bowls ($9.90). Burppler Tequila Sunrise likes "that the emphasis for most of the dishes is on the vegetables and not on excessive mock meat."

Poison Ivy Bistro
Photo by Burppler Emily S

For Local Farming
Take a trip to the Kranji countryside and look for Poison Ivy Bistro, a cosy and yes, environmentally-friendly cafe associated with organic and GMO-free farm Bollywood Veggies. You'll find locally-grown organic plates like curries, platters and homemade cakes. A must-try here is the Nasi Lemak Platter ($12), chock-full with side dishes like fried chicken wings, omelette, ikan bilis and peanuts, and sambal kang kong - large enough to feed two people.

Salted and Hung
Photo by Burppler Gary Lim

For Minimal Wastage Meats
Salted & Hung has always been popular for its philosophy of minimal wastage, and now, they are presenting an all-new Tasting Menu (7- or 10-course) that creatively uses all parts of their ingredients - from bone to the innards. We're talking Aged Turbot with a turbot tea broth and turbot liver sauce, Kagoshima A4 Wagyu paired with carrots confit in beef fat that's slow-cooked, dried and rehydrated again with beef sauce.

Burppler Justin Teo also likes their Cured Meats, claiming that "Chef Drew also knows his produce well, and that allows him to make the best cured products."

The Social Space
Photo by Burppler Shi Min

 

For An All-In-One Hub
Looking for a cafe, retail space and nail salon all in one? The Social Space in Outram Park serves up wholesome food and drinks from fair trade and eco-friendly producers - they even serve their signature smoothie bowls (try the Pink Flamingo Smoothie Bowl, $12) in cute eco-friendly coconut shells! Burppler Charis Tan also recommends the Avo Egg and Salmon Cream Toasts (from $8).

Once you're done eating, check out their retail space for a wide array of socially- and environmentally-conscious products, including homeware, clothing, and even art. The Social Space has a second outlet in Marina One.