Where to Find Healthy Food in Tanjong Pagar
For many who are working around the CBD area, heading to Tanjong Pagar to eat is not at all unusual, whether it’s for a quick lunch during a busy working day or a leisurely meeting over coffee. Those of us who have chosen to follow a personalized nutrition plan, however, will want to stop and think before entering the first restaurant or café that presents itself.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
To help you decide where your next lunch or coffee break will be, here are 15 of the best places to find healthy food in Tanjong Pagar.
1. Cultivate Cafe
Image Source: Cultivate Cafe
Nestled in an old-world library setting at the Maxwell Reserve Hotel, Cultivate Cafe offers a selection of vegan entrees that are also plant-based, GMO-free, and gluten-free. Ingredients such as Sicilian green olives, Turkish figs, avocado, eggplant, and white asparagus feature prominently on the menu alongside plant-based mozzarella and dairy-free ice cream.
In keeping with its focus on the relationship between pure food and health, Cultivate Café also serves juice that is freshly pressed daily as well as farm-to-table coffee and locally brewed kombucha.
2. Tian Ji Porridge
Image Source: Tian Ji Porridge
A fixture at the Maxwell Food Centre since the 1980s, Tian Ji Porridge at Stall No. 13 serves a tried and tested selection of pork, century egg, and fish porridge varieties. Try pairing jellyfish salad and sesame oil chicken with your porridge for a more filling meal.
While the pork and fish porridges are labeled as being "lower in calories", note that sticky white rice can cause a blood sugar spike because of its high glycemic load. This means that the rice in the porridge has a high amount of carbohydrates that can raise a person's blood sugar.
3. Souperstar
Image Source: Souperstar
Among its many locations across Singapore, Souperstar’s Tanjong Pagar store can be found in Guoco Tower. Famous for its take on comfort food, Souperstar serves soups and stews along with a selection of popiah and fresh salad. Meat-free options such as Souper Shroomy and Creamy Tomato Basil are also some of their best-sellers.
The restaurant's emphasis on using fresh ingredients for its soups provides a healthier alternative to eating soup out of a can at home. Canned soup may contain a high amount of salt and added sugar so watch out for these.
4. The Daily Cut
Image Source: The Daily Cut
Another place on Wallich Street to find healthy food in Tanjong Pagar is The Daily Cut, which aims to make it easier for people to eat healthy as well as tasty meals. A seasonal menu features fresh meat, vegetables, and wholesome grains such as brown rice and quinoa.
The spring menu, for instance, invites diners to build their own bowl with ingredients such as black pepper tofu, chili lime shrimp, herb sugar peas, honey soy thigh, and yuzu kosho radishes.
5. Super Simple
Image Source: Super Simple
Serving salads and protein bowls on Anson Street at the International Plaza is Super Simple, which focuses on using no-frills preparation with little or no additives in its food. This allows you to savor as much of the natural flavors of the ingredients as possible. Because cooking methods such as boiling and microwaving can lessen nutritional content, Super Simple's bare-bones preparation also allows you to get more nutrients from the food.
Popular entrees on the Tanjong Pagar menu include customizable boxes as well as steak, chicken, fish, and vegetarian sets.
6. Tian Xiang Ri Ji
For comfort food that comes in a clay pot, go to the Tanjong Pagar Plaza Food Centre and look for Tian Xiang Ri Ji where they serve seafood soups as well as rice and noodle dishes. The fish maw soup is a popular choice for a quick and healthy breakfast or lunch.
Clear, sliced fish soup is a good source of lean protein with a minimal amount of fat. The lettuce, seaweed, and tofu in the soup also add nutrients and fiber.
7. B Salad Kitchen
If you’re going to the Amoy Street Food Centre on Maxwell Road, you can pick up a healthy salad, sandwich, or wrap at B Salad Kitchen. Made with fresh vegetables, the salads are a popular choice for a quick, healthy lunch. You may also customize your salad according to how many toppings you want and whether you’d like protein such as duck meat or a special kind of mushroom.
Toppings include bell pepper, chicken, chickpeas, pumpkin, tempeh, and sweet potatoes, while dressings include honey mustard and Japanese sesame sauce.
8. Han Kee Fish Soup
Remarkable for the constant length of its queues, Han Kee Fish Soup is loved by regulars for the thick slices of Spanish mackerel in its flagship entree. Mackerel is well-known for its nutritional value with its healthy amounts of protein, B-vitamins, vitamin D, iron, and minerals.
This fish is also a great source of omega-3 fats which are good for brain and heart health.
You may have Han Kee’s famous sliced fish soup with noodles or rice porridge. They also serve fish head soup and an assortment of vegetables.
9. The Salad Corner
Image Source: The Salad Corner
Another stop for healthy food in Tanjong Pagar at 7 Maxwell Road is The Salad Corner. By serving a wide selection of freshly prepared salads, it demonstrates how fresh food can be convenient or easily accessible. You may create a mixed-base, spinach-base, or no-base salad of your own, or choose from its signature salads.
The Salad Corner’s Teriyaki Chicken and Soba & Tofu signature salads contain edamame or green “vegetable-type” soybeans. Edamame contains fiber as well as vitamins and minerals, and may even help to lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar.
10. Supergreen
Image Source: Supergreen
Found in the Frasers Tower and International Plaza, Supergreen is committed to using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients for its range of healthy, yet affordable salads. Prepared with busy, on-the-go people in mind, Supergreen focuses on convenience that doesn’t sacrifice flavor or quality. Every salad is made fresh every day to help keep people energized as they work.
Signature offerings include the Oven-Baked Salmon Bowl, Moo Bowl, Muscle Bowl, and the Smokey Duckey Bowl, two vegetarian options, and a wide range of dressings such as raisin & ginger soy and sweet corn & honey mustard.
11. Pho Stop
Image Source: Pho Stop
For a taste of Vietnam on Shenton Way, Pho Stop serves salads, side dishes, noodles in soup, and dry noodles. The rice noodles used here are rich in nutrients such as selenium which helps to strengthen the immune system and improve thyroid health, and manganese which helps to control blood sugar levels.
Pho Stop also serves aromatic Vietnamese jasmine rice with grilled pork, chicken, or fish. Grilling is a healthier alternative to frying which comes with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly if large amounts of oil are used.
12. Fotia
Image Source: Fotia
Greek food is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world, and can be found at Fotia on Duxton Hill. On the menu is a selection of pita bread, salads, skewers, and seafood, along with a range of traditional dishes.
Fresh vegetables, fruits, olive oil, and yogurt are among the reasons for the high nutritional value of Greek food. Fotia also offers several mezze or small plates of food designed for sharing such as grilled padrone peppers, bougiourdi eggplant, spinach pie, and Greek cheeses.
13. The Populus: Coffee & Food Co.
Image Source: The Populus Coffee & Food Co.
If you haven’t decided on anything in particular for lunch, The Populus: Coffee & Food Co. offers healthy food in Tanjong Pagar from around the world. Its all-day brunch menu includes French toast, Tuscan Lamb Harissa Baked Egg, and an avocado platter with dukkah, feta, and mixed grains. Among other options, The Populus also serves donburi bowls, grain bowls, salads, and pasta.
The wide selection of beverages includes a 0.0% ABV alternative to wine which is also gluten-free and certified vegan. An in-house roastery serves seasonal specialty coffees from Brazil and Ethiopia.
14. Tokyo Soba
Image Source: Tokyo Soba
Visitors to Icon Village looking for a healthy lunch or dinner may try a hearty bowl of soba or udon at Tokyo Soba. Regarded as a good alternative to wheat noodles, soba or buckwheat noodles are gluten-free as well as an excellent source of fiber, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Udon has a low glycemic index or low possibility of causing a person’s blood sugar to rise.
The freshly made soba here includes prawn tempura soba and nebaneba soba which contains natto. Made from fermented soybeans, natto is considered a superfood because of its nutritional content and multiple health benefits.
15. The Glasshouse Specialty Coffee & Toast Bar
Image Source: The Glasshouse Specialty Coffee & Toast Bar
A cozy place for coffee or a quiet, introspective meal, The Glasshouse Specialty Coffee & Toast Bar provides a welcoming and comforting atmosphere for enjoying specialty coffee. Crafted entrees served until 5pm include the Glasshouse Granola Bowl, tartrines, sangers, Argentinian scrambled eggs, and the House-Made Hummus Bowl with Toasts.
You may also build your own breakfast from a choice of eggs, protein, spreads, and other options such as smoked stracciatella, wild mushroom, avocado, and halloumi cheese. When eaten in reasonable amounts, halloumi may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and promote bone health.
Making healthy food choices is an essential part of staying fit and strong. Understanding your how certain foods affect your body and staying motivated to make and keep those changes can be a challenge.
Learn more about how NOVI Optimum’s team of dietitians and fitness coaches can help support and motivate you with personalized nutrition and fitness plans, today.