Update: Guan Yin Vegetarian has permanently closed.
I am just a casual vegetarian who goes meatless on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month or when a major Buddhist event come up (e.g who's who birthday/enlightenment day, etc).
Guan Yin Vegetarian at Beauty World Food Centre basically offers two menu - the noodle soup menu (mee hoon kueh soup, dumpling noodle soup) and the rice & noodle aka tze char menu (hor fun, mui fun, ee-mian). All the dishes here are reasonably priced at just $4 and $5.
I was there during lunch time with a sizeable crowd. I initially wanted to try the mee hoon kueh but was told that there is a 30 minutes wait. However, the wait would be shorter if I order from the tze char menu instead.
As there is only one chef working within the confines of that limited stall space, it is understandably more efficient to focus on one menu instead of alternating between the two during peak hours.
As I was not feeling too hungry, I ordered the small portion ($4) mui fun. When the auntie brought out my order from the back, I was taken aback by its portion which is probably enough to feed two pax!
"I cannot finish this lah!", I exclaimed loudly inside my head.
My vegetarian mui fan is a dish of mixed vegetables with rice in gravy. I randomly found vegetables such as cabbage, chye sim, broccoli and slivers of carrot. I also see soybean by-products like tau kwa, zai er (mock goose) and some spongy tofu thingy. (I do not know what it is but I like the mouthfeel!)
Interestingly, hidden underneath the zai er are some slices of mock char siew. Unlike the typical ones found in your vegetarian bee hoon that are dry with glow-in-the-dark red coloring (joking!), the ones here are smothered in a sweet tasting sauce.
The mui fan is light on flavors while the gravy not too heavily starchy.
True enough, I was feeling stuffed when I got through to 2/3 of this meal but I finished the remainder anyway.
The fiber from all that vegetables kept me satiated till past dinner time. It is rare that I skip dinner yet go to bed without having maggi for supper.
For just $4, Guan Yin Vegetarian kept me full for two meals with its massive food portions. This is truly value for money!
While in the queue to place my order, I noticed quite a number of people ordering their claypot ee-mian. I guess it is probably one of their better selling dishes.
After finishing my meal 30 minutes later, I make my way back to the stall and I saw people walking away with bowls of mee hoon kueh in their hands which look fantastic, by the way.
Edit: I returned a few days later before lunch hour and I managed to lay my hands on a bowl of mee hoon kueh.
Just take a look at it. Full to the brim with plenty of ingredients and all these for only $4!
144 Upper Bukit Timah Road
#04-41
Singapore 588177
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/vV1D6Rm7vgMLBMFG9
