Flora over fauna (Amended)

Saint Pierre

1 Fullerton Road #02-02B, One Fullerton Tel: 6438 0887

SAINT Pierre moved from Sentosa to One Fullerton earlier this year, and as with previous incarnations of his flagship restaurant, vegetarian chef Emmanuel Stroobant insists on meatless tasting menus: there's the six-course Nature menu at S$148 or the S$178 10-course Grand Nature. While items vary based on seasonality, current highlights include coal-grilled Hokkaido corn, served on braised Japanese eggplant with dashi stock. Even humble local vegetables like kang kong and bang kuang (turnip) make cameo appearances, with the latter pickled and served with organic avocado mille feuille, young coconut shavings, quinoa tuile and kombu gel.

Jaan

Level 70, Equinox Complex, Swissotel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road Tel: 6837 3322

CHEF Kirk Westaway was vegetarian till his early teens, in a household where meals comprised fresh, often local vegetables or those plucked from their own gardens. He continues that devotion to great produce with the Jardin Gourmand menu, and considers the Tomato Collection, a signature dish - it's a tomato from the Loire Valley stuffed with its semi-dried Oxheart cousins, with three to four other varieties around it, plated with tomato syrup, foam, and basil sorbet. Other dishes feature seasonal produce such as Pertuis asparagus with morels and champagne sabayon. Priced at S$118 for a five-course lunch and S$168 and S$198 for a five and seven-course dinner respectively.

Tippling Club

38 Tanjong Pagar Road Tel: 6475 2217

CHEF Ryan Clift is crazy about vegetables from Gunma, Japan, and he works with small, local farmers there. That's not just because the Japanese fruit tomatoes come in wooden boxes, individually wrapped and adorned with little bows - these are intensely flavoured because they are grown near estuaries where the salinity is high, which makes them even sweeter. Apart from the tomatoes, look out for the False Risotto, with finely-chopped potatoes and artichokes replacing grains, topped with confit egg yolk and olive oil caviar; the Parsley Root - a spin on French leek and potato soup - makes a good starter too. Prices at S$150 for a six-course classic menu, or S$245 for the gourmand 12-course (it's actually over 20 separate dishes, snacks included). Gluten and lactose can be removed on request.

The Kitchen at Bacchanalia

39 Hong Kong Street Tel: 9179 4552

CHEF Ivan Brehm has a love affair with carrots, and the depths of his obsession play out on the "Carrot" dish, which serves up the root done different ways: fermented, pureed, dehydrated, sous-vide, in a sponge, in a jam, and plated with hummus, dukka and fresh cream cheese. While he doesn't offer a dedicated vegetarian menu, signature dishes such as "Cauliflower" - an aligot of white truffle and cheese with herb gremolata - or the coconut risotto with aged carnaroli rice and fermented coconut, will please diners who prefer to go light on the protein. Prices are S$48 for a three-course lunch, or S$75 to S$165 for a five and seven-course meal respectively.

Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant

80 Raffles Place #60-01 UOB Plaza 1 Tel: 6535 6006

WHILE many chefs here are looking to Europe and Australia for inspiration, Si Chuan Dou Hua is keen on bringing Taiwanese vegetarian haute cuisine to Singapore. Forget the street food of Shilin Night Market - Si Chuan Dou Hua's recent collaboration with chef Sean Xue of Yangming Spring Green Kitchen showcases Chinese ingredients like the abalone mushroom with Chinese yam (S$20), or double-boiled bird's nest (S$58), which is heated to serve in a pear vessel.

Joie

181 Orchard Road #12-01, Orchard Central Tel: 6838 6966

IT'S a huge risk running an all-vegetarian fine dining restaurant, but owner Huang Yen Kun believes the right price points, inventive dishes and stylish plating will convince foodies that a meatless night out should be part of their dining calendar. That's why his highly ornamental offerings are priced at only S$38.80 for six-course lunch, and S$68.80 for a seven-course meal. Expect some Asian influences and modern cooking techniques. Dishes like the grilled monkey head mushroom on pu-ye and hot stone are subtly marinated with a blend of Chinese and European herbs, while the star of their vegetable "sashimi" platter is the quail egg shooter, flavoured with sake.

Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt (OCF)

The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane #02-02 Tel: 6333 9312

WHILE OCF has stopped offering a vegetarian menu, many of executive chef Jonathan Koh's vegetable-centric creations are still available. La Tomate features tomatoes done seven ways, while L'Asperge Verte showcases asparagus from Domaine Saint Vincent, which is blanched quickly and topped with a crispy quail egg and caviar, and watercress coulis. Meaty mains are amped up with burnt vegetables - his current obsession - in dishes like La Sériole Japonaise, which uses the smokiness of burnt aubergine emulsion and roasted lemon puree to cut through the fattiness of Japanese Kampachi fish. Prices at S$38 to S$68 for lunch, S$88 to S$158 for dinner.

READ MORE: Meatless mains

Amendment note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that prices at The Kitchen at Bacchanalia are S$75 for a three-course lunch, or S$125 to S$165 for a five and seven-course meal respectively. Prices are actually S$48 for a three-course lunch, with dinner starting from S$75 to S$165 for three to seven courses. The article above has been revised to reflect this.