Afterglow at Keong Saik

I have been reading some cool reviews of Afterglow when I was searching for nice vegetarian restaurants during my last vegetarian diet and I finally found time to visit and try their dishes. The concept of their food is simple which is to provide plant based food completely free from gluten, preservatives, refined sugar and artificial flavouring. With healthy eating gaining traction in Singapore, I can see why they are very popular and it is highly recommended to make a reservation to snag a table

Just like the food they offer, the front of house of the restaurant is going for clean simple design. There is no huge signboard or bright lights but a simple glass sticker with their restaurant name on the main glass door. I almost missed the restaurant as I was walking down the long stretch looking for it

With only 2 outdoor tables, the indoor tables are limited as well at 8 tables. The overall restaurant has a very warm and woody tone in terms of décor and gives it a rather homely atmosphere. The servers are extremely friendly and cheerful in explaining the menu to us

With the small layout of the restaurant, they managed to fit in a washroom right at the back of the space. A decent sized drinks counter at the center of the space giving the whole space a hole in the wall restaurant feel

Afterglow’s menu is entirely plant based and is free of eggs, dairy, refined sugar and artificial sweeteners. Every item is also gluten free except for the breads and taco shells and you can always tell the staff if you have any dietary restrictions. The menu is basically modern fusion as there is no one cuisine or food style

First, we had the kimchi avo rolls which has almond sushi ‘rice’ house made kimchi and topped with fresh avocados. Each serving had 6 rolls for a price of SGD 14

At close glance, you can see that the roll has crushed almond used as the rice substitute and is perfect for those on a Keto diet. When I read the menu, I was expecting the almond to be hard and crunchy but surprisingly it was soft and pretty similar to rice in a roll. The kimchi was quite mild and the avocado added an additional layer of creaminess to the roll. It is basically an extremely light starter or snack

Next we had the lentil flaxseed nuggets which also had 6 pieces for the price of SGD 8 and was served with a side of garlic cashew aioli sauce. The nuggets were well fried with a crispy thin crust and the lentils were nicely mashed up and seasoned. There was a nice earthy flavour to the lentils and the garlic sauce gave the nugget a nice nutty taste. While it is far from a meat nugget, this was also a nice start snack

We had another appetizer which is the cheesy cauliflower bites for SGD 10. The serving was surprisingly smaller than the other appetizers but was served with a side salad. Looks wise, the dish was quite enticing with the melted cheese on top of the cauliflower, however, taste wise, I feel that it fell flat. The cheese flavour was too light or maybe there was just not enough of cheese toppings. The cauliflower was quite mediocre as I was expecting it to be more crunchy with stronger flavouring even without the cheese topping. This was the only dish we did not manage to finish

For those wondering why we have so many starters, that is because we ordered the bottled beers which should go well with starters. We usually do not drink but the drinks menu enticed us with the interesting bottled beer options like glass cucumber beer, Apple crumble infused cider and manuka honey beer. The alcohol content of the drinks ranges from 4 to 5% so it was quite manageable for the afternoon as well

Personally, I liked the cucumber beer the best as it was very refreshing and was a mix of cucumber soda water but with a tinge of beer flavour. The apple crumble flavour in the cider was light and really strange for me whereas the manuka honey one was quite sweet and the distinct manuka honey taste kind of clashes with that beer flavour

Last but not least, we order 1 hot main which is the tom yum zoodles made with zucchini noodles with a house made tom yum sauce and mushrooms, capsicums and lime

I like that there is more than enough tom yum sauce to mix the entire bowl of noodles so that every strand of noodles is nicely coated with the sauce. It is my first time trying zucchini noodles and I really liked the crunch and refreshing taste of the noodles which was well complemented with the slightly tangy flavour of the tom yum sauce. Personally, I did not find the dish spicy so it is great for all ages although I would have loved it with a bit more kick

Overall, the atmosphere at Afterglow is warm and friendly with very interesting menu selection for those who are vegan on a keto diet or with other diet restrictions. It is also a nice place for meat lovers like me to get a taste of plant based food cooked in ways enticing the palate. In terms of taste, there are some dishes better than others and some just pretty general but I still think it is worth a visit

Address: 24 Keong Saik Rd., Singapore 089131

Operating hours: 12 pm to 10 pm ( closed on Sun )