- Vegan and gluten-free private dining restaurant
- Nut-free, soy-free, raw vegan, low FODMAP, allium-free, Jain options by request
If you’re on the hunt for sustainable, plant-based dining, look no further than WakaMama. Since opening its doors in 2020, this restaurant has been dedicated to serving 100% vegan and gluten-free Japanese fusion dishes, offering a fresh take on healthy, sustainable eating.
Helmed by the talented Chef Joyce, Wakamama is known for its creative and flavourful approach to plant-based cuisine. At the heart of their menu are delicious, fermented whole plant-based meals that not only taste great but also come with a range of health benefits. From promoting better digestion to boosting immunity and enhancing nutrient absorption, every bite is crafted with your wellness in mind.
There are 3 menus available with different price points. The Gastronomic Vemakase with 23+ items is priced at SGD208 per pax, The Signature Vemakase with 16+ items at SGD168 per pax, and the Healthy Set Lunch with 4 courses at SGD88 per pax.
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I decided to try the Healthy Set Lunch, and this is the menu:
They also have a pretty good drinks selection of both alcoholic and non-alcholic drinks. Everything looked so good, I wanted to try so many things!
With the recommendation of Chef Joyce, we decided with 1 hot drink and 1 cold drink.
The Rainbow Moonmilk Latte was exquisite 😍 The taste is similar to a chai latte but slightly more mellow and delicate. It is made with Chef Joyce’s special blend of spices and tea leaves, and topped with turmeric, elderberry powder, rose petals, chamomile flowers and lavender buds. The flowers added beautiful floral notes to this latte.
The Frozen Fruity Kombucha Margarita was excellent as well. It has fresh mango, pineapple, strawberry and mint leaves blended in with their house-made kombucha, and had a very refreshing, bubbly, sweet and mildly tangy taste to it 🤩
Right: Salt with dried sakura flowers
The first course of the set lunch started off with Artisan Tsukemono of 4 different vegetables – cucumber, beetroot, lotus root and cabbage.
“Tsukemono” refers to a Japanese side dish of pickled vegetables. For this course, Chef Joyce recommends to enjoy it with some Schichimi spice. Schichimi spice is a traditional Japanese spice blend which means “seven-flavor chili pepper”, and is commonly used as a table seasoning. Wakamama’s house blend is made of chilli, sze chuan pepper, white pepper, seaweed, sesame seeds, nuts and ginger.
The pickled veggies already taste good on its own, but if you’re a togarashi lover, then go ahead with more generous sprinkles of the Schichimi spice 😊 My favourite of the 4 pickles would be the lotus root, as it was citrusy and zesty and tasted like it had been marinated in yuzu.
The second and third course of the meal are served together on a wooden tray. The second course consists of 4 seasonal traditional side dishes.
The Enoki Bacon was very flavourful, and tastes almost like eating the real thing! It had a delicious charred and smokey flavour that was really addictive. The Tamago and Vegan Caviar made from pumpkin and tofu was pretty good as well, with a subtle sweet and savoury profile that went well with the vegan mayo and seaweed pearls on top.
The Edamame and Vegan Caviar and Marinated Watercress and Bracken were both on the lighter side compared to the more robust flavours of the other 2 dishes. Both were light and refreshing and provided a good contrast of flavours to the meal.
Right: Amaranth African chili
To go with your food, there is a side dish of Chinese pesto dip and Amaranth African chili for added extra flavour! I really enjoyed both of them. Taste-wise, the Chinese pesto dip is similar to the preserved olive dip that you can get in jar from supermarkets, commonly eaten with porridge. This one is of course much healthier and without all the MSG and preservatives. The umami flavour in this is next level and I can see this satisfying all the salty-food lovers 💕
The Amaranth African chili reminds me a little of sweet chili sauce, with a mildly sweet and savoury profile which is not too spicy. Made up of amaranth seeds, onions, capsicum, tomato, koji and soy, I think the onions and koji provided an umami lift that is really tantalizing.
Instead of the usual miso soup commonly served in Japanese cuisine, we have Buckwheat soup on the menu. The taste of this was pretty earthy, and I don’t taste any nutty notes that are commonly noted in buckwheat. I must admit I wasn’t quite a fan of this 😅
The main course of this meal is Kake Soba and Mosaic Char Siew. The Mosaic Char Siew was so pretty and interesting! It is made of different vegetables like okra, mushroom and baby corn wrapped in seaweed and beancurd skin. The taste is of this is more subtle, and tastes good alone if you want to appreciate the flavours of the vegetables alone. My preference is eating this with the dipping sauces provided, so good!
The Kake Soba comprised of 100% buckwheat noodles in a yuzu dashi broth. It has shiso leaves, mushroom, and cabbage in the broth. I did not taste any citrus notes in this soup, despite being a yuzu broth. I would describe it as a light, refreshing and mildly sweet broth, which was still pretty tasty nonetheless.
Dessert was Amazake and Pink Ferrero Rocher. Amazake refers to a traditional Japanese fermented sweet rice drink. It can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic, and the one here is a non-alcoholic version. Chef Joyce uses 4 different types of rice, namely red, brown, white and black, to create this unique Amazake that is sugar-free, harnessing the natural sweetness of fermented rice. Taste-wise, this was delicious, almost creamy but without any use of any milk. The sweetness was also just right.
The Pink Ferrero Rocher is a show-stopper 💖 and a great way to end the meal. It comprises of a yuzu-flavoured white chocolate shell with toasted sesame seeds and rice crispies, a chocolate pistachio truffle centre and a roasted hazelnut. All the flavours surprisingly melded so well together. The brightness of the yuzu with the nuttiness and crunch from the sesame seeds and rice crispies, together with the rich, decadent and chocolatey centre that was nutty and creamy. Perfection ✨
This was so good, I had to purchase some home as I most definitely would be thinking about it for some time 😆
Overall, my dining experience at Wakamama was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed all the food that was made with so much creativity, and best of all, gluten-free, vegan, kind, sustainable and healthy!!
Wakamama
Address: 218 Pasir Panjang Rd, #02-15 ICON @ Pasir Panjang, Singapore 118579 – Map
Website: Wakamama.com
Reservations: https://www.wakamama.com/reservation
