The best Indian vegetarian restaurants in Singapore

Amid the bustling rows of shops and restaurants in Little India sits Podi & Poriyal, a must-visit South Indian restaurant. Serving up vegetarian cuisine with vegan options, this highly recommended restaurant is worth multiple visits as it offers a weekly changing menu. The chef prides herself in wholesome, home style cooking taking inspiration from recipes from her childhood. The restaurant also offers a cocktail bar with a kick – drinks with Indian flavours such as curry leaf infused gin and cumin infused rum. Check their website for music events and game nights too. And a good thing to note, once you’re satiated, know that profits from the restaurant go to charities that help migrant workers in Singapore and support female children in India.

Situated in Cuff Road in Little India, Greenleaf Café is a humble casual dining South Indian vegetarian restaurant. From dosas made of pearl millet to pooris made of wheat, this self-described herbal restaurant serves up dishes that contain plenty of herbs and spices to whet your pallet and, more importantly, focus on customers’ health and well-being through a vegetarian diet. Greenleaf Café believes that vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature so much so that it can change the destiny of humankind. Powerful intentions, we think. The restaurant also offers home delivery.

If your diet consists of being 100 percent plant-based and not eating onion or garlic, then this is the restaurant for you. Gokul Raas on Upper Dickson Road has an extensive menu of North and South Indian vegetarian dishes as well as Asian-fusion vegetarian options like kai lan and bee hoon goreng for some variety. The re-creation of meaty Indian cuisine is pretty close to taste for those who want to accompany their vegetarian friends but still want meat. It is a large, casual dining venue with good service.

For what it’s worth, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife frequent this vegetarian eatery – we were told they were there just days before we visited. Madras New Woodlands serves predominantly South Indian dishes that are lighter than your average greasy piece of prata. Try pongal, a sticky mix of rice and lentils cooked in milk and served with three sauces. You’re supposed to mix them all together and eat it in one go. The paper thosai is also popular – light and crispy, it retains its crunch even after being drenched in curry. 

This Little India stalwart needs no introduction. The basic-but-effective Komala Villas, which has been open since 1947 and has branches on Race Course, Buffalo and Serangoon Roads. The food comes in hearty sets on metal trays, with a menu that includes favourites like dosai (from $2.80), paratha (from $4.80) and idli (from $4.80) served with sambar stews and chutney. Biryani lovers, wet your appetite for the vegetable biryani set ($10), which comes with chapati, papadum, saffron rice, veggie curry, daal, raita and a whole range of pickles and sauces. 

The history of one of the city’s oldest restaurants stretches back to 1924, when a Brahmin family opened up a joint along Selegie Road serving traditional Indian vegetarian dishes. That original branch is still dishing out all manner of flatbread and curries, but now it has four sister outlets. On the food front, the prata ($4.50 for two) is a safe bet, but our pick goes to the onion rava masala thosai ($5): potato curry wrapped in a crispy shell of the fermented pancake that’s studded with onions. 

It's not an Indian restaurant per se, but Tea Villa Cafe still dishes out a mean plate of vegetarian Indian food alongside a variety of cuisine that ranges from Italian to Mexican, and even Lebanese. It also has vegan and gluten-free options too. From its Indian menu, you can order up aloo, gobi and panner paratha served with pickle and yogurt ($8), dal khichdi served with pickle ($8), or the Indian-Mexican fusion, paneer bhurji quesadilla (12). Top it all off by pairing it with a spiced Indian milk tea.

Among Singapore’s more unique dining experiences, Annalakshmi is a buffet of all you can eat, for whatever you wish to pay. Its Havelock Road outlet serves a spread of home-style cuisine and is completely volunteer-run. Stuff yourself with servings of briyani, poori, appam, vegetable stew, potato palya (dry, spiced potatoes) and cauliflower curry among a slew of other north and south Indian home-cooked dishes. At dinner time, you can even order off a menu.

At Kailash Parbat Restaurant, its interiors are as busy and chaotic as its menus. But don't be overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices, here's how to narrow it down. Among its signature dishes, the chole bhatura ($11) is a hands-down favourite while the restaurant's chickpea curry served with puri is spicy yet sinfully good. Other favourites include the Punjabi Samosa ($7) which is stuffed with potatoes, chickpeas, chopped onions and coriander. 

The brightly lit shop at the corner of Verdun Road is often packed with regulars tucking into crispy dosai and fluffy uttapam. When it comes to South Indian vegetarian fare, Arya Bhavan is one of the most authentic spots in town. Crowd favourites include the ghee rava masala dosai, chilli parotta, podi idli, mushroom 65 – to name a few. The place is also popular for its rice thali sets which are available for lunch. Don't skip the hot beverages, the milky masala tea and coffee with jaggery sugar will make your dining experience complete.