Sales manager Alice Tan, 56, is not a vegetarian, but she eats lunch and dinner at Create Healthy Lifestyle, an organic vegetarian eatery in Fortune Centre along Middle Road, five days a week. And she has done so for the last six years.

Diners like her are fuelling a small explosion in the number of vegetarian eateries here.

These new eateries are giving vegetarians more dining choices but the food they serve is also enticing non-vegetarians.

In the last two years, no fewer than five have opened.

Instead of the usual greasy fried noodles and mock meats made from gluten, the offerings in these vegetarian cafes and restaurants include vegan chocolate and banana cake, vegetarian Penang laksa, durian-flavoured tofu cake and brown-rice fruit sushi.

Operators say they saw a gap in the market for decent, wholesome and healthy vegetarian meals.

Ms Vinitha Ang, 46, co-owner of NutriHub The Organic Fusion Cafe, which opened at Cuppage Plaza last month, says she started taking an interest in organic vegetarian food after her parents died from cancer.

Her father died from the disease eight years ago and her mother, four years later.

A nurse by training, she believes organic vegetarian food can improve health and prevent diseases.

She says: “We decided to open NutriHub because there was a gap in the market for organic vegetarian food and we also wanted to promote a healthier lifestyle.”

Mrs Tan, who eats meat on weekends, says she heads to Fortune Centre daily because she prefers healthier dishes such as the cafe’s brown-rice meals and lei cha fan (thunder tea rice) over the usual hawker fare.

She says: “I feel that it’s good to eat this type of food because when you consume too much meat, it creates more toxins in your body. But it’s more about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and we still need a balanced diet.”

Other diners interviewed say they like that many vegetarian eateries do not use MSG or add excessive oil and salt to the food.

Ms Esther Yong, 50, owner of Create Healthy Lifestyle, says she cuts down on salt and bans MSG in her cooking.

She also uses healthier oils such as olive and grapeseed oils. The same is true for Ms Barbara Chin, 38, chef-owner of Living Greens in Beach Road, who does not use MSG and reduces the sugar content in her vegan-friendly, eggless and flourless desserts.

This is not to say that the food is bland.

One of the newest eateries is Cafe Salivation in Syed Alwi Road, which opened two weeks ago. It serves kidney bean burgers, soya potato croquettes and vegetarian Mexican wraps.

Owner Karen Raja, 52, who also runs the Indian vegetarian restaurants Raj in Syed Alwi Road and Biopolis, says: “People have the perception that vegetarian food is very bland and we want to change that.”

Other flavourful offerings include the Peranakan sambal buah keluak and tofu cake at 7 Sensations in Madras Road, and vegetarian Penang laksa at New Green Pasture Cafe in Fortune Centre.

Vegetarians and non-vegetarians are more than happy with the range of vegetarian restaurant and eatery choices.

Briton Simon Fenley, 48, director of Essential Living, which sells natural and organic healthfoods and products wholesale, has been a vegetarian for 27 years.

He says: “The number of vegetarian eateries has increased by more than 100 per cent since I moved here in 1991. Now, there is also more awareness in restaurants for vegetarian diners, with a greater variety and selection of vegetarian food.”

Lawyer Jeremy Poh, 25, who enjoys eating at vegetarian eateries, says: “Vegetarian meals are often a welcome and healthy change to the usual calorie-laden diets we are accustomed to.”

Who eats what

There are vegetarians and there are vegetarians. Here’s a guide on the various types:

Vegetarian: Overall term for people who live on a diet of grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables, with or without eggs and dairy products. Does not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish or shellfish.

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: The most common type of vegetarian, who eats both eggs and dairy products.

Vegan: Does not eat dairy products, eggs or any other animal product.

Ovo-vegetarian: Eats eggs.

Lacto-vegetarian: Eats dairy products.

Pesco-vegetarian: Eats fish and non-mammalian seafood but does not eat any other meats.

Pollo-vegetarian: Eats poultry but does not eat red meats such as beef and lamb.

Flextarian: Eats mainly vegetarian food but will eat animal meats occasionally for cultural, social and nutritional reasons.

» Read the related article, "Go vegetarian!" here.

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on July 27, 2008.