Verde Kitchen at Hilton Hotel prepares most of their food–they say 98% on their website–from scratch. 50% of their menu uses locally produced and sustainable ingredients from independent organic vegetable farms and free-range, hormone-free poultry farms. They also grow their own vegetables in their vertical garden (found beside Opus Restaurant on the first level) which produces about 40kg of vegetables in about 6 to 7 weeks. In addition, they also serve superfoods like chia seeds, kale (yucks), probiotic smoothies ($13), protein shake smoothies with whey protein ($13), iced bulletproof coffee ($13), and kombucha ($13).

In short, the ingredients that make it into their kitchen do NOT consist of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, hormones, food additives, antibiotics, food colouring, and growth regulators. The ingredients are GMO-free, and the kitchen do not use processed food and cut down on sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

As we know, healthy food can taste horrible–kale? Kill me now–but Verde Kitchen tries its best to make them palatable although they are not always successful. The salmon sashimi and pomelo salad ($27) with yuzu soy dressing and super food grilled halloumi salad ($25) with bulgur grain, and roasted walnut dressing are ok, but not impressive. We did see some other customers eating the salad for their lunch.

Did not like the low-fat creamy broccoli and kale soup ($16)–I mean, nothing in the previous sentence sounds right!–although it comes with a nice emmental-parmesan toast. A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, right?

The mains fare much better. The Malay-style organic lacto chicken ($32) with brown rice is delicious. The chicken, which is in a turmeric curry, is tender and fresh; the organic okra is nicely crunchy. Some thrill-seekers may find it too mild, but I like it that this dish isn’t too spicy, just well balanced.

Our favourite dish, organic basil-crusted Glacier 51 Toothfish ($38), which is just a fancy name for cod fish, is cooked fantastically; tender, with a great contrast of basil crumbs. The local mushroom gives an umami, and there are a few potatoes which soak up the natural thyme jus. Order this.

The free-range pulled pork burger ($28) is mixed with a BBQ sauce wayyyy too sweet that even the piquant cheddar cheese, giving a nicely sharp flavour, could not mitigate the sweetness.

The desserts we tried are all good. The flourless chocolate cake ($14) comprises of alternate layers of cake and cream—excellent and not overly sweet. I prefer a wetter chia seed pudding ($14), but this one comes with caramelised hazelnut, which gives much flavour. The deconstructed chendol ($14) has a great gula melaka ice cream.

The food at Verde Kitchen is not cheap, but we felt refreshed after lunch. I like the clean, fresh bite of the food and this is a place that I’ll drop by once in a while.

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Verde Kitchen
Hilton Level 2, 581 Orchard Road, Singapore 238883
tel: +65 6730 3397
M – Sat 10.30am – 5.30pm (Only dessert & drink service between 2.30pm and 5.30pm)

Food: 6.75/10
Price/value: 6/10
Decor/ambience: 6/10

You may be interested in…
–Superfood Hipsters’ Takeover of Sunday Champagne Brunch at Oscar’s Conrad Centennial
–Afterglow, Keong Saik: Raw Vegan Food
–Brownice, Thomson: How to Make Vegan Ice Cream and Waffles Without Eggs and Dairy
–Common Man Coffee Roasters, Martin Rd

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.