You know right... hunting and sharing good food have its hazards. Not least among them is overloading on grease, salt, sugar and don't know what chemicals. At the moment, there are very few healthier options in JB that are also tasty, filling and affordable. So, I am grateful to buddy KK of Magistrate magazine for introducing us to Friends & Fig restaurant in Southkey (an emerging shopping and dining hub in JB).
Friends & Fig has bare bones, minimalist decor. But, it is a clean and comfortable place which is quite cool actually.
Friends & Fig is the brainchild of friends Mint and Christine (right). A third partner (not in the picture) is a nutritionist. The ladies are firm believers of the principle "You are what you eat". I subscribe to this too and know very well that 病从口入 i.e. illness enters through our mouths. So, I am glad that Mint and Christine put their beliefs in action at Friends & Fig.
Friends & Fig serves plant based natural food, smoothies and cold press juices to help customers attain healthier mind, body and soul. All dressings, sauces, soups etc are made from scratch in the restaurant using only natural ingredients. All food served are free of MSG, refined sugar, modified starch, emulsifiers, stabilisers, preservatives, flavour enhancers and other bad stuff so often used in average eateries these days.
Friends & Fig dishes come in Super Bowl sets in the menu and "design your own" bowls. There are also daily special set bowls. Today's special is their top seller "Nasi Unlemak". What's that 什么来的? 🙄
Mint and Christine let us try the Super Bowl sets, daily special and design you own bowls.
Nasi Unlemak should be called Un-Nasi Lemak as there is neither white rice nor coconut milk and tasted nothing like the dish it is named after. But, whatever it is, it was our unanimous favourite dish of the evening as it was full of interesting textures and flavours.
In the Nasi Unlemak bowl there were (blue) butterfly pea brown rice with extra virgin coconut oil, sambal monkey head mushroom, potato, buckwheat tempeh, bitter gourd sambal, sunshine egg, and lotus root chips. I especially love the mildly sweet spicy taste and spongy feel of the sambal monkey head mushroom.
Friends & Fig's Hakka Lei Cha (another daily special bowl) is not so different from the original dish but I would say it even tasted a bit better. The rice bowl is made with quinoa brown rice, shimeiji chai poh, tofu, French beans, raw carrot, raw purple cabbage and sunflower seeds. The thick traditional cha (green tea) is made with peanut free basil soup - it was full of aromatic herb flavours. I like Friends and Fig's lei cha a lot.
Japanese Bowl (price RM17.90). Soba noodles eaten with kimchi, roast pumpkin, kyuri (Japanese cucumber), tofu, cherry tomato, furikake seasoning, edamame etc.
The Japanese bowl is dressed with balsamic roasted sesame sauce.
Anti-Cancer Bowl (price RM23.60). Mixed greens, cauliflower rice, purple cabbage, garlic chips, onion pickle, turmeric and spice cauliflower, carrot, kyuri, broccoli, furikake, sweet potato, nut dressing (peanut free).
Taste wise not really my cup of tea but it is comforting to hear that it's supposed to help keep cancer away.
A "design your own" bowl with zucchini cut into crunchy long strips like noodles, avocado, corn, cherry tomato, broccoli, and leafy greens. Customers can pick and choose their own choice of ingredients available at the restaurant.
Another "design your own" bowl, this time with lotus chips, falafel, egg, zucchini, sweet potato, orange, mixed green base, and buckwheat tempeh etc
Eaten with signature nuts but not nuts dressing (peanut free).
There were two soups of the day during our visit. This was the cauliflower soup.
The pumpkin soup.
Cold pressed juices and smoothies formulated for detox and cleansing.
Information for you 👉 Pardon the un-pretty mess but yeah... we finished everything. It tastes good, feels satisfying and felt good for our body and wallet too as prices are reasonable for what we are getting.
Disclosure: Please note that this was an invited tasting
Friends and Fig is on level 2 of Block F of Southkey. Take a lift to go up.
Restaurant name: Friends & Fig
Address: No 02-15, Block F, Komersil Southkey Mozek, Persiaran Southkey 1, Kota Southkey, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°29'48.0"N 103°46'33.0"E 🌐 1.496661, 103.775826
Tel: +60 19-718 0072
Hours: 10:00am - 8:00pm
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert (no meat)
Date visited: 24 Jan 2019
I've haven't had a poke bowl before! These look yummy, especially the cauliflower rice and fried lotus root chips! Thanks Tony.
ReplyDelete