Healthy CBD lunch spots in Singapore for wholesome food & clean eating
So delicious, you’ll want to eat clean for breakfast and dinner, too. A healthy diet for your wellbeing
Text: Joel T
Credit: Shake Farm
Grabbing a healthy lunch can sometimes be tricky. Whether you’re WFH or in an office in the CBD area, it can be all too easy to head to the nearest hawker to eat and go. But if your new year goals and intentions include more clean eating, and you want that to include a healthier lunch, there are options available. Whether you’re looking for a low carb salad or a nutritious grain bowl, we’ve compiled a list of top outlets for clean eating in the CBD in Singapore.
1. Shake Farm
Shake Farm’s recreation of the farm experience with green outdoor grass carpet and wooden benches is as welcoming as their shakes, juices, and nutritious food such as acai bowls, toasts, pitas, and salads. Their menu exemplifies a healthy lunch as it caters to CBD diners on clean eating, low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, vegan, keto, or paleo diets. You can also swap regular protein powder for plant protein, and multi-grain toast for gluten-free toast for those who are gluten intolerant.
Address: Shake Farm HQ, 126 Telok Ayer Street; Shake Farm Express, 50 Robinson Road. Full details on Shake Farm
2. SaladStop!
Founded in 2009 with by father-and-son duo, Daniel and Adrien Desbaillets, SaladStop! aims to deliver a new approach toward salads and fast food. Diners looking to eat clean can tuck into wholesome proteins such as chicken marinated in olive oil, Cajun paste and spices, and sustainable smoked salmon in their salad bowls. SaladStop! also offers options for vegetarians with their signature bowls of Habibi, The Earth Bowl, and Iron “Wo” Man.
Address: One George Street, 1 George Street, #01-01; Republic Plaza, 9 Raffles Place, #B1-21; Marina Bay Financial Centre, 8A Marina Boulevard #B2-77 / #B2-78. Full details and list of store locations on SaladStop!
Credit: Salmon Samurai
3. Salmon Samurai
An affordable yet nutritious lunch option in Singapore’s CBD, Salmon Samurai serves up various preparation methods — have your lunch raw, cooked, glazed with seasoning — your salmon cravings are met while ensuring you get a healthy diet of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and vitamins. Salmon Samurai also offers gluten-free ingredients for their donburi bowls; salmon sashimi works as the protein and base choices include yuzu ume rice, mixed greens salad, and shirataki noodles.
Address: 100AM, 100 Tras St #01-11; Ocean Financial Centre, 10 Collyer Quay #B1-08. Full details on Salmon Samurai
4. Supergreek
Supergreek touts itself as Singapore’s only restaurant to offer handmade fresh Greek yoghurt. The rich yet refreshing yoghurt is made daily through a 30-hour long process and is used as the base or supplementary ingredient in many of the dishes — think grain bowls, pita wraps, and salads. All of Supergreek’s meals are under 600 calories and there are various clean eating, vegan, keto and low-carb friendly choices available.
Address: Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road, #B1-54; Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #04-22. Full details on Supergreek
5. Cedele
While there are many boutique restaurants around the CBD, you can always head to Cedele for a reliable wholesome bowl of soup or salad. Considered as one of the pioneers of a healthy dining, Cedele was established in 1997 but has expanded to over 30 stores around Singapore. The menu consists of foods such as organic bread, home baked pastries and cakes (free from artificial and processed ingredients), nutritious salads and mains.
Address: Robinson Road, 71 Robinson Road #01-01; 1 Raffles Quay North Tower #B2-02/03; 12 Marina Boulevard #01-07, Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3. Full details and list of store locations on Cedele
Credit: Afterglow By Anglow
6. Afterglow
Take a break from Keong Saik’s bars and visit Afterglow, a cosy farm-to-table vegan restaurant. Championing the raw food movement since its inception in 2013, Afterglow’s wholesome menu is plant-based, gluten-free, organic, and free from preservatives, refined sugar and artificial flavouring. Their take on clean eating dishes are inspiring and their recipes, customisable to the guests dietary preferences, make for excellent healthy lunch choices in the CBD.
Address: 24 Keong Saik Road. Full details on Afterglow
7. HAAKON
HAAKON Superfoods and Juice is a Scandinavian-inspired café offering superfoods loaded in various grains, salads, and healthy meat-free choices. Intentionally designed to be inclusive for all diets, HAAKON also serves a comprehensive selection of clean eating, vegan, gluten-free and paleo friendly dishes. A highlight of their menu is their homemade juices.
Address: One Raffles Place, 1 Raffles Place, #01-11/12. Full details and list of store locations on Haakon
8. Wheat BaumKuchen
What started out as a stall in Toa Payoh, Wheat BaumKuchen is now located in Suntec City Mall serving their healthy Japanese-inspired meals. The restaurant offers value-for-money dishes that are perfect for lunch in the CBD. We love their pairing of green soba (or shirataki and Bhutan red rice if you prefer) with their teriyaki glazed chicken. This homegrown brand also offers plenty of protein and low-carb options catering to a healthy diet.
Address: Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard, #02-458. Full details on Wheat BaumKuchen
9. Grain Traders
A wildly popular lunch spot in CBD, Grain Traders is packed thanks to the taste of their ingredients. The proteins and greens are cooked slowly using techniques such as sous-vide, baking, grilling and fermenting, to ensure that flavours are retained while maximising nutritional value. The grain bowls can be customised or you can select from their ready-to-eat bowls.
Address: 138 Market Street, CapitaGreen, Ground Floor. Full details on Grain Traders
10. Privé
Privé takes their healthy food very seriously, which is evident from their growing plant-based menu. Savour their plant-based truffled mushroom swiss burger by opting for either the famous ImpossibleTM patty or the smoky and flavourful Papa’s Plant Protein. Privé also provides a variety of clean eating vegan choicesincluding salads, pasta, and pizzas.
Address: Privé Tiong Bahru, 57 Eng Hoon Street, #01-88; Privé Keppel Bay, 2 Keppel Bay Vista. Full details and list of store locations on Privé
Credit: Common Man Stan
11. Common Man Stan
A cosy and rustic café for a lunch hour, Common Man Stan’s extensive menu offers nutritious all-day breakfasts such as signature fluffy pancakes, egg dishes, vegetarian and gluten-free options. Their binge-worthy grain bowl and avocado mushroom toast can even be made vegan upon request. With such a variety of healthy food available, complemented with their sustainability sourced specialty coffee, it’s little wonder that Common Man Stan is busy no matter what the time of day
Address: 11-12 Stanley Street. Full details on Common Man Stan
12. Plain Vanilla
Combining visually aesthetic décor and delicious food, Plain Vanilla is a hugely popular lunch spot in CBD. They take pride in the ingredients used — expect the best such as fresh French butter, pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, Valrhona cocoa paste and Belgian chocolate. The drinks are sweetened with natural ingredients like raw honey or agave nectar and their cakes, pastries, granola, jams, spreads, are made in-house, with no artificial preservatives used in any of their dishes. Plant-based eaters and gluten intolerant diners will love their vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.
Address: Tiong Bahru, 1D Yong Siak Street; Telok Ayer, 134 Telok Ayer Street. Full details and list of store locations on Plain Vanilla
13. The Daily Cut
The Daily Cut is a protein-focused salad bar located in CBD offering fuss free and customisable meals. The restaurant features a seasonal menu, and from our experience, you never get a dud deal when you order here. Although the bowls are chockful of healthy proteins such as roasted chicken and salmon fillet, The Daily Cut offers nourishing bases and supplements including quinoa, lettuce, and brussels sprouts to optimise your clean eating diet.
Address: 1 Raffles Place, #B1-31 One Raffles Place; 7 Wallich Street #B2-16 Guoco Tower. Full details on The Daily Cut
