FOOD PAIRING
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Fortune Centre Food at 190 Middle Road brings together one of Singapore’s largest vegetarian restaurant clusters, Buddhist supply shops, and a growing cluster of Japanese dining spots. Highlights include New Green Pasture Cafe, Herbivore, Tian Yuan Healthy Vegetarian Food, Craft Beer by Ki-setsu, Soup Curry by Ki-setsu, and Izakaya Hikari, all within a five to seven minute walk of two MRT stations, making it one of the more overlooked Fortune Centre food places in the area.
Fortune Centre doesn’t look like much from the street. It’s a modest, slightly worn building tucked into the Bugis area, the kind of place you’d walk past without a second glance if you didn’t already know what was inside. But step through the doors and the building reveals itself as one of Singapore’s most concentrated food destinations for food lovers, home to a long-standing cluster of plant-based eateries, a scattering of Buddhist supply shops selling incense and prayer items, and, more recently, a growing identity built around Japanese food and drink.
That combination is what makes Fortune Centre food worth talking about, and arguably what makes it one contender for best Fortune Centre food in the Bugis area. Where else in Fortune Centre Singapore can you eat a filling meal of vegetarian mock meat on one floor and sit down to Hokkaido soup curry or grilled dishes and craft beer on another? The building has quietly become a genuine cross-section of local dishes and local comfort food that people in this part of town actually want to eat, without any of the polish (or the price tag) of a shopping mall food hall.
Fortune Centre’s reputation as a vegetarian food destination goes back years, and that cluster of eateries is still very much the heart of the building. On Level 4, New Green Pasture Cafe serves up the kind of hearty, no-frills vegetarian food that’s made it a regular stop for long-time visitors to the building, and a reliable name among health conscious diners looking for something more substantial than a token salad.
Herbivore takes a different angle, applying Japanese-style cooking techniques to a fully plant-based menu, which fits neatly with the building’s broader shift toward Japanese food and drink. Meanwhile, Tian Yuan Healthy Vegetarian Food rounds out the cluster with its own take on living wholesome vegetarian dining, often leaning on organic ingredients and simple rice dishes, brown rice bowls and fresh vegetables rather than heavily processed mock meat.
Together, these three restaurants are a big part of why Fortune Centre has held onto its reputation among vegetarians and vegans looking for variety in their vegetarian meals, not just a single generic meat-free option buried in a food court.
Wander a little further and Fortune Centre food places turn up more than just the headline names. The building’s older food stalls and small cafes lean into the kind of no-frills local cooking that doesn’t often make it onto a review site: a plate of salted egg chicken rice or a simpler egg chicken rice, a bowl of prawn noodle soup or authentic clam noodles, a serving of fried hokkien mee or pork belly rice, and even the occasional bowl of thunder tea rice or thunder tea brown rice, a Hakka dish also known as Hakka leicha rice, if you know which stall to ask.
Some corners do a rich salted egg sauce over crispy pork belly or fried chicken, while others keep things lighter with a bowl of thick mushroom soup, chive pork dumplings or vegetables pork dumpling, glass noodles, or a plate of fried rice and rice noodles. A few stalls have their own take on mega chicken karaage don for anyone craving something heartier, or sambal petai fried rice for a punchier plate, alongside a handmade radish cake omelette or fried beancurd skin for the more traditional crowd. There’s the odd char siew pizza and monkey head mushroom rice tucked into the mix too, proof that the building’s food stalls don’t take themselves too seriously.
For something to drink alongside it, a few counters still pour Chinese wine to go with the heavier plates, while others do fresh fruit juices for something lighter. To finish, there are traditional desserts and traditional Chinese desserts worth hunting down, plus the occasional cafe-style treat like a signature chocolate bowl or a beet root loaf for anyone after something less traditional, and the odd plate of fresh pasta or bowl of cold natto soba for anyone craving something outside the local repertoire, alongside simple garnishes like cherry tomatoes on the side. It’s the sort of variety that rewards actually walking the corridors rather than beelining for one shop, and it’s part of why long-time visitors treat Fortune Centre as a destination in itself, not just a stopover.
The newer, and arguably more surprising, side of Fortune Centre food is what’s happening on Level 4 with the two Ki-setsu brands.
Craft Beer by Ki-setsu, at #04-19, is a craft beer bar and izakaya built around discovery rather than a fixed menu. The bottle and can selection rotates regularly, pulling in independent breweries from Japan, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore, so a repeat visit rarely means drinking the same thing twice. On tap, Suntory The Premium Malt’s Pilsner pours as the house draft, a crisp Japanese lager that works well alongside the izakaya-style Japanese dishes built for sharing over a few rounds, including fried chicken, fried egg and other light bites off the menu, plus a bowl of miso soup for something warmer.
A few doors down at #04-13 sits Soup Curry by Ki-setsu, which holds a genuine distinction: it’s Singapore’s first and only authentic Hokkaido soup curry restaurant. The dish, led by Chef Masa, is a lighter, broth-based curry that’s a world away from the thick, sweet Japanese curry most people already know here, closer in spirit to a curry rice set than a typical chicken katsu curry plate. It runs as a lunch spot from 11:30am to 1:30pm, then shifts into dinner and izakaya mode from 6pm, both Monday to Saturday, serving Japanese small plates and sake once the evening switch happens.
Choose Soup Curry by Ki-setsu if you’re after a proper, filling meal built around one standout dish, and want a taste of traditional Hokkaido soup curry rarely found elsewhere in Singapore. Choose Craft Beer by Ki-setsu if you’re planning a longer session with light bites and a few different beers to work through.
One floor down, at #03-01, Izakaya Hikari adds another layer to the building’s Japanese food and drink identity. Expect kushiyaki (skewered, grilled meat and vegetables), sashimi, and a solid sake selection, the kind of menu built for slow grazing rather than a quick sit-down meal.
Between Izakaya Hikari and the two Ki-setsu brands upstairs, Fortune Centre now has enough Japanese dining density that you could genuinely spend an entire evening moving between floors without running out of things to try.
Fortune Centre sits within easy reach of two MRT stations: Bencoolen (DT21) and Rochor (DT13), both roughly a five to seven minute walk away. That makes it a straightforward stop whether you’re coming from a day out around Bugis or planning it as a deliberate destination.
Because the food is spread across a few different floors and cuisines, one of the best ways to experience food at Fortune Centre is to mix and match. Start with a vegetarian dish on Level 4, cross the hall for a bowl of soup curry, then finish the evening a few doors down with a beer and something off the izakaya menu. Few buildings in Fortune Centre Singapore let you build a meal quite like that under one roof.
What kind of food is Fortune Centre known for?
Fortune Centre is best known for its cluster of plant-based eateries, including New Green Pasture Cafe, Herbivore, and Tian Yuan Healthy Vegetarian Food, alongside a growing group of Japanese food and drink spots on Level 4, such as Craft Beer by Ki-setsu, Soup Curry by Ki-setsu, and Izakaya Hikari on Level 3.
Is Fortune Centre a good option for vegetarians?
Yes. It’s home to one of Singapore’s largest concentrations of vegetarian eateries, with several distinct options rather than a single generic stall, making it a reliable stop for plant-based eating.
What are the opening hours for Soup Curry by Ki-setsu?
Soup Curry by Ki-setsu is open Monday to Saturday, serving lunch from 11:30am to 1:30pm, then transitioning into dinner and izakaya service from 6pm to 9pm.
How do I get to Fortune Centre without a car?
Fortune Centre is a five to seven minute walk from either Bencoolen MRT station (DT21) or Rochor MRT station (DT13), making it easy to reach on foot from either line.
Can I combine vegetarian food and craft beer in one visit to Fortune Centre?
Yes. Because the restaurants are spread across different units on the same building, it’s entirely possible to eat a vegetarian meal on one floor and finish the evening with a beer and izakaya food at Craft Beer by Ki-setsu on Level 4.
Next time you’re planning a night around Bugis, make Craft Beer by Ki-setsu the anchor point. Drop by #04-19, see what’s currently pouring from the rotating selection, and pair it with something off the izakaya menu before deciding whether dessert means a second beer or a walk down the hall for more.
