Clean eating is all about well-balanced meals made with fresh, wholesome ingredients, without the use of preservatives or artificial flavours. There are indeed several food options around Singapore that offer delicious, healthy meals but they’re more often pricey compared to food served at our local hawker or food court. But does it necessarily have to be more expensive? Why do they cost more than a plate of Chicken rice or a bowl of fishball noodles?
Before we delve further into that, let’s take a look at what goes into a healthy dish or meal. These are often made in-house, and consist of fresh salad ingredients (which are highly perishable) as well as fresh protein sources. At Lean Bento, they make sure their bento sets are all served fresh, going even to the extent of making sure that each food item in their set tastes great. To me, it’s one of the best value-for-money, healthy meals you can get in town. With generous portion sizes are generous, these are bentos which definitely aren’t “lean”, but will help you to achieve that lean physique by contributing to a balanced diet.
What’s more important is consistency. I have dined there a few times since then, and not once has the food disappointed me.
Over here at Lean Bento, they have an all-day brunch menu as well as a lunch/dinner menu. They also serve beverages, along with light desserts like muffins, waffles and gelatos.
If you are one of those too busy to visit their branch in Holland Drive, or just afraid of the crowd, they do offer a delivery service where you can place your orders online. Their popularity has drawn many office people to get their lunch or dinner fix. Additionally, their meals are certified halal. So my Muslim friends… feel free to drop by as well!
I also prefer visiting their outlet at Holland Drive because it is so nice and cosy right there with the cutest cat mural.
They do not add sugar to their drinks, but if you prefer them a little sweeter, you can help yourself to their plant-based coconut sugar crystals.
They have also calculated the number of calories and amount of carbs, fat, protein and fibre for each bento set as well. It’s helpful for those watching their calorie intake. Knowing the amount of macro-nutrients in each meal will help you make wise decisions as to what you should order. Suppose if you have had a high-calorie meal in the morning, perhaps you would want to go for their sea-salt salmon or vegetarian bentos, which are lower in calories. In addition, they also indicate if the bento is gluten-free, peanut-free or vegetarian-friendly.
Chili Chicken Bento ($11.95)
Their bentos cater more to Asian palates and for some strange reasons, it tastes like home-cook food!
The oven baked whole-cut chicken in homemade chilli marinade tasted a lot like our Asian sambal chicken. It has a good kick to it which would satisfy any chilli lovers. As for the sides, we have multigrain sushi rice, soft scrambled eggs, fresh cherry tomato, truffle-infused edamame, air-flown mesclun salad, topped with homemade honey miso sauce. It blows my mind how perfectly soft and fluffy their scrambled eggs were, given that they have to handle so many orders. The crunchy leafy vegetables were also evenly coated with their miso dressing. Even though they appeared dry, they definitely were not in texture. Of course, how can anyone not love truffle edamame beans? The flavour was intense, and it just pairs so well with the mesclun salad and cherry tomatoes.
Honey Miso Salmon Bento ($13.95)
This one is my personal recommendation. It comprises of sous vide whole-cut salmon in Japanese-style honey miso broth, along with similar sides. What made me fall in love with it is their freshly-cut salmon, which is super thick! Mind you, it’s literally a full slab of salmon sitting on the grains and vegetables, waiting to be pounced on.
Dark Cacao Osaka Protein Waffles
Save some room for desserts here, because their protein waffles and muffins are legit. These delicious bakes go well with the Hokkaido Protein Gelato in vanilla as an add-on. We tried their Dark Cacao Osaka protein waffles, which are made up of wholegrain wheat, oatmeal, buttermilk, plant protein, egg, sea salt and coconut nectar. It’s worth paying a little more to add a scoop of gelato to your waffles! I really think they should start up their very own bakery soon.
Matcha Tea Ninja Protein Muffin
($3.95)
This is no regular muffin. This Matcha Tea muffin is made for active and health-conscious Ninjas. I like that the muffin is moist and it consists of oatmeal, pure matcha, plant protein, egg, sea salt and coconut nectar. The muffin also has red bean filling in it! Pure bliss.
We also tried their matcha latte which is a popular beverage there as we saw many customers ordering it. It isn’t difficult to figure out why, as the Matcha powder they use is of great quality, which makes it rather authentic.
Will I be back there again? I wouldn’t mind making regular visits to Lean Bento just to get my healthy fix. Where else can you get such value-for-money meals that taste so good?
43 Holland Drive
#01-49
Singapore 270043
Hotline
67504504 (Manned 10am – 2pm)
Opening Hours
Weekdays 10 am – 9 pm
Weekends 10 am – 6 pm
Last Order: 30mins before closing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leanbentocom
