Singaporean and Malaysian cuisine often leaves an impression of being rich in flavour with limited healthy options. However, Life Cafe, a three-star ESR, has managed to change this common perception. Through conducting meticulous observation and accumulating experiences, Vincent Lam, the founder of Life Cafe, has enabled the restaurant to create Singaporean and Malaysian dishes that are both healthy and tasty for its customers.

Vincent remarked, “Life Cafe specialises in Singaporean and Malaysian cuisine. Initially, we wished to present our customers with an authentic taste from Singapore and Malaysia. Therefore, the dishes were much tangier and spicier. However, we had received the same suggestion regarding less seasoning from numerous customers when we first started our business. We hence began modifying our cooking methods to suit their taste.” In recent years, Vincent has noticed that Hong Kong people had become more health conscious and had pursued healthier diets with less oil, less salt, less sugar and more dietary fibre. In view of this, Life Cafe has made adjustments in the selection of ingredients accordingly.

Incorporating Fruit and Vegetables to Enhance the Flavour

Vincent has dedicated much effort in choosing and obtaining various kinds of quality ingredients. Taking the “3 Less” dish “Pineapple Fried Rice with Seafood Served in Pineapple Bowl” as an example, as fresh pineapple juice is sweet and aromatic, Vincent deliberately adds a fresh pineapple into the recipe to make the fried rice less greasy. This not only significantly reduces the amounts of ready-made seasonings used, but also makes the dish popular among customers. “Sour and Spicy Chicken Feet Salad with Tomatoes”, a “More Fruit and Vegetables” dish, comes with a hot and sour dressing made from a secret formula, which is served separately. This allows customers to adjust the amount of the sauces added according to their preferences.

Offering Flexible Pairings in a Customer-oriented Manner

In addition to the taste and nutritional value of the dishes, Vincent has also attached great importance to meeting customers’ needs. He noticed that there has been an increasing number of customers ordering additional vegetable dishes when placing orders in recent years. In view of this, Life Cafe offers a discount on add-on vegetables for customers ordering set meals. This initiative has the dual benefit of encouraging customers to boost their dietary fibre intake and increasing the restaurant’s income.