Had been noticing the hoardings that had been covering up the stall unit in which Ascend • 蔬升 Signature occupies at the basement of 18 Cross — yes; these folks had recently just made their move into the basement of 18 Cross (formerly known as Cross Street Exchange and China Square Central during different time periods). The same building is also where one can find notable F&B establishments such as that of Burnt Ends Bakery with Audi House of Progress, The Test Kitchen and Jiho Samgyetang; Ascend • 蔬升 Signature takes up a shop unit close to the relocated outlet of Morning Grind in the basement of the building. Ascend • 蔬升 may be a name that is familiar with the local vegetarian community here, considering how they are best known for their vegetarian Mala Tang offerings at their very first location at Esplanade Xchange. This would be the first concept under the brand operating with the Signature branding — their location at 18 Cross features more seating with a more upscale dining environment as compared to their Esplanade Xchange outlet; the food menu has also expanded beyond their vegetarian Mala Tang offerings with a “All In One Plate” dish being a rotating special that is exclusively available at this outlet. Also exclusively available at their 18 Cross outlet would be the lineup of Desserts that they carry as well.

We made our visit to Ascend • 蔬升 Signature on a Friday evening and the rotating special available on Fridays during the period of time in which we made our visit there would be the Hainan Signature Rice. Whilst Ascend • 蔬升 Signature does not describe the elements that comes with the various dishes that they have to offer, the Hainan Signature Rice does seem to be a dish that replicates that of Hainanese-style chicken rice that comes with a mock fried chicken cutlet — the lack of reference to the word “chicken” in its namesake does seem intentionally done so to avoid any unnecessary confusion since Ascend • 蔬升 Signature is a vegetarian eatery. It can be observed from our order of the Hainan Signature Rice that the dish comes with braised Shimeiji mushrooms stir-fried with capsicums, Nai Bai, shredded purple cabbage, leafy greens with cherry tomatoes with a slight drizzle of vinaigrette, Hainanese-style chicken rice chilli, as well as the mock fried chicken cutlet. Digging into the Hainan Signature Rice, we drink rice how the mock fried chicken cutlet does seem to be made from layers of beancurd skin with the topmost layer featuring a deep-fried crust much like deep-fried batter using Panko for that extra element of crunch. The flavoured rice does come sufficiently moist with a gingery, briny note that exactly replicates that of the typical Hainanese-style chicken rice. The chili that came on the side also comes within expectation of the typical chili sauce that would usually come with Hainanese-style chicken rice — zippy and spicy from the use of fresh, ground chili padi whilst also not particular strong on the tang of calamansi which some typical Hainanese-style chicken rice stalks tend to go for. The braised Shimeiji mushrooms do come with a savoury and earthy note; all that whilst coming with a bouncy texture, while the use of shredded purple cabbage and Nai Bai adds a refreshing crunch to reset the tastebuds from all of the heavier-tasting elements on the plate itself.