Forget straight up smoothies and superfood bowls for a moment and consider edible agar-agar succulents, sitting pretty on a mound of superfood ‘soil’. These edible plants are offered by two-month-old Summer Lab on Erskine Road, which focuses on Instagram-friendly health food.

Summer Lab is adorned with neon décor and a faux grass wall for maximum Instagrammability. It’s mostly a takeout joint, with only two seats. It’s opened by Hazel Toh, 29, a former web designer. She decided to “put her design skills to use and do something different” in the growing healthy food space. She says, “I wanted to show that healthy food can taste and look good.” She began her journey two years ago when she quit her full-time job – experimenting with superfoods and learning how to do latte art via YouTube.

The timing for her venture, however, is a little unfortunate. “I decided to go ahead with everything in January, as [the Covid-19 situation] seemed to be getting better,” she says, opening her eatery in late April – a scant two weeks before Phase 2 HA measures kicked in. “Overnight, the CBD became a ghost town,” she adds.

Business from curious passers-by completely dried up – further bad news for the young lady boss, who’d invested a five-figure sum in equipment and renovations. Getting Summer Lab on delivery platforms “didn’t help much” either, she says, as the business hasn’t had the chance to build up a loyal customer base.

A couple of weeks into the HA measures, and not much has improved. “[Business] is pretty bad actually, especially during weekdays,” she says.

Summer Lab’s menu comprises two main categories: smoothie bowls and oak milk lattes. The former starts with a blended fruit base which comes adorned with extra fruit and agar-agar succulents or flowers.

A tangier than usual acai-based smoothie. It’s evidence of the organic acai and guarana blend Summer Lab’s uses, rather than something pre-blended (and pre-sweetened). That tartness is only intensified further with the blackberry in the smoothie and a topping of dried strawberry. Drink only if you like sour stuff.

The jelly succulents are pretty tasteless eaten alone, especially next to the lip-puckering acai — at least they look cute.

Coconut cream, coconut flesh and banana provides a creamy, enjoyable mouthful that’s sweet enough to counter the tartness of goji berry and kiwi in this smoothie bowl. The only thing that really needs getting used to is its bright blue tinge, thanks to the addition of butterfly pea flower powder.

We enjoyed this the most. Ingredients-wise, it’s something superfood noobs might be more comfortable with – kiwi, berries and granola on top of a blend of banana, chia pudding and red pitaya (dragon fruit). It isn’t overly sweet, yet doesn’t taste too healthy either. We also found it to be the prettiest, thanks to a sweet trio of daisies against a vibrant pink backdrop.

We tried a few of Summer Lab’s caffeine-free oat-milk-based lattes ($6.20 each). They’re all a little light on flavour – the butterfly pea one tastes vaguely like watered down tea, and the beetroot latte is faintly earthy-sweet. Even the matcha latte seems a little feeble.

Being oat-milk-based, they also lack the velvety mouthfeel of dairy. That said, Summer Lab’s lattes are vegan-friendly and a viable alternative if you’re trying to go stimulant-free.

Summer Lab is at #01-05, 33 Erskine Rd, S069333. Open daily except Sun 10.30am – 7.30pm. More info on Facebook & Instagram. Available for delivery via Grabfood and Foodpanda.

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Photos: Summer Lab