Restaurant Review -- Dragon Boat zongzi (Shimen)

Dragon Boat Festival starts tomorrow, and with it (or indeed before), starts the mass consumption of zongzi (粽子; sticky-rice tamales).

Also traditional around this time are health warnings from government health departments against over-indulgence in these high-calorie, fat-and-salt laden items.

Finding non-meat versions can be quite tricky (though many vegetarian restaurants produce them at this time of year). The most famous zongzi manufacturer in northern Taiwan, the Liu Family (劉家) in Shimen District (石門) of New Taipei City, for example, has no meat-free zongzi despite producing around a dozen different flavours.

One hundred meters past Liu's there is a vegetarian outlet, however, which has been in operation for more than two decades.Previously NT$20 for each bamboo-leaf-wrapped snack, the price had risen to NT$25 by NOMM's visit last week.

To NOMM's taste, they are not that exciting (zongzi are judged by the quality of their fillings), but at least vegetarians can join in the culinary part of this weekend's activities.

Text copyright Jiyue Publications 2012

Restaurant Review -- Buxiban zone (part II)

Following last week's review, Shad reports that there are a number of cheap vegetarian eats at No. 72, Zhongxiao West Road Sec. 1. And she is correct.

There are four restaurants on this single block: two selling a variety of dumplings, one selling rice, noodle and soup dishes, and one with a vegetarian buffet.

NOMM chose this last one, and enjoyed a nice meal even though it was almost closing time. NT$75 bought a mixed plate of vegetables and the house-special of "lion head" (獅子頭; a kind of meatball), with a bowl of rice and bottomless soup.

Text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications
(apologies, Blogspot is still not uploading photos)

Restaurant Review -- Buxiban Zone (Taipei)

Many Taipei students get out of school and go straight to cram schools for several hours trying to fill what should be an already full head with more information, and in the process further destroying any chance of a wholesome childhood with a balance of learning and play.

Often students have time just to grab a bite between classes, as do teachers, and with mostly snack food available, this is rarely vegetarian and is rarely nutritious. 

So it is good that 5 years ago the Vegi Garden (植善蔬食多國料理) opened on Kaifeng Street offering meals in Eastern and Western styles that are “pure veg, low sugar, low salt, low oil”. 

The menu sounds exotic, ranging from Japanese wild mushroom hand-made noodles (NT$180) and Thai sweet and sour hot pot (NT$260), to Spanish golden stewed rice (NT$190) and pumpkin mushroom baked penne pasta (NT$210). For an additional NT$80, all become set meals with a soup, side dish and drink.

NOMM found the soup good, and the side dish (soft white tofu) excellent. The main dishes of Italian wild mushroom rice (NT$190) and Thai coconut milk curry hot pot (NT$260) were disappointing, however. The latter’s soup was so weak it was unidentifiable as having been made with either curry or coconut milk. 

Address: No.47, Kaifeng St. Sec. 1 (開封街一段47號)

Telephone: 02-23118198

Hours: 11:00~14:00 & 17:00~21:00

NOMM processed food index: 1 (low)

Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2012

Restaurant Review – “Gravy Rice” (Zhongli)

Zhongli (中壢) in Taoyuan County is a center of Hakka culture. This tends to be a very meat-based cuisine, so NOMM expected some difficulty in finding lunch on a recent unplanned visit, especially as we rolled into town at almost 2pm.

Short of time, we headed out toward the northwest on another purpose, and were happy to come across several vegetarian stores (albeit some already closed) in the Minzu Road (民族路) area. Perhaps there is a Buddhist hospital or similar nearby.

The Su Xiang Mian Zhi Jia (素香麵之家; “home of fragrant vegetarian noodles”, but no English name), slightly up Guangdong Road (廣東路) to the left (south) and hence technically over the township boundary into Pingzhen (平鎮) was still open but about to close, so we ordered “whatever is quickest to prepare”.

This turned out to be hui-fan (燴飯; NT$60), usually given in dictionaries as “rice in gravy” but better thought of as rice topped with vegetables in a wet sauce: thicker than “soupy noodles” (湯麵) but runnier than “dry noodles”(乾麵), and, of course, made using rice not noodles.

In any case, it is not an NOMM favorite and would not have been our first choice, but it was tasty enough, and the owner was chatty about moving back to her hometown to open the restaurant 4 years ago after spending much of her life commuting each day to Banciao (板橋) in Taipei County.

SuXiangMianZhiJia has a wide range of rice and noodle dishes, as well as dumplings, vegetables and marinated side dishes.

Address:

No.3 Guangdong Road

, Pingzhen City, Taoyuan County

Tel: 03-4013888

Opening Hours: 11:30~14:30, 16:30~20:00, Mon~Sat

Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2012

Restaurant Review - contemplation (Keelung)

The Buddha Light Mountain organization (佛光山), founded and still run by a monk who still Master Hsing Yun (星雲大師), has temples and religious branches throughout Taiwan, many of which have restaurants called Dishuifang (滴水坊).

Despite operating a cooking school at its Kaohsiung headquarters, there is no standard fare: the menu varies from restaurant to restaurant. A few months ago NOMM ate at the Yonghe (永和) outlet and cannot recommend it, today we ate in Keelung, and although overpriced (NT$110 for a bowl of noodles that might cost half that normally), the food was tasty enough and the environment quiet.

For those with a political mindset: KMT supporters will be happy as Hsing Yun is one of there own, DPP opposition supporters might want to stay clear, as he supports President Ma, wants the Dalai Lama to kowtow to Beijing, and once said that there are no Taiwanese, only Chinese.





Address: No. 270, Xin Er Rd. (信二路) Keelung
Tel: 02-24231141
Hours: 11:00~20:00, closed Tuesdays
NOMM fake meat/processed food index: 5 (moderate)

text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications 2012

Restaurant Review: Cheap, cheerful and healthy (Puli, Nantou County)

One good thing about getting away from big cities is that prices can come tumbling down; one bad thing is that so too can quality.

This is not the case at TianCi Vegetarian (天慈素食; “Heaven’s Compassion” [no English]) in Puli Township (埔里), gateway to the mountains of Nantou. NOMM stopped there at the start of the famous Wuling (武陵) bike route last year, and two of us feasted for a total of NT$140 before the climb to Taiwan’s highest road at 3250 m.

Perhaps prices have gone up, but last year they included:

fried rice/noodles – NT$20~25

dumplings (水餃) -- NT$3.5 each

soups -- NT$20

leafy greens -- NT$20

marinated tofu, &c. -- NT$10~20

and with Dragon Boat Festival not too far away, they have zongzi at NT$20

Address: 262 Nanchang St (南昌街)

Tel: 049-2996312

NOMM fake meat/processed food index: 5 (moderate)

Text © Jiyue Publications 2012

Apologies no photos

Restaurant Reivew: Buddhist hospital B1 (Xindian)

Last year NOMM tried to order a vegetarian meal in Mr. Brown coffee shop in the Muzha district of Taipei City. "Tried" because while there was one item on the menu, when questioned in detail the staff admitted that the "free" soup was made with a meat stock.

Visiting the Taipei Tzu Chi General Hospital last week--which by coincidence is just a couple of kilometers west of the above-mentioned store--we were surprised to find a completely free vegetarian Mr. Brown coffee outlet.

In fact, the hospital basement is a set out as a food court, and since the hospital is run by the Buddhist Tzu Chi foundation, all outlets meet the organization's vegetarian criteria. There are around half a dozen restaurants, ranging from Taiwanese rice, noodle, and snack meals to Western sandwich bars, and even a Family Mart convenience store, selling only the meat-free section of its food and drink range.

Address: No.289, Jianguo Rd., Xindian District, New Taipei City, Taiwan


text copyright Jiyue Publications
apologies that photographs are temporarily unavailable

Restaurant Review -- Mushroom Noodles (Danshui)

To survive in the restaurant business with only one item on the menu is awesome; to persuade the author of this column to eat mianxian (麵線; a.k.a. "thin, slimy noodles") is barely less impressive.

These two feats have been achieved for 12 and 2 years respectively by Su Xianggu Mianxian (素香菇麵線; “Vegetarian Mushroom Noodles”) on Zhongshan N. Road, a short distance north of the Qingshui Zushi Temple (清水祖師廟) in Danshui (淡水).
One product; three prices: small NT$30, medium NT$40, large NT$50.

What more is there to say?

Well, only one. Last year the restaurant’s founder sold up, and the new owner, while continuing to sell the noodles, has added half a dozen other dishes to the menu. These include yam-flavored tofu and mung bean noodles (山藥阿給), which NOMM will return to sample soon.  

Address: No. 251, Zhongshan North Road Sec. 1, Danshui District, New Taipei City (台北縣淡水鎮中山北路一段251號)
Telephone: 0935620261
Hours: Tues~Sun; 06:00~14:00 (plus Mondays if 1^st or 15^th of lunar calendar month)
 NOMM fake-meat/processed-food index: 2 (low)


Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2012
[photos temporarily unavailable]

Restaurant Review:-- Pizza and good view, Taipei City

So Wild Free Pizza and Cheese outlet in the back alleys near NTU at Gongguan (公館) has just four seats—which cannot be reserved—so most customers end up eating take-away pizzas in the tiny park opposite.

For a more conducive atmosphere, diners can try the Ximen (西門) branch.

So Wild specializes in small (8-inch) pizzas with somewhat unusual flavours. These include apple/cinnamon, banana/almond and ginger superman, as well as more regular mushroom/asparagus, rosemary/potato and Korean kimchi all at NT$169. Drinks cost NT$25~60.

 

Don’t expect fine dining, but the upstairs open-air views across a more trendy part of this fashion-conscious area of Taipei City is enjoyable if one is already in this neighbourhood.

Address: No.1, Lane 50, Xining S. Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City

(台北市萬華區西寧南路50巷1號)

Hours: 12:00~22:00

Restaurant Review:-- Noodles from a noodle maker (Taipei)

Many items sold in restaurants are bought in rather than made on site, and this is particularly true when it comes to noodles.

One exception is ZhongYuan Su Mian Shi (中原 素麵食; "Central Plains Vegetarian Noodle Foods" [no English name]), located on Qingdao Road that runs parallel to Zhongxiao East Road.

Only open on weekday lunchtimes and with only eight items on its menu, ZhongYuan has the confidence of a specialist provider.

These eight noodle dishes range from NT$35 to NT$60 per bowl, and include "dry" noodles such as sesame paste and "mixed" paste, as well as "soupy" noodles such as hongshao (紅燒; soy flavoured) noodles.

"Dry noodles" come with a free bowl of soup, and side dishes such as the cucumbers and tofu eaten by NOMM cost NT$25. Dumplings are available if the boss has time to cook them.

 Text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications

Restaurant Review:-- tea farm restaurant, Pinglin (New Taipei City)

 Pinglin (坪林) makes a nice destination for a half-day cycle from Taipei.

Those with extra energy can explore the hilly tea fields that surround the riverside township, or head on over to Yilan County to the southeast.

Those without can refuel for the return trip at Wenshan Cha Yuan (文山茶園; "Wenshan Tea Garden" [no English]), which offers a range of vegetarian noodle and rice dishes (NT$25-45), greens (NT$50), tofus (NT$30-50) and, of course, tea..

 NOMM had  tea seed-oil thread noodles (茶油麵線), greens and tofu, which certainly hit the spot after the 1,000+ K cal cycle from the city.

As the only person in the restaurant on a weekday afternoon, i was then treated to a free pot of baozhong tea (包種茶). Perfect.



 Wenshan is at 169 ShuiLiuJiao (水柳腳), which is near the 37.5-kilometre marker on the Taipei-Yilan road (北宜路), which is just before the 7-Eleven as one enters the town from the Taipei side.

Copyright Jiyue Publications

Restaurant Review:-- Biandang (lunchbox), Taipei City

 Before very long in Taiwan, you'll probably be asked to do overtime. Out goes your social engagement, your home-cooked dinner, or glass-of-wine-with-movie-and-feet-up evening.

More pertinently, your boss will probably hint that the case is so pressing, you cannot even pop out of the office to grab some food. "Don't worry," (s)he'll say, "I'm getting bian-dang (便當; lunchboxes) for everyone." You say that you're vegetarian, but (s)he saw this coming: "Don't worry, they do vegetarian bian-dang."

So you're landed with a so-called vegetarian lunchbox produced by a meat-selling establishment. Even if you dare eat it, it's probably almost inedible and barely nourishing.

UNLESS of course, you are one step ahead of your boss, an whipping out a business card you say "That's ok, please pick me up a bian-dang from here."

One such place is ChongHui Vegetarain ( 崇慧素食; no English name) at 54 Anju Steet (安居街) near Liuzhangli MRT (Tel: 02-27398323).

In sells lunchboxes at midday and evenings, as well as hotpots in the evenings.
Diners can choose either white or "purple" rice, three side vegetables (out of more than a dozen -- NOMM had peas in pods, tofu and bamboo shoots), and a "main" dish of fake meat (NOMM had fish).

All choices are NT$50, and the restaurant will send to your office for orders of NT$500 or more.




Text and photos copyright Jiyue.Publications 2012

Restaurant Review -- simple, healthy food from a slice of paradise (Taitung)

Guanshan (關山), a small town in the East Rift Valley, has tree-lined streets, wooden houses and few buildings over two storeys high. On the spring morning of NOMM’s visit it had a sleepy feel, and with the exception of trucks rushing down Highway 9, convenience stores on several corners and some very attractive murals, gave the impression of having changed little over the last half century or more.

One small change is that the town has a new railway station, and although located just a hundred meters from the old one, it means that the JinCi Vegetarian (晉慈素食; no English name) restaurant at 6 Zhongshan Road (中山路) is no longer a natural stopping off place for commuters returning home but, rather, takes some seeking out.

Having found it, we enjoyed a tranquil meal of sesame-sauce noodles (NT$45), wonton soup (NT$45), dangkui herbal noodles (NT$45), steamed leafy greens (NT$30), shuijiao dumplings (NT$35), and a side of various tofu items (NT$50). At around NT$250 for three people, it was pretty economical too.

Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2012

Restaurant Review -- Chishang rice 'railway lunchbox' (Taitung)

Railway lunchboxes are popular in various locations around Taiwan. Well known examples include Fulong in New Taipei City and Alishan in Chiayi County.

Chishang in Taitung County in the country's southeast lies in the East Rift Valley, a well watered area with mild climate ideal for the production of rice, so it is perhaps not surprising that rice based meals were sold from station platforms to passengers passing on trains running between Taitung and Hualien.

Visitors to the township can choose from various restaurants within a few hundred meters of the railway station. With decommissioned trains now equipped with dining tables and exhibits about both rice production and railway history, one of the most popular is Chishang Fanbao (池上飯包) on Highway 9, the main road connecting the dozen or so towns of the rift valley.

A vegetarian lunchbox is available here, but workers acknowledge it is not only "dan-nai su" (蛋奶素; ovo-lacto vegetarian) but also "guo-bian su" (鍋邊素; "pot-edge vegetarian", meaning it is cooked in the same pots as meat products).

They will happily telephone a nearby fully vegetarian establishment and, for NT$70, a lunchbox will be delivered in about ten minutes, which can be consumed with meat-eating friends at this atmospheric restaurant.

NOMM found the local rice to be delicious, but the ratio of fake meat to fresh vegetables was too high.

Restaurant Review -- Wenzhou "big dumplings" (Taipei)

The English word “dumpling” is used to cover a wide range of local foodstuffs, from sticky rice zongzi (粽子) and rice-flour tangyuan (湯圓), to a variety of ravioli-like stuffed pastry jiaozi (餃子) guotie (鍋貼; “pot-stickers”) and hundun (餛飩鍋; “wonton”). 

Perhaps because of Taiwan’s historic ties to Zhejiang Province (浙江; Chiang Kai-shek and many of his coterie came from there), that “Wenzhou big wonton” (温州大餛飩) are exceedingly popular here, with, in Taipei alone, dozens of small mom-and-pop stores selling them . To date, NOMM has only found one that sells a vegetarian version.

Located amongst half-a-dozen wonton-specialist restaurants on Taoyuan Street (桃源街), “Champion Veg-&-Meat Wonton” (冠軍菜肉餛飩; no English sign) at number 9 is unique in offering mushroom-flavoured vegetarian wonton (香菇素食餛飩; NT$80). 

 

As the owner warns, however, unless taken home for cooking (NT$100 for 10), these will only be “pot-side vegetarian” as they are cooked in the same water as meat dumplings. 

 

 to be completed

Restaurant Review:-- Night market snacks, Taipei City

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Visiting Ningxia night market (寧夏夜市; off Minsheng Rd. west of Chengde Rd.) used to be like a trip back to Táng dynasty China.

Considering that a steady stream of motorbikes and occasional car attempted to navigate this semi-blocked-off street, this is hard to explain, but really, that was my impression. 

Then the vendors, or their rent-taking district council, got greedy, and seeing the hoardes of evening diners making their way to the more famous nigh markets of Shilin to the north, Raohe to the east and Shida to the south, Ningxia rebranded itself as the Ningxia Environmental Protection Toursit Night Market, repositioning itself firmly in the 21^st century. Oh well, such is the price of progress.

The choice of foods is typical of these other night markets, and similarly narrow for vegetarians, but at least some meat-free fare is on offer while all around are gorging on pigs’ feet, ducks’ necks, ox entrails and goodness knows what else. The baked potato stall has some vegetarian but not vegan toppings, but at Stall No.86 there is an entirely vegetarian outlet.

That both the “dry noodles” and “boiled leafy greens” ordered by NOMM contained fake meat suggest it too is targeting a traditional taste.

 

The noodles were fresh (light and chewy), which implies a good turnover, and indeed there did seem a steady stream of visitors to the dozen or so seats crammed in behind the cooking wagon.

At night markets such as this it is typical for groups of diners to each buy their favoured dishes at divergent stalls and then congregate at an agreed location. Since it is best not to take meat dishes into a vegetarian area, many, like NOMM, buy to go”, which means eating out of plastic bags.

Open ca. 6pm till late.

 

Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2012

Restaurant Review: Cherry Blossom and Shell Temple (Sanzhi, New Taipei City)

  

Cherry blossom season has arrived, and various flower-lined roads in Taiwan's lower mountains will receive most of their entire year's visitors in the next few weeks. Often a short distance from urban areas, many of these routes date from the 1895-1945 occupation of the island by the sakura-loving Japanese.

Usually located on narrow, winding lanes, these cherry blossom routes (櫻花道) are ideal for bicycles (except that people in cars stop suddenly and fling their doors open to get out and take photos).

Last week, NOMM went with the Bean Power (戰豆力) vegetarian cycle team (along with the primarily omnivorous Yufeng 禦風 group) to Qingshan Road (青山路) in the hills above Sanzhi (三芝) in New Taipei City.

One additional treat of this particular cherry blossom ride is Dingshan Temple (頂山寺), better known as Shell Temple (貝殼廟). Just about every square-inch of wall, pillar, ceiling and censer is covered with shells, coral or other marine life. All the usual decorations are present--dragons, qilin, yin-yang symbol, &c.--but executed in shells and with aquatic themes. The dragons, for example, have fish tails.

And one additional treat of the Shell Temple, are the soup, noodles and warming ginger tea (薑母茶) provided for visitors, all vegetarian (素食) of course. None will win a culinary award, but on cold winter days in the mountains the ginger concoction certainly hits the spot, and the noodles provide cyclists with extra calories for the 30km ride back to Taipei.

Address: 69 Erpingding, Sanzhi District, New Taipei City (新北市三芝區二坪頂69號)

Text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications

Restaurant Review:-- Bakery and Italian restaurant, Taipei City

 

Ever been so hungry you’ve just entered a bakery and hoped you can assume its bread or cake products are vegetarian or even vegan? Well at Kopok you can: No eggs or meat products are used at all, and for vegans, dairy-free (無奶) items are clearly marked.

Located in a park-adjacent lane off the tail end of Fuxing South Road between Heping Road and a back entrance to Taiwan National University, Kopok (卡帛) Vegetarian Bakery and Café has a wide range of bread products to take away and a Italian-themed noodles, risotto and “baked” (rice and noodles) for consumption in its restaurant.

Open since 1998, Kopok is largely a secret to Taipei citizens who want “egg-free egg-cake” (“egg-cake” 蛋糕 is the Chinese for “cake”). Naturally, in keeping with Taiwan’s religious vows, its vegetarian menu is also devoid of onions and garlic.

Incidentally, the menu is excellently translated into English (“by an English teacher who eats here”), the only confusion come from the Chinese that lists some items as “dairy-free”, while the waitress says to pay no attention, that very few have milk or cheese products.

As a friend of NOMM who reviews restaurants for a national newspaper says: “Any restaurant can raise the price of its noodles from NT$40 per bowl to NT$160 by calling them Italian.” This is essentially the case here, especially since we ordered “fried wide rice noodles with Italian seasoning”, a.k.a. hefen (河粉) or bantiao (粄條), one of the “chef’s specials”, which would be expensive at NT$80 without the “Italian” tag. They were tasty enough, however, even the cooked celery (not an NOMM favorite) was good, and with an extra NT$40 came with two bits of bread, a bowl of soup and a cup of tea.

 

Diners following their meal with a drink get discounts of 20 percent and this includes a slice of cake, or so says the menu. Cook-at-home vegetarian dumplings (水餃) are available for NT$50 fo4 12.

Address: No.5, Lane 308, Fuxing S. Rd., Taipei

Tel: 02-2733 6819

Hours: Mon~Sat  08:00~22:00; Sun: 9:30~21:30

NOMM fake-meat/processed food index: 4 (moderate; but avoidable)

The neighbourhood is very pleasant, those selecting bakery products can sit and eat them in the park outside. There is a Buddhist vegetarian buffet where the lane branches off Fuxing S. Rd., and next to Kopok is "Garlic Restaurant", which has half-a-dozen items that can be cooked to vegetarian standards (素可), for those Western vegetarians encountering garlic withdrawal symptoms in Taiwan.

Restaurant Review: good food at a good price in tourist town (Yingge)

With northern Taiwan enjoying its first sunny Sunday of the spring, it was not surprising that many people chose to shake off their winter cobwebs by cycling the hour or so west along the Dahan River bikepath to Yingge (鶯歌), one of the island’s oldest ceramics towns.

There is still no sign of a fully vegetarian restaurant up on the “old street” tourist centre. An increasing number of stalls offer meat-free snacks, however, including one selling stinky tofu and lu-wei (滷味; marinated tofu, mushrooms &c.).

There are three vegetarian restaurants immediately outside the railway station, and with two of them closed for some reason, the third, Amitoufo (阿彌陀佛; meaning the “Amitha Buddha” but no English) was doing excellent trade. Housed in more of a tent than a building, it has been in operation for just 8 months, and its owners claim to have been busy since then whatever the weather.

Basically it is a noodle/dumpling place—with more than two dozen items on the menu including no less than 3 kinds of dumplings: hongyou-chaoshou (紅油抄手), shuijiao (水餃) and huntun (餛飩)—as well as some unusual additions.

NOMM tried four classics: sesame-paste noodles (麻醬麵; NT$40), shuijiao dumplings (NT$45), boiled leafy greens (燙青菜; NT$30), and a mixed plate of tofu/dougan (豆乾; dried beancurd) (NT$55), and one unusual item: vegetarian oyster omelet (素蚵仔煎; NT$45).

The noodles and greens both had fake meat in their sauces but otherwise were fine, the dumplings surprisingly did not, and their tastiness did not suffer as a result. We were told not to add sauce to the lu-wei as the beancurd had been marinated to a family formula, but were encouraged to dunk the dumplings in chili sauce as this was also home-made by the owner’s mother.

The non-oyster oyster omelet was the real surprise, as it did not contain the fake-meat oysters so typical of this dish (non-egg omelets can also be ordered for vegans) but rather had bamboo shoot, bean sprouts and seaweed as additional ingredients. An excellent meal for two for NT$215 in a dog-friendly, friendly restaurant.

Address: “Beside the rear entrance, Yingge Railway Station,

Jianguo Road

.” (according to the business card)

Tel: 0928-068272

Hours: 11:00~20:00, Wed~Mon, 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays also closed

NOMM Fake-meat/processed food index: 2 (low)

Text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications