老梅绿石槽

无意间在网上发现老梅绿石槽，又逢石槽呈绿的季节到台北，于是特地去看看。石槽每年只在三、四月间呈现绿色。

老梅绿石槽不是知名的旅游景点，没有野柳的人潮。到这里的多数的台湾旅客。偶尔有些外国旅客，大多都是特地来摄影的。

要到老梅，可以先到野柳。从野柳搭前往淡水的基隆客运，在老梅站下车。回程可以搭客运到淡水或基隆。

Vegetarian in Taipei

One of the many reasons I like Taipei is that it is very vegetarian friendly. In fact, apart from India, it is the most vegetarian friendly country I've visited.

There is almost always vegetarian food somewhere round the corner. Even if you can't find vegetarian restaurant, you can find frequently find vegetarian options available on their menu.

The important thing is to recognize the Chinese word for vegetarian (素). This is different from many other countries which denotes vegetarian food with the another word (斋). This may be a bit difficult for non-Chinese speaking visitors. But if you try to recognize this word, you will find that vegetarian food is really quite readily available.

I found that increasingly, instead of labelling as "vegetarian" (素), some restaurants have labelled themselves a "vegetable crusine" (蔬食). I suspect the main difference is use of garlic and onion which is avoid in religious vegetarian food.

Just a word of caution, some non-vegetarian restaurants serve "花素" dishes, such as "花素饺" (literally "flower vegetarian", but it means mixed vegetarian). These are not pure vegetarian. This means that the ingredients are mainly vegetables, but it is likely to contain some non-vegetarian ingredients like dried shrimps.

Here's some of the food I've tried in my most recent Taipei trip in March.

So Free Pizza 柴燒窯烤比薩&起士

Great thin crust pizzas you won't find in Singapore:
http://laink.blogspot.sg/2013/04/vegetarian-in-taipei-so-free-pizza.html


Addiction Hazard 小心上瘾

Vegetarian mala hot pot
http://laink.blogspot.sg/2013/04/vegetarian-in-taipei-mala-hotpot.html


MOS burgers

They have a delicious vegetarian mushroom rice burger
http://laink.blogspot.sg/2013/04/vegetarian-in-taipei-mos-burger.html


Korean hotpot

If you like Korean food, vegetarian tofu pot is available in this Korean restaurant.
http://laink.blogspot.sg/2013/04/vegetarian-in-taipei-korean-tofu-pot.html


Vegetarian Sushi

I picked this up at a food court inside the underground mall in Taipei Main Station. A selection of sushi only for NT100. Good for day trips!


Fried buns

Looking for a breakfast join in Ximending, I came across this shop that was selling fried buns. One of the buns is a vegetarian cabbage bun. I bought one to try with a cup of soya milk. It wasn't as good as the vegetarian buns I get from Shilin night market or the stall near Long Shan temple though. This stall also sell various mixed grains gruel which should be vegetarian.

Ximending Vegetarian Cold Noodles 

There is a vegetarian stall in the Ximending area. It serves mainly simple noodles. It is run by an elderly couple. Available early morning for breakfast till late night for dinner.

One bowl of wanton soup, stewed tofu and Zhajiang Noodles. Simple hearty breakfast.

Vegetarian snacks at Jiufen

I never like stinky tofu until I tried them in Taiwan. Taiwanese just know how to make it well. This is the BBQ stinky tofu stall at Jiufen which I always try.

Grilled King Oyster mushroom. I ordered the deep fried version however.

Vegetarian meat ball pie.

Vegetarian in Taipei -- Vegetarian food at the Taoyuan Airport

The Taoyuan Airport has been renovated and it has now a nice food court.

I was at Terminal 2 and there is a vegetarian stall in food court at basement 1. The stall is called Li Pin (里品蔬食). Now you can have a hot vegetarian meal at the airport before you board the plane.

The buzzer to alert me when my food is ready.

Sichuan herbal soup with noodles. Not much ingredients in it, but the soup is good.

Vegetarian in Taipei - Korean Tofu Pot

The first time I tried Korean Tofu Pot was in the United States. It was really good and I remembered it. Unfortunately, I've not had a chance to try it again. I was not able to find any Korean vegetarian food.

In Singapore, there are a few eateries serving Korean vegetarian Bimbibap, but none serve vegetarian Tofu Pot.

In Ximending there are a few Korean restaurants. I happened to see that one of them had a vegetarian pot and had a try.

The restaurant is a chain called Jeju House of Tofu Pot (济州豆腐锅之家). There are 2 outlets in the Ximending area.

When I ordered the vegetarian pot, they check if I eat onion (many Chinese vegetarians do not take onion and garlic) and egg. I had a choice of udon or glass noodles (I choose glass noodle) with the pot and how spicy I want it.

I asked for the most spicy level, but it was not even mildly spicy by my standard.

The pot was no where nearly as good as the one I tried in the United States (or perhaps it was my memory). But it was quite good nonetheless.

This is another vegetarian option -- especially if you are travelling with non-vegetarians.

Each pot was only NT150. (About SGD$6.5)

It looked spicy, but is actually quite mild.

This is the shop front of the one at Ximending.

Vegetarian in Taipei - Around Taipei Main Station and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi

If you are at the Taipei Main Station, there are actually many vegetarian choices.

Within station's underground mall, there is a vegetarian eatery serving simple dishes cheaply. It is located at K area underground near exit Z3.

宥佑素食坊, 台北捷运站前地下街17-3号

This is what I had when I was there 2 years ago -- croquette curry rice with 2 side dishes.

This trip I found that along the Huai Ning street just across from the Taipei West Bus Station, there are a few vegetarian eateries. And you can have your vegetarian dumpling fixes here! Unfortunately, I did not get to try at any of the eateries this time.

However, I found two vegetarian places in the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi shopping complex.

I was actually looking for Daily Smile restaurant, when I found my way into the B1 food court in the complex. I was with a friend who wasn't keen on vegetarian food. So we settled at the food court. I was looking for vegetarian food and passed by a stall that seemed to sell meat dishes but looked like they had vegetarian options. When I asked them, I was surprised that they told me it is a vegetarian stall! The reason was that the dishes on display certainly looked meaty enough.

This is the menu. The prices are quite ok. Each order consists of the main course (in the pictures) plus a bowl of rice, drinks and 3 side dish. However, I got there late and had no more side dishes. I was charged NT100 for the main course plus rice and drink.

This is the stall. Legosu. 乐果.

Pork ribs in a hot plate. I didn't realize it is mock meat initially.

I had a hard time trying to decide what to eat. Everything looked interesting and good. I finally settled on this Hakka preserved vegetable with "roast pork" (梅干酱肉烧). I like Hakka preserved vegetable. Unfortunately, it turned out to be rather disappointing. The preserved vegetable's flavour was washed out and I didn't like the sauce. I should have gone for the mushroom pot instead. 

After I had placed my order, I noticed that they had cards for the Daily Smile vegetarian restaurant. （微笑元素）. I asked where they are located and was surprised that it was just one floor down at B2 in the same building. This restaurant serve baked rice, spagetthi, pizzas, "steaks" and hot pots. So it will be suitable for someone looking for some western vegetarian food. This is the website of the restaurant: http://www.dailysmile.com.tw/

In addition to these 2 vegetarian restaurants, there is also an stall selling Indian food in the B1 food court. Cafe India is not vegetarian stall, but it half of the menu is vegetarian. So Indian friends do have a choice too.

If you at Taipei Main Station and not sure where to get vegetarian food, do check out Shin Kong Mitsukoshi basement 1 and basement 2.

Vegetarian in Taipei - Mos burger

Mos burger is not a vegetarian burger chain. But I was delighted to find that they have a vegetarian rice burger on their menu and it was very delicious.

It was oyster mushroom burger with rice patty. What was nice was that when I ordered it, the waitress asked if I mind that the potato wedges are deep fried in the same pot of oil as meat and thus may not be "pure vegetarian".

Vegan mushroom rice burger

The fillings is not a patty, but rather cooked mushrooms in sauces. The taste reminds me of the canned vegetarian "abalone" (gluten) we get in Singapore. I must say that it doesn't feel like you are eating a burger. It is more like eating a mushroom dish with rice. But it is quite tasty nonetheless and a good option when you don't see any vegetarian restaurant around.

Each burger is NT70 (about SGD$3)

One morning, I was looking for breakfast at the Taipei Main Station before a train ride out of town. I found a MOS burger outlet and thought I could have the mushroom burger again. But they were sold out. Instead, I was recommended an ovo-lacto burger. They had a burger with omelette, tomato and cheese.

The breakfast burger is a little small. But the burger plus drink was only NT60! (About S$2.50). It was quite good, though not very filling.

Ovo-lacto burger (tomatos, egg and cheese)

Thus, if you are having problem finding vegetarian places in Taipei (especially if you can't recognize the Chinese character for vegetarian), do check out the MOS burger chain.

Vegetarian in Taipei -- Mala Hotpot 小心上瘾

This is a vegetarian hotpot buffet. I've tried this the first time I was in Taipei and I wanted to tried it again.

The restaurant is at Nanking East Road. It had shifted to a new location and it took me a while to find it as it is in an alley off Nanking East Road.

The Mala soup is not the same as the Mala soup you get in Sichuan. It is not as spicy hot, not numbing and not oily -- the mala soup you get in Sichuan is all of that.

The waitress told me the soup is with stewed with many herbs and ginger and indeed, the herbal taste does come across very strongly. The soup is supposed to have health benefits. Well, it seemed that it is popular enough that the restaurant sell just the soup for take away!

They provide the option of half mala soup and half vegetable soup or just non-spicy vegetable soup.

The selection of ingredients includes tofu, various greens, mock meat balls and different type of noodles.

As part of the buffet, they served a plate of konyaku with wasabi which I didn't particularly like. But they served a noodle dish tossed in Chinese Toon (香椿) that is very delicious. They also served a deep fried "chicken drumstick" which is a whole king oyster mushroom deep fried.

Desert was available as six flavors of ice cream.

At the end of the meal, they served a small shot of fruit vinegar. I like the vinegar very much and bought a bottle of it.

The bill was NT400 plus 10% service charge. (I had lunch. I think dinner is NT450.) Comes up to less than S$20 per person. Considering that you can have a hotpot buffet for NT110 in some Ximending restaurants, this is pricey by Taipei standards. But the steamboat buffets often cost more than that in Singapore (there aren't that many in the first place).

The name of the shop is 小心上瘾 (Addiction Hazard). You to need at least 2 person to start a pot. However, I saw that they do serve noodles for individual orders, ranging from NT40 - NT100.

Nice environment

The ingredients are kept in the fridge.

Mala hotpot

Noodles tossed with Chinese Toon. 

I really like this.

香椿面

Fried Chicken Drumstick (King oyster mushroom)

Grape vinegar

Shopfront

Their website:

http://www.sssy.com.tw/

台北市松山區南京東路五段61之3號

Taipei Nanking East Road, Section 5, number 61.

The location is a little out of the way. But an new MRT line passing through Nanking East Road is near completion. It will be more convenient after the MRT start running.

Vegetarian in Taipei -- So Free Pizza 柴燒窯烤比薩&起士

I got to know about this pizza place from a TV program interviewing the founder of the restaurant. I made it a point to look for this place because the pizzas look very special. I wasn't disappointed. I really love this place.

The pizzas are all thin crust pizzas of standard 8 inch size. They are all wood fire baked and the ingredients are all freshly made. The flavours are very unique, not your usual Italian or American tomato base pizzas.

I tried two of the pizzas. Green Lava Dragon (spicy) and Basil with mushrooms. Both are very good. I like the Green Lava Dragon very much. It taste a little like green curry with ginger and mushrooms. I am not sure what type of cheese they use. It is light and flavourful.

The crusts of the pizzas are thin and crispy. Each person can finish 1 pizza. And each pizza is only NT169 (about SGD7.40). By Taipei standards, this is a little on the pricey side, but we can't get such good pizzas in Singapore for this kind of price.

The decor of the place is quite nice too and there was a video on conservation of environment that was playing all the time.

There are two outlets in Taipei. One right in Ximending and the other near the university. The one in Ximending is not easy to fine as it's shop front is quite small and it is located in a small alley. Make sure you make a copy of the map from their web page.

http://www.sofreepizza.com.tw

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/SoFreePizza

http://www.facebook.com/SoFreePizza

The green lava dragon. Spicy and good! 

喷火海龙（有绿、红两种口味）

Basil with king oyster mushroom

罗勒杏鲍菇

Vegetarian in Taipei

Taipei must be one of the most vegetarian friendly city I know of.

Vegetarian food is easily available in Taipei and quite cheaply too.

That's one of the many reasons I really like Taipei.

I arrived at Taipei airport at 8:30pm on the 13 Jan 2010. By the time I checked into my guest house next to the Taipei Station, it was 10pm. I had not had my dinner (I flew budget airline and the only thing vegetarian they were selling on board was a vegetarian cup noodles).

Most shops were closed by then. Bread was still easily available in the convenience stores, but I was hoping to have something more substantial then bread. I walked around a bit and found my way to the Taipei Exchange Station (long distance bus station north of the Taipei Station).

Many convenience stores in Taiwan have a small hot food pot called "Guandong zhu" (关东煮, I suspect its something copied from Japan), in which sticks of meat or vegetables were boiled. Many Singaporeans (and obviously the Taiwanese) like that as late night snacks. Although there are some vegetarian options like tofu, mushroom and radish, they were all cooked in the same pot of soup with the meat, and I was afraid it might have the meat taste. So I avoided it.

I browsed around and found a pack of vegetarain TV food in the fridge. It was a vegetarian "meat" patty meal with some vegetables, selling for NT69. I bought that and the counter staff heated it for me in the microwave oven (a standard service at the convenience stores here). It was quite tasty.

So at least I went to bed without feeling hungry that night.


The next day, I made a trip to Shenkeng （深坑）, a town reowned for its tofu. The town is just on the outskirts of Taipei, just 10 min bus ride from the Taipei Zoo.

Along the old street, it's row of restaurants and eatery selling all sorts of stinking tofu dishes. Yes, stinking tofu! I do not understand why they made all their tofu into stinking tofu. There are so many other types of tofu...

But the stinking tofu is quite nice. They don't smell that bad, and are quite tasty. There is a vegetarian tofu eatery, and all dishes are pure vegetarian. I ordered a bamboo shoot stew and a stinking tofu in hot soup. They were OK (i.e. nothing worth craving for). There were many push carts selling BBQ stinking tofu as well. These were all vegetarian, though the sauce contain garlic. But those who do not take garlic can tell the stalls they want "pure" vegetarian, and they do have sauces without garlic. I like these, primarily because the sauce is quite taste and the tofu is tender (Tofu cooked too long in soup becomes hard).

That night I was out till late and again. I thought the best bet to get food would be at the night markets, and I was right. The night market nearest to the Taipei Station was the Ningxia (宁夏), about 15 min walk away. And there, I found a vegetarian stall selling the usual vegetarian stuff: rice, noodles and mock meat stew in soy sauce (卤味). I ordered herbal soup noodles, soy sauce tofu and soy sheets and it was a filling meal for less than NT100.

Shilin Night market is one of Taipei's biggest night market and probably the most popular among tourists. I always go there too because there are a few vegetarian stalls in the market building next to the Jiantan MRT station, there are 3 vegetarians stalls. Two are found at the back of the market (you have to walk all the way to the end to find it). There is another one that sells mini hot pots.

I always eat at the "Miao Xiang Yuan" (妙香园) stall, because it has a lot of tasty snack food.
Oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) is a popular Taiwanese street food. This stall has a pretty good vegetarian version, that is made from mushrooms, tofu sheets and seaweed.

I don't like the pinkish sweet sauce on the omelet. Otherwise its pretty good. I've tried the same dish at other stalls. So far, Miao Xiang Yuan did it best. Egg is actually optional, because the main binding ingredient is starch, not egg. So for those who do not eat eggs, tell them not to put egg.

The oyster omelet is NT50 per order (about than SGD 2.30).

I like to eat buns, and Shanghai pan-fried buns(生煎包) are a standard night market item. I always look at those longingly, but the fillings almost always use meat.

At the Shilin night market, along the main road (Wenlin Rd, 文林路), there is a vegetarian pan-fried bun store. Each bun sells for NT10, and the filling is mushroom and cabbage. I always get 2 buns when I am there to satisfy my cravings for the buns. But honestly, these aren't that good. The best ones I have tried is actually from a stall near Longshan Temple.

My favourite snack from Shilin Night Market is deep fried mushrooms.

The stall is also along the main road, just a few steps away from the vegetarian pan-fried bun store.

It is unhealthy: deep fried in oil and seasoned with lots of salt. But really I love it!

There are three type of mushrooms. You can order just one type or a mix of all three. Each order is NT50.

This trip, I found a vegetarian eatery in the Taipei Station underground shopping mall. For most of my trips, Taipei Station is the transport hub. So this eatery is really a great convenience. I don't have to go hunting for a vegetarian stall when I am hungry.

The eatery at the west end of the underground shopping mall, near the exit to Chongqing south street. They have rice and noodles and side dishes. In the picture, I ordered a Japanese style curry rice (NT60, but I won't recommend it. It's just rice and a big piece of deep fried TVP meat pattie). The side dishes (pickled cucumber, green vegetables, tofu, mock meat made gluten or TVP etc) are NT20 for a small plate and NT30 for a bigger plate. It's economical and convenient. I ate there twice this trip.

Finally, I would like to introduce my favourite vegetarian pan-fried bun stall.

I found out about this stall (上顶皇家素食水煎包) from the internet. This is located near Longshan Temple. Directly opposite the temple, there is a open plaza (the Longshan MRT is beneath it). There is a small street beside it where there are a few vegetarian restaurants. From that street, there is a side street that leads to a market place. There stall is located there.

The stall offers three types of fillings: cabbage (NT10 each), bamboo shoots (NT10 each), and  mustard (雪里红). I always order one of each. There stall also offers pot stickers (basically the same thing as the cabbage bun but made into a pot sticker shape with a thinner skin). These buns are way better than the buns at Shilin Night Market. However, this time round, I found the bamboo shoots bun (which is mixed with glass noodles) a bit too salty.

This stalls open early in the morning and is a good stop for breakfast. So if you come to the Longshan temple, grab a few buns from here for breakfast!

Vegetarian food is easily available in Taipei and pretty good too. The only problem is that the street stalls and eateries uses too much mock meat and tofu. Green vegetables are quite lacking. However, if you go to a restaurant, there are many vegetable dishes.

One disadvantage is travelling alone is that it's difficult to go to restaurants (too expensive and too much food). There is a restaurant along Nanking East road offering vegetarian Sichuan style spicy hotpot (小心上瘾素食麻辣火锅). I've been there once and it's really good. Unfortunately, you need to have at least 2 person to start a pot, so I did not get to go there this time.

So, anyone wants to go and try with me next time?