Taipei

November 8-9, 2025

   

Following Naha, Okinawa, Michael and I visited Taipei, Taiwan. While we were initially a little overwhelmed by the public transport and dense city, we rapidly came to appreciate its unique style, with trees tucked into the unlikeliest places. Taiwan has a rich seam of veg*n food, accessible through just a bit of online research. Here's how we got started.

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We arrived to Taipei in time for a late lunch; Michael led me a short walk from our hotel to Three To Vegetarian Restaurant, a casual corner spot with signs reading 'Sun Like Healthy vegetarian' in English. The huge pay-by-weight buffet of vegetarian dishes is visible from the street, and a kind staff member had enough English to invite us in and get us started, all while serving others rice, weighing their food and settling their bills. The buffet runs to several dozen dishes: vegetables, tofu and mock meats; some lightly treated and others battered and fried, or smothered in sauce. Our hearty meal for two came to around TW$370 (AU$18) and had us excited for all the eating to come.

   

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We sought out an early dinner at Ningxia Night Market, hoping to get our fill before it got seriously crowded. Again, Michael had done his research, and knew a few veg-friendly stalls that were worth tracking down. I loved the Yammy Peanut Ice Cream Roll (TW$60 ~ AU$3), watching the vendor expertly lay out a thin pancake (which I believe is rice-based and gluten-free), grate copious peanut brittle shavings from a huge block, top with two small scoops of vegan ice cream, then garnish with chopped coriander leaves before tidily wrapping it all up. Sweet, bright and refreshing, with just a bit of chew.

   

Michael focused on the salted egg-flavoured scallion pancake (TW$65 ~ AU$3), which was oily and generously glazed with spicy condiments. We finished up in a little seated spot, where two friendly young men served us a generous bowl of strawberry mochi ice (TW$75 ~ AU$3.50). The textures changed as we worked through it, the mochi initially soft and warm then getting more chewy as the shaved ice cooled them. Jammy strawberries, condensed milk and peanut powder completed the sundae experience. From there we were satisfied to sneak down the side of the market and watch others crowd in, some forming long queues down the street for the more famous stands.

   

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Perhaps the most anticipated meal of our time in Taipei was our dim-sum booking at Yang Shin Vegetarian Restaurant; it came recommended by a Taiwanese former colleague of mine. The restaurant is large, a little fancy and very orderly while maintaining that dim-sum buzz. The extensive menu included pictures and English labels, we ordered dishes at our own pace online, and we were entertained by the cat-faced robot that brought select dishes out from the kitchen.

To our taste, every dish was executed flawlessly. Moving top-to-bottom, left-to-right: the shao mai (TW$148 ~ AU$7) were labelled a signature dish and I was impressed by the mock ground pork and the accompanying mustard condiment, which we held onto for dipping the mustard green pancakes (TW$138 ~ AU$6.50). We had to try the stinky tofu wrapped in bean curd sheets (TW$320 ~ AU$15) and found its pungency to be subtle, like a whiff of blue cheese. The rice noodle roll with bread stick (TW$128 ~ AU$6) was carb-on-carb perfection. 

   

The deep-fried radish cocoon pastries (TW$138 ~ AU$6.50) shattered in the most pleasing way; xiao long bao (TW$148 ~ AU$7) weren't as soupy as we expected but included more tasty ground mock pork. The pork theme continued with Cantonese BBQ char siu bao (TW$118 ~ AU$5.50).

   

For dessert, we shared a lovely, varied bowl of tofu pudding, tapioca pearls, a dainty scoop of bean or taro paste, and brown sugar syrup (TW$118 ~ AU$5.50). Then there were some truly memorable deep-fried sesame balls (TW$118 ~ AU$5.50), with crisp golden sesame shells concealing soft, warm and sweet rice dough with a rich, molten black sesame centre.

We were full, we were so satisfied, and we were well fuelled to wander the Zhongzheng District for the afternoon.