As implied by the name, Snuggles is a cozy restaurant where one can enjoy a nice warm meal. There are just three tables and a VIP room in the small house in Tianmu, decorated in a personal style. There are simple but elegant plants on the tables, as well as piles of books about cooking and spirituality. On the wall there's a portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. In fact, Christine Chen (
When it comes to vegetarian food, some call it eating grass, or "settling" for processed bean curd that is meant to simulate meat. But Chen intended such stereotypes when she started the restaurant three years ago. The Chinese name of the restaurant is shu-shi, shu-shi, which means "Veggie meals, comfortable meals."
"I wanted to help people eat vegetables comfortably and make veggie food an enjoyable treat," Chen said.
The best way to enjoy food here is to try the set menu, which includes soup, salad, a main dish, a dessert and a pot of lemon grass mint tea, all for NT$250.
Pumpkin soup (NT$80) is a popular choice for its taste and richness. Apart from pumpkin, there are potato, carrot slices and mushrooms added in. Because no butter is used, Chen uses oatmeal to make the soup creamier and thicker. The use of oatmeal has the same function as mixing butter and flour for making a thick soup, but it has less cholesterol.
Fruit salad with yogurt (NT$70) is refreshing and tasty. It is served in a big bowl, containing slices of banana, kiwi fruit and apples, and is topped with raisins and nuts. The yogurt is home-made and honey is added. If you don't have a big appetite, just the fruit salad can be quite filling.
There are more than 10 main dishes, including a range of pastas, grilled cheeses and vegetable rice and curry rice. The more popular items are pesto pasta and curry rice. The pesto sauce is rich and fragrant, as Chen reduces the amount of oil for the dish and uses more basil leaves and pine nuts. This makes it a longer process in the blender but has a better result.
Chocolate cakes are nice surprises here. They are strictly veggie, ie. which means no milk, eggs or butter. Instead, soybean milk and other secret ingredients are used as substitutes. But they taste moist and soft, enriched with chocolate flavor. Chen said the cake was the result of years of experimentation and practice.
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