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Restaurants: La Marquise a 5 houres

La Marquis a 5 houres serves up tasty vegetarian food in a cosy atmosphere. PHOTO: NOAH BUCHAN, TAIPEI TIMES

Vegetarian cuisine plays an important role in Taiwanese gastronomic culture. Taipei has an abundance of vegetarian restaurants and cafeterias serving up a multitude of cuisine to vegetarians and omnivores alike. The roots of vegetarian fare can be found in the philosophical and religious beliefs of Chinese culture. Taoists encourage people to eat a predominately vegetarian diet as a means of living a simple life and Buddhists often live off a diet free of meat because they are prohibited from killing living creatures for food.

Vegetarian restaurants in the West became popular two decades ago because of the known health benefits of a non-meat diet. La Marquis a 5 houres was opened 12 years ago by a French expat wanting to give diners a taste of European vegetarian fare and changed ownership five years ago with Hu Zhen-zhong (吳振忠) taking over as host. Though the ownership has changed hands, Hu left the decor and menu intact.

The cozy space resembles the inside of a cottage that might be found in rural France with Tiffany-style floor and wall lamps creating a soft glow that makes the interior dark and intimate.

Restaurant Info Address: 11, Alley 2, Ln 345, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei (台北市仁愛路四段345巷2弄11號) Telephone: (02) 2773-8529 Open: Daily for 11:30am to 2:30pm and 5:30pm to 9:30pm Average meal: NT$500 Details: Menu in Chinese and English; major credit cards accepted

Hu says he follows the vegan tradition of avoiding onion, garlic and egg in all his dishes, preferring instead to let the flavor of each ingredient speak for itself.

Two set menus are on offer for patrons. The Country Set Menu (NT$480) comes with choice of soup, all-you-can-eat salad bar, and a main course and coffee or tea. For an extra NT$100, patrons can move up to the Urban Set Menu which offers the same as its country brethren but with the addition of an appetizer and different selection of main courses.

The moderately sized salad bar includes a variety of roughage, vegetables and fruit that come with six different dressings. There is also a selection of salads of which the marinated potato salad with assorted veggies kept this reviewer going back for more.

The homemade pate was somewhat bland and served with bread that could have been purchased at any grocery store. But the main course of vegetarian pie made up for the pate with thick chunks of vegetables held inside a crispy pastry.


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