While vegetarian food is not hard to find in Taipei, it certainly suffers from a lack of variety. This is, admittedly, the observation of a confirmed carnivore, whose periodic ventures into the world of vegetarian cuisine have usually left me uninspired.
The newly opened Chamkar, which serves Cambodian-inspired vegetarian food prepared by French owner Nicolas Devaux, is therefore a welcome addition to the fold.
Chamkar sports a clean, simple design that mixes exposed concrete with wood furnishings and a restrained use of Cambodian ornamentation. The overall effect is contemporary without being cold, and the widely spaced tables make for a very comfortable dining environment. The glass frontage looks over a small garden, softening the overall effect further.
Photo: Ian Bartholomew, Taipei TImes
An absence of Buddhist chanting, religious knickknacks, or servers in ostentatiously homespun robes,boded well.
The restaurant offers a lunch set menu (NT$270), two dinner set menus (NT$340 and NT$390), a children’s set menu (NT$190) and an a la carte selection. The lunch set, from which I ordered, offered a choice of two appetizers, six mains and three desserts, and a beverage. The selection looked very appealing on the page, and on the whole, the dishes I tried did not disappoint.
The winter salad of green leaves, sunflower seeds and wolfberries (枸杞) tossed with a mustard dressing suffered from a lack of variety in the leaves, dominated by the ubiquitous iceburg lettuce, but the dressing was bold without being overwhelming and the wolfberries provided a vibrant burst of flavor. It was a contrast to the other appetizer, a grilled papaya and vegetable soup. This was a light, clear soup subtlety infused with cinnamon, and while it did not blow me away, its flavors were nicely balanced.
Photo: Ian Bartholomew, Taipei TIme
A dish of pumpkin and pineapple with curry paste, coconut milk, toasted peanuts and fresh herbs was a highlight, packed with creamy, rich flavors. It was served with nicely cooked brown rice. The fresh herbs that Devaux uses really shine through.
The set was letdown by a dish of stir-fried glass noodles with curry paste, tofu skin and vegetables, which strived for elegance but didn’t quite achieve it and was visually less appealing.
Not having eaten Cambodian food before, I at least had the feeling that I was trying something different (rather than Thai or Vietnamese food under a different label). Chamkar is an offshoot of a restaurant that Devaux already runs in Cambodia, and he explained that Cambodian food is more closely related to Thai than Vietnamese, though more sweet and less spicy.
The children’s set menu was well thought out. The fresh spring rolls with a sweet peanut and chili sauce looked very attractive, immediately attracting the attention of the four-year-old I had brought along, and the Italian pasta with vegetable Bolognese sauce provided something familiar for children without compromising the restaurant’s commitment to the use of fresh herbs. All dishes can be prepared without garlic.
Chamkar offered a chocolate and a banana cake for dessert the day I visited. Both were tasty, though more home-cooking than restaurant food in their presentation.
Taken as a whole, the food was better, and more thoughtfully prepared and presented, than many other establishments offering a three-course set at a similar price point. Most notably, the flavors were clean and strong without resorting to heavy seasoning, a feat that must be applauded. While the absence of meat was disappointing (I thought the pumpkin dish would be really splendid with a red beef curry), I left Chamkar with the feeling of having enjoyed a satisfying gastronomic experience.
It is a soulful folk song, filled with feeling and history: A love-stricken young man tells God about his hopes and dreams of happiness. Generations of Uighurs, the Turkic ethnic minority in China’s Xinjiang region, have played it at parties and weddings. But today, if they download it, play it or share it online, they risk ending up in prison. Besh pede, a popular Uighur folk ballad, is among dozens of Uighur-language songs that have been deemed “problematic” by Xinjiang authorities, according to a recording of a meeting held by police and other local officials in the historic city of Kashgar in
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) told legislators last week that because the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) are continuing to block next year’s budget from passing, the nation could lose 1.5 percent of its GDP growth next year. According to the DGBAS report, officials presented to the legislature, the 2026 budget proposal includes NT$299.2 billion in funding for new projects and funding increases for various government functions. This funding only becomes available when the legislature approves it. The DGBAS estimates that every NT$10 billion in government money not spent shaves 0.05 percent off
Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 Like the Taoist Baode Temple (保德宮) featured in last week’s column, there’s little at first glance to suggest that Taipei’s Independence Presbyterian Church in Xinbeitou (自立長老會新北投教會) has Indigenous roots. One hint is a small sign on the facade reading “Ketagalan Presbyterian Mission Association” — Ketagalan being an collective term for the Pingpu (plains Indigenous) groups who once inhabited much of northern Taiwan. Inside, a display on the back wall introduces the congregation’s founder Pan Shui-tu (潘水土), a member of the Pingpu settlement of Kipatauw, and provides information about the Ketagalan and their early involvement with Christianity. Most
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was out in force in the Taiwan Strait this week, threatening Taiwan with live-fire exercises, aircraft incursions and tedious claims to ownership. The reaction to the PRC’s blockade and decapitation strike exercises offer numerous lessons, if only we are willing to be taught. Reading the commentary on PRC behavior is like reading Bible interpretation across a range of Christian denominations: the text is recast to mean what the interpreter wants it to mean. Many PRC believers contended that the drills, obviously scheduled in advance, were aimed at the recent arms offer to Taiwan by the
RSS