Let’s face it, vegetarianism is trendy and even the manliest of men are turning, if only just occasionally, to nutrient-rich and plant-based meals. Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian or simply someone looking for a low-fat meal, Vege Creek is an ideal option.
Vege Creek is the right blend of East meets West, and you get this impression as soon as you walk in the door. Its ultra-modern design concept strips the space down to the bare essentials. Exposed concrete walls and ceiling lends the tiny interior an industrial vibe, and is tempered by long sheets of honey wood, adding a touch of warmth. A small island in the middle of the room is constructed from polished wood. Vege Creek can only sit 10 customers, so you might wait a few minutes if you come during peak hours. Take-out is also available.
Along one wall, large metal bowls are fastened to the wall and in them sit uncooked and pre-packaged ingredients (NT$35 each). Vegetable options include, but are not limited to, carrots, green peppers, several varieties of mushroom, fermented and dried tofu, rice balls, fish balls, baby corn, okra, bamboo, green beans, cabbage, cucumbers, broccoli, seaweed, fungus and pumpkin.
Photo: Olivia Wycech
A stunning green wall of leafy vegetables lines the adjacent wall. It almost looks like a vertical garden, except that the vegetables are bundled and sit in plastic cylinders. Each row is a different type of plant, and on the day I visited there were eight to choose from. The labels are all in Chinese but I recognized sweet potato leaves, bok choy, water spinach, Chinese cabbage and rape. Each bundle costs NT$35.
A little further over, a small case contains small wooden chips in a variety of colors. Each color represents a different type of noodle that will eventually get prepared with everything else in your basket. If you can’t read Chinese you needn’t grab one. Simply ask the staff to show you what they have when you get to the counter. There are five different types of noodles and all are egg and dairy-free. You can choose between rice noodles, wheat noodles, ramen noodles and green bean noodles. Each package of noodles is NT$20.
But be warned: It’s easy to get carried away with the ingredients when they are separated. That’s what happened to me, and my bowl eventually contained way more than I could eat and cost me NT$200. Black tea is also available for NT$25. Vege Creek’s standout broth is a clean and simple brew of Chinese medicinal herbs, salt and pepper. There is no oil masking any flavors, nor making you feel heavy, no MSG and no fat. As I slurped it down, I kept asking the staff if they were positive there wasn’t anything else in it. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t beef.
Photo: Olivia Wycech
The noodles and vegetables are cooked in the broth just long enough so they tenderize and swallow up some of the flavor, yet still remain firm. Everything is then transferred into a bowl and is topped with more broth. There is an ever so slightly spicy soy sauce that is drizzled over the dish, and a few strips of dried seaweed add the finishing touches to a gorgeous bowl of noodles.
Vege Creek also offers an interesting health-conscious lunch special, which includes three options for NT$99 and falls between 350 to 500 calories depending on your choices. Each set includes one type of noodle, two green vegetables, and either tofu, taro and a rice cake, or pumpkin, fungus and konjac, or a mushroom medley.
Photo: Olivia Wycech
The breakwater stretches out to sea from the sprawling Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan. Normally, it’s crowded with massive tankers ferrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar to be stored in the bulbous white tanks that dot the shoreline. These are not normal times, though, and not a single shipment from Qatar has docked at the Yongan terminal since early March after the Strait of Hormuz was shuttered. The suspension has provided a realistic preview of a potential Chinese blockade, a move that would throttle an economy anchored by the world’s most advanced and power-hungry semiconductor industry. It is a stark reminder of
May 11 to May 17 Traversing the southern slopes of the Yushan Range in 1931, Japanese naturalist Tadao Kano knew he was approaching the last swath of Taiwan still beyond colonial control. The “vast, unknown territory,” protected by the “fierce” Bunun headman Dahu Ali, was “filled with an utterly endless jungle that choked the mountains and valleys,” Kano wrote. He noted how the group had “refused to submit to the measures of our authorities and entrenched themselves deep in these mountains … living a free existence spent chasing deer in the morning and seeking serow in the evening,” even describing them as
The last couple of weeks spectators in Taiwan and abroad have been treated to a remarkable display of infighting in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the supplementary defense budget. The party has split into two camps, one supporting an NT$800 billion special defense budget and one supporting an NT$380 billion budget with additional funding contingent on receiving letters of acceptance (LOA) from the US. Recent media reports have said that the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) is leaning toward the latter position. President William Lai (賴清德) has proposed NT$1.25 trillion for purchases of US arms and for development of domestic weapons
As a different column was being written, the big news dropped that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) announced that negotiations within his caucus, with legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT, party Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) had produced a compromise special military budget proposal. On Thursday morning, prior to meeting with Cheng over a lunch of beef noodles, Lu reiterated her support for a budget of NT$800 or NT$900 billion — but refused to comment after the meeting. Right after Fu’s
RSS