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
Growing up in a rural, religious community in western Canada, Kyle McCarthy loved hockey, but once he came out at 19, he quit, convinced being openly gay and an active player was untenable. So the 32-year-old says he is “very surprised” by the runaway success of Heated Rivalry, a Canadian-made series about the romance between two closeted gay players in a sport that has historically made gay men feel unwelcome. Ben Baby, the 43-year-old commissioner of the Toronto Gay Hockey Association (TGHA), calls the success of the show — which has catapulted its young lead actors to stardom -- “shocking,” and says
Inside an ordinary-looking townhouse on a narrow road in central Kaohsiung, Tsai A-li (蔡阿李) raised her three children alone for 15 years. As far as the children knew, their father was away working in the US. They were kept in the dark for as long as possible by their mother, for the truth was perhaps too sad and unjust for their young minds to bear. The family home of White Terror victim Ko Chi-hua (柯旗化) is now open to the public. Admission is free and it is just a short walk from the Kaohsiung train station. Walk two blocks south along Jhongshan
The 2018 nine-in-one local elections were a wild ride that no one saw coming. Entering that year, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was demoralized and in disarray — and fearing an existential crisis. By the end of the year, the party was riding high and swept most of the country in a landslide, including toppling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in their Kaohsiung stronghold. Could something like that happen again on the DPP side in this year’s nine-in-one elections? The short answer is not exactly; the conditions were very specific. However, it does illustrate how swiftly every assumption early in an
Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 In 1933, an all-star team of musicians and lyricists began shaping a new sound. The person who brought them together was Chen Chun-yu (陳君玉), head of Columbia Records’ arts department. Tasked with creating Taiwanese “pop music,” they released hit after hit that year, with Chen contributing lyrics to several of the songs himself. Many figures from that group, including composer Teng Yu-hsien (鄧雨賢), vocalist Chun-chun (純純, Sun-sun in Taiwanese) and lyricist Lee Lin-chiu (李臨秋) remain well-known today, particularly for the famous classic Longing for the Spring Breeze (望春風). Chen, however, is not a name
RSS