If you’re a Hello Kitty fan, you would not want to miss this Hello Kitty themed restaurant in Taipei on Da An Road.
kawaii mecca
Be prepared to drool at the decorations even before entering.
And because it is Taipei, this Hello Kitty restaurant offers 4 main course options for vegetarians.
Find out what they are.
If you want the real deal in Hong Kong and eat breakfast where the locals do, venture into To Kwa Wan on 37 Mei King Rd and grab a table in Miu Fat Chai 妙法齋.
This cosy restaurant serves affordable breakfast sets – standard fare in most Cha Chaan Tengs – a big bowl of noodles, toast and drinks and the bonus point is all food serve here are vegetarian.
Miu Fat Chai has now become one of the top restaurants I hang out with parents for yum cha on the weekends.
Here’s a typical breakfast spread:
Shanghai noodles
Preserved vegetables and shredded ham slices in Shanghai noodle soup.
San Francisco is one of those enlightened cities that supports Meatless Mondays, advocating “more tofu, and less steaks“.
Special thanks to my friends Ross and Paul, owner of Veggie SF cafe in Hong Kong, who recommended a good selection of restaurants I had to try while there.
Here’s the top picks:
Summer Sampler
Farro salad with Mediterranean cucumbers, sweet cherry tomatoes, eggplant relish with pine nuts, capers and basil; summer beans with tarragon;hummus; spicy tomato jam; olives and grilled pita.
Cafe Zen is nestled in the hustle and bustle of Mongkok, located on the 13th floor of Dundas Square.
Spanish tomato pork cutlet linguine
The cafe is owned by Kelvin, a Buddhist who volunteers at the temple cooking vegetarian cuisines before setting up his own eatery five years ago with his parents.
Cafe Zen offers a wide variety of food and the Spanish tomato pork cutlet linguine is an example of its range of fusion dishes available.
If you like Thai food and Indian mutton curry, click more to check out pictures.
Think shark’s fin, sea cucumber and abalone but veggie style.
How will it look and taste like?
sea cucumber and abalone
Long time chef Mr Luk decided to venture into vegan cusine, he set up Chihara, a private kitchen in one of the factories in Aberdeen.
If you’re inspired by dishes from Shanghai, Beijing and Sichuan, click to find out more.
oolong tea
This canton-style teahouse located in Hong Kong Park is said to serve more than a hundred different types of tea from Flower tea, Black tea to Green tea from Anxi, Taiwan and Guangdong.
As me and my friend are not tea connoisseurs (I came for the vegetarian dim sum actually) so we settled for Rose with Pu’er and Osmanthus Phoenix Oolong.
Click more to find out the ritual in preparing tea and what dim sum you can get here.
shepardess pie
I finally visit Bookworm Cafe while chilling at Lamma Island over the Easter break.
As a vegetarian, I don’t usually get to eat Shepard’s pie so I jumped at the opportunity to try the shepardess pie from Bookworm.
Instead of minced meat, the bottom layer is made of lentils and I like that it complements with the otherwise bland potato mash on top.
Heard of a tofu omelette? Click more to find out.
cold dish
The concept of private kitchen is quite unique to Hong Kong.
The ‘kitchen’ usually decides the menu for you and you need to book in advance.
Veggie Palace (貴德宮皇廷素宴) has a Zen atmosphere, decorated with calligraphy, Chinese paintings and Buddhist altars.
We started our ‘banquet’ with a cold dish that includes a selection of pomelo salad, century eggs, vegetarian ham and sushi rolls.
Click more to find out other mouth watering dishes we had at Veggie Palace.
Mala Noodles
Loving Heart is your go to restaurant if you’re looking for Sichuan cusines located at The Metropolis Mall in Hung Hom.
As I’m a big fan of spicy food, I love to order Mala noodles whenever I’m there. You can choose between the Shanghai (thicker like udon) or vermicelli noodles.
Click more to find out what are the must try dishes if you go there.
Nachos
I’m a big fan of nachos and enjoy Mexican food especially on days when I crave avocado.
As you can see, this is Cafe Iguana at Civic Square in Elements shopping mall.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get the cushy seats shown in the background and had to settle for the chairs outside.
When it comes to nachos, I’ve eaten before where the cheese is too chunky and sometimes not melted enough or burnt and even worse, when the chips are not fresh.
Here, the toppings include roasted corn peppers, jalapeño, tomato cubes and a relatively generous amount of guacamole that comes with fresh and crispy chips.
Want to know what other options you can get at Iguana? Click more to find out.