vegetarian/western: i strongly recommend MIA CUCINA

MIA CUCINA

No. 11, Lane 107, Section 1, Fuxing S Rd, Da’an District

(02)2752-8767

(more locations below)

MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing

11AM - 9:30PM

$$

Date visited: February 2022

Recommended dishes:  the 3 cheese roasted tomato flatbread (NT$420), the avocado mushroom panini, wild mushroom pasta, harvest salad, kale farro salad

Hello everyone in 2023! It really is easy to forget things when I don't write about it. This meal was from almost a year ago February 2022, and the first one that popped up from my google photos that uploads from my laptop. Looking at this meal, I remember it's from Mia Cucina because of their signature thin crust flatbread pizza and piles of salad and pasta, but without the menu in front of me, I'll have to google the prices and names of the dishes.  I'm thinking if I can upload random past meals from my photostream and get some posts done for 2023, even if they are throwbacks. Let's see how long this lasts! 

Mia Cucina was one of the first "vegetarian, but you can take your family who eat meat" restaurants and also one of the first places to have a great salad selection. Looks like they celebrated their 10th anniversary last year, which means they opened in 2012. Now there's a ton of Western vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Taipei, but Mia Cucina really was one of the first to have pages of over a dozen salads, pizzas, paninis and pasta, and be exclusively vegetarian. Now there's Herbivore, Baganhood, Herban Kitchen and Bar. It also reminds me of Gonna, which is not vegetarian but does the whole salad and pasta with same ingredients thing.

The first location I went to was their first one in Neihu, probably in 2013 and I remember being in awe because they had a semi-open kitchen with huge assortment of colorful veggies and you could see them as they assembled the salads and dishes. (I'll have to see if I can dig out the photos!!) The state of finding a salad in Taipei before then was so tragic- Caesar salads or lettuce with some diced cucumber, and at best, the salads from Chilis. It really was so sad. Look at us now! Mia Cucina now has locations in Daan, Tianmu and Xinyi, in the very visible second floor walkway of A11. I actually really used to like Mia Cucina, but haven't gone as often once all the cafes and Gonna and Herbivore opened. But don't be deceived- it can still be very busy and popular and you should make a reservation.

Their OG salads were the Farmers and the Harvest, which I would always get confused, with overlapping ingredients (and early menus only in Chinese). Ok let's break it down- Farmers salad has grilled sweet potato, bell peppers, grilled corn, raisins (YUCK WHY), red onions, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, cherry tomatoes, carrots, boiled egg, caramelized pecans, pineapple (again hmm), broccoli, croutons, avocado, cheddar cheese and ranch dressing. Harvest salad has grilled corn, grilled bell peppers, cherry tomato, asparagus, grilled carrots, grilled eggplant, red onion, cucumber cubes, quinoa, cilantro, toasted almonds, dried cranberries, feta cheese with lemon vinaigrette. 

In the last few years, they've changed it up, adding salads like Kale and farro (NT$435) and brunch and bowl options. Might have to revisit to give it a try!

Farro Kale Salad - kale, pecans, cranberry, scallions, celery, feta, lemon vinegar sauce

wild mushroom pasta

Other locations: 

110, Taipei City, Xinyi District, Songshou Rd, 11號2樓號

(02) 2722-3120

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Nanxi Store One

Zhongshan District, Nanjing W Rd, 12號2樓

(02) 2522-2438

No. 48號, Dexing W Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, 111

02 8866 2658

american: I recommend SPROUT

SPROUT 初芽
No. 33, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 7, Tianmu
台北市士林區中山北路七段31號
(02) 2876-6080

MRT: Shipai

hours: 8:30-21:30

website: Sprout's Facebook page

price: $$-$$$ (NT$300-500/person)

kid friendliness: kid's menu and dishware available 

visit reviewed: 9/30/2016

Avocado and spinach grilled cheese sandwich. Roasted vegetable quinoa salad. Lemon ricotta pancakes. Feta spinach turkey burger. Spinach and turkey lasagna. The menu from Sprouts, a casual and busy cafe in Tianmu, reads like a menu from a restaurant in LA and one of the hardest things to do at Sprout is to decide which dish to try first. 

Serving up brunch, salads, sandwiches, pastas, smoothies and desserts, Sprout joins the latest wave of Taipei restaurants offering up American menus that were nearly nonexistent here just a few years ago. Pricing is on the higher side, but reasonable considering the portions, especially for the salads. Quite a few vegetarian friendly dishes as well as some unusual hot plates like jambalaya or Hungarian chicken.  Reservations recommended, especially for weekends. Customers are expected to place orders and pay first at the register, get a number and grab utensils, plates, cups, water, condiments at the self serve station in the center of the room. 

Self serving station

I was torn between a lot of things on the menu, but I decided to try the prime rib roast with caramelized onions sandwich (NT$400) and add the tomato soup and iced green tea for an extra (NT$120). The sandwich came with a choice of a side dish, which you can see at the counter, and I was happy with the roasted vegetables, though I wished the portion was slightly bigger.

Loved the tomato soup as it had the right amount of creaminess, sweetness and tomato sourness and it was a satisfying portion to lead into the meal. Hard to find a good tomato soup in Taipei, and I would definitely order this again (maybe along with the green monster grilled cheese sandwich).

I used to always order the french dip at 1Bite2go, but they've recently taken it off the menu. The prime rib sandwich version at Sprout might be even better than 1Bite2Go's,  as it came with a fat tomato slice and pickled onions on the side, along with the caramelized onions that were already with the beef. The provolone and horseradish also add some depth to the flavors, so you almost don't need the au jus, though I still found myself dipping pieces of the fluffy ciabatta into the sauce.

I enviously eyed the heaping bowls of salads my lunch meeting friends ordered- the mexican chicken and avocado salad (NT$360) came with chicken, corn, baby tomatoes and avocado on a pile of lettuce  and the roasted vegetable quinoa salad (NT$340) had a touch of crumbled feta cheese atop the roasted bell pepper, zucchini, carrots and tomatoes. Some of the restaurants in town have salads on their menus, but when it comes, there's no lettuce in sight, so it's great to see these American sized portions so you could potentially share dishes or pack half the salad to go for later. 

Scallops and salmon pasta in pesto sauce (NT$530) 

I wished I had saved room to try some of their desserts on the menu, like the caramel banana cream pie or the apple and maple cake, but I will have to make a return visit to try them then. I also wanted to try the breakfast smoothie bowl, which you can choose any smoothie and make it into a bowl topped with bananas, berries, chia seeds, coconut and granola. (NT$150 + price of smoothie) Otherwise, you could always swing by Dairy Queen which is right next door for a blizzard or ice cream sandwich. 

indian/revisited: i still strongly recommend THE SPICE SHOP

THE SPICE SHOP INDIAN CUISINE 香料屋印度料理
No. 6 Alley 10, Lane 50, TianMu E. Road, Shilin District
天母東路50巷10弄6號
(02) 2873-7775

 MRT: Mingde (about 30 minute walk or 10 minute drive from station)

 website: Spice Shop's FB page

 hours: 11:30AM – 2PM, 5:30PM –9:30PM

 $$ - $$$ (about NT$400-600 per person)

 Kid friendliness: high chairs available, some non spicy menu items available.

Visit reviewed: 3/15/2016
Previous visit reviewed: 5/29/2013 (LOL!! I didn't even realize I reviewed it already. So I added this and changed the header.

Have you ever seen the movie THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY? Basically, it's a movie about a one Michelin starred French restaurant run by Helen Mirren's character that begins feuding with the owners of the newly opened Indian restaurant across the street, and of course, mutual love of good food brings them together in the end. Anyways, I think about this movie because Spice Shop is right next to another Indian restaurant, Saffron, less than a hundred feet away, and you have to wonder what the relationship between the two restaurants are. Are they owned by the same people? Are they enemies? Do they just ignore each other? Do they work together? I guess the easy thing to do would be to ask, but every time I'm too busy eating my food to remember.

For whatever reason, I tried Saffron first and ate only at Saffron for years before stepping foot into Spice Shop, because Saffron was so good, even though it seemed to be the more upscale, pricier restaurant . Why give up a sure thing when you don't know if the restaurant next door is going to be bad or good especially when I was trekking all the way to Tianmu. Then a few years ago, a friend wanted to eat at Spice Shop and so we went and it ended being equally tasty as Saffron. (Note the date in the Instagram photo below-- May 2013! That was my first time to Spice Shop. What a difference three years make, so much has changed in my life since then.)

I wish I had taken more photos of the menu, but the English Chinese menu has a collection of appetizers, salads, tandoor dishes, curries and vegetarian dishes.

And even though I don't have photographic proof, Spice Shop went through several renovations awhile back and now is equally fancy looking as Saffron, even though my fuzzy memory swears that Spice Shop used to look more colorful and casual than it does with its current muted purple hues and decor. (Googling some old blogs seem to vouch for that.) Spice Shop has been opened for over 10 years, a few years before Saffron opened.

So for a recent get together, my friends and I ended up at Spice Shop and they quite liked it as well. Butter chicken, tandoori chicken, fluffy naan, raita, spinach, eggplant.

Complimentary papadum, only 1 per person. We asked for more, but they said it would cost extra.

The raita (NT$100) at Spice Shop has a lot of cucumber, onion, tomato mixed in (unlike the version at Balle Balle which has a little bit of diced cucumber but is basically a yogurt dressing, but more like the version I had at Joseph's Bistro). 

The tandoori chicken - a half order of four pieces was good enough for three of us to share. I personally thought the chicken had too much spice layered atop it, there was something that didn't agree with me, but I was the only one who thought so.

Butter Chicken (NT$380) This was a hit at the table as always.. It seemed to have more layered flavors than my current favorite spot, Balle Balle, and wasn't as sweet. 

Butter chicken with a pile of naan is a must. Plain for me, garlic for my friends! The naan at Spice Shop is fluffy and generously sized.

Spoon a little of each curry and some rice to your plate and dig in. The eggplant and spinach were really good too. It's definitely harder to have a variety if you are eating alone. That's why I always eat it with a few friends. If you can't eat spicy foods, then the waitress recommended Murgh Lababdar (NT$340) to us. The default spiciness level in Taipei is generally low spiciness, which is how I like it too, so I don't mind it. But I've heard rumbles online when people complain about Indian restaurants in Taipei not being spicy enough. So the general rule of thumb for Indian food in Taipei is that if you like it spicy, just ask. 

CLOSED/korean: I recommend MOM's CHICKEN AND KIMBAP

This location closed when I went 8/2016. I think they may have moved to Ximen

MOM's CHICKEN AND KIMBAP 

馬咪炸雞塊&馬咪捲

No. 6, Lane 5, Tianmu W. Road

台北市士林區天母西路5巷4弄6號

(02) 2877-1223

MRT: Zhishan (but looks like 30 min walk from there)

Website: http://momscnk.com/store

Kid friendliness: kids can eat the non-saucy fried chicken or popcorn chicken. The kimbap is a good way to them to eat veggies 

Visit reviewed: 10/31/2015 and 10/26/2015

Opened a few weeks ago in Tianmu, Mom's Chicken and Kimbap focuses on  Korean fried chicken and kimbap aka Korean sushi, made by a few Korean moms using their moms' recipes, or so I heard from my friend who told me her friend opened it. 

Go for the addictive, saucy Korean fried popcorn chicken, Mom's Chicken Pop (NT$109) which comes in a convenient cup and lid to eat on the go. The owners say the sticky sweet sauce isn't spicy, and though it's more sweet than spicy, I think it does still have a kick to it. Korean fried chicken reminds me of orange chicken, but a fired up version. For those who are more sensitive, you can try the non-saucy version. Either way, the fried batter, the crunch, the juicy morsel of meat inside, it all works. If you've never had Korean fried chicken, it's fried twice so that it is irresistibly crispy and the batter doesn't fall apart from the meat and isn't too bready. 

Mom's Korean Chicken regular packages are family packs of wings and legs for NT$599-639 with fries and onion rings, or NT$399-439 for just the Korean fried chicken. I like the boneless popcorn chicken since I can eat it right away on the go, and don't have to get my hands dirty. The two bites of rice cake are also just enough to satisfy, but not feel overly heavy. 

Mom's BBQ kimbap (NT$118) wasn't what I thought it would be and the pork inside was dry. I wish they offered bulgogi kimbap, which I first tried at my friend's house. My friend's homemade kimbap is tastier. Otherwise, kimbap is not a bad way to get your veggies on the go, with carrots, cucumbers, pickled radish, egg inside. 

Mom's Chicken and Kimbap is in the alley right in front of McDonald's near the Tianmu circle for those of you in the neighborhood. Once you're in front of that alley, you will spot the bright orange sign. I love the name and the eye catching sign- it's quite clear what they are selling. Tiny space inside, only few spots for eating inside. Mostly for to-go orders. Owners spoke Chinese, Korean and English. Everything is made to order, and expect to wait at least 10 minutes or more for your order. They also have a stamp card, so make sure you get that.  I've been twice in one week which doesn't happen often, so I strongly recommend their #4 Mom's Chicken Pop, will have to try their Mom's Korean Chicken soon. I would give the whole shop a strongly recommend, but wavered because of the kimbap. I know there quite a few Korean fried chicken places in Taipei, especially after the popularity of You Who Came From the Stars, but most of them are sit down chicken and beer spots (Oppa, Chimac, Chicken in Bok and Beer, Ovenmaru, Palgoo Beer Chicken) and sometimes hard to get a table. This is easier to order and go, and now I'm addicted.

american/market: i strongly recommend WELLMAN'S MARKET

WELLMAN'S MARKET
No. 472 Zhongshan N. Road,  Sec. 6, Tianmu

台北市士林區中山北路6段472號

(02) 2871-4454

Sadly, Wellman's closed in 2019

MRT: Shipai

Hours:

Visit reviewed: 9/24/2015

Have you ever looked for Pop Tarts, Rice Krispies cereal, hot dog buns, Spam, enchilada sauce, food coloring or corn meal in Taipei? I know you have since I've gotten your emails over the years about "where to find..." and I've been looking too. 

Now you'll have at least one place in Tianmu to go to- Wellman's Market. I'd heard of it for years, but never made the trek out to investigate, but I'm telling you if you're a long time resident of Asia and willing to pay a little extra instead of loading your luggage with groceries from the states, then it's worth the trip. Instead of doing a scavengers hunt around Jason's/City Super, Carrefour, Wellcome and your local market's "import aisles", the entirety of Wellman's will look familiar to those of us from the states. It's probably how our parents felt discovering the local Ranch 99/Nijiya/Korean market rather than shopping the sad instant noodle aisle at Ralphs. Lol! There is even a  small selection of personal care goods like Irish Spring soap and various shampoos and deodorants.

Let's just walk through the aisles- there's only three since the market isn't huge, but it's packed from top to bottom.

Duncan Hines cake mixes- chocolate Devil's food, fudge marble and Betty Crocker fudge brownies sit in rows below Old El Paso, Snyders and sour cream, garlic dips.

Lots of salsas, nacho cheese, canned beans, taco shells and sauces for Mexican food DIY. Even corn meal to make your own tortillas! It's actually really hard to find corn meal in Taipei.

Tomato pasta sauces and jams and jellies like apricot, green fig, lemon curd and raspberry. I also spotted cherry, blueberry and apple pie canned fillings- I remember my mom used to use the cherry filling to top homemade mini cheesecakes.

The cereals! Rice Krispies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Smacks, Frosted Flakes and more. Note a box of Rice Krispies is almost NT$300 so you will have to really love it to buy it. Imagine the rice krispy treats you can make!!!

Small packs of hotdog and hamburger buns so you don't have to buy the megabucks from Costco.

Candies like twizzlers and Oreo Hersheys.

Poptarts and lots of them. I remember going through a pop tart phase in college but haven't really touched them in the past 10 years. Who's been looking for pop tarts in Taipei? There's also spice mixes and seasonings, and funnily enough, brown paper lunch bags and Reynold's aluminum foil, supplies we take for granted in the states.

Here we have the dressings, mayonnaise, mustard, honey, Hershey's chocolate syrup. Sriracha.

Spam and turkey spam to make your spam musubis.

Baking supplies like food coloring, active yeast, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract, strawberry extract. I know you can find these things here at the DIY shops too, but some of the comfort is being able to recognize brands you like and read the English instructions that aren't covered up in a Taiwanese sticker for translation.

Different types of Swiss Miss hot chocolates, even with mini marshmallows since that's the best part of hot chocolate right?

Wellman's has a small refrigerated goods section, with small tubs of sour cream, heavy cream, whip cream, and some deli cheeses, chorizo, salami. The chorizo iberico is actually quite addicting.  Next to the front are also some root beer and other beverages.

So good luck finding what you've been looking for at Wellman's. Doesn't hurt to ask them if you don't see what you are looking for. I asked them about Jello, but they said that Taiwan doesn't import Jello anymore. For those of us who've been living in Taiwan a long time, you might find yourself oohing and aahing at something you forgot that you wanted/needed on the aisles at Wellman's. 

What have you been looking for in Taiwan/Asia that you couldn't find? Comment below and maybe we'll find it!