a hungry girl's guide to taipei: supermarket

Showing posts with label supermarket. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

#exploretaipei/food court: i strongly recommend MAJI MAJI

MAJI MAJI 集食行樂

No. 1, Yumen St.

玉門街1號

(02)2597-7112

MRT: Yuanshan 圓山

Hours: Mon~Fri 11:00~21:00, Sat/Sun 11:00~22:00

website: MAJI MAJI FB page

visit reviewed: 5/15/2016 & 2/2015

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO SPEND THE AFTERNOON IN TAIPEI, look no further than Maji Square. Located near the Yuanshan (圓山) MRT and Taipei Flower Expo Park, Maji Square is a hidden away open food court, marketplace, restaurant square, courtyard of shops, performance space and expo space that constantly has rotating events. Opened in 2013, it's made I think one of the first time I went to Maji Maji was for the Lantern Festival, with towering constructed lanterns to pose with and admire. The most recent time was a Food expo which we browsed before walking into the main food court area.

When you first walk in, you'll see Good Cho bagels and soft serve, Maji Food and Deli which is a gourmet market with artisanal local and imported products, frozen goods and deli section. Then there is a long row of food court seating and shops on the left hand side, with a surprisingly array of choices under NT$200- from Taiwanese soy tofu, beef noodle, to fish and chips, burgers, Indian food, Korean food, Thai food, pasta and even French crepes, which seemed like the newest shop that I hadn't seen before. Tucked in the back is a handful of sit down restaurants for those craving steak or fish and chips, as well as kid friendly space Brickworks (part Lego store, part cafe) and a Merry Go Round.

(1) MAJI FOOD AND DELI MARKET

(2) MAJI MAJI's OUTDOOR FOOD COURT

Need any "imformation?"

(3) CUTE HOUSEWARES AND LOCALLY DESIGNED GOODS

love these. might have to go back and pick some up.

(4) RESTAURANT SQUARE includes The Three Lions Inn (三隻獅子英國餐廳), Gaucho Grill, Butcher's Kitchen (肉舖廚房), Popeye's, with some outdoor seating, a small stage, a garden and a Merry Go Round. I've tried all of them through the years and if you're craving meat, try Gaucho Grill or Butcher's Kitchen, if you're craving fish and chips or salad, go to Three Lions. Will have to post more detailed posts of each soon.

Just a peek at the photos from my last visit, as there's so much to explore and see and share. Who's been to Maji Square? Which food court shop is your favorite? Any tips to share?

Thursday, June 02, 2016

market/vegan: i recommend IVEGAN SUPERMARKET

IVEGAN 愛維根蔬食超市

No. 54 Wanlong Road

文山區萬隆街54號

(02) 2395-0900

MRT: Wanlong

hours: 8AM -10PM

Website: https://m.facebook.com/iveganmart

Price: $-$$

Visit reviewed: 6/2/2016

WRITING AN ARTICLE ABOUT VEGAN RESTAURANTS in Taipei has opened up a new dimension to Taipei that I never knew existed. Who knew that there was such a thing as a vegan supermarket in Taipei?! And it's huge. A whole basement level floor of fresh vegetables, fruits, packaged goods and frozen foods, IVegan is a curated, one stop shop for anyone looking for vegetarian or vegan goods in Taipei. Some of the items you could spy in your local market, Carrefour or Costco, but the selection here is varied enough that you could end up with a cartful of things even if you were just looking to buy veggies, tofu or household goods.

Opened for three years, iVegan is near the Wanlong MRT stop and not too hard to find from Roosevelt Rd., thanks to huge white and green signage pointing you to the right alley. Once at the entrance, you have to go down the stairs and down the long hallway before you reach the front of the market. There was a off putting smell for me in the hallway, either from the bathroom or durian or chemicals, not sure, but thankfully it was not evident inside the market.

A huge array of fresh produce and veggies like you would see at most supermarkets is in the front, cheaper than the gourmet markets at Jasons or City Super.

Vegan kimchi, rice cakes, tofu, tofu products

Fresh coconuts, pineapple and watermelons

Soy milk, sesame soy milk, brown sugar soy yogurt

Frozen vegan dumplings, onions rings, French fries

Edamame, fruit popsicles, vegan ice cream

Vegan Instant noodles and packaged noodles, both chinese and Italian pastas, sauces

Korean kitchen noodles for vegetarian

Fruit vinegars, organic apple juice

Frozen roti paratha, frozen vegan bacon, lots of mock meat like vegan bacon aka fakon

This fridge has some of the vegan dairy substitutes that I saw for the first time.. Vegan mayo Vegenaise, Earth Balance's olive oil "butter", Tofutti sour cream, vegan cheese and coconut oil. Keep in mind vegan products don't use any eggs, milk or cream.

Egg replacer

Fresh breads and jams, peanut butter

Vegan snacks, crackers and cookies

There seemed to be a unique selection of Indian, Thai, Vietnamese too- snacks, curry mixes, biryani mix, rice paper wrappers, satay sauce, chili sauces.

Even spied a durian snack (shudder!!) and fresh durian. I can stand the smell of stinky tofu, but I cannot stand the smell of durian.

Oatmeal

Rice bran oil, olive oil sprays, grapeseed oil..

Crispy onions

Vegetarian oyster sauce

Quinoa

An array of spices in large and smaller sizes - curry, fajita slice, thyme, cinnamon, chili powder - with English and chinese labels and nicely illustrated sketches