After Taipei, we spent two nights in Taichung. I got the impression that not too many western tourists visit Taichung, or certainly not in the summer when we were there, because we were treated a bit like a novelty and everyone wanted to know where we were from and what brought us there. People were so curious and kind! The vegan scene was not as thriving as in Taipei – it’s a much smaller city. But we found some real gems.

Guan Shi Yin Organic Lifestyle

We had dinner here during our stay in Taichung and enjoyed it.

I had the fried king oyster mushroom with rosemary and soy sauce business meal (meaning that it’s served with rice, soup, and two sides). The mushrooms were really tender and well prepared. The dressing was nice, but personally I couldn’t pick out the rosemary taste. It was good nevertheless! The soup had tofu and cabbage in it, and was really tasty. My sides were a little plate of wilted greens and some pickles, which were fine but unremarkable.

Dr HH had the vegetarian black pepper steak business meal (it was vegan, not vegetarian, don’t worry!). He enjoyed the texture of the steak a lot, it felt like a good seitan with a nice crisp exterior. The sauce was good and peppery. He also found the greens slightly dull as a side, but enjoyed the beans.

We also shared a plate of deep fried pepper king oyster mushrooms, which had a fantastic crispy texture and were well seasoned. Lovely!

The staff were really friendly and accommodating, and spoke perfect English to us. Overall we had solid but not mind-blowing meals, and we very much enjoyed saying that we were eating “business meals”!

Jiu Liu Su Shi

This was an extremely cheap and cheerful spot which served us very well in Taichung! The owner was very friendly and was interested in talking to us (via translation app). There was an English menu to order from, fortunately.

Dr HH had the curry noodles and it was very good. The broth had a good thick texture. The flavours were good but it felt just a bit under seasoned. Fortunately there was some spicy sauce he could add. There were plenty of noodles and they had a good texture. The vegetables had a range of different textures which was good for the dish. There was one piece of mock meat on the top, it was quite thin and it would have been good to have some more.

I got the wonton noodles, they were wide, flat, and very tasty. The broth in the dish was also very tasty and enjoyable. There were little bits of mock meat and something with a bit of crunch which both added good flavours and textures.

We each got a plate of ten dumplings too, these were very good. They had quite a fragrant herb in them that we couldn’t identify. They were generously filled with mock meat and cabbage.

Alongside the menu, there was also a buffet option but we didn’t investigate that. It seemed like the other customers were all locals, so it had quite a friendly and cosy feel to it which was nice.

Wheat Allergy Baking Studio

We absolutely loved this bakery! It was a little hard to find at first, as it’s down a small alley into a little courtyard. Our first visit was around midday when there was a decent array of items available. Our second visit was close to 5pm and there were very few things left, so don’t leave it too late in the day to visit!

There are no English names on display, so I’m not 100% sure what each item we ordered was called. The staff explained the items to us in English, so we had a good idea of what we were buying each time, just not the official name.

This one is easy enough to identify – we tried a pain au chocolat. It had a generous chocolate filling. We ate it the day after we bought it and it had lost some of it’s crispness, which is a shame, but not their fault.

Dr HH enjoyed the coffee mochi bun, which had a strong coffee flavour and a fun texture from the nuts on top and the mochi in the centre. We’ve not seen this kind of mochi bun before, so that was fun. I hate coffee, so I avoided this one.

We tried the cheese and edamame bun, which had loads of pockets of cheese and was perfectly baked. It was well seasoned as well with quite a peppery kick which I loved.

We got a chocolate and berry croissant. The chocolate dough was rich and delicious. The pops of juiciness from the berries helped to balance out the richness. This was comfortably my favourite of the sweets we tried.

Finally, we had a charcoal bun with fishy filling. The filling was really savoury and delicious, and the bread was soft. The charcoal added a bit to the flavour as well. We had this on both visits, it was a real highlight.

The staff were extremely friendly and helpful and spoke English to us, and told us about the business and building. It was a great spot for picking up packed lunch and breakfast supplies, highly recommended. I wouldn’t have known it was gluten free were it not for the name either.

Su Zha Long Xu Cai – Shmashuni (Sun Moon Lake)

We took a day trip to nearby Sun Moon Lake, and were a little unsure about where we’d find vegan options. fortunately, Happy Cow helped us out with a couple of potential spots in Ita Thao, one of the bigger towns or spots around the lake. This place was located on the main tourist drag and staff were happy to talk to us in English. We got a large bag of mixed fried vegetables to share. We were going to get individual portions but the staff recommended we just get one to share as it’s a substantial portion. I wouldn’t say it was really big enough for two people as a hearty meal, but it did the job as a relatively light lunch for two.

We were impressed with the frying, everything was crispy and not greasy, and even the paper bag the food came in barely had any oil stains on it. The selection in the bag was good, there were a few different types of mushroom with the little bunches of enoki mushrooms as a particular highlight. There were also some slices of lotus root which had a good crunch to them. Then some needle flowers and gracilaria (according to the sign at the shop) – I don’t really know what they are but they were perfectly fine.

We were asked if we wanted it spicy and we asked for bit of spiciness. We didn’t pick up on much heat from it, but the overall seasoning was good.

We initially got there right at 11am which was the listed opening time on Happy Cow, but it wasn’t open yet. We came back about an hour later and everything was up and running.

Activities Around Taichung

On arrival in Taichung, we headed straight out to the Gaomei Wetlands, which is home to thousands of migratory birds. Alas, not in the summer though! We saw some crabs and a couple of egrets, but nothing too exciting. Still, it’s nice to see the sea, and you might be there at a more convenient time for birdwatching. Definitely do some research on bus timetables though, it was not the most accessible spot.

We took a day trip to nearby Sun Moon Lake, which is a couple of hours away by coach (which you might want to plan in advance if you’re travelling during a busy season – the coach tickets reportedly sell out). There’s a lot you can do at the lake. Our top priority was Wenwu Temple, which was extremely colourful and lavish and offered an impressive view of the lake.

The best views were from the ropeway though. Alas the ropeway doesn’t really lead anywhere good so you just have to do a roundtrip. But with views like this, who’s complaining? You can also take boat rides between three different points on the lake, which is a convenient and scenic way to get around. It’s possible to walk some of the stretches alongside the lake too, but it wasn’t clear to us exactly how open the routes are, and it was far too hot in the summer anyway!