Hsinchu Vegan Restaurants

Hsinchu Train Station

Hsinchu is a small city almost unheard of outside of Taiwan, however, there is at least a 50% chance that the computer chips you are using to view this web page were manufactured here (though your computer was probably assembled in China). The Hsinchu Science park (a massive but surprisingly pleasant industrial area of factories and businesses) is perhaps the powerhouse of Taiwan's economy, and as a result the average income in Hsinchu is higher than any other city in Taiwan (though due to its size Taipei still appears more affluent).

If you are a tourist or traveler in Taiwan, you probably have little reason to come to Hsinchu, except perhaps as a stop on your way south, though with such a fast and efficient train system on such a small island, even that is unlikely. If you're here, chances are it's either for a business visit to the Science Park, or you're living here, either teaching English at a local school or buxiban (cram school) or teaching another subject at an International School.

While it's no Venice or Kyoto, much work has gone into 'cleaning up' Hsinchu in recent years, including the development of a pleasant canal through the centre of the city. Hsinchu is arguably Taiwan's third most liveable city after Taipei and Taichung, though with its new MRT system, Kaohsiung could be challenging all of these.

One disappointing thing about Hsinchu is the notable lack of a Loving Hut (for now).

Like most of this blog, this page is a work in progress :)

BEDDHA AID DINING HALL 佛濟食堂 (Fo2 Ji4 Shi2 Tang2)
(Note that the above may not be the correct translation)

Though a small buffet, this is my favourite place to eat in Hsinchu. Not only is all the food vegan, but it serves quite a different range of food from any other Taiwanese buffet I have ever come across. To my palate, the food has much more flavour than regular buffets. Also, though they speak very little Enlgish, the staff are very friendly.

This restaurant is just outside the main entrance to National Jiao Tung University (the third to top university in Taiwan, to National Taiwan University in Taipei and National Tsing Hua University nearby in Hsinchu), so attracts a strong student crowd, as well as many workers and least two regular New Zealand teachers, of which I am one.

Like all good buffets, it is slightly more expensive than most, at up to 200 NT for a very large plate, with a bowl of rice.

They also have a good a-la-carte menu, but as it is only in Chinese, it really only works if you see other people eating something you would like, in which case the staff and probably the other customers will be very accommodating to your pointing at their food and requesting.

A typical meal from Buddha Aid Dining Hall.

How to Get There
It's a long and not very pleasant walk from the train station - a scooter or taxi is the best option. To get to the Buddha Aid Dining Hall (from the train station) walk out the train station and go down Linsen Road (with the subway restaurant on the corner). Continue down Linsen Rd until you reach JhenSing Bridge on your left, and SiWei Road to the right. Take Jhensing Bridge to your left up and over ZhongHua road and the railway line behind it. The restaurant is directly over the bridge on the right. As soon as you get over the bridge, take the first park you can find or get out of the taxi.

MINDER VEGETARIAN
Minder Vegetarian, Hsinchu. Buddhist Nuns sometimes sell fresh fruit outside. Prices are always very reasonable and the food is very fresh, and (more to support them) I recommend purchasing it.

Minder vegetarian are covered elsewhere on this blog (pages changing so not linked here), but the vegetarian branch (like all) is an excellent place for a solid meal. The only downside is that the food is not all vegan (some contains milk), and I have been unable to get assurances from the company about which foods are vegan. Anything with milk should usually be obvious, however one thing to watch out for is that some very soft, mushy looking tofu is made from cow's milk. Cakes and other deserts should also be assumed to contain milk. This may sound grim, but there are at least twenty dishes which are certain to be vegan at any given time, including (real) tofu dishes (anything deep fried should be fine), steamed vegetables and fake meats (again, dairy caution). Any "eggs" are fake, as being a Buddhist restaurant, it does not use egg (or garlic or onion).

As with any good buffet, food is slightly more expensive, and a large, eat-in meal, with rice, can cost up to 200NT, slightly more than other buffets.

This restaurant also has an "all you can eat" option, however without the dining experience that other expensive buffets have (including the main Minder Vegetarian branch in Xindian, Taipei) it really is a waste of money, as you eat the same food but pay much, much more for it, just for the convenience of being able to keep going back for more.

a typical meal from Minder Vegetarian

How to Get There
From the Hsinchu train station, turn right into Zhong Hua Road (North East), and follow it for about a kilometer. It is well labelled, on the left, just after MinSheng Road.

The address is:
300新竹市東區中華路二段82號
Hsinchu City, ZhongHua Road, Section 2, Number 82.

SUBWAY
I don't plan to often recommend non-vegetarian eateries in this blog, however, for many foreigners in Taiwan,including myself, it is sometimes nice to have a meal which is not Taiwanese, without having to cook it yourself. For this, subway is a good bet, if not the only one. All stores have English-speaking staff, though they usually appreciate it if a foreigner speaks Chinese, or tries to.

On the assumption that the bread is the same as elsewhere in the world (something I am waiting for confirmation of from the company), then:
1. Wheat bread contains honey, otherwise breads are vegan unless the name suggests otherwise (eg Honey Oat and Parmeasan Oregano).
2. The sweet onion sauce, ketchup and chilli sauces are vegan.
3. I do now know about the mustard sauce, but the honey mustard appears to contain mayonnaise (and, of course, honey).
4. You need to be careful to tell the staff not to put cheese on it.
5. Just in case someone doesn't speak English, when they point at a machine at the back, they are asking you if you want it toasted. Toasted subway break really doesn't make a good salad sandwich :)

How to Get There
Walk out the Hsinchu Train Station, and look down LinSen Road (that's the one almost perpendicular to ZhongHua (which is parallel to the train tracks), slightly to the left as you leave the station. Subway should be visible from the main entrance.
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This makes it also a good place to grab a bite to eat if you have time before taking a train, or to take onto the train. Alternatively, pick up a frozen (microwaved) vegan meal and a Taipei Times (Taiwan's most read and in my opinion best English-speaking Newspaper, not easily found in Hsinchu) from the large 7-11 on the corner just beside Subway.

MO's BURGER at Hsinchu High Speed Train Station
EDIT: As of Saturday, 17th October, 09, this burger appears to be DISCONTINUED, limiting the vegan range at Mos Burger to a salad (a few leaves) and a coffee.
A 7-11 meal would be much better, or if going to Taipei, Taoyuan or Taichung, go to a Loving Hut there instead.

Yet another non-vegetarian eatery listed purely for convenience, is Mo's Burger, which you may wish to try if and only if you take the High Speed Train. This new, super-fast train (a Japanese shinkansen on tracks made especially by French and German engineers to suit Taiwan's rugged and mountainous landscape) is a great way for getting up and down the length of the country, including an express train from Taipei to Kaohsiung in about 90 minutes. However the station is so far from the centre of Hsinchu, that if you are coming to Hsinchu for the first time from Taipei, by the time you take a taxi from the station to the centre of Hsinchu, you'll have saved very little time over the conventional train, and probably have spent at least three times as much. If you take the free shuttle bus to the city centre, you probably won't save any time at all. It is, however, worth taking it if you have your own transport to get to the station, or if you are going further south (but take the conventional train to Taichung for the same reason). It is also worth taking it if you are flying out of Taiwan, as there is a convenient shuttle bus from the Taoyuan Station to the airport, so it is a very fast, reliable way to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.

So, if you find yourself at Hsinchu Gao Tie Zhan (Hsinchu High Speed Train Station) and with some time on your hands, or in need of food, Mo's Burger, which is inside the station at the other end to the 7-11, serves a rice and konnyaku burger, in which the rice is fried to form a kind of a burger, with strips of konnyaku and some vegetables and sauces inside. They also have salads, but watch that they do not contain egg.
All stores have an Enlgish menu, with vegetarian (vegan but for the egg in the salad) clearly written on the few safe dishes.

Alternatively, for a faster bite at the station, there is a 7-11 which should sell the frozen vegetarian meals discussed elsewhere on this blog.

Map and other restaurants coming soon... :)