The afternoon of our 2nd day in Taipei passed fast with activities.
My mom especially enjoyed visiting Lungshan Temple (龍山寺). We didn't go to the observatory (91F) of 101 Building because the sky was overcast.
Then, we had the Taiwanese massage. It was 100 minutes of extensive foot and whole body massage and my entire body felt so much lighter and healthier after the session!
Our dinner was also something I was really looking forward to having. It was a Taiwanese-style vegetarian dinner at Yu Shan Ge (鈺善閣). Taiwan is a big Buddhist country and most people are very religious. You also find many Buddhist monks in the city. So, there are many restaurants and street vendors with the sign of "素食" which indicates vegetarian food. It's not internationally known, but Taiwan is like a vegetarian paradise with many vegetarian options of restaurants. About 10% of the population is vegetarian. At Yu Shan Ge, they serve very elegant "kaiseki-style" vegetarian course dinner.
We ordered different dinner courses.
The restaurant had the beautiful modern-Chinese interior, and the service was so elegant. The first thing which was brought to our table were finger bowls. It looked like a soup!
My kabocha pumpkin soup with mountain yam. Mom's soup was mushrooms and vegetables.
Small appetizers...my plate included konnyaku (yam jelly) sashimi, tofu skin, etc.
Look at the presentation! My course was taro and lotus root.
I was in shock when the next course arrived. My dish was Mushroom and cheese gratin. Yes, the dish was covered with the cheese from cow's milk!! I later learned that Taiwanese Buddhist-style vegetarian (in Japanese, we call it "shojin") can be completely vegan (like how we define "shojin" in Japanese) or can use dairy. So, it was a surprise, but the dish was delicious, anyway. Mom's dish was eggplant with mashed taro.
Followed by the "palate clenser" cold vinegar tea (red vinegar, honey, and lavender...another artistic presentation), the main course was the mushroom steak. There were three different kinds of mushrooms including the local kind which is rarely found outside of Taiwan (I forgot the name). The sauce had the complex flavors of different Chinese spices. It was very nice.
Rice and soup courses. My soup had ginseng, red dates, sugar cane, lotus seeds, etc. So soothing.
Dessert was steamed dumpling with yam paste.
It was such an elegant and satisfying vegetarian dinner! My body felt so good (and stuffed) after all the dishes. Each dish was so unique and authentic Taiwanese. The flavors were so complex. Both my mom and I had a great time.
After the dinner, we went to the famous Shilin night market. On Monday night, the market was packed with people. Very exciting.
