Huang Ji Vegetarian

Review

Huang Ji Vegetarian is on Taiping Street in Changhua City. Mirror Media reports that it is run by the third-generation brothers Huang Zhen-fang and Huang Zhen-yuan; the vegetarian tradition began with their grandfather, and their father was a banquet chef. Taiping Street is lined with old shops, including Gu Yue Guan fried glutinous rice, Huang Family di gu lu tea, and A-Cheng goose, and Huang Ji is one of the few long-running ones devoted to vegetarian food. Yam Travel's list of Changhua old shops includes it too.

The highlight is the steamed soups. The family combines double-steamed broths with herbal remedies, putting dried herbs into each individual cup so every bowl has the same balance. The goji "eel" and angelica "mutton" on the menu use plant-based ingredients to imitate meat, at NT$40 each. Noodle soup with tofu skin roll is NT$45 and dry noodles NT$30, with sides like red-yeast "pork", vegetarian sausage and rice blood cake, plus a vegetarian Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. At meal times there is also a self-serve vegetarian bento.

Diners praise the wide choice of soups, light yet layered, so you keep ordering more; one reported that dry noodles, sticky rice, sesame-oil tofu skin and a soup came to just NT$150 and left them stuffed. A five-dish bento is around NT$60 with nicely separate rice. Complaints are mainly that the noodles lean sweet, and seating is limited at peak times, so you may wait.

Hours are about 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Wednesdays and Sundays; older articles say 9 p.m., sources differ, so check before you go. Taiping Street is a narrow one-way road where cars are hard to park, so use a nearby lot and walk. The shop is plain, run like a snack eatery, and food arrives quickly.

It suits vegetarian travelers or anyone wanting a break from meat-heavy meals. Order dry noodles or noodle soup with tofu skin roll, then one or two herbal soups such as goji eel and angelica mutton, plus red-yeast pork; about NT$100 per person is plenty.