Sù Xīn Yuán - Taichung

We had two different dishes. a fried noodle with sweet. it seemed a sweet (Chinese cabbage), with mushrooms and pork. we are not fans of mock meat, so we didn't cost the meal much. no flavor added and a celery undertaste. a rice dish with a sweet : spinat, a steamed half carrot piece, Chinese cabbage, warm carbureted cauliflower with mock pork. if you're in order with mock meat, go on! that is not the kind of veggie eating that we prefer to eat. but: their mochis are excellent! 10 for 250nt$, which is a bit expensive, but the taste justifies it.

The special set meal comes with various bits of dishes plus white/brown rice and is popular and good. The Young Sen (fostering health) hot pot is tasty. The server told us that no MSG is used here.

Local restaurant Its a bit salty in my opinion but the owner is very friendly

I’m not sure if they’ve changed their menu or have come under new ownership, but the HappyCow description and previous reviews don’t sound consistent with the menu items I saw today except for the one reviewer who mentioned the mochi: that’s something that I tried). The menus on the tables are only in Chinese, but the one over the cash register has photos and English names for all the dishes. I like how they offer purple rice as an option at no additional cost if you want something healthier than white rice, which they also have. They also have whole wheat dumplings in soup, but I thought it was too hot out to order a soup dish. Instead, I got the premiere veggie steak with purple rice 冠軍排飯, NT$110) and one brown sugar mochi 黑糖麻糬, stuffed with chopped peanuts, NT$25 each). I appreciated the complimentary bowl of braised soup with one piece of tofu that comes with any rice dish: just enough to whet the appetite. The veggie steak was okay but not easy to eat without a knife. I just lifted the entire thing with my chopsticks and bit mouthfuls of it. I also enjoyed the variety of different vegetables that came with the rice. The mochi was nice and chewy on the outside. The chopped peanuts on the inside were a nice surprise since I had no idea what was in there. I preferred it over the ground peanut with sugar that I’ve had from other mochi vendors. Overall, I liked this place more than the usual Taiwanese veg*n restaurant because of the purple rice and whole wheat dumplings as options, but it’s not mind-blowingly good or particularly special except for maybe the brown sugar mochi. The one staff member also could have cracked a smile to be friendlier.

I don't really understant the reviews here as I feel I wasn't at the same restaurant. There was no menu, no fancy drinks or hot pots. Just some plates with a mix of rice and other foods. I had the vegetarian steak and could not finish cause it was like eating a pile of heavy and tasteless paper. Same for the mochi, it was nice but oh so heavy. I don't think I will go back