Taiwan offers some of the best vegetarian buffets you can find. With a large population of Buddhists, Taiwan is one of the most vegetarian friendly countries in the world. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for some quick and easy street food or if you’re booking a fancy restaurant for a date, there are always an abundance of vegetarian and vegan options that you can choose from.
Today I’ll be sharing with you one of the best vegetarian all-you-can-eat restaurants in Taipei, and I guarantee that even your non-vegetarian friends will love it as well!
Vegetarianism in Taiwan
Before we get started, you should know that there are roughly three categories of vegetarianism in Taiwan. Knowing the different categories will help you navigate the vegetarian scene in Taiwan much better.
- Five-spice vegetarian (五辛素): Includes onions, spring onions, garlic, chives, and scallions, which many vegetarian buddhists cannot eat.
- Ovo-lacto vegetarian (蛋奶素): Can eat dairy, eggs, and some animal byproducts such as honey. Ovo-lacto vegetarian food in Taiwan will usually also contain five spices.
- vegan (全素): No dairy, eggs, or animal by products, AND usually does not contain the five spices.
Fruitful Food Vegetarian Buffet
With five branch stores scattered throughout the country, Fruitful Food Buffet is one of the most well known and best vegetarian buffets in Taiwan. Naturally, I had to go try it for myself while I was in Taipei.
There are two branch stores in Taipei, one in Taoyuan, one in Zhubei (Hsinchu), and one in Dream Mall Kaohsiung. We went to the one Banqiao because we wanted to go to the New Taipei Christmasland located right outside of the mall. The Banqiao Branch is located on the 11th floor in the FE’21 mall. You can take the MRT to Banqiao (blue line) and the mall will be within a 5 minute walking distance from the station.
During the weekdays, the price is 588 NTD for lunch and dinner, and 538 NTD for dining in the afternoon. During the weekend, it gets just a little bit pricier- 638 NTD for lunch and dinner, and 588 NTD for the afternoon session. All with a 10% service fee.
Emi’s pro tip: if you’re not a big eater, then I recommend going in the afternoon. They have plenty of food at all times and definitely more than enough for you to go home with a full stomach!
The Fruitful Food buffet serves a beautiful green atmosphere perfect for dining. The Buffet is divided into many sections, including the Japanese section, the Western section, the desert section, and much more. There are also plenty of vegan options in every section.
There are a variety of teas and milkteas as well as freshly pressed juice you can choose from. It was my first time drinking carrot-pineapple juice, and it was a lot less scary than I had expected. My favorite sushi was the imitation squid sushi made from konjac, if you like raw squid then you definitely have to give this one a try.
The food selection here was seriously so good. I don’t know if chowder with puff pastry is a Taiwanese thing, but it’s a dish that every Taiwanese loved as a kid. They have really good ones here and I wholeheartedly recommend you try it if you’ve never had it before. I think the desert section was what impressed me the most. Usually I find deserts at all-you-can-eat restaurants quite disappointing, but the deserts at Fruitful Food vegetarian buffet tasted like it came straight out of a 5 star bakery.
Post-Meal Activities
Now that you’re full and satisfied, you’ll need a place to hang out while you digest all the food. There are many shopping malls in this area that you can stroll around and shop in while you recover. If you happen to be visiting during December, then there will also be a Christmas market (New Taipei Christmasland) outside of the FE’21 mall. The theme at Christmasland is different every year, and many people flood from all over Taiwan just to visit this market. If you enjoy taking photos, then you’ll be able to spend a good two to three hours here.
Are you vegetarian? If not, do you enjoy vegetarian food?
Let me know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to pin it and checkout my other posts on Taiwan 💛
Until next time,
OMG this looks SO GOOD!! I’m planning a trip to Taipei in the spring and am definitely going to add this to my list!
I’ve been vegetarian my whole life so this just sounds like heaven to me😂
I love my meat but there are some really amazing vegetarian places and your blog proves that. Thank you for sharing these great buffets!
Yummy! This all looks so amazing! Thanks for sharing 🙂
What an impressive looking restaurant! To have a full blown vegetarian buffet – amazing! That puff pastry would be top of my list! Thanks for sharing.
It’s my first time hearing about the five spice vegetarian. Interesting! Thanks for sharing.
This looks delicious! I’m so keen to go to Taiwan plus I’m a vegetarian so this is perfect. Thanks for sharing.
I did not know there was such a thing as a Five Spice vegetarian! Fascinating! The restairant is beautiful and the food on your plates…. Serious YUM! It makes me want to go to Taipei just for a good dinner! Thanks for the veggie inspiration!