 Vege Creek Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A11 Store | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Founder | Paul Hsu |
| Products | Vegetarianluwei |
Vege Creek (Chinese:蔬河) is a Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant brand specializing in made-to-order plant-based noodle bowls and braisedluwei dishes.[1] Founded in 2012 by Paul Hsu and his friend, the brand originated inTaipei's Yanji Street nearSun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and later expanded to multiple locations, including branches in shopping malls. As of the mid-2020s, Vege Creek operates approximately nine stores across Taiwan, including in Taipei andTaichung.[2] It is Taiwan's second largest vegan restaurant chain afterLoving Hut.[3]
Vege Creek is known for a Taiwanese-style self-selection dining model (自助式) in which customers choose individual vegetables, mushrooms, tofu products, and noodles before the ingredients are cooked together in a shared broth. A distinctive feature of its stores is a "vegetable wall", where bundles of leafy greens—such as sweet potato leaves, bok choy, water spinach, and Chinese cabbage—are displayed vertically for customers to select. Other ingredients, including mushrooms, fermented tofu, rice cakes, konjac, pumpkin, and various plant-based balls, are pre-packaged and priced individually.[4]
The restaurant's broth is a light herbal base made withtraditional Taiwanese herbal medicinal ingredients such as licorice root, angelica root, goji berries, red dates, and black dates, along with salt and pepper. According to staff descriptions reported in Taiwanese media, the broth is oil-free and does not useMSG. Ingredients are briefly cooked in the broth and served with noodles, then topped with additional broth, soy-based sauce, and dried seaweed. Customers may also customize flavors using a condiment station that typically includes sesame oil, soy sauce, chili, basil sauce, citrus sauce, miso sesame sauce, curry powder, and pepper.[5]
Vege Creek offers several types of egg- and dairy-free noodles, such as rice noodles, wheat noodles, ramen-style noodles, and mung bean noodles. Some locations provide set lunch options with fixed combinations of noodles, vegetables, and plant-based proteins, marketed as lower-calorie meals. Take-out service is available, and seating in many branches is limited, often consisting of a shared table.[6]
Vege Creek has been covered by English- and Mandarin-language media as an example of Taiwan's contemporary vegetarian dining scene, which blends traditional plant-based cooking influenced by Buddhist vegetarian cuisine with modern, customizable service formats.[7] Its customer base includes vegetarians, vegans, andflexitarians seeking lighter meals, reflecting broader trends in Taiwan toward health-conscious and plant-forward eating.[8]