Italian restaurants also have vegetarian options!Choose from pizzas, risottos, and desserts.

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Speaking of me, this homebody (?) urban hermit, even though I live in a bustling corner of Taipei City, I still often rely on friends’ recommendations or online food bloggers to find something delicious or fun. For my friend’s birthday, we wanted to celebrate, but after the holiday, everyone had already overindulged in food and drink, leaving our stomachs overloaded. So we decided to meet at miacucina for salads.

miacucina currently has three branches in Taipei. We met at the newly opened East District Fuxing branch, right across from the well-known pizza, pasta, and risotto restaurant Trattoria di Primo. The menus of both places seem similar, featuring Italian cuisine, but in reality, miacucina is a vegetarian restaurant with a more relaxed and lively vibe, embracing the popular industrial style of recent years.

Although we met at miacucina for salads, it’s not just greens on the menu. miacucina also offers paninis, flatbreads, pasta, risotto, cakes and pies, coffee and tea, pancakes, smoothies, as well as 10 daily limited-edition appetizers, and weekend brunch sets.

The three of us girls ordered the “Grilled Vegetables, Portobello Mushrooms, and Feta Salad” (what a long name!), the “Three Cheeses with Roasted Tomatoes,” and the “Grilled Peppers and Corn Risotto.” I also got a cappuccino.

This is the “Grilled Vegetables, Portobello Mushrooms, and Feta Salad” (NT$395), a very generous salad meant for three to four people. It includes grilled corn, red and yellow bell peppers, asparagus, carrots, portobello mushrooms, eggplant, onions, pears, caramelized walnuts, feta cheese, and balsamic dressing. This salad received unanimous praise from all three of us women present!The greens were not only fresh but also generously portioned, and the seasoning was rich and flavorful. miacucina mentioned they use ozone sterilization and ozonated water to wash ingredients, ensuring diners can eat with peace of mind.

The “Grilled Peppers and Corn Risotto” (NT$385) is an authentic Italian risotto with slightly firm rice grains, along with grilled onions, corn, peppers, and Parmesan. Its mildly spicy flavor makes it perfect for winter.

Originally wanting to order the pesto avocado flatbread, but since no pesto-containing dishes were available that day, we opted for the “Three Cheeses with Roasted Tomatoes” flatbread (NT$385) instead. The three cheeses include Cheddar, mozzarella, and Parmesan. This pizza-like flatbread was crispy, and the richness and tanginess of the tomatoes and cheeses complemented each other beautifully. Highly recommended!

At this point, I didn’t feel like I was eating meat-free vegetarian food at all!

Still not satisfied, we added the daily limited-edition “Crispy Roasted Mixed Vegetables and Fries with Ranch Sauce” (NT$240). This platter included vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, carrots, and sweet potatoes, coated in breadcrumbs and roasted. There were two sauces to choose from: a slightly spicy red western-style barbecue sauce and a tangy white ranch sauce.

Cappuccino.

Impressed by miacucina, a few days later I met up with colleagues at the Neihu branch for lunch. The Neihu branch is located on Ruiguang Road in the Neihu Science Park. Though it’s on a street corner, the sign isn’t very noticeable—you’ll need to look carefully.

The décor is similar to the Fuxing branch, but the main difference is that while the Fuxing branch staff promptly clear your plates and tidy the table, the Neihu branch is entirely self-service—you need to take your empty plates to the recycling station yourself.

The first-floor restaurant here, with its high ceiling, usually has a second-floor mezzanine seating area, similar to Ju Travel Coffee.

Both of us were quite hungry, so without much thought, we ordered what might’ve been enough for three people. First up was the bread soup (NT$160). It was pumpkin soup, thick and hearty, but surprisingly, there was only a small slice of bread. It felt a bit not worth NT$160.

Since there were only two of us, we picked the “Western Cowboy Salad” (NT$200) from the small-portion salad options. In addition to some greens, what stood out were the generous portions of avocado, red beans, and chickpeas, along with crispy tortilla chips, served with a mildly spicy western barbecue sauce and jalapeño pepper cheese.

Trying miacucina’s pasta for the first time, we ordered the asparagus and walnut pasta. Aside from asparagus and walnuts, what’s worth mentioning is the rich and creamy egg-based sauce that coated the al dente noodles—truly an excellent main dish. But a heads-up: it’s a rather large portion, and the two of us barely finished it (though we didn’t feel sick of it by the end).

This flatbread was really superfluous, especially when it wasn’t very tasty. We had the wild mushroom and eggplant flatbread (NT$350). When it arrived, it looked unappealing—dark and heavy—and the taste was pretty ordinary too. The mushrooms and eggplant were bland, and there was only the sour balsamic sauce. We left many slices uneaten, not even bothering to take leftovers. Truly sorry to the heavens.

Both dining experiences were generally quite good, but you really need to order the right dishes and share them with friends to have a great time. miacucina, in Italian, means “my kitchen.” I hope my own kitchen can create such delicious vegetarian dishes too!

[info]
miacucina
Fuxing Branch:
No. 11, Lane 107, Section 1, Fuxing South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City
02-27528767
11:00~22:00

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