Christmas meals with vegetarian options can be this delicious!“Cheese mushroom steak” is so filling it feels just like meat

▲The cheese mushroom steak served with spicy tagliatelle has a rich flavor that even meat-eaters love. (Photo provided by Fan Hua Jin)

Reported by Hua Shaofu / Taipei

Fan Hua Jin Vegetarian Restaurant, located on the 7th floor of the Museum of World Religions in Yonghe District, New Taipei City, is offering a special Christmas gratitude set menu for lunch and dinner on December 24 and 25. Breaking away from the traditional festive notion of heavy meat-based meals, it showcases creative Christmas dishes made with healthy local vegetarian ingredients. This allows vegetarians to enjoy tasty and healthy food while also experiencing the joy and gratitude of Western celebrations.

▲ The Christmas tree salad is stacked high, resembling an actual Christmas tree. (Photo provided by Fan Hua Jin)

The Fan Hua Jin Christmas gratitude set menu includes: Italian focaccia bread as an appetizer, grilled asparagus with poached egg as a starter, snowflake soup, Christmas tree salad, and a main course where you can choose between cheese mushroom steak with spicy tagliatelle or wild mushroom risotto with Mzzarella and porcini. For dessert, there’s homemade lemon cake and stollen, along with drinks such as fair-trade coffee or rose hibiscus fruit tea. The whole set is priced at NT$550, offering great value for money. However, due to limited availability, reservations by phone are required.

▲ The snowflake soup looks absolutely delicious. (Photo provided by Fan Hua Jin)

Chef Jian Tengrui explained that the overall concept of the Christmas set menu centers around Western festivity and gratitude. Just from dish names like the Christmas tree salad and snowflake soup, you can feel the strong Christmas atmosphere. However, the choice of ingredients still adheres to their commitment to using purely natural, non-toxic, organic, and low-carbon principles, focusing mainly on seasonal produce from local small farms, including porcini mushrooms, asparagus, and burdock.

▲ Fan Hua Jin’s vegetarian cuisine offers a two-day-only limited-time Christmas set menu. (Photo provided by Fan Hua Jin)

For the main course, the cheese mushroom steak with spicy tagliatelle features a mushroom steak made from an entire king oyster mushroom, marinated, seared, and grilled—serving as a substitute for traditional meat-based steak. The spiciness is part of the chef’s creative touch, which he believes enhances the flavor. “If customers don’t like spice, we can also prepare a non-spicy version.” The wild mushroom risotto with Mzzarella and porcini also highlights the texture of cheese, with its aroma coming from imported Italian porcini mushrooms. “Our rice is all organic Taiwanese rice—you can really taste the fragrance of the grains.”

Fan Hua Jin

Address: 7F, No. 2 Baosheng Road, Yonghe District, New Taipei City
Phone: 02-8231 5988
Business hours: Closed on Mondays, open Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–20:30