Perth Voice Interactive

FORMOSA, Northbridge

by JENNY D’ANGER:

Formosa Vegetarian Eating House is a strange and disturbing place that challenges concepts of food and can leave your head spinning.

Just finding the eatery had the D’Angers puzzled because the space is dominated by signs for Utopia, a bubble tea and Asian sticky bun and cake vendor. The two eateries share a front counter and seating area, and even the staff seemed interchangable.

Once we discovered the small print “Formosa” we were left to wonder why  a vegetarian noshery had dishes such as sizzling black pepper steak, chicken and cashew and lamb hotpot, on a menu that wouldn’t look out of place in any Chinese eatery.

But nothing at Formosa actually has meat in it—nothing, as we confirmed—I even went back to the shared counter twice to make sure I was ordering from the correct menu.

Not even the tasty Taiwanese noodles ($10.90) which had little bits of something that looked and tasted like ham.

The sizzling chicken ($15.80) too was made from soy. It looked like chicken, the texture similar, and the taste much like I remember from my pre-vegetarian days.

But this tasty dish could be devoured with a clear conscience: No-one had been dispatched, squawking to the big coop in the sky, for your gastronomic convenience.

It was the same with the sizzling eel, little parcels wrapped in seaweed, giving them a fishy taste.

The fishiness was a bit strong for me but D’Angerous Dave loved it.

But I have to say the real winner was the one that wasn’t pretending to be anything but what it was—a vegetarian roll ($5.80).

We had ordered it as an entree but the Formosa has a very casual, cafeteria ambience and everything arrived more or less together.

The meatless roll had a lovely crunchy, nutty coating and a soft but firm savoury inside.

According to the menu, saving the planet can be as simple as eating vegetarian.

It cites a UN report saying the livestock industry is the biggest contributor to today’s most serious environmental problems.

Fresh water loss, rainforest destruction, spreading deserts and air and water pollution, soil erosion and loss of habitat—farting!—the litany of damage done by sheep and cattle farming goes on.

The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are well-known and, with prices like these, the bank balance would be healthier too if more people gave up meat

Formosa Vegetarian Eatery
Upstairs at 109 James Street,Northbridge
Open Mon–Thurs 11am–12, Fri/Sat 11am–2am