Healthy Living: Where to find vegetarian foods 借问素食何处有

1) Where to find vegetarian foods: (1) Vege Station in Johor Jaya

I have become vegetarian for 12 years and I feel that I am very healthy compared to meat eaters. I have gone for a few medical checkups and I was confirmed that I have no diseases at all! I love vegetarian foods very much. I can even enjoy the food with just some rice and one or two veggie dishes.

Vegetarian foods can be very delicious. I have gone to a lot of vegetarian restaurants and stalls. I will recommend some of the places where you can find delicious and healthy vegetarian foods.

The first one I am going to share with you is a small stall located in a small hawker centre in Taman Johor Jaya. The name is Vege Station. Although this vegetarian stall is small but there are a lot of customers whether vegetarians or non vegetarians love to take their lunches or dinners there, especially at night the stall is packed with diners.

This is the view of the stall I took at noon.

This is the hawker centre where Vege Station is located.

One of the foods I love is “Lei Cha” (擂茶) which means “grinded tea”. There are people wrongly name it as “thunder tea”. “Lei” is actually the action to grind the tea leaves with other plant leaves in a big clay bowl (but nowadays people just use blender to blend it). The paste after grinding is poured with boiled water and this soup is called lei cha. Now you can start taking this delicious and healthy lei cha with rice and several finely diced dishes such as tofu, green beans, ground nuts, pickled radish and other vegetables. You can either mix the soup with the rice and condiments together or you just eat the rice with the dishes and drink the soup separately. But to me, I like to mix them altogether. Lui cha is deemed healthy by Chinese and especially Hakka clan.

This is the lei cha with rice and dishes.

A special and delicious dish I wish to share with you is broiled mock fish. Wow! It is so delicious! It is hot, spicy and sour. If you love hot and spicy foods, I am sure you will like it too. I have never eaten broiled fish since I become vegetarian 12 years ago and this was the first time I tasted it again (do not make me wrong, I am not interested in eating “fish”). Unfortunately this special dish is only available on weekends.

This is the broiled mock fish. How is it? Look delicious?

Another vegetarian food I love to eat here is vegetarian “bak kut teh”(肉骨茶) which is herbal soup to be served with rice. Beside herbs, the ingredients in the soup are tofu, yuba (腐竹), mushroom and mock pork which is made of mushroom pin. This food is delicious and healthy too.

2) 借问素食何处有：（一）柔佛再也的素食小栈

不知不觉已吃了十二年的素食，感觉上还算蛮健康。身边吃肉的朋友不是有尿酸，就是有糖尿病，再不就是整天看医生吃藥。我也曾经做过三两次的医药检查，每一种病症都没有我的份。哈！还不错吧！选择素食是一辈子的事，不管是为了宗教，还是健康，或者环保。虽然我也爱美食，但既是只是一两碗飯配上一两道青菜豆腐，我也已心满意足。

现代素食已可以煮得很美味健康，这些年也吃了不少的素食美味佳肴，现在开始我将陆陆续续介绍我所光顾过的素食馆、素食档。

首先我要介绍的是一档位于柔佛再也小食中心的“素食小栈”。可别小看这小档口哦！不管是素食者或非素食者都云涌而来，尤其是晚餐时间，顾客可是挤满当口。

这里其中一道食物很受欢迎素食，那就是擂茶。擂茶是一道地地道道的客家食品，但今天不止客家人爱吃，其他非客籍人士也懂得品尝。这无非是它不谨美味，而且还是一道健康食品呢！以前的客家人都是把茶叶、刺五加（acanthopanax）和花生等放在擂钵里擂。现代的人贪方便，已改用搅拌机来搅拌了。擂过的混合物加入沸水就成了擂茶，配上饭和一些切得细细的豆腐、菜类、豆类等就是一道美味健康的擂茶饭了。您可以吃饭配菜才喝汤，或者把汤倒在饭菜里混合一起。要享用这道健康美食可要乘早，素食档老板说有时候这擂茶在下午时段就已被顾客“抢食一空”。

这就是擂茶饭

这里有另一道美食，那就是烧“余”（素食档不卖鱼，只好卖余），不过只限周六和周日这两天才有出售。如果您爱吃酸酸辣辣的食物，那您可不要错过了。自从吃素后，已没有吃过葡萄牙烧鱼，现在可好了，有这道烧余解解瘾。

这就是烧余

即使是荤食者都会赞这里的“素古茶”（素肉骨茶）好吃，我可是三番四次的邀请同事朋友来这里享用呢！其中一位同事还真对它念念不忘！素古茶其实是一道健康食品，因为都是用中药材煲出来的，所以有人说素古茶是穷人的补品，一点也不为过。以下这些照片就是素古茶，怎么样？还不错吧！

3) Where to find vegetarian foods: (2) Shang Yen in Masai Utama

When I first working in Johor, this was the first vegetarian restaurant I managed to find in Masai and Seri Alam areas, after suffering for a few days without any proper vegetarian foods, which I just ate some bread, fruits and vegetarian instant noodles.

This vegetarian restaurant called Shang Yen is located in Masai Utama, which is behind Masai main road. If you drive along Pasir Gudang Highway towards Pasir Gudang town, after 2 flyovers leading to Seri Alam （do not turn to Seri Alam, go straight）and pass by a bus stop without shelter, you will see a few rows of shop lots on your left hand side. You turn left towards the shop lots and drive straight until you see a furniture shop at the junction and you turn left again to the side lane. Immediately reaching another junction, you turn left again and look for the vegetarian restaurant at your left hand side. This road is eventually leading to Masai main road.

This is Shang Yen vegetarian restaurant

This restaurant mainly serves mixed rice. The dishes are mostly delicious. One of the dishes I love to eat is “tempeh” which is a healthy and delicious dish. Other delicious foods I like are sweet and sour dried bean curd, “yong tau foo”, hot and spicy fried beans and eggplants and all sorts of vegetables.

If you do not like mixed rice or if you want to try other food, I would recommend you their clay pot rice. It is very hard to find vegetarian clay pot rice in most of the vegetarian restaurants and you are lucky enough that you can find it here. It is one of my favorite foods and it taste pretty good.

Other foods include vegetarian “bak kut teh” (the one sold in Vege Station in Johor Jaya is more delicious), clay pot “yee mee”, Indian fried noodle, tom yam noodle, curry noodle, “wang tang mee”, Hokkein mee, “petai” fried rice, etc. How is it? Sounds tasty?

This veggie restaurant operates from 7am to 4pm, Mondays to Saturdays. It will open on Sundays if 1^st and 15^th days of lunar month fall on Sundays.

4) 借问素食何处有：（2）马赛乌搭马（Masai Utama）的善缘素食店

初到柔佛工作，因人生地不熟，找不到素食店，而挨了几天的面包、水果、泡面等。最后在面包店老板娘的指示下，才认识了这一间素食店。

这间名为“善缘“的素食店坐落于马赛（Masai）镇大街的后面。如果您通过巴西古当（Pasir Gudang）大道往巴西古当镇的方向行驶，经过两座通往斯里安南(Seri Alam)的天桥（不要转左，直走）以及无盖巴士车站，您就会看到左手边有几排的店屋。转入左手边，直走，直到看见三岔路口的家私店，转左，到另一个路口再转左。注意看左手边的店屋，您就会找到这间素食店。从这条路向前行驶将通往马赛大街。

这间素食店主要售卖经济饭菜，大部分的菜肴都可口。其中一道我爱吃的菜肴是“天贝tempeh”，它是一道既美味又营养的食物。其他美味可口的菜肴包括酸甜“豆卜”、酿豆腐、辛辣的豆类和瓜类以及各式的蔬菜等。

如果您不想吃杂饭，那我介绍您点沙煲饭。您很难在别的素食店找到这道食物吧！所以您很幸运能够在此享用到既美味，别处又难找到的食物。除此之外，您还能在这里吃到素肉骨茶（还是柔佛再也的素食小栈售卖的素古茶比较美味）、沙煲伊面、印度炒面、东炎面、咖喱面、云吞面、福建面、臭豆炒饭等。如何？流口水了吧？

善缘素食店的营业时间从早上七点至下午四点，星期一至星期六。星期日没有营业，除非是初一十五。

5) Where to find vegetarian foods: (3) Senwell in Skudai, Johor

The next vegetarian restaurant I’m going to recommend is an air conditioned vegetarian restaurant which is located in Skudai, Johor, nearby Sutera Mall. The full address is No. 71, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/2, Taman Sutera Utama, 81300 Skudai and the contact number is 07-554 0871.

I have to thank a friend of mine who is an air conditioning contractor that recommends me this vegetarian restaurant. He knows that I am a faithful Buddhist who eats pure vegetarian foods for whole life. He, therefore, invited me to Skudai for the purpose of visiting Buddhist temples and at the same time spent me vegetarian lunch on one particular Saturday. His mother in law is also a Buddhist cum vegetarian, so he always brings her to various vegetarian restaurants for meals.

This is the exterior appearance of Senwell Vegetarian Restaurant

Interior appearance of Senwell

The following were the dishes we ordered and enjoyed:

Curry mock lamb (it looks pretty good, right?)

This is vegetarian tom yam soup

Steamed mock fish

How could we only eat mock meat, let’s have a fried vegetable!

What do you feel after seeing these photographs of dishes? Feel hungry? Ha ha ha!

This vegetarian restaurant opened only at noon and evening and it is closed on Tuesdays. Make sure you don’t go on its rest days, otherwise you will be wasting your time.

6) 借问素食何处有：（3）柔佛士古来的天之雨素食餐厅

接下来要介绍的这间素食馆是间冷气素食馆，位于柔佛士古来，靠近Sutera Mall。完整的地址是： No. 71, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/2, Taman Sutera Utama, 81300 Skudai. 电话是： 07-554 0871。

我有缘去到这间素食馆，可要多得一位冷气承包商，因为他知道我是吃素的佛教徒，所以就在某一个星期六中午带我去吃素兼参观士古来的佛教道场。这位仁者的岳母也是持素的佛教徒，所以他也时常带岳母到处去素食馆吃素。

这就是天之雨素食餐厅的外观

天之雨内部

这些就是当天我们所享用的菜肴：

咖喱素羊肉（看样子还不错吧！）

东炎汤（素食者不怕没有机会吃到素的东炎汤）

蒸素鱼

素食者怎能只吃素料，来个炒菜胆吧！

看了这些菜肴的照片，垂涎三尺了吧！这间素食馆只在中午和晚上营业，每逢星期二休息，可别弄错时间而白跑一趟哦!

7）Where to find vegetarian foods: (4) Green Feel in Permas Jaya, Johor

The first time when I went to a place called Permas Jaya, due to hurry, I could not find any vegetarian restaurant. When I went there for the second time, Ifinally saw a vegetarian restaurant named Green Feel. After that, even I had gone there for several times for business trip, I did not have any chance to try the foods there. Then one day, I decided to have a try when I went to Permas Jaya again.

Ha, I had just mentioned the other day that beside Shang Yen vegetarian restaurant in Masai, I could hardly find any clay pot rice in other vegetarian restaurants, but now I found another vegetarian restaurant that is serving clay pot rice. Well! Why not have a try and compare the clay pot rice served by these two vegetarian restaurants.

Ah, the taste was not bad and the rice did not stick together, but it was a bit salty, perhaps it suit to those diners who like heavy taste.

A few days later, I had to go to Permas Jaya again to do an important thing. And this time, I wanted to try other foods and I had chosen a bowl ofmushroom soup and a plate of “Bodhi tasty noodle”.

This was the mushroom soup (unfortunately it’s a bit lack of mushroom flavor)

This was “Bodhi tasty noodle” with plenty of dishes

In addition to the above mentioned foods, you have other choices of foods,such as veggie fish head bee hoon, “veggicken slice kuay teo soup” , green curry bee hoon, spicy noodle, dried curry noodle, mock lamb curry rice, “nasi lemak”, veggie chicken rice, fried tofu and even special satay too!

If you don’t feel like eating Chinese vegetarian, then you could order Western-style vegetarian food served by Green Feel, such as pizza, “veggicken” chop,french fries, spaghetti, “veggicken” spaghetti, hamburger, natural vegetablesalad and so on.

But if you go together with your family members or friends, you could order rice with various Chinese cuisine dishes, other than personal package meals.

The full address of Green Feel is No. 7,9,11, Jalan Permas 10/5, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Masai, Johor D.T.

Tel: 607-386 3636, H/P: 010-760 2760

Green Feel is off one day fortnightly, so you have to call first before going to make sure it is opened.

8）借问素食何处有：（4）柔佛百万镇的菩提林素食料理餐厅

第一次去到百万镇，由于时间匆忙，找不到任何素食馆。第二次去时，终于见到这间菩提林素食料理餐厅，尔后的几次去到百万镇，都还无缘享用它的素食。终于有一天机缘成熟了，决定去尝尝。

哈，那天才说很除了马赛的善缘素食店，很难在别的素食店找到素的沙煲饭，怎知现在却又发现了这一间菩提林也有提供沙煲饭。好吧！就试一试，比一比较。

嗯！还不错，饭粒不会黏在一起，只是咸了点，也许适合口味重的食客。

不久，有公事又再去百万镇。这一次试试别的食物，来碗蘑菇汤和一碟招牌面吧！

蘑菇汤（稍嫌缺少蘑菇香味）

招牌面（配料还真不少）

除了这两三道食物，您还有其他的选择，如余头米粉、G丝河粉、青咖喱米粉、麻辣香面、干咖喱面、咖喱素羊肉饭、椰浆饭、香G饭、煎豆腐，甚至还有特制沙爹呢！

如果您吃腻了中式素食，菩提林还为您准备了西式素食，如比萨、G扒套餐、薯条、意大利面、G扒意大利面、汉堡包套餐、天然蔬菜沙拉等。

要是您和亲戚朋友一块来，不想吃个人套餐，没问题，可以点菜吃饭。

菩提林的地址如下：

No. 7,9,11, Jalan Permas 10/5, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Masai, Johor D.T.

电话号码是607-386 3636，手机是010-760 2760.

菩提林每两个星期休息一天，要去之前最好先拨个电话确定一下当天有没有营业。

9）Where to find vegetarian foods: (5) Mei Lin Vegetarian Restaurant in Melaka Raya

When I first arrived and worked in Johor, I really very not accustomed to the vegetarian restaurants that a lot of them are cooking and selling eggs, therefore I do not have many pure vegetarian restaurants to be recommended to you. Of course I admit that there are still a lot of vegetarian restaurants in Johor that I may not have a chance to taste yet.

Later I had a chance to work in Malacca for a short period, but to my surprise too, the vegetarian restaurants in Malacca are similar to those in Johor, I could hardly find pure vegetarian restaurants except two restaurants, which one had moved to other place and the other one is this Mei Lin Vegetarian Restaurant located in Taman Melaka Raya, Malacca.

Mei Lin Vegetarian Restaurant is an air conditioned restaurant, the dishes and tastes are not bad and the prices are reasonable too. Unfortunately I stayed in Malacca for quite a short period and I had not taken any photographs to show you.

The following is the photograph of Mei Lin downloaded from Google Map: