Chickpea Eatery - A Vegan Restaurant @ Da Nang City in Vietnam

After that unforgettable vegetarian meal I had at Hum Vegetarian, Café & Restaurant in the Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh, I decided to look out for another vegetarian restaurant when I was at another city in Vietnam; Da Nang City.

One of them popped out for its amazing review score of 4.9 from over 1,000 reviewers on Google Maps! That was last year; now that I just checked, it had jumped to almost 1,500 reviewers with no change in score.

Cafe design had a sunny, welcoming charm that seemed to relax us upon entry. Maybe because there weren't so many customers on a Monday afternoon and the eatery was playing the soft chants of Buddhist scriptures; it also felt peaceful, as if enveloped by a zen aura. 

Even the lanterns looked unconventional.

Unlike those typical ones you see at Hoi An. 

Anyway, it's hard to make a decision on what to have for lunch since there were so many dishes to choose from on the menu, which I shall share at the end of this post. One thing to note, it's purely vegan, meaning no "dairy, eggs, honey, and gelatin".

Banh Bao - bite-sized goodness with the texturizing crunch coming from strips of I don't know what they were. Maybe due to the need to enhance flavour, I did think the patty was a tad salty.

 

Bun Cha Gio - "crispy spring rolls, tofu, veggies, cucumber, pickled carrots and homemade sauce", this would be the dry kind of Vietnamese noodles I prefer. p.s. unlike most people I don't enjoy pho at all.

The ingredients were fresh and mixed in with the homemade sauce with a strong peanut base; this was exhilarating delicious! Interestingly, I didn't quite like the gio (crispy spring rolls). Maybe I was too accustomed to the ones we had in the vegetarian stalls in Singapore.

 

BBQ Tempeh Skewers - do you like chickpeas? I don't yet this dish was literally "chickpea tempeh, pickles, jicama, kumquat with Vietnamese basil".

To be frank, it was flavourful, just that the texture was mushy, without the solid satisfaction I would expect from a meat skewer. Once again, I did find the tempeh to be overly salty. Damn, I guess the Singapore government had succeeded in making us eat less salty food! 

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta - decided to add something Western to the mix and I guess a pasta would be a safe bet. Plus, creamy cauliflower alfredo pasta just sounded so tempting! 

Pasta was al dente and the sauce was a liquified version of mashed potato, which was well-enjoyed by Alex, who loves mashed potatoes unlike me. To him, it was a hearty yet comfortable meal. 

Com Ca Tim - indicated as a mom's classic rice plate, this consisted of "turmeric rice, eggplant, peanut, fried shallot, crouton, scallion oil and sauteed sauce". I don't know about you but just peanut and fried shallots would already help to enhance the dish! 

Turned out to be the best dish amongst the rest! Eggplant was lightly seasoned, giving us plenty of natural flavour to savour. The turmeric rice was another surprise; not light and bland like many other places and perfect with the shallots and sauce! Mom was impressed! 

Teapot (Herbal Blend) - a lovely blend that differed from the usual green, black and jasmine teas. Best of all, the pricing was the same across the four kinds of tea. 

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Free passionfruit for us! 

Even though Hum Vegetarian, Café & Restaurant is better, this didn't pale much in comparison, and if I were to visit Da Nang again, I will revisit and order Com Ca Tim with other dishes I didn't manage to try in my inaugural visit!

Address

185 Dang Vu Hy, Da Nang.

p.s. I think the shop had since moved to a new location.

Just search for Chickpea Eatery on Google Maps. 

Website

https://chickpeaeatery.com/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Banh Bao - 50,000 Dong

Bun Cha Gio - 65,000 Dong

BBQ Tempeh Skewers - 85,000 Dong

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta - 110,000 Dong

Com Ca Tim - 80,000 Dong

Teapot (Herbal Blend) - 70,000 Dong

(NETT)

Chilli Crabs from Hai Kee Seafood Restaurant (海记海鲜煮炒) @ Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre in Johor Bahru [Malaysia]

After that inaugural memorable visit to Hai Kee Seafood Restaurant (海记海鲜煮炒) back in 2023, I became pretty much a regular; returning back every few months, and sometimes even a few times a month! 

One dish that I often order nowadays would be chilli crab, and I realized it wasn't covered in my original post. Furthermore, when I search for places to have crabs in JB; I noticed that Hai Kee would pop up! Hence, I thought to specially blog about it this time!

Given the sheer amount of food options in JB nowadays, I am pretty conservative in my orders; minimal carbohydrates, where possible.

Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaves - this was a dish I wouldn't order on my own but when I have my health conscious mom with me; a plate of veg is always necessary! Well, this was stir-fried well; lightly seasoned with the natural goodness from the vegetables and multiple pieces of garlic.

Chilli Crab - the star of our show and comprised of two crabs that I had pre-ordered the night before as my mom prefers larger crabs! Even so, both were just about 700-800 grams each; quite small compared to the at least one kilogram crab I could get from Ban Leong although pricing per kilogram is still cheaper than our little red dot. 

Anyway, size aside; it's the freshness and sauce that matter most! And the sauce obviously didn't disappoint, given that I patronized Hai Kee so many times over the past 2.5 years; it was peppery spicy, thickened with a touch of tomato that still tingled the lips and tongue with a charred yet tempting aroma!

Freshness wise; we were more than happy, especially mom, who had no issue pushing the meat out from the crab legs, which can be difficult if the crab wasn't fresh enough.

See how plump, and how solid the meat was! And of course, the satisfaction as my teeth chewed through; bursting with seafood sweetness so enjoyable from crab meat! 

Fried Buns - I couldn't not having fried buns to soak up the chilli crab sauce! The small nuggets of deep fried goodies with crisp thin skin, and white pillowy insides. Eat them when they are still hot! 

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Two crabs, a plate of vegetables and four small buns; devoured in no time by my mom and I! We would prefer larger crabs though and when I checked with the young boss; he said aside from a higher price, it's harder to guarantee the meat from larger crabs. Oh well, I can definitely make do with smaller crabs then! 

Address

21, Jalan Badik 1, Taman Sri Tebrau, 

80050 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, 

Malaysia

Map

As above.

How To Get There

I would usually grab and you would likely be sent to this pretty big hawker centres with three entrances. Go to the one with no large signage.

It might look as if there's no shop that was operational. But the hive of activity would only start much further in. Do note that Hai Kee opens from 4pm and closes on Thursdays.

Look out from the signage hung right in the centre! 

And voila, you have arrived for a meal of happy satisfaction!

Pricing

Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaves - RM 10.00

Two Chilli Crabs - RM 257.00

Four Deep Fried Buns - RM 4.00

(NETT)

Taiwan Connection 1908 @ Taichung City in Taiwan

I was enjoying my first jog at Taichung City when I chanced upon the above; piles of caged up pebbles with the words "Taiwan Connection 1908". 

Honestly, I am no stranger to this passage as I had taken a train that chugged along it back in 2014, on my first trip to Taiwan, and I recalled it was a ride from Taichung Railway Station to Xinwuri Station, where we then took the high speed rail back to Taipei. 

Back then, the overhead railway tracks were still undergoing construction, and I thought it was real nice of the government to keep a section of the old tracks for remembrance; similar to what we were doing in Singapore for the Rail Corridor! 

While Singapore's version is longer and concentrates on more a nature walk, this Taichung's rendition veers into the urban landscape, with views of decade-old buildings that follows the development of Taiwan's second largest city.

Jogging wise, quite comfortable in the cool January weather even though I think I would for an evening jog should it be summer! The trees along the path had yet to reach towering maturity, and hardly provided any shade.

Running towards the two useless "huts" that seemed more aesthetic than practical, until I got nearer and saw the rows of ancient wooden train sleepers right underneath. 

One thing I really like about Taiwan is their high level of creativity! While the tracks remained intact (p.s. didn't realize it was quite a narrow width between tracks), the sleepers were removed and replaced with tiles that looked like multiple trains parked in a train depot! 

Supposed to stretch a mere 1.6 kilometers with Taichung Railway Station somewhat in the middle, the passage I took for Taiwan Connection 1908 was only for the southern part. 

Area is opened 24 hours, and you might want to keep in mind the rules as above. 

Quite surprised to see that bicycles were not allowed! 

More photographs for your viewing pleasure.

Just wondering if it would be nicer or scarier at night.

Fascinating to see this overhead railway tracks and did you notice the different sleepers used for each track? One used wood whereas the other was concrete. While wood offers better vibrations, concrete is a lot more durable, and it doesn't rot. 

Safety cover that had weathered through many years.

And yes, vehicles still go past underneath! 

Views from different side of the railway bridge even though it's more a skybridge now. According to the information I found online; the railway tracks demarcate the districts in the past, for example, industrial on on side, commercial and governmental on the other

I am confused; the width of the tracks didn't seem like it's suitable for a normal train! 

This honestly looked like the toilets from a long time ago. I can confidently say that back in the 80s, toilets in such nondescript buildings were common in Singapore! 

Stone bench with pebbles underneath. Do you know where there are pebbles in between the tracks? "Known as track ballast, are crucial for railway stability. They support the heavy weight of trains, facilitate water drainage to prevent flooding, prevent vegetation growth, and lock the ties and rails in place to stop them from shifting."

Main reason why I mentioned earlier that I only checked out the southern part of Taiwan Connection 1908 was due to the above; the connection wasn't completed yet as of January 2025. Maybe it's fully connected now.

From the road, it appeared as if the railway bridge was still operation.

However, the noise from the trains came from further above.

Tunnel with some information of Taiwan Connection 1908. Unfortunately, the words were in Chinese. And not simplified Chinese; the words were in traditional Chinese which I can read, although they strained my brain! 

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Address

Along Jianguo North Road,

Between Guoguang Road and Minquan Road,

Central Dist., Taichung City Taiwán

Map

As above.

Floor Plan

As above.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)