Vegan Buns @ Daylily Kampo Stand, KITTE, Hakata, Fukuoka

 

Before I begin, I have to admit that I have not been representing some readers for a long time. And to all my vegetarian and vegan friends out there, I am here to make amends. As such, I was actually thrilled with a Daylily Cafe was opened near my workplace. 

Actually looking forward to this!

Daylily is a Taiwanese cafe that focuses on healthy teas and vegan food. More specifically, vegan steamed buns. They have a few branches in Tokyo and Osaka. However, their sole branch in Kyushu is in Fukuoka. Another leg up I suppose! Be that as it may, I was pretty keen to try it out. For all intents and purposes, I am not against vegan or vegetarianism. In fact, I tried being a vegetarian a few times in my life. Unfortunately, it was not sustainable for me as vegetable protein was not enough. But that is a topic for another day. 

Lunch is ready!

So keen to try as much as I can I got myself a set consisting of two buns, namely the Taiwanese Pork Bun and their Hamburger style bun. Alongside it was a spot of "Beau-tea", which is a concoction made of dried fruits. Although the buns do sound meaty, they are 100% meat-free. And they looked very fancy too. The whole thing stood for 1240 yen. 

Cute

Each of them was petite looking and had a nice shine to them. It almost felt like a shame to scoff them up. The first I got a bite into was the Hamburger. I have to admit that I was pretty impressed by it. It will not by any chance replace the Big Mac, but there was a strong and savoury flavour to it. In addition, the fluffy exterior gave it an interesting textural contrast. I would probably suspect mushroom stock being one of the foundations of this dish. I actually enjoyed it. 

This was surprisingly delicious

The next was the Pork Bun, which is a Taiwanese staple. This was enjoyable too. Like its original meaty counterpart, this was loaded with peanuts, and pickled veggies and had a sweet and savoury sauce to it. Sure, it does not have a greasy layer of pork fat in it. However, as a stand-alone, I found it to be pretty tasty. 

Not your regular black tea for sure!

To wash it all down, the fruit tea came into play. It was quite refreshing to have it, despite being somewhat piping hot. I am not too sure what is inside, but hints of dates and rosella were present. Well, there were dried rosella inside, so that would not be a surprise. As it was slightly tart, it works like a palate cleanser. 

Chic

Overall, this was an enjoyable meal. It is not what I would usually have, but I found it pretty impressive. And if I am looking for some meat-free options, at least I know I have one more new place I can rely on. It is also not that hard to get to, as it is on the ground floor of the KITTE shopping complex within Hakata Station. So if you fancy a go? Then the address is as follows:

〒812-0012 Fukuoka, Hakata Ward, Hakataekichuogai, No 9-1 Floor 1 Hakata Marui