Peace Island fish restaurant delights customers with ocean-themed artwork

Let's now take a trip to Keelung's Peace Island, where a local seafood restaurant delights visitors with its seaside art displays. The chef-owner is also an artist. His sculptures made from driftwood, pebbles and beach-combed flotsam and jetsam are the perfect foil for the traditional fish dishes he serves.

The protected whale shark serves as shop sign, its friendly eyes welcoming you in. Then this dinosaur – all made of wood. Even these unprepossessing pebbles are arranged as little fish by artist, Chuang Ying-hsin.

These disused pallets have been transformed into table and chairs. The restaurant’s owner is an art design graduate. There’s no menu, but his delectable fish dishes delight visitors to Keelung’s Peace Island.

Squid tumble in the deep-fryer, coming out battered to perfection. Then it’s time for salted egg yolks. Or how about a dish of silver pomfret on a bed of rice, doused in fish sauce? This is a satisfied customer.

Chuang Ying-hsin, Seafood restaurant owner: The ingredients and how I prepare them are all very traditional. I also add my own creative flair. I add some more eco-friendly things to the shop. Not everyone comes for the food. Some come to admire the artwork.

The artist has even used seaside litter to make a decorative miniature version of Zhengbin Fishing Harbor’s colorful harborside scene.

Member of the public: Eating here you can see this art stuff. I think it’s really lovely.

Member of the public: Pebbles, wood, even discarded umbrellas – you think, “Wow, you can even make something out of THIS!”

The artwork made from the unlikeliest of materials is a perfect backdrop for the meals made from the freshest, local catch.