I Love Taipei (The Last Hurrah)

My time in Taipei has reached a bittersweet end so this will be my last post on food/restaurant in Taipei. I spent the last few days eating some of my favorite foods:

 

Beef Noodle Soup 半肉半筋牛肉麵

 

 

Truffle XLB 松露小籠包

 

 

Vegetable & Pork Wonton w/ Spicy Sauce 菜肉紅油抄手

 

 

Thousand Year Old Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

 

 

Shrimp Wontons 鮮蝦大餛飩

 

 

Shaved Ice 雪花冰

 

 

Tofu with Peanut

 

Chicken Soup with Lotus Flower

 

 

Honey Toast 蜜糖土司

 

 

Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐

 

 

Despite my relocation, I will not stop posting! I can’t wait for my next culinary destination!

Fu Hang Dou Jiang

Name:
Fu Hang Dou Jiang
阜杭豆漿

Address:
No. 108, 2F-28, ZhongXiao E. Rd. Sect. 1, ZhongZheng District, Taipei City (located on 2nd floor of HuaShan Market)
台北市中正區忠孝東路一段108號2樓之28(華山市場二樓)

Hours:
Tues-Sun     5:30am~12:30pm
Closed on Mondays

 

 

Woke up REAAAAL early for this local favorite.

I guess not early enough! ALL these people are more dedicated patrons than me. 

 

 

A little window into where the magic happens.

 

 

They speak Chinese and Japanese! Apparently this dou jiang shop has made it onto Japanese guidebooks of Taipei!

 

 

This will probably last me two meals. 

 

 

Dan Bing 蛋餅 (28NT)

It’s cheaper and larger than a usual dan bing. Unfortunately you can’t add corn, cheese or ham to it. =D

 

 

Cold Soymilk 冰豆漿 (22NT)

Yes, the traditional way of drinking soymilk! From a bowl!
FYI, the warm soymilk is 2NT cheaper than the cold soymilk. 

 

 

Thick “Bing” Flatbread with egg and “Youtiao” Chinese Donut 厚餅蛋加油條 (60NT)

The name of the dish is extremely difficult to translate into English. 
This doujiang joint is most famous for their Thick “Bing” Flatbread, so it’s a must-eat here! It’s definitely worth the wait.
This monster of a breakfast is definitely quite heavy for the morning but it is quite delectable once in a while.
Fu Hang also serves a thin version of the flatbread, which is flakier. 

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Definitely worth a visit!!

But personally for me, waiting for the MRT is the only waiting I want to do in the morning.

18 CAFÉ

Name:
18 CAFÉ

Address:
No.55 AnHe Rd. Sect. 1, DaAn District, Taipei City
台北市大安區安和路一段55號

Hours:
Mon-Fri     11:30am~12:00am
Sat-Sun      10:00am~12:00am

Near Renai Circle!

 

 

Special invitations! heee

 

 

Still interior decorating (it’s completed finished now)

 

 

Award-winning beef noodle soup     冠軍牛肉麵     (250NT)

So many good things to say about this bowl of beef noodle soup. Starting with the soup, it had a lot of flavor but not over seasoned. The noodles were chewy, probably handmade. The beef pieces and tendons were so soft that they melt in your mouth. My particular bowl had an abundant amount of meat and vegetables (bang for your buck). Not to mention, the chef added a MEATBALL on top of everything else. This was quite a unique twist to this traditional dish. If you were wondering, yes, the meatball was scrumptious. 

It is indeed quite expensive for a bowl of noodle soup. Average bowl is around 100-120NT. 

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Before 18 Cafe, you can only order this at Barcode. Can you imagine all the dressed up people with their fancy drinks and I am sitting in the corner eating this bowl of noodles? It was not a pretty sight.

It is an award winning bowl of noodles and not a self-proclaimed title. The title was given to them at the 2011 Beef Noodle Soup Festival (Beef noodle soup is taken quite seriously in Taiwan). They posted the award on their FB page!

Large Footprint

Date Visited: 11th of August, 2012

Name:
Large Footprint
大腳印複合式餐廳

Address:
No. 68 Xuefu Rd., Danshui District, New Taipei
台北縣淡水鎮學府路68號

Hours:
Mon-Fri     11:00am~2:00pm     5:00pm~12:00am
Sat – Sun    11:00am~2:00pm     5:00pm~10:00pm

Make Reservations if you have a big group    (02)2621-2634

 

 

Located right across the street from RegaLees Hotel 福格大飯店

 

 

It’s actually a very spacious restaurant but you should still make a reservation if you intend on going during prime mealtimes. 

 

 

Kung Pao Chicken 宮保雞丁 (200NT)

 

 

Bitter Melon with Salted Egg  鹹蛋苦瓜 (160NT)

 

This dish combines two distinctively Chinese elements which may make it a little less appealing. Some people dislike the bitter melon but the bitter melon loses a lot of the bitterness after it’s been cooked. All I got to say is..don’t knock it ’til you try it! 

And if you are curious about salted egg, Wikipedia has a page for salted egg! Wikipedia – Salted duck egg

 

 

Hakka Salted Pork 客家鹽豬肉 (220NT)

 

I do believe the more popular Chinese is 客家鹹豬肉 but the menu has it written as above.

I love the simplicity of this dish. Pork, salt, garlic. That’s it. Most of the meat is the fat of the pig but that’s the delicious part anyway!  

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Large Footprint serves Thai, Chinese and Hakka style cooking. It’s a local favorite and crowded on weekends. All the dishes are served in family portions.

I am not sure if they have an English menu or not but their menu does come with pictures.

 

Tian Fu Sichuan Restaurant

Date Visited: 2nd of June, 2012

Name:
Tian Fu Sichuan Restaurant
天府家常菜 

Address:
No.5 Ren Ai Rd., YongHe District, New Taipei City
新北市永和區仁愛路5號 

Hours:
Tues – Sun     11:30am~2:00pm
5:30pm~8:00
(Closed Mondays)

 

 

Arriving at 5:30…highly recommended to dine early because they run out of food around 7:00~7:30.

 

 

 

涼拌小黃瓜 (50NT)

 

 

口水雞 (220NT)

 

 

乾煸四季豆 (160NT)

 

 

炒空心菜 (100NT)

This vegetable might as well be the signature vegetable of Taiwan – served at every restaurant!

 

 

宮保雞丁 Kung Pao Chicken (200NT)

Kung Pao Chicken is my top 3 favorite Chinese dishes. They don’t use some bull flour-coating to mask their chicken. Just pure chicken with some chili pepper. 

 

 

豆干肉絲 Shredded Meat with Dry Tofu (200NT)

Dry tofu is not “dry” as the name suggest. It has the minimal amount of moisture among fresh tofu and has a more solid consistency. 

 

 

紅燒茄子 Braised Eggplant (160NT)

One of those dishes that need rice! It’s quite heavy in flavor. The sauce is thick with spiciness and sourness. One of my personal favorites but I do have a soft spot for eggplants. =)

 

 

銀絲卷 Fried Steamed Buns (40NT per bun)

FRIED BREAD! How can you go wrong taste-wise? A specialty from the Shandong province of China has reached the hearts to many outside the province, including my own. The only missing is the condensed milk! Next time, I’m going to bring my own bottle. 

 

 

剁椒鱈魚 Cod Fish with Chopped Pepper (400 NT)

In comparison to some of the other dishes, this cod is quite refreshing and light!

 

 

麻婆豆腐 Mabo Tofu (180NT)

A classic Sichuan dish. Highly recommended to eat with rice! It’s made in the same sauce as 紅燒茄子 Braised Eggplant. 

 

 

水煮牛肉 Sichuan Boiled Beef in Fiery Sauce (320NT)

It tastes just as spicy as it looks. Good news for us the soup is not meant to be ingested, just the meat. The beef pieces are extremely tender from being submerged in that soup. 

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It’s quite difficult to find bold spicy foods in Taipei because spiciness is not extremely popular with the Taiwanese (Mala Hot Pot is the only exception I can think of). In my opinion, that is what this place is a rare gem in this city.