xiaoyu Here is my summary of Taiwan specialties, no matter which restaurant you eat, it is recommended to try:
Began to eat!
The following is my experience of eating, drinking, and fatting five pounds in 22 stores in five days. I decided to abandon the common star ratings and use the expressions to guide the foodies whether to eat.
Main Meal
Braised pork rice
Jin Feng braised pork rice
Business hours: 08: 00-01: 00
Address: No. 10, Section 1, Roosevelt Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: recommended to eat
Braised pork rice is basically the standard of Taiwanese cuisine, braised pork with sour radish and rice. Taiwan may actually have one thousand kinds of braised pork rice practice, Jin Feng as a trending internet celebrity shop, becomes my Taipei cuisine first stop. Jin Feng Braised pork rice particularly special is that it has a relatively long strip of minced meat, different from the general braised pork rice. Braised pork rice is divided into large, medium and small bowls, about 45 Taiwan dollars, the amount is not much but the taste is very good. It is observed that many locals also come here to eat. Jin Feng’s braised pork rice is a long strip of meat, so the taste of a single piece of meat covered with fat and thin is more complete, the saltiness of the marinade is more moderate, and the meat is soft and rotten. It feels like the standard braised pork rice in my mind, it is worth trying.
Three cups of chicken
Three cups of chicken is definitely my favorite after my first time eating Taiwanese food in the Mainland, and every time I go to a Taiwanese restaurant, I order the chicken dish. This time, the first thing I want to eat in Taipei is three cups of chicken, with a gourmet pilgrimage heart. when I write the guide before, I am surprised that I search for a restaurant in which the three cups of chicken is delicious and do not see the clues. I ask the locals which is the best three cups of chicken restaurant in Taipei, I can not be answered. Then the local people share with me that three cups of chicken belongs to the hot fried dishes, this dish is found everywhere, so it is not recognized.
Shin Yeh Main Restaurant
Business hours: 11:00-15:00 17:00-22:30
Address: No. 34-1, Shuangcheng Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: recommended to eat
Shin Yeh Main Restaurant should be the most expensive meal in Taipei. The popularity of Shin Yeh Main Restaurant is very high, if it is a weekend to eat, especially if there are a large number of diners, it is recommended to make an appointment online in advance (after five days, within two months). If you do not make an appointment in advance, you need on-site wait. Shin Yeh Main Restaurant’s three cups of chicken is more tender than the authentic three-cup chicken in my mind and lacks a bit of burnt aroma. Maybe in order to make it more tender, the chicken is larger. Shin Yeh Main Restaurant’s fried pork liver is also a specialty recommended by everyone. The taste of the salty-sweet liver is very special, and the liver is very tender. I feel that fried pork liver is also a good choice. The diced radish in the preserved egg we ordered taste very well, and the scorched aroma of the outer egg is also recommended.
Shin Yeh Main Restaurant really doesn’t pay much attention to dish arrangement, but Shin Yeh Main Restaurant does have it’s own reasons for pride. If you feel like eating an authentic Taiwanese meal, Shin Yeh Main Restaurant is a good choice. The disadvantage is that fewer people is not good to order dishes, and it is slightly more expensive. Shin Yeh Main Restaurant has many branches, and you can easily check the information of each store on the official website. In fact, you can simply register on their official website, which is very convenient. http://www.shinyeh.com.tw/ (Reservation is in “Customer Service Information”)
Beef Noodle
Because of the lack of time, I just eat Yongkang beef noodle during this trip to Taipei.
Popular Beef Noodle restaurant: Lin Dongfang beef noodle, Fuhong beef noodle, Yongkang beef noodle
Yongkang Beef Noodle
Business hours: 11:00-21:00
Address: No. 17, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
For beef noodles, our first choice is Lin Dongfang. Because we go out too late that day, we originally want to come to Yongkang Road to eat chicken leg rice, but it is closed, we are used to waiting in line for the meal in mainland, by now it’s the first time that we encounter standing in line waiting for food in Taipei. We can only line up at the door when the sun is at noon. After waiting for about thirty minutes, finally we share a table with a Korean couple to have a meal. The menu is also very simple, that is, spicy and non-spicy soup base, with beef or beef tendon (half tendon and half meat). My best female friend MIFFY as a the finicky eater choose beef noodles, I choose beef tendon noodles, we both need spicy soup base.
The beef noodles is being served on big porcelain bowls, the beef and beef tendon is stewed rotten, beef taste is delicious, the noodles is chewy, I feel a bit big oil, but the soup base is really the taste of MasterKong’s stewed beef noodles.
Sashimi
Addiction Aquatic Development
Business hours: 06:00-00:00
Address: No. 18, Alley 2, Lane 410, Minzu East Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Not recommended to eat
This store is really a recommendation for locals and travellers to punch in. It’s also a traffic inconvenience meal for me on this trip. Addiction Aquatic Development can be said to be a supermarket, which mainly sells all kinds of seafood, and also processes seafood for customers to eat. Although we are required to stand for dinner, but this store is packed during working days. The fresh seafood platter has a set menu of NT$1400 and NT$1200. We choose NT$1400 seafood set meal. The seafood set meal is very rich, I feel very cost-effective. I try to eat raw oysters for the first time. One is delicious, but the other is not clean. The lobster is good, the sea urchin is good, and a sliced shellfish is also good. Others are very general. Objectively speaking, ordering a platter is worse than ordering a single item directly, because the portion is too big to eat so much. Because the traffic is not very convenient, if you want to eat more seafood at a low price, you can go to try, but it really tastes in general.
Barbecue
Takemura Izakaya
Business hours: 17:00-01:00
Address: No. 2, Alley 1, Lane 253, Songren Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
Takemura Izakaya really is Taipei travel place to punch in. It may be more Pro-Japanese. Taipei has a lot of Japanese food stores, and there are also many Japanese-style stores like Izakaya. As tourists who can’t drink much, we are still curious to punch a time clock. Izakaya mainly serves barbecue and alcoholic drinks. We order food from the recommend barbecue on the menu and then try the legendary Taiwanese beer. The taste of barbecue is not bad. Tamagoyaki is highly recommended. Taiwan beer does not have the legendary bitterness, but the malt taste is quite heavy. I feel good to relax here after a day of shopping. But the traffic is not convenient, so it’s optional.
Snacks
Rice noodles
Rice noodles soup under the banyan tree
Business hours: Weekdays 10: 30-15: 00 (Monday, Tuesday sabbatical) Weekends 08: 00-19: 00
Address: No. 96-1, Shifen Street, Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
Rice noodles is a characteristic food in southern Fujian. The noodles are as thin as hair and become transparent after being cooked, the soup is thick. I have eaten rice noodles before, but the rice noodles in this restaurant are soft in the mouth, solid ingredients, full of umami, good taste. In addition, we order the signature rice noodles soup.
Oyster omelet
Tiantianli Restaurant
Business hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:00-22:30
Address: No.1, Lane 32, HanZhong Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
Oyster omelet is very common in various roadside restaurants and night markets in Taiwan. Tiantianli is recommended by a mobile phone store owner when I buy a mobile phone card in Ximending. It is really a traditional small store. According to observations, 99 percent of the people who eat in there should be locals. The sweet potato starch on the fried oysters in this restaurant is very soft waxy, the egg and lettuce have a good taste, the taste of the sauce is also good, but the fishy smell of clams is a bit obvious.
Fried oyster is definitely a must-eat snack in Taiwan. Tiantianli’s fried oyster is around 60 out of 100. I hope you will go to Taiwan to find more and leave a message to share. I will taste it next time.
Pot stewed sauce food
Lu wei also known as a Taiwanese braised dish. You can choose what you want, and then your selections will be chopped and boiled in a savory broth. For example, braised pork rice is actually a kind of lu wei.
LauTianLu
Business hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:00-22:30
Address: No. 56, Chengdu Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
This old store in Ximending is also very famous. We buy a bag of chicken feet to eat on the road. It is also the salty flavor of braised pork rice, chicken feet don’t compete nearly as well other braised food. This store is also complained by the locals for being too expensive. I feel like it is not too bad, but it’s not so amazing, you can eat it or not.
MasterGuiLuWei
Business hours: Monday to Saturday 16:30-23:00, Closed on Sunday
Address: No. 50, Andong Street, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
This food stall is near our residence and the landlord warmly recommend it. Master Gui only sets up a food stall at night, the food stall is still very popular after ten o’clock in the evening, and everyone queue up with small bowls of vegetables. Master Gui’s Lu wei really has a reason to line up. Although the food looks brown and black, it is more flavorful than LaoTianlu’s Lu wei, and it also has a hint of sweetness and spicy. I highly recommend beans, rice noodles, fish tofu.
PS: The address and business hours of MasterGuiLuowei can be found on Google Maps. Haha, it seems to be quite famous. If you can’t find it, you can use Google to navigate.
Black pork
Pingxi Story Sausage
Business hours: Weekdays 10:00-17:00 Weekends 9:00-20:00
Address: No. 23, Pingxi Street, Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
The mustard garlic Sausage is the most recommended. The round pork intestines are freshly roasted. After roasting, make a neatly arranged small opening on the intestine, insert thin slices of raw garlic, and drizzle with mustard. A bite of the meat intestines with some sliced garlic, the outside of the pork intestines is browned, the inside of the pork intestines is juicy and chewy, without the powdery taste of ordinary sausages, it is very solid.
PS: three sausages for one hundred Taiwan dollars, one sausage for thirty-five Taiwan dollars. The proprietress and the younger sister in the store are also very friendly and cute.
Soya bean milk and deep-fried dough sticks
Yong He Soy Milk King
Business hours: Monday to Saturday 05:00-23:00, Sunday 05:00-18:00
Address: No. 102, Section 2, Fuxing South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Not recommended to eat
We originally plan to eat in the famous Fuhang soy milk, but because we go out too late, we go to the dining area on the second floor of Fuhang soy milk and its window is closed. we are hungry and see the sign of Yonghe Soy Milk in the distance, so we decide to try it. Yonghe Soy Milk is a chain store in my impression, Taiwan is the birthplace of Yonghe Soy Milk. In the 1950s, a group of retired veterans from Chinese mainland had been forced to grind soy milk, bake sesame seed cake, and deep-fried dough sticks to earn a living. These veterans have superb craftsmanship. The soy milk produced is fresh, nutritious, fragrant and delicious, the sesame seed cake and deep-fried dough sticks made are golden in color, soft and crispy. Yonghe County is famous in Taiwan for its soy milk.
At that time, the young Chairman of Yonghe Soy Milk Lin Jianxiong grew up drinking soy milk and eating fried dough sticks from retired veterans in Yonghe County. Chairman Lin Jianxiong has deep feelings for these traditional Chinese delicacies and is determined to carry them forward.
Desserts and beverages
Tofu pudding
Xingchun three brothers and sisters tofu pudding
Business hours: 11:00-23:00
Address: No. 18, Lane 114, Section 1, Zhonghua Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
Pingxi Mountain Spring tofu pudding
Business hours: 08:00-18:00 Closed on Monday
Address: No. 20, Pingxi Street, Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
The restaurant is near the small stone bridge in Pingxi. This tofu pudding has no obvious signs. When we go there, the aunts in the store are sitting leisurely, watching the Eternal Love TV series. The tofu pudding here has a heavier bean flavor. The tofu pudding is slightly looser. It is not as delicious as Xingchun three brothers and sisters tofu pudding. It is good to take a break and eat some mango sorbets when you’re tired from walking on the Pingxi line.
Pearl milk tea
Taiwan’s bubble tea really rekindled my love for bubble tea. The Q-bounce level of the pearls in each store is really satisfactory. Even though many brands have branches in the Mainland, the taste of pearls is not in the same level at all. I really can’t distinguish the high and low in milk tea category, Milk tea shops are everywhere, no need to specifically list addresses. If you encounter them, drink them. Let me list the three shops I have tried.
Taiwan’s milk tea is sweeter than those from Chinese mainland. I usually feel that full sugar is the most authentic taste. In Taipei, there is less sugar (seventy percent of the sugar). I feel that it is already very sweet. I feel that half sugar should be no problem. Everyone pays attention to adjustment when choosing. In addition, Hua-da milk tea has no choice of sweetness. Hua-da milk tea has a uniform taste. It is slightly sweet but the taste is good.
COMEBUY
Business hours: Weekdays 10:00-22:00 Weekends 10:00-21:00
Address: No. 242, Jinzhou Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
50lan
Business hours: 10:00-22:00
Address: No. 136, Hanzhong Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
Hua-da milk tea
Business hours: 10:00-22:30
Address: No. 14, Gongyuan Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
Fried chicken chops
Devil Chicken Chops
Business hours: Open at 17:00, and close at 24:00 from Sunday to Thursday, close at 01:30 on Friday, close at 01:00 on Saturday
Address: Raohe Tourist Night Market No. 125, Raohe Street
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
How can you not eat fried chicken chops when you come to Taiwan? Because I see a few people queue at Devil Chicken Chops and then decide to try it. This chicken chop is claimed to not cut the chicken chop into thin slices, directly fry a whole chicken chop, so each chicken chop needs eight minutes to fry. While waiting, I have been watching the recipe video in which the host says that the outer skin is crispy and juicy and she feels too exaggerated. But it’s not an exaggeration to get a bite of the chicken chop. The outer wrapped layer is very crispy and has a hint of sweetness. The inside of chicken chop may be thick because it is not cut with a knife. One piece of chicken chop is almost thumb-wide and the juice is very good wrapped in the meat, very juicy.
PS: the Raohe Night Market branch of Devil Chicken Chop, Ningxia Night Market also has.
Taro Balls
Taro balls has always been my best friend MIFFY’s favorite food. I have eaten some taro balls in Chinese mainland, and I always feel that the middle part is either slightly hard or not melted, and of course the whole is very hard, so I have never liked it anyway. But this time I come to Taipei. After eating delicious taro balls in Xingchun three brothers and sisters tofu pudding, I start to change my mind about taro balls. Then I and MIFFY go for the two most distinctive taro balls stores in Jiufen.
Lai Ah Po Taro Balls
Business hours: 07:00-21:00
Address: No. 143, Jishan Street, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Recommended to eat
Granny Lai’s taro balls are very rich in color. Generally, the taro balls eaten in other stores are yellow, but her store also has black sesame taro balls and green matcha taro balls, and there is no pigment. I feel that the taste of taro balls is very soft waxy, and the sweetness of sugar water is also very good.
Ah Gan Taro Balls
Business hours: 09:00～20:00 on weekdays, 09:00～23:00 on holidays
Address: No. 5, Shuqi Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Recommended to eat
As a taro balls enthusiast, we just ate Granny Lai’s taro balls, but we still can’t give up trying Aunt Gan’s taro balls. Aunt Gan is on the heights of Jiufen. Maybe because of the legendary Invincible Mountain view dining spot, the queue is very long. in fact, the glass of Invincible Mountain View is very impenetrable, we can’t see much. Photos shot with cellphones are fuzzy, you make do with it out.
Shaved ice
Chengdu Star Fruit Ice
Business hours: 13:00-22:30
Address: No. 3, Chengdu Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Don’t eat
Smoothie House
Business hours: 10:00-23:00
Address: No. 15, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
This is known as the first shaved ice shop in Taipei, an Internet celebrity shop strongly recommended by CNN.
Roji Monster Ice
Business hours: 11:00-23:00
Address: No. 10, Section 4, Civic Blvd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Can eat or not eat
For this store, if you like taking photos, then you come to here, if you concern about the taste of those food, forget it.
Shifen Artin peanut roll ice cream
Business hours: unknown
Address: Outside Shifen Railway Station platform
Evaluation: Recommended to eat
Peanut roll ice cream is made with a thin slice of pasta, rolled with ice cream, sprinkled with ground peanut powder and coriander. It’s really cool to have such a bite in the hot weather. I don’t know how his ice cream is preserved, I feel my tooth is frozen in almost loose. The flavor of the ice cream is fairly dense and harmonizes with the aroma of crushed peanuts and crispy mouthfeel. A roll is about the size of a breakfast coarse cereals pancake, and both of us almost don’t finish it. Recommend to try!
Bread
Wupaochun bakery
Business hours: 11:00-22:00
Address: No. 58, Songren Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
“Mai Fang” means bread. The bakery of the legendary world champion. Master Wu Baochun participated in the 2008 Coupe Louise Lesaffre and won the runner-up with the “Walnut and Dried longan bread”. Two years later, he made a comeback and won the 2010 Coupe Louise Lesaffre with the “Litchi Rose Bread”. There is even a movie about him in Taiwan.
I don’t know if I’m hungry. When I choose bread in this store, I basically buy one of the top-ranked breads. But it’s a pity that I don’t see the “Litchi Rose Bread”. Everything I bought is delicious, yes, delicious. The “Walnut and Dried longan bread” that won the runner-up is also very full of fillings and has lots of flavour. I feel that it is really worthy of its own name. I love the “extreme sweet potato bread”, the bread is very soft, and I can eat obvious sweet potato grains, which is fragrant and waxy. This bread, which looks like a small sweet potato, has a gelatinous fillings and is delicious. Although eating bread in Taiwan doesn’t seem to be special at all, the taste of this store is that the fillings on the dough are obviously different from what you usually eat.
The only drawback is that the queue is too long. The store starts to restrict the number of people not long after we enter the store, and the quene waiting to pay for goes round and round. Although the waiting time is long, I have to say that this store is really worth a try. After visiting Eslite, I buy some breads, so that the breakfast and supper for a few days will be solved.
Pancake
Stayreal Cafe
Business hours: 12:00-21:00
Address: No. 14, Lane 177, Section 1, Dunhua South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
The Pancake in this coffee shop is good. I glance down the menu and choose the distinctive black sugar pearl Pancake. For the salad, I choose the Baked Egg Salmon Salad. The waitress carries over a heavy bowl full of Salmon Salad.
The black sugar Pancakes are very fluffy, the pearl milk tea flavored ice cream balls on top are really delicious! It is probably the most exciting delicacy I have eaten in Taipei. The baked egg salmon salad is also very delicious. I don’t expect a salad to be so amazing. The even distributed baked eggs pair with salmon and vegetables, the taste is very balanced, and the sweetness and acidity of sweet and sour sauce is just right.
Some other delicious food
Le Phare
Business hours: 9:00-midnight
Address: No. 293, Section 3, Zhongxiao E Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Recommended to eat
There is a long queue outsides Le Phare every day. One day when I go out, I suddenly feel thirsty, so I am curious to buy a cup of apple strawberry smoothie. Seeing the cup that said “two apples and three strawberries”, I am a bit dubious. After I get it, I take a sip of the cup, palate: perfumed apple with a hint of strawberry. Although apple strawberry smoothie is not pure juices, it does not have a sweet and greasy saccharin taste. The sweetness of apples and the sourness of strawberries blend very well. Recommended.
Verythainoodles
Business hours: 11:00-22:00
Address: No. 88, Yanchang Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Recommended to eat
This store is on the same floor of Wupaochun bakery. I buy some breads at that time. Miffy say she want to eat a bowl of hot noodle soup. The red decoration of this store is very attractive, so we decide to try it. A large bowl of noodles is plentiful, fried enoki mushrooms match well with mellow soup, it is good-looking and delicious, The Tom Yum Goong in the soup base in this store is authentic. Eating Thai cuisine in Taipei I feel that it is not yet popular in Taiwan, but, objectively speaking, it tastes good. They also have many branches. Website: http://verythainoodles.com/
Souvenir
Pineapple Pastry
Chia Te Bakery
Business hours: 08:00-21:30
Address: No. 88, Section 5, Nanjing East Road, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
The first choice for Taiwanese souvenirs must be pineapple pastry. In the travel tip, I see that there are many famous stores for pineapple pastry. Chia Te Bakery is closer to the subway station. You don’t have to be afraid of not knowing where you are when you leave the subway entrance. We walk about a few tens of meters. There is a long line of customers at the gate waiting to get into the store.
Chia Te’s pineapple pastry will not be discounted if you buy more, they are all charged according to the quantity, such as the pineapple pastry (NT$180.00 for a case of 6, NT$360.00 for a case of 12, NT$600.00 for a case of 20), each pineapple pastry is NT$30.00. If you want boxes of pineapple pastries or pineapple pastries with egg yolk, you can line up in order and fetch boxes of pineapple pastries according to the order, or you can take different sized boxes of pineapple pastries according to the flavor loved.
Chia Te’s pineapple pastry tastes very good, and I would like to recommend pineapple pastries with egg yolk. The sweetness of Chia Te’s pineapple pastry is very natural, not greasy at all, and the egg yolk is slightly salty and fresh. The taste is very special. Chia Te’s longan pastries and other pastries are also good, so I suggest you can bring them back together.
Mochi
Oriental Water Girl
Address: No. 335-9, Zhonghua Road, Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
Mochi is a kind of glutinous rice food. Mochi taste very soft and sweet. It is one of Taiwan’s specialty snacks. We ask the local where the best Mochi is. Hualien’s mochi is the best, because the good water of good mountain produce good rice in Hualien, mochi made from good rice with rich variety of fillings is the best in Taiwan.
Many years ago, relatives and friends travel from Taiwan and bring me a box of mochi with big head doll logo, its skin is soft and not sticky, moderately sweet, I eat it up quickly. This time I come to Taipei and see a store selling mixed mochi in Jiufen Old Street. I did’t buy it at that time and it is not easy to find in Taipei. If you come across this brand, I recommend that you purchase it. The address is provided by the local friend. If you go to Hualien, you can go to its head-office to buy it.
Nougat
SUGAR&SPICE
Business hours: Sunday to Thursday 11:00~21:30 Friday, Saturday and the day before holiday 11:00~22:00
Address: 2nd Floor, B/F, SOGO Fuxing Building, Zhongxiao East Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Evaluation: Be sure to eat
Nougat is also a souvenir that can be found everywhere in Taiwan, there are more branches in SUGAR&SPICE，the bright pink bags, Nougat tastes natural, the peanut crisp taste is very fresh. Because I’m not too interested in sugar, I have no say in the matter. When the Nougat arrives, it wins instant praise from my close friends. Website: https://www.sugar.com.tw/tw
