Taipei
Going to Taipei for 2 days. Will be staying near MRT Ximen Station.
Any food recommendations in this area? Also, at Shin Lin Night Market?
Any other night markets that can be recommended for the food?
Any special Taiwanese breakfast ideas?
I've read about scallion pancakes, live grilled prawns, fresh cut noodles, tempura but don't know where to get these from? Suggestions? Especially the live grilled prawns!
Only issue is that I don't eat pork or shellfish.
Food suggestions in and around most of the tourist sites would be great too. THANKS!
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There's also a restaurant famous for its claypot-cooked chicken soup and the prices run about US$80 and up. There might be cheaper ones, too, but there are also more expensive ones.
It's called Seasons Restaurant or Ji Ren or something like that. You can see pictures of the place (and hopefully those of you who can read Chinese better than I can make out the name). http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?s...
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2 days is not a lot of time.... I would make Shi-lin night market a must. Try the Big Big Fried Chicken, yeah it's a huge piece of breaded fried chicken, but it is great ... especially with the hot spice powder on it. Look for the LONG lines, either in the front of the new night market building or down the street by the theater (same guys).
Try the oyster 'omlettes' too (inside the building, just walk around).No pork? You might have a problem there ... Taiwanese eat a lot of seafood, pork and chicken. Not a lot of beef.
If you have time, try the Long Shan Temple night market. Check out the food
establishments on the sidewalks as well as on the street.Also go to Taipei 101 and check out the food court downstairs. A lot of selection there.
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re: citywayne
All good suggestions, but with regards to 'Taiwanese people not eating too much beef', I'd have to say that, that is very in accurate. Much like in Japan, beef is a staple in Taiwan - We take beef very seriously. In fact, one of the most popular meals around is stewed beef noodle soup. Some chefs in the city take this particular dish so seriously that the go to the extents of using combinations of different types of beef so create their own flavour. There's a restaurant in Taipei that actually charges $3000 for one bowl, and you have to order it days in advance...
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re: LYuan
klyeoh
May 21, 2009 08:35 PM
LOL! Totally agree with you , LYuan. What I remembered most from my previous trip to Taipei was the absolutely divine beef noodle soup. You get them almost every where - it's such a popular lunch (or any meal) staple and tasted out of this world :-)
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re: Peech
K K
May 22, 2009 09:55 AM
Website: http://www.688beefbowl.com/
NT$3000 is not the most expensive bowl, but the SECOND to most expensive.
The most expensive one is Yuan Shou Niu Rou Mien 元首牛肉麵 at NT$10,000 (US$333 ish
)http://www.688beefbowl.com/beef_ad200...
click on the magazine picture to read more.
5 kinds of beef, including New Zealand, Japanese Matsuzaka. There have been a few Taiwanese bloggers who actually reviewed the place and that Yuan Shou bowl, incredible.
The owner has been doing beef noodles for over 15 years.
There are places that do a simple US$7 to $9 bowl of beef noodle soup that would already be considered supremely good by local standards. Lin Tung Fong on Bah Der Road is an excellent place.
There is also a very excellent old style street stall that specializes in beef dishes, sacha, and beef parts, right inside Ningxia Road night market. The funny thing is that the name of the specialist place is called Beef Mama. Sacha stir fried beef noodles (or lamb) is so good.
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re: klyeoh
K K
May 22, 2009 04:24 PM
One can only guess.....
but for a beef noodle freak and his shop to be around for such a while, he must be doing ok and making money.
The beef stock for the NT10K bowl is frozen (made ahead of time) so that if someone dares plunk down that much for a bowl (gourmets, celebs, by invite only etc) it can be whipped out quickly for the customer.
The first article linked, or another source, stated that the NT$10K price tag was set to deter anyone but the most hardcore and curious.
I don't think Beef Daddy is the only dude in town selling NT$3000 bowls of beef noodle soup.
This Taiwanese blogger who tried it
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/akagi77/243...
says the beef used are from Japan, Brazil, and New Zealand.
The NT10K bowl comes with an additional side of broth (pure beef essence).
Tony (the owner) should have just thrown in the almond jello for free (and the appetizers) lol...
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re: K K
HKTraveler
May 23, 2009 01:56 AM
Don't think he sells much of the 10000 bowl of noodles. Been there several times and the owner said there were people who ordered it during the bull market when the IT crowd were making good money and wanted to impress guests. Guess that doesn't happen often these days. They do make a very good bowl of noodles. The 1000 version, if I remember correctly, is similar to the 10000 version but with cuts that are second best.
If you do go, try the tomato version. That one is good too.
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re: HKTraveler
K K
May 23, 2009 08:06 AM
Yeah the tomato beef noodle soup there, for those who can't read the Chinese menu, is NT$600 or rounded up to US$20. Still an ouch for those who don't pay more than NT$270 for a bowl at a specialist place (or less at a street food stall). But I appreciate it is there.
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There are many night market. Shi-lin is only one of them. I recommend Shi-Da (meaning the Teacher's College) night market and the near by Kong-Guan area. For one thing, if it matters, there are more expats in this area so the vendors might be more able to deal with you :-) .
The food you mentioned is everywhere in Taiwan and they are so common I don't remember anybody stood out to be the most popular.
BTW if you don't eat pork - I gather you are kosher? oh... I am not sure how you can do street food then? Taiwanese would use pork lard to stir fry vegetables ... but I am confused ... prawn is OK?
