This past Labour Day long weekend was spent in Taipei, a trip that consisted of non-stop gorging from the moment we woke up. On my must-eat list was Taiwanese Beef Noodles, Yung He Sticky Rice and Soy Milk, Jun Yue Pai Gu (Jun Yue's Porkchop), Raohe Night Market's pepper beef cakes, Night Market snacks, dessert at the Eastern Ice Store, bubble tea, chill'n at a nice quaint coffee shop, and a long list of food souvenirs to bring back home.

The First Gorge

Straight off the plane and immediately after checking-in to our hotel we took a taxi ride over to Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles 林東芳牛肉麵. Basically a hole-in-the-wall, Lin Dong Fang serves up a reputation for one of the best beef noodles in Taipei. Well furnished with 10 different small cold appetiser dishes to select from. From marinated pig ears, garlic broccoli, marinated bamboo shoots, marinated beancurd, and many more vegan picks. And so, the long awaited beef noodle bowl had arrived (I ordered the big size of course), tubes of gelatinous tendon and thick cuts of beef shin on top a bed of ultra thick round noodles submerged in beef consommé. The soup was well flavoured, beefy, but there was something missing...it was that spicy kick usually found in the dish itself. Ah ha! The missing element was in a little jar in front of our very eyes. Looking like red miso, this chilli paste was thick. The noodles took off once the chilli paste was added. It was complete. The tendon was a little hard for my liking, and the noodles were too thick and filling. Indigestion for the next six hours was what I got, but overall, I thought the soup base was the best I've had, especially with that special chilli paste. I prefer the soup at Lin Dong Fang over the famed Yung Kang Beef Noodles, but I do prefer Yung Kang's choice of noodles and its cuts of beef more. Sigh, if only they could come together.

Gorge #2 - Raohe Night Market

During my last visit to Taipei, my husband and I had a fantastic adventure at the Raohe Night Market. Food stalls lined up in the middle and on the sides, it's a one-way trek, and at the end you make a u-turn to continue trekking on the opposite side from the last. It's a Taiwanese buffet gastronomy. All the foods of Taiwan can be found at one night market. New and creative cute snacks, traditional snacks, dai pai dongs, souvenirs, clothing and shoes, DVD's, everything. We stopped and ate everything that tickled our stretched stomachs, as we moved on, our pants got tighter and tighter. We had to carefully select, as there is limited capacity in our tummies. Marinated innards, beancurd, duck wings and tongue, and so forth are all Taiwanese delicacies. Putting all the goods in a metal bowl the attendant will weigh, cut and season the goods with a special sauce, pour them all into a plastic bag with some preserved veggies and send you off with a few wooden sticks. 

One of our favourite fun snacks is the "Big Sausage Wrapped Around Little Sausage." You may laugh, but this is a direct translation. This is what makes Taiwanese street food fun, they have all these amusing names. The big sausage is a big sausage of glutinous rice in sausage casing, meatless. The little sausage is a traditional Taiwanese pork sausage. The "chef" scores the little sausage and throws it on the charcoal grill. The big sausage is also thrown on the grill to be reheated. The big sausage is then cut open like a hot dog bun and swiped with a special sauce, chilli sauce, preserved veggies, and coarsely cut garlic all fitted into the open bun. By now, the little pork sausage is crisp on the outside and placed on top of all the ingredients. Voila! Juicy barbecued pork sausage with flavours of sourness from the preserved veggies spiciness from the sauce, and mega garlic. 

At the end, join in with the others inline for the famous baked pepper beefcakes. The dough is stuffed with spiced beef and chives and placed into an oven that looks like a tandoor. Crisp outer skin and juicy flavourful filling. Delish!

Gorge #3 - Breakfast

For breakfast we made our way over to what used to be the best and most famous soy milk and sticky rice chains in the world - Yung He Soya Milk 永和豆漿. Well, I'm so sorry to say, the chain has been sold to independent owners and the food has gone downhill, right to the bottom. You'll find slightly adjusted versions of the chain's name all around the city, which is confusing. I guess you'll just have to see if you're lucky to find one that's decent.

After a filling, yet unsatisfying meal at one of the Yung He locations, we made our way to Jun Yue Pai Gu 君悅排骨 for some delicious fried porkchop. The chops are thin, fried, and very juicy. The vinegary cucumber slices that lie on top are sweet, sour, and cold with ice crystals. They add a nice touch, as it whets the appetite, cuts away the grease, and is refreshing.

After a nice meal with some of our Taiwan friends at Ao Ba and a rewarding foot massage session, it was time to eat again, just in time to catch the Eastern Ice Shop 東區粉圓 before it closed. Crushed iced with your choice of toppings. 粉圓 or flour balls are the black tapioca pearls found in bubble tea. Top your ice with glutinous rice balls in original, yam, or taro flavour; tofu fa (tofu pudding), condensed milk, cooked taro, red bean, green bean, grass jelly, barley, and etc. This is a true Taiwanese dessert.

Gorge #4 - One Final Trek

On the day of our evening departure, we were able to squeeze in some final noshing. For breakfast, we made our way to Lai Lai Soya Milk which was recommended by our local friend, about 20 minutes by taxi from our hotel. It was good, but not as good as I remember the original Yung He back in the day.

Two hours later, we made our way to Yung Kang St. for Yung Kang Beef Noodles 永康牛肉麵. Following that, we were in need of some nice coffee. Taiwan is filled with little quaint coffee shops where you can get lost in conversation or snuggle with a good book. Green Steps near Yung Kang St. was recommended to me by a friend. Nice and comfortable indeed. The cakes and coffee were as good as expected. 

Besides bringing back a thicker waistline, we managed to bring home boxes of Whole Taiwan Smoked Chicken, Marinated Duck Tongues, freshly baked Taiwan-style bread, dried pork, salty egg yolk cakes, and a variety of snacks. Oh, what a bounty. The food in Taipei is like food on steroids, it's everywhere and with so much variety, whether you walk down a small alley or along a main street, or stumble through a food court, you're bound to find too many choices. So long for now, Taipei!

Details:

Ao Ba Traditional Taiwanese Cuisine
www.aoba.com.tw

Eastern Ice Store
No. 38, Lane 216, ZhongXiao E. Rd., Sec. 4
(02) 2777-2057

Jun Yue Pai Gu
No. 188, 2/f Dun Hwa North Road, Section 1
(02)8773-0935

Green Steps
27, Lane 243, Jin Hua St.
(02)2392-3719

Lai Lai Soya Milk
Across the street from the Miramar Entertainment Park in the Dazhi area in
Zhongshan District of Taipei

Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles
No. 274 Ba De Road, Section 4 

Tel: 02-2752-2556

Raohe Street Night Market
Raohe Street starts from section four of Ba De Road (the front side of Ci You Temple) to the east end of Ta You Road.

Yong Kang Beef Noodles
No. 17, Lane 31, Jinshan S. Rd., Sec.2
(a few blocks from Yongkang St)
(02)2351-1051