My Taiwanese Food Recommendations!
大稻埕魯肉飯
Tried out this Braised Pork Rice store recommended by a friend nearby Taipei Main Station! It’s a small shop located in a market, there was quite a few locals there as well.
Of course I had to order their Braised Pork Rice (NT$40/S$1.70 for L). The pork here was quite good, with substantial portions and fatty parts which really melts in your mouth along with the braised flavours. Although I have to say the rice was abit undercooked, but it may just have been a bad batch.
I ordered the Braised Intestines (NT$85/S$3.62) as a side too. The innards were quite thick and fatty, but they gave you some ginger slices to cut through the fattiness of the innards, which made it taste better. There wasn’t any gaminess to the innards either which was good.
📍 No. 17號, Lane 220, Chang'an W Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, 103
二屋牡蠣拉麵
Located in Zhongshan, a popular shopping district, this place is quite popular and always has long queues of over an hour! Luckily I came early and managed to get a seat before the crowds came in. They serve oyster ramen which is quite unique as I have never seen this iteration of ramen being served before.
Their best seller is the 濃厚牡蠣拉麵 (NT$330/S$14.04), which is essentially oyster ramen. The broth they used for the ramen is simmered with oyster innards to give it the thick and rich consistency. Although it uses the oyster innards, it is not too overpowering, well at least for me, although i feel it might get jelak for some. I felt it goes rather well with the ramen noodles.
Each bowl comes with 4 pieces of pork, 2 oysters, torched onion and 2 pieces of seaweed. You can add on a hanjuku egg or more seaweed to your liking. It also comes with free refills of noodles as well. You can choose the doneness of your noodles here as well. The torched onions did cut through the thickness of the broth and the slices pork is actually quite tender and juicy. The oysters they added was also quite big, plump and fresh. There was no fishiness to it whatsoever.
It has a rather small seating space for about 10-15 people! So do come down early to try it if you are wanna skip the long queues. It is really worth the experience to try this bowl of ramen.
📍 No. 11號, Lane 35, Chifeng St, Datong District, Taipei City, 103
初炸小食店
Saw this being featured on Worth It before and wanted to check it out since I was in the area! It is more a snack bar kinda vibe with some small seating area out front.
I ordered the 藕炸鹹酥雞 (NT$60/S$2.55), it was quite tender and juicy and not dry at all each bite was bursting with juices. The batter was also not too thick and very crispy. I also had the 花椒辣雞翅 (NT$25/S$1.06 per piece), it was quite a big serving, the batter here was thicker and crispier and captures the seasoning well. The batter doesn’t stick to the meat but was more like a shell around the meat, again it was quite moist and juicy which I liked.
You can choose the seasonings you want on your fried items like 7 spice, garlic etc. The special thing about this place is that they even have a wine list for you to choose from to pair with fried items!
📍 106, Taipei City, Da’an District, Lane 308, Guangfu S Rd, 57號1 樓
Ah Nan Sesame Oil Chicken
Located in the less touristy Nanjichang Night Market, this sesame oil chicken store was featured in the Michelin Guide Taipei 2018! Of course, I definitely had to try it out!
You can choose which cut of meat you want for your soup! I decided to go with the Sesame Oil Chicken Thigh Soup (NT$150/S$6.38), along with a bowl of Chicken Oil Mee Sua (NT$30/S$1.28).
The mee sua was drizzled with chicken oil a sweet sauce and fried garlic. It may look simple but it is actually super fragant and bursting with flavour. Although for some it might be a tad bit salty but I still highly recommend it to go with your bowl of soup.
The soup itself looked very plain, so I didn’t have much expectations, but i was wrong. It was full of flavours and fragrance from the sesame oil and different herbs that went to boiling this soup. The soup was very nourishing and warming, which probably explains why most Taiwanese have this dish in the winter. The chicken thigh they served in the soup was also very big and the meat was very plump and juicy.
📍 No. 34號, Lane 311, Section 2, Zhonghua Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100
Check out more of my Taiwan Travels:
Your Sign To Visit Orchid Island
How To Buy Train Tickets In Taiwan
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