Taipei
Visited Taipei for the first time this past December and it was a fantastic introduction to Taiwanese food! We had more recommendations than we knew what to do with as we got started with our time in the city.
Shortly after dropping our bags off at the hotel, we headed to Fu Hang Dou Jiang. The breakfast spot was located on the second floor of a two story market. The line up for it snaked out the second floor entrance down to the ground floor and around the building. Thankfully the line moved quickly. We were ordering at the counter a short 15 minutes after starting at the back of the line.
Kitchen at Fu Hang
We got a bowl of cold soy milk, youtiao, and a piece of their oven baked thick bread. The soy milk was refreshing and the youtiao was hot out of the fryer, crispy and oily. The thick bread wasn’t my preference, especially compared to the combined flavour profile of the youtiao dipped in fresh soy milk.
Youtiao on top the thick egg bread, with a bowl of soy milk
As we were still a good three hours away from the hotel’s check in time, I googled for cafes in the area and stumbled upon Simple Kaffe near Fu Hang. It was a well laid out 2 story cafe that was packed. They had menus in Mandarin as well as English for your convenience. I enjoyed the matcha milk I ordered. It came with a thick layer of foamed milk, was densely milky and has a strong matcha flavour. A bonus point in my book was that the drink came in a 6 oz serving. The drink came sweetened, which paired well with the intense matcha milkiness.
Matcha Milk, Simple Kaffe
We headed to Raohe Night Market that night, rounding off an entire day of feasting and exploring. We had planned to try the black pepper pork buns as we entered the market. When we went to Raohe around 7:50 PM on a Tuesday night however, the queue for buns curved around the block. We decided to explore the market first and try again as we exited. By the time we were done exploring the market two hours later, there was barely a line up. At NT$55/bun, and a generous portion, it was well worth buying.
The snack was super peppery, with tender flavourful meat, and a crispy and dense bun.
The market was packed, we inched our way through the massive crowds and line ups trying to spot foods that seemed promisingly delicious.
I spotted a man at a tiny counter selling muah chee and I had to order some to let Christine try it.
We also tried stinky tofu for the first time and it smelt so much worse than it tasted! The tofu tasted slightly fermented but mostly garlicky, with a tangy metallic aftertaste. The sauce it came doused in cut through the intense garlic flavour. Overall it was a yummy adventure.
The next day, we had xiao long bao (XLB) at the Din Tai Fung on XinYi Road, the original location of the massively popular chain. By the time we got there on our first visit just before 12 PM, it was a 60 minute wait for a table for two. The entire walkway and pavement was packed with tourists waiting for their number to be called. I was quite impressed with the efficiency the restaurant operated. You arrived and got a number as well as a menu in the appropriate language. Once you knew what you were going to order, you go back up to the front counter and place the orders and have them confirmed. Then, you continue waiting for your number to be called and get seated.
Once we got a table in the vast multi-story restaurant, we were speedily greeted and served hot tea. And then our dishes came in a staggered manner. We tried the fried shrimp pancakes, pork XLB, truffle XLB, shu mai, Taiwanese lettuce, spinach, beef noodles, and liu sha bao. It was a lot of food. But we finished it all!
Now, for a quick un-scientific bubble tea review. We tried four bubble tea places while in Taipei: Bobii Frutti, SOMA, Tiger Sugar, and Day Day Drink.
Bobii Frutti’s bubble tea had an excellent tea flavour without the accompanying bitterness. Their brown sugar pearls were soft and tasty, and the option for 100% sweetness was the perfect level of sweetness.
SOMA was a small hole in the wall store and packed when we got there. We realised quickly that the reason for the long wait was that the staff were packing a massive order for take out. We tried the oolong tea option which was delicious, I didn’t see an option to add pearls, and 30% sugar was the right level of sweetness.
We chanced upon Tiger Sugar at Shilin Night Market and had to order it despite being fairly full from our hours long feasting wandering around the market. The drink had an excellent tea flavour and soft chewy non-sweet pearls.
Day Day Drink was another stroke of luck, which we happened upon on the way to Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice eatery. This was our favourite of all the bubble teas we tried. The drink we ordered offered an intense tea flavour, and they had the softest pearls among the four brands we tried followed by Bobbi Fruitti. I found the 50% sugar level here to be the right balance for me.
We also squeezed in a visit to Maokong and were lucky enough to get to the front of the gondola line just in time for the sunset. It was a gorgeous ride up, though the night got chilly after dusk on the way back.
Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice eatery was our favourite food spot in Taipei. It was cheap, delicious, and filling. Really not much more we could have asked for. The “big” portion of braised pork rice we shared was in reality quite small even by Taiwanese standards, but combined with the side dishes we ordered, ended up being the right amount of food.
We ordered braised tofu, tea eggs, and sweet and sour pork soup as well. The food hit the spot. The best part was that all that cost us NT$150.
Shilin Night Market was insanely packed on the Friday night we chose to go. The crowds were evident from the MRT as we exited, all the way to and within the sprawling market itself. We tried so much food including the famous Taiwanese fried chicken. The gigantic Hometown Chicken fillet was served piping hot out their fryer and tremendously filling even shared between the two of us. It was crispy and tender meat that was doused in their BBQ sauce.
From the uniquely Taiwanese sausage in a sticky rice sausage snack, to fried milk balls, grilled mushrooms, Taiwanese oyster omelette, and sweet potato balls, we were stuffed by the end of the night.
During our stay, in our walks to and fro the MRT stations and convenience stores, we spotted a local bao stall near our hotel. It was the epitome of no frills street side food, with just one lady and massive bamboo steamers in front of her peddling her bao.
Of course we had to try it. After a brief inquiry on what types of bao she had on sale, we got 2 large pork buns for only NT$40. The very first bite revealed tender well marinated meat, and a soft fluffy and mildly sweet bao.
We managed to visit the National Palace Museum, which was an eye opening excursion. I learnt a lot about ceramics and the carving and sculpting of jade. I had expected more socio-political history focused exhibitions, much like the palace museum in Seoul, but each exhibit focused much more on the nature and history of the objects displayed.
The neighbourhood where we stayed was quirky and was lined with hip stores and amazing food in a maze of alleyways. One of the dessert spots that came well recommended was Soypresso. We got the original flavoured soy bean soft serve the first time we went. This was the best soy soft serve I’ve ever tried.
The soft serve in cone was mouthwatering, delivering fully on the fresh soy bean taste. The texture was deliciously creamy and the cone had an excellent crunch and flavour. We also tried the sesame soy bean soft serve on a subsequent visit and found the original one preferable.
Soypresso also sold fresh soy milk which we had to get as well. The milk came with a strong soy bean flavour, and was a thick drink in the best possible way. You could taste the hint of roasted soybeans with every mouthful.
Of course, while in the area we had to try mango shaved ice. We tried two spots during our stay: King Mango and Smoothie House. The winner by far was King Mango. They had the finest shaved ice both of us have tasted, even compared to shaved ice in Seoul. The bowl came with ripe and generous mango servings.
The day before we left, we visited Jiu Fen. The public bus ride took a few hours and thankfully dropped us off at the top of the mountain, avoiding the lengthy arduous stair climbing. It was ridiculously packed with tourists. It was most crowded at this one spot halfway down the steps which overlooked A Mei Tea House. Everyone was vying to take pictures of the tea house which apparently looks similar to the bathhouse in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.
Walking down the crowded winding narrow streets, we came across an amazing taro ball dessert stall.
It was clearly popular as their employees were scooping out taro ball soup non-stop while others deftly swung and rolled out massive logs of dough and hand cut them into the small taro balls that each bowl was generously filled with. The taro balls were tremendously soft, and came with varied natural sweet potato and sesame flavours. The taro paired well with sweetness of the bean soup which we got iced.
Taiwan was interesting- we primarily focused on the food experience and I definitely felt everyone we encountered was friendly and warm. It helps if you speak some Mandarin or Taiwanese Hokkien, although between the two it seemed the older generation spoke Hokkien more frequently than the youth. The architecture was curious. It felt like I had been transported to the 1980s or ‘90s. Ultimately, it was a fantastic affordable city for a short trip that’s for sure.