Tuesday, June 26, 2007

dessert/beat the heat: i strongly recommend TAI YI MILK KING



TAI YI MILK KING
82, Xin Sheng S. Road, Section 3
(across the street from the main entrance of Tai Da)
(02) 2362 3712

hours: 10:30 AM - midnight daily

$

Visits reviewed: 5/25/2007 and 6/5/2007

I know everyone is in love with Ice Monster and mango ice, but for classic shaved ice flavors, you have to try Tai Yi Milk King. And I'm not talking about creamed corn.

Red bean. Fresh rice mochi balls. A drizzled layer of evaporated milk over snowy ice.

Heavenly.

I had never been to or heard about this place before I went with some friends late last month. All you hear about is Ice Monster. But this place has been around for ages with lots of choices for you to appreciate. You could try something different every night for a week!



Filled with mostly locals and a menu of both icy cold shaved ice (NT$45-80) and soupy hot rice balls, you might have to send someone to claim a seat first even though there is two floors of tables. Probably a lot of college students since it's so close, right across the street from National Taiwan University. Is it Taida or Tai Da- anyone know?

If you must do the mango ice, they have that here too- and it looks just as good, but without the plop of mango shebert excess.



Or go for "ba bao bing" which is like a mix-in of everything popular like green beans, red beans, tapioca balls, peanut and some other unidentifiable stuff.



But I prefer the clean lines and flavors of the red bean and "xiao tang yuan" which is made fresh and slightly fatter and chewier than the frozen and boiled white and pink variety that you will spot at most other shaved ice places. Once you have this, you can never go back! I went back a few weeks later and got the same thing- though the first time was definitely better than the first.

There's nothing like love at first bite.

Look for these signs if you are taking a taxi or walking.. The white sign is the front facing the street, the blue one is from the sidewalk. There is also an Adidas store a few doors down and Tequila Sunrise a few blocks away.




If you don't mind eating something hot during the summer, or want something during the winter, try the "tang yuan"- filled with sesame paste and bathed in a rice wine soup. Apparently, it was voted by 30,000 voters as the top place in Taipei to go to for yuan xiao AKA "tang yuan" AKA mochi rice balls filled with stuff.



Second place? Jiu Ru on Ren Ai Road. Nice... I'm on top of the Lantern Festival favorites.

Tai Yi shaved ice is available until midnight every night. Awesome.

PS When I start having three posts in a row with ZERO comments, I start getting nervous! Not interested in hummus and hotcakes??? Without sounding too girly, I really do love hearing from you guys!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmm, sounds great! We're big fans of shaved ice with all the various toppings. Taro, red/green bean, barley, various tapiocas, and of course the chewy mochi balls.

Is the ice that's shaved truly fluffy? Hubby's picky about his ice and doesn't like the rough and chunky kind.

Also, do you know if they offer the ice made from milk (I think it's milk, I don't know what it's called)? Or just ice made from water? Sometimes I'm in the mood for the milky ice which yields a fluffier shave and forego the condensed milk. One place we've had it at is Taipei 101's food court.

Oh and we also love tang yuan. Can't wait to give this place a try!

Urban Epicurean said...

Hi Joahn! Tag - you're it! You've just been tagged with a valuable mission to share seven random things about yourself, please review your mission.

And, I hope this finds you well fed! ;)

joanh said...

mamamoon: the ice is pretty fluffy!! i don't like the chunky ice either ala Eastern Ice.. and I don't know if they have the kind made from milk.. i personally don't like the kind made from milk.

cat: hi! long time, no talk. 2nd person to tag me, so i guess i have to get on it!

ZZ said...

Wow, this is a quite familiar place for me! But I tried only few times only because I am not a girl so don't have sweets so frequently.

joanh said...

ztaro: so you are near that area? what else is good there? i wish i could there more, but it's probably better that i don't!

ZZ said...

I know so many place in this area, because I have a dinner almost everyday around there. A beef noodle along the same street is fine. And a chinese restaurant `Cai Wei' is my favorite.

Lisa Wang said...

i miss shaved ice :(

joanh said...

ztaro: cool. thanks for sharing!

ffc: i just had some yesterday. mmmm. ;)

pterrell said...

My in-laws are nuts for the Yu's Almond Tofu shaved "ice". I understand that instead of ice, they're shaving from a frozen block of almond tofu. They make a trip down to Heng Yang Street because "it's the original store and the best". Which is funny because the bus to go downtown from mother-in-law's house passes the Guang Fu branch.

But then they combine the trip with shopping in that lane that specializes in women's clothing or going to a nearby restaurant in Wanhua.

A review with addresses is here: http://meieats.com/2008/01/yus-almond-tofu/

J said...

Hiya, this comment is probably a bit late considering you wrote the post in June 2007 but this place sounds wicked! And I just happen to be going to Taipei this December :)

Could you please let me know which is the nearest MRT station to it please? And which exit I should take. I'm not familiar with Taipei at all; I've only been there twice on short trips!

Thank you in advance!

Anonymous said...

A little late, but it is the Gong Guan MRT station.

Unknown said...

It's Tai-Da. ��

:)