chinese/taiwanese: i strongly recommend GOLDEN FORMOSA

GOLDEN FORMOSA 金蓬萊 

No. 101, Tianmu East Road, Shihlin District,  

台北市士林區天母東路101號

(02) 2871-1517

MRT: Zhishan

website: hipage.hinet.net/golden-formosa

hours: 11:30AM- 2PM; 5:30PM- 9PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 12/21/2011

Shihlin is home to Golden Formosa, a two story Taiwanese restaurant that serves a wide menu of homestyle dishes, with a space and taste different than the more well known, upscale Taiwanese family restaurant Shin Yeh. I've been to several Taiwanese restaurants that my local relatives chose for dinner when US relatives are visiting and Golden Formosa stands out as one of the better experiences. 

The English, Chinese and Japanese menu is quite tourist friendly, except there aren't many pictures for reference. Some dishes come in smaller vs larger sizes and the menu is huge. The specialty dishes are located convienently on one page, and then there's sir-fried dishes (heehee), traditional dishes, vegetables, seafood and more. The front of the menu even has a story about how the family owned restaurant has been passed down the generations since the 1950s.

Plate after plate came to the table until the lazy susan was full. My relatives patiently turned each dish to me first to let me have a pristine picture before digging in. Everything that I tried was tasty. Mouthful after mouthful, bowl after bowl, the tastes all blend together while catching up with family, so I'll have to let the pictures do most of the talking.

Cold steamed chicken 

Crispy fried spare ribs (NT$150/each) were popular at the table and we had to place a second of order for this and the fried cuttlefish balls.

Salt cured mullet roe with radishes

I really enjoyed the Narrow-barred Spanish Mackarel with Rice Noodles, the soup had a depth that kept me slurping. A must order.

Pork kidneys with marbled pork in sesame oil (NT$650)

Curry crab

If you're adventurous, you can try the chicken testicles with steamed egg. I personally wasn't THAT adventurous, so I kept to the bottom layer, with the creamy steamed egg.

Yeah, not the most popular dish at the table. You have to have some balls to eat this dish. LOL!

Can't have a Chinese dinner without whole steamed fish topped with scallions and bathed in soy sauce.

Can you tell the relatives can eat?! After all that food, a huge claypot of chicken soup still came to the table with a whole chicken inside. OMG, who saved room?

Even the Deep-fried Taro Root was delish, with a chewy, mochi-like center and a crispy shell, and I usually don't like taro.

Reservations recommended and bring a large group so you can try more dishes.