night market/taiwanese: i still strongly recommend SHILIN NIGHT MARKET 士林夜市

SHILIN NIGHT MARKET 士林夜市

MRT: Jiantan 

Glimpses from last weekend at Shilin night market. It was the first time I visited the relocated vendors since they had moved five years ago from the corner near the MRT Jiantan exit to a basement food court on Jihe Road. Anyone who has been to Shilin knows it's a sprawling, huge night market composed of many winding alleys, shops, street vendors and stands. So I guess it took me so long to check it out since there was plenty to eat from the street vendors outside.

But if you're looking for an air-conditioned place to sit down, you can check it out and don't wait as long as I did. Look for a brightly lit sign and some vendors on the first floor.

Once you go down the stairs, you emerge into a brightly lit, noisy, sensory overload aisle of oyster omelettes, stinky tofu and lots of people. Most of the vendors had signs filled with photos as well as an array of foods on display to point at. Each of the vendors have their own area to sit at, and I ended up just picking one that had an open table since they were all pretty crowded.

Multiple vendors making oyster omelettes by the dozen.

Sunrise Teppanyaki had a bevy of awards and customers.

Coffin bread stand served fat slices of bread stuffed with savory or sweet concoctions. I've actually never tried it before.  

Sweet and salty "da bing bao Xiao bing"

Stall number 20 is the one I ended up grabbing a table at. Bright clear sign, yellow tables and lots of choices. Staring down the menu, the owner handed me an English menu after hearing me speak English. 

English Menu and photos avail to point at and order from. Definitely order the pork braised rice, or the lu rou fan, and the ten bu la or fried fish cake. 

Front row seat to the chef's table 

The food comes out fairly quickly and the table full of food was NT$500. I would recommend everything except the fried tempura shrimp, it was the most expensive and our least favorite. 

Stinky tofu 

Braised pork rice or Lu rou fan-- I quite liked this. I always feel a tad indulgent eating Lu rou fan because it has a lot of pork fat and oil, but this was the right amount of sweetness and saltiness and cooked to an almost melt in your mouth consistency. I liked how it wasn't all fat, but had some ground pork mixed in too.

Our next favorite was the fried ten-bu-la fish cake. Slightly crispy on the outside and had a qq chewy consistency and slightly sweet. 

Be prepared to swim in the crowds on the weekends.

Taiwanese sausage in a sausage 

Famous Hot Star fried chicken g-pai. There was a stand here in the basement as well as outside and near the theater. Lines at all three vendors. 

This translation! 

Along Jihe Road are also a row of games for kids and kids at heart to play. There was one woman who was next to me who was shooting 10 balloons in a row, on the top spinning wheel. Bang, bang, bang, bang.. sharp shooter. 

This number toss game had the best prize-- Pikachu!

You can even find popular items from other countries, like Korean fried chicken, or the latest craze, the rolled up ice cream from Thailand. 

I always make my way to the street vendors on the other side of the night market, near the theater. I love the pan fried buns and the variety of food there. 

The Pokemon Go craze is real in Taiwan. Have you seen the video of the mob of people running in Beitou, reportedly to catch a Snorlax? 

Pepper bun

Shaved ice

I couldn't believe this shaved ice shop was closed!! It looked like it has been closed for awhile. Does anyone know if they relocated or just went on vacation? They are missing prime summertime customer dollar bills!

CLOSED/dessert/night market: COOL N2

COOL N2 分子虎分子雪糕專賣店
Shilin Night Market
No. 29 WenLin Rd.
台北市士林區文林路29號
(edited 8/2016- this location closed and they moved deeper into the night market to a stand.)

(02) 2883-8400

MRT: Jian Tan

website: Cool N2's FB page

hours: 12PM - 11:30PM

$

Kid friendliness: Kids will love seeing the liquid nitrogen in action and eating ice cream

Visit reviewed: 10/3/2014

With a row of white Kitchen Aid mixers and staff dressed in white lab coats, you might wonder what the deal is with Cool N2, which sits near the front of Shilin Night Market. If you're in a hurry to get your eating and shopping on, you might pass it by without realizing that it's a liquid nitrogen ice cream shop, offering flavors like milk with pop rocks or chocolate with corn flakes. I'd probably passed by it at least 3 or 4 times, but finally had a chance to try it recently with some friends.

Liquid nitrogen ice cream doesn't come cheap at NT$100-180, but you get to watch chemistry and food in action come together to make ice cream babies. There are five flavors to choose from- that day's were milk, chocolate, green tea, caramel and chocolate whisky. And though in night market eats, NT$150 is a lot (10 pan fried steam buns or 3 giant fried chicken cutlets), it's actually not more than a latte from Starbucks and it's more fun to watch them make it.

A cold fog fills the room as he refills his batch of liquid nitrogen. You could do a twirl and reenact a scene from Frozen while you wait - "The wind is howling like a swirling storm inside." Or not.  

It's like magic as the liquid nitrogen cloud sweeps over the milk and when it dissipates there's ice cream to be scooped out.

The White Party (NT$150) ice cream is milky and creamy, and the pop rocks on desserts are always fun, giving your mouth little crunchy bursts and pops.

The Chocolate Beauty (NT$150) was good too, though the corn flakes were just sprinkled atop, not mixed in to give the ice cream extra cornflake crunch. There was a rich chocolate flavor, but didn't taste too sweet. These days I find some flavors at Haagen Daaz and Coldstone to be too sweet for me (Gasp! I really have been living in Taiwan too long!)

I would try it again if I was in the mood for ice cream over shaved ice or snowflake ice (which of course there's plenty to find at Shilin!), and check if they have new flavors or options to create your own flavor since the ice cream is made to order.