YONG KANG DAO XIAO MIAN
(YONG KANG KNIFE CUT NOODLES)
永康刀削麵
No. 5, Lane 10, Yong Kang Street
MRT: Dongmen Station
$ (cash only) (about NT$150-200 per person)
Visit reviewed: 4/5/2017
[TAIPEI] YONG KANG STREET HAS A LOT OF FAMOUS EATS (mango shaved ice, original Din Tai Fung, spring onion pancake that now always has a line- for more details, check out my guide to Yong Kang Street ), but also a lot of unexplored side alleys with restaurants filled with locals rather than tourists. Tried this knife cut beef noodle shop for the first time today (there are two on Yong Kang, this one is in an adjacent alley. The other one, Yi Ping, where I took a writer for CNN ended up including it in his best beef noodle soup list and now there hangs a red banner announcing its inclusion 😂).
Enjoyed the tomato beef noodle soup, but the thick noodles are quite filling. You can probably share a bowl (like we did) if you're planning on snacking along Yong Kang Street. Don't forget to pick up some cold dishes and spicy beef butter for your soup at the self serve station!
Check off menu only in Chinese, but there are some photos with English along the wall of the restaurant. Choices are beef noodle soup, tomato beef noodle soup, zha jian mian and then variations without the beef or the noodles if you wanted just the broth and noodles.
I tend to try the tomato beef noodle soup (NT$200) over the regular beef noodle soup whenever I see it on the menu. It imparts a touch of sweetness and freshness to the broth. I thought the beef was tender and the portion quite sizable for the large bowl. The three of us didn't finish two large bowls.
Zha jiang mian (NT$90) which is a minced pork and tofu sauce with julienned fresh cucumber over the knife cut noodles. Mix up the sauce and cucumbers into the noodles before eating.
There are four beef noodle soup shops in the short Yong Kang Street area now that I've tried (five if you count Din Tai Fung's beef noodle as one).
Yong Kang Beef Noodle is probably the most famous as it has been around for over 50 years and is now a tourist spot, but it's my least favorite bowl, reaffirmed my revisit
a few months ago with Chef Sheridan from Las Vegas. It's a bit too salty and the noodles didn't have any bite. The
beef noodle soup shop hidden by the Smoothie House mango ice shack isn't bad.
Yi Ping San Xi Dao Xiao Mian has smaller pieces of beef and shorter strands of chewy knife cut noodles.
My favorite out of the bunch? Probably still Din Tai Fung's beef noodle soup (with
half tendon half beef), followed by this spot.
But if you've never had knife shaved noodles, you should definitely try it at least once (followed by some spring onion pancake from the vendor around the corner).
(4) MANGO SHAVED ICE
Sit downstairs for the feeling of having your shaved ice in the original shack, or sit upstairs in an air conditioned room, which was added during a recent expansion when
Smoothie House 思慕昔 took over the reins for this spot from Ice Monster/Yong Kang 15 a few years ago. One bowl is big enough to share and the menu has tourist friendly photos and English to browse, though if you choose to sit upstairs there is a minimum fee per person.
(5) FRESH FRUIT, FRUIT JUICE OR BOBA MILK TEA
You can also get some fresh fruit or fruit juice... somehow the fruits are incomparably sweet in Taipei. Give wax apple or custard apple or watermelon juice a try if you've never had it. There's several shops along Yong Kang Street serving fresh squeezed juices to quench your thirst or pre-sliced fruits packed for easy eating on the go.
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| custard apples |
Currently there are three popular boba drink shops along the short stretch of Yong Kang St. My personal fave is
50 Lan- I like to get fresh milk w/ mini bobas, no sugar, less ice, sometimes with extra pudding. There's also lots of ice teas, green tea, fruit teas, milk teas and fruit juices to choose from. You'll be asked how sweet and how icy you want your drink, and you can ask for an English menu if you don't spot one.
(6) TAIWANESE EATS
If you're up for trying something local, there's also a lot of shops specializing in dishes from other Taiwan cities, like Tainan or Yilan. I love the fried
gaozha and lu rou fan from Lu Sang and sometimes will stop in to get just that as a snack on my Yong Kang St food crawl, but you could do a whole family style meal at these restaurants too. See what other dishes are family favorites on my past review
here.
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| gao zha- deep fried chicken broth!! |
TU HSIAO YUEH/ DU HSIAO YUEH / 度小月 or SLACK SEASON NOODLES is near the front of Yong Kang St, near DTF and Kao Chi. Famous for their Tainan dan tsai noodles. Good if you have a large group and want to try Taiwanese food in a modern setting. Check out this past review for
some pictures.
FU CHEN TAINAN EATS
(7) DESSERT
8% ICE has a two story shop and a lot of unique flavors like french peach with rosewater or hojicha with honey to try (though no samples given at this location! Boo!). If you can find it, I also love the macarons and desserts from
Patisserie La Doceur or red velvet cupcakes from
Les Bebes Cupcakes, which both have other outlets elsewhere in Taipei, but you could do just a dessert crawl if you have the stomach space (I'd do red bean paste xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung, mango shaved ice, ice cream from 8% ice, soufflé from C'est La Vie then macarons and cupcakes! haha!)
Of course, there's many more restaurants in the offshoots of Yong Kang St to try, but just the restaurants on Yong Kang Street will keep you busy for an extended lunch and afternoon of snacking. Did I miss your favorite eats on Yong Kang Street? Share in the comments!
Note for travelers, you can also grab a local SIM card at one of these telecom shops Far EasTone or Chunghwa Telecom since you can't just get them at 7-11 anymore. I recently helped a journalist get one here (have your passport ready) before our walking tour of Yong Kang St. Yong Kang Street also conveniently has both a 7-11 and Watsons, perfect for picking up some bottles of water, makeup or toiletries.
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Right off of Dongmen MRT (Exit Number 5!)
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hungryintaipei's guide to Yong Kang Street
No. 194, Section 2, Xinyi Road
(02) 2321-8928
KAO CHI 高記
5 Yongkang Street
(02) 2341-9984
SPRING ONION PANCAKE VENDOR
No. 1, Lane 6, Yongkang Street
YI PIN SHANXI KNIFE CUT NOODLES 一品山西刀削
10-6 Yongkang Street
(02) 2321-1562
YONG KANG BEEF NOODLES 永康牛肉麵
No. 17, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan S. Road
(02)2351-1051
SMOOTHIE HOUSE
15 Yongkang Street
DU HSIAO YUEH 度小月
9-1 Yongkang Street
(02) 3393-1325
LU SANG YILAN RESTAURANT 呂桑食堂
12-5 Yongkang Street
(02) 2351-3323
8% ICE
6, Lane 13, Yongkang Street
(02) 2395-6583
PATISSERIE LA DOUCEUR
No. 223, Jinhua Street
(02) 3322-2833
