dessert/taiwanese: i strongly recommend DAZHI FENG YUAN

DAZHI FENG YUAN 大直粉圓

No. 35 DaZhi Street

 臺北市中山區大直街35號

(02) 8509-8805

MRT: Wenhu (brown line) 5 minute walk

price: $ (about NT$60/person) Delivery available 

hours: 11AM- 9PM

Kid friendliness: very. at this price, they can each get their own bowl

visits reviewed: 8/18/2017 and 9/10/2017

DAZHI FENG YUAN IS A SMALL SHOP IN DAZHI, but with more than all the essentials for Taiwanese shaved ice. With over 20 different chewy, colorful toppings from taro balls to grass jelly to boba and red adzuki beans, you could make a number of combinations. Feng Yuan translates to the name for tapioca in Chinese, so that's why you see a big bowl of it on their sign, advertised for NT$30. 

A bowl of shaved ice is NT$60 with a choice of four toppings. I especially like their pearl barley, so much that I got double of it. I know Taiwanese shaved ice toppings can sound strange to people who are used to having their barley with beef soup or beans in chili, but think of how oatmeal which is usually eaten sweet for breakfast is now being used as a savory option. In Taiwan, mung beans, red beans, pearl barley, oatmeal are all sweetened and used for desserts. I've even seen creamed corn as a topping on shaved ice (which still repulses me, but hey, corn ice cream is a thing in the US now, so we can't judge).

They also have douhua, or soy pudding, but I found the flavor to taste a little on the burnt side, which I know some soy milk places are known for, but I personally prefer it without. You can add three toppings to the douhua, which are hidden underneath. 

Dazhi Feng Yuan's ice isn't super fine, but with the creamy and chewy toppings and brown sugar syrup, it all works together. 

And those who don't like the traditional toppings, they have mango shaved ice, but it's seasonal. I haven't tried it yet because I'm still trying different combos of the traditional. My go to combo is usually pearl barley, aiyu, boba and mochi balls, but on this day my friend wanted to try the big red beans and the taro balls. 

They have about 10 seats and it's fairly clean and they let you use their bathroom. Haha. I had to note that because A LOT of little shops won't let you use their bathroom, even though you know they have one. Anyways, this no frills shop has become a go to when I'm in the Dazhi area for a quick snack. Cuz global warming. The shop is near Shih Chien University and Dominican International School. 

taiwanese/breakfast: RUI AN SOY MILK KING

RUI AN SOY MILK KING 瑞安豆漿大王
No. 69 RuiAn St.
台北市大安區瑞安街69號
(02)  2705-3377

MRT: Daan or Technology Building Station (about 5-10 minute walk)

Hours: 24 hours

$ (NT$60)

kid friendliness: Room for kids to sit and strollers.

Visit reviewed: 3/15/2017

[TAIPEI] Good morning! Tried this Taiwanese breakfast spot a few months ago, a block away from my usual spot on Fuxing, which has become a bit of tourist spot somehow with longer lines than I've ever seen in the years I've been going. 😂 So I've been slowly trying different locations to broaden my dou jiang horizons because we don't always have an hour to wait at Fu Hang. 

Rui An Dou Jiang Da Wang, or Rui An Soy Milk King, is a lot roomier and open than the usual Taiwanese breakfast restaurants, kind of like a large stall. It's easy to spot with it's bright red sign and corner location. There's a bit more elbow room and space to have conversations, and fairly clean.There's also a ton more variety than just soy milk and shao bing you tiao. Rui An also has pan fried buns, chive boxes, curry pastries and noodle soups. You can point and order since there are some ready to go on the counter. Decisions, decisions.. an array of choices for breakfast. What's your favorite Taiwanese breakfast order?

The positive of having all the goods laid out is that it makes it easy to grab and go when you are in a rush, and this spot is rarely crowded so you don't have to wait in line. The negative is that some things taste better hot, and they didn't reheat any of the pastries that we ordered when I took friends on later visits. I wonder if this place is happening after hours, since it's open 24 hours. 

I ended up getting a youtiao #油條 (fried dough stick) wrapped with an inside out danbing #蛋餅 (egg crepe) and a cup of soymilk #豆漿. Grand total - 55NT or about US$2.  I'll have to come back to try the bacon danbing and noodle soup next time! 

dear hungryintaipei: TRACKING DOWN TAIWANESE BAKERIES

photo credit: udn.com

OVER THE YEARS, I've probably gotten hundreds of emails and messages from readers, not to mention comments on social media like my Facebook page, Instagram and twitter. I read all of the messages and try to respond if I can and if I have the time. 

I've received many great restaurant recommendations from you guys.  Some messages are touching, a note of thanks or details of how they used my blog while they were in Taipei and appreciate my hard work. I've loved hearing from restaurant owners telling me that my posts helped them get new customers or that they feel a noticeable impact.

I've led journalists and tv crews on the hunt for the best eats in Taipei, and as far as Keelung, Shenkeng, Tainan and Kaohsiung, arranging the right restaurants to feature and shoot. 

Most of the time, people ask for restaurant recommendations, or a list of must eats, but sometimes questions get very specific. I've even gotten asked to recommend places to propose to someone. (What a huge responsibility, right??!)

Once in awhile, I get dumb questions that can be answered by Google or Google Maps. It can be frustrating, but I've reminded myself over the last year that I don't have to answer EVERY single question or plan people's entire itinerary for them.

I thought it would be interesting to post some of these questions and answers over the years, since some of these answers might be something you've been wondering about too, OR maybe something you guys can help me answer!

This one was cool to research because, hey, Taiwan came in SECOND PLACE at the Baker's World Cup! Who's tried these bakeries?
_

JANUARY 15, 2017 
4:59AM

Subject: Tracking Down Taiwanese Bakeries

Hi Joan -

My partner and I are traveling to Taiwan later this month and I am trying to track down some bakeries. You might know that this past year, Taiwan did quite well at the Baker's World Cup, second place!

The winners are three gentlemen, whose names can be found here: http://www.europain.com/events/bakery-world-cup

I've managed to track down one of their bakeries: https://www.facebook.com/CTCBakery

But I am wondering if you know anything about the other two men or their bakery locations. I'm a professional baker myself and enjoy nothing more than "bakery tourism" when I travel. I love your blog and we will be using it as a resource for our trip. My partner Alexandra caught wind of you all the way over here in Boston.

Yours

- Dan S

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JANUARY 15, 2017
1:45PM

Hey Dan,

Thanks for your email. Your question piqued my interest since I actually hadn't heard about this win. 

I'm guessing you got the CTC bakery from city543. According to 40 minutes of research and Google translating, it doesn't seem to be one of the bakeries. 

Check out this Chinese article

http://udn.com/news/story/7196/1505303#prettyPhoto

The three bakeries are 

Shakespeare Boulangerie 

高雄市鼓山區美術東二路51號（07）586-7256

https://m.facebook.com/shakespeare.co2010/

Un Jour A Paris 

昂舒巴黎烘焙坊

台北市大安區光復南路180巷1號（02）8771-6358

https://m.facebook.com/昂舒巴黎Un-Jour-À-Paris-934527939893710/

Wu Pao Chun

吳寶春麥方店 

台北店：台北市信義區菸廠路88號（02）6636-5888 #1902

高雄店：高雄市苓雅區四維三路 （07）335-9593

One is in Kaohsiung and the other two you can find in Taipei. You can check out their Facebook pages. 

The only one I've been to is Wu Pao Chun, who is the baker who won in 2010 and led this team. 

Their shop is in Songyen Eslite. 

Enjoy browsing the bakeries! 

Joan 

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JANUARY 15, 2017

10:40PM

Thanks Joan. I can't express how much I appreciate your great detective work! IS this blogging a business for you? You are very passionate about it. We're actually staying in Kaohsiung for most of the trip with family and a few days in Taipei in February. I would be happy to take you out for a pastry as a token of gratitude. 

Yours

- Dan

taiwanese/late night: i strongly recommend ZHI XIANG LIANG MIAN

ZHI XIANG LIANG MIAN 

芝香涼麵

No. 143, ZhongXiao E. Rd, Sec. 5

台北市信義區忠孝東路5段143號

(02) 2762-1666

MRT: Taipei City Hall

$ (Cash only) 

kid friendliness: sure

Visit reviewed: 4/11/2017

24 hour cold noodles (涼麵) means the option of eating them as a midnight snack or for breakfast! We had just left the Coldplay concert in Taoyuan, hungry and wet, having escaped the mess that was the post-concert flood of people trying to get home. Luckily, one person insisted on navigating us to a little shop on Zhongxiao East Road (a hop and skip away from W Taipei) that had offered up cold noodles, fish ball soup, shredded chicken rice and lu rou fan, 24 hours a day.

If you've never had cold noodles (aka liang mian) in Taipei before, it seems like a simple bowl of spaghetti-like noodles, topped with sesame sauce and julienned cucumbers. But every place has its own version of the sesame sauce- some with more soy sauce, some with chili oil, some with  peanut sauce.  I've even picked up packaged versions at 7-11 when I needed something on the go. Of course, it's much tastier with a tableful of semi-drunk friends, from a post-concert high, sharing a few bowls for less than a cab ride across town. Here, a bowl of liang mian costs NT$45-60, lu rou fan (braised pork rice) NT$35-45.  Probably some of the cheapest (and satisfying) eats you'll find in the Xinyi District. 

beef noodle soup: YONG KANG DAO XIAO MIAN

YONG KANG DAO XIAO MIAN 

(YONG KANG KNIFE CUT NOODLES)

永康刀削麵 

No. 5, Lane 10, Yong Kang Street

(02) 2322-2640

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).