chinese/breakfast: i recommend YONG HE DOU JIANG and JIANG JIA HUANG NIU ROU MIEN

YONG HE DOU JIANG and JIANG JIA HUANG NIU ROU MIEN
No. 1, Lane 260, Guang Fu S. Road
(02) 2772-0642

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

hours: 24 hours, but breakfast served until 11AM

$ (cash only)

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

visits reviewed: 10/28/2009
iphone pics: 5/7/2009 & 12/2/2008



The beauty and simplicity of the Chinese breakfast- a steaming hot bowl of soy milk and a fried you tiao to dip in- joins classic combinations like Oreos and milk, coffee and donuts, or eggnog and, uh, Christmas cookies? Haha, you got me on that one.



For those new to the world of Chinese breakfasts, here is THE CHINESE BREAKFAST BREAKDOWN

- DOU JIANG = soy milk = can come sweet or salty; hot, warm or cold; and sweetness can usually be adjusted
- YOU TIAO = chinese cruller = long fried sticks that can be used to dip in soy milk, or wedged inside a sao bing
- SHAO BING= flat flaky bread = usually used to sandwich you tiao or egg, with sesame seeds on top
- SHAO BING YOU TIAO = fried goodness + flaky goodness sandwich
- DAN BING = egg crepe/pancake = scrambled egg pan fried with thin crepe-like skin
- FAN TUAN = sticky rice roll = sticky rice smushed together and stuffed with pork floss + pickled vegetables
- LUO BO GAO = daikon radish cakes = pan fried squares of radish, best crispy and with sauce

I'm sure there's more, like steamed buns, but those are the basics.

So all around Taipei, there are a bunch of Chinese breakfast places, some holier-in-the-wall than others. Maybe you've heard of a famous "Yong He Dou Jiang" or seen one near your house. But actually they are not all related to each other. As I understand, there is a really famous and delicious soy milk place in YongHe, but it's not even called Yong He Dou Jiang! But because of its popularity, a bunch of places sprung up with that as their name or part of their name as a marketing tactic.



if you're looking for one to try, you can check out the one near SYS Memorial Hall, just around the corner from the MRT stop. The signs say it's 24 hours, with certain things available 24 hours (xiao long bao), some available only until 11am, others only after 11am (beef noodle soup). The perfect place to eat breakfast if you want to eat some xiao long bao and soy milk after getting in from an early flight, or after a long, late night of meetings.

The space is weathered, but clean and spacious, with seating on wooden stools. Menus under the glass and sauces are on every table.



The prices are so good, you could make your own little breakfast buffet. Or you can grab and go. The fried you tiao sticks here are best eaten hot, dipped in the warm soy milk, as they aren't as crispy I'd love. The first time I go, I get the shao bing you tiao which is a bit messy to eat, with the flaky pastry crumbs leaving evidence everywhere.



The sticky rice roll is dense and a bit heavy for breakfast, but good if you are hungry.



But my favorite here is the xian dou jiang or salty soy milk.



Growing up in LA, I remember weekends to our local Chinese restaurant- my mom ordering sweet dou jiang which looked like a bowl of hot milk, and my dad ordering salty, which looked like something no kid wants to eat. Imagine curdled milk, which is sort of what it is- vinegar added to soy milk to create congealed bits of liquid-y tofu. That image of salty soy milk was so strong that I never wanted to try it until recently (two months ago).

And I fell in love with it! It tasted like a hot breakfast tofu stew, with salty pickled vegetable bits and bite sized pieces of you tiao mixed in. I don't know what spurred the decision- maybe because everyone seemed to be heartily slurping their up, maybe because over the years eating soondubu and drinking cold sweet soy milk (also a recent thing) warmed me up to its potential.

So if you've never tried the typical Chinese breakfast, give it a try instead of your usual milk and cereal or McD's mcmuffin. If you're a longtime fan, you have to share where is the best place to get it.

CLOSED! revisted/dessert: i strongly recommend ICE MONSTER

ICE MONSTER (CLOSED!)
or BING GUAN
No. 15, Yong Kang Street

nearest MRT: ZhongXiao/XinSheng or Guting

website: icemonster.com.tw

$$

hours: 11 AM -11 PM

Kid friendliness: can be a crowded tight space, but shaved ice with fruit is healthier than shaved ice with no fruit

Visit reviewed: 12/1/09
Previous visit reviewed: 6/29/2005



Ice Monster on Yong Kang Street is known for its huge mango shaved ice, but when mango is out of season, their other shaved ice options are just as great.

Many Taipei local shaved ice places shut down for winter, but Ice Monster still has a packed house on a weekday December afternoon, indicating I'm not alone in wanting a cold dessert on a cool day. Established in 1995, Ice Monster was the inventor of mango ice, a genius combination of fresh mango cubes, shaved ice and condensed milk, which has been has been copied around the world. During the summer months, there is often a long line and wait for seats in the small seating area.



Their self explanatory picture menu indicates that mango ice is indeed "out of season," but my out of town friends are just fine with the fresh fruit mix shaved ice (NT$160) with kiwi, strawberries and mango jelly (although they used to do it with fresh cubed mango?!!), topped with a huge scoop of mango ice cream, which is what's usually available during the winter season. They also have smoothies, sorbet flavors like passion fruit, strawberry milk, mandarin orange, and shaved ice topped with sweet potato, red bean or rock mochi. Or you can opt for hot options like red bean or peanut soup.



We also try the caramel jelly and custard shaved ice (NT$160), which is surprisingly great. The milky custard, QQ caramel jelly and brown sugar laden shaved ice tastes like a I'm eating a deconstructed Caramel Frappuccino. Mmmmm. I actually like this better than the mango ice, which somehow seems like more of a sugary overload.



While more expensive than most other shaved ice places in town, Ice Monster has become a landmark for mango shaved ice and with their huge portions, a shaved ice is enough to share between 2 or 3 people. Unless you want to keep one all to yourself.



Can you believe Ice Monster was my very first review on this blog almost 4 and half years ago?! To everyone who's been following along my food adventures, thanks for reading and eating with me.



View Larger Map

vietnamese/pho: i strongly recommend YUE YUAN PHO

YUE YUAN PHO
or VIETNAMESE GARDEN PHO
No. 12, Lane 155, Dun Hua N. Road
(02)2718-0660

MRT: Nanjing East Road or Zhongshan Jr. High School

website: Facebook page

hours: 11:30 AM-3 PM: 5:30 PM -9 PM; weekends 11:30 AM - 9 PM

$-$$

Kid friendliness: clean and spacious, though fills up quickly during lunch/dinner time;

Visit reviewed: 11/10/2009



If you've never had Vietnamese food in Taipei before, get ready to try the real deal. Even before I stepped foot into the restaurant, I was drooling over photos of Yue Yuan Pho's banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches and pho soups, after reader Richard kindly recommended the new restaurant with "a yellow sign that says "Pho." (Thanks Richard!)

I quickly made plans with my friend S to give it a try and she said it was near Chang Chun Road. Good thing because otherwise, I would have ended up on Dun Hua S. Road instead of Dun Hua N. Road when I confused the two when telling the taxi driver the address in Chinese. I know, I'm retarded, but I still confuse the two in my head sometimes because I'm thinking of the "N" sound for "North" = "Nan" when in fact "North" is "Bei" phonetically.



Anyways, once you end up on the lane populated with restaurants, you can quickly spot the bright yellow sign. At 11:30AM, we didn't have to make reservations, but the restaurant quickly became full after 12noon.



The simple menu is on a sheet of white paper in English and in Chinese. It's funny that instead of using the word "pho", it's instead titled "beef noodle soup."



The space is sleek and clean, with lots of light from the storefront windows and a long mirror along the top of one wall that makes the space feel slightly bigger.

A bottle of Sriracha and Hoisin sauce are set on every table- believe it or not, I think this is my first time seeing Sriracha in Taipei. I don't know why, but it makes me excited- maybe because it reminds me of LA.

If you've never heard of Sriracha, here is a cool NY Times article about its not-Thai, not-Vietnamese, but American origins.



We were set on trying the beef pho, a dry noodle and a sandwich. But we got talked into ordering the "Luna Shrimp" by the waiter with a sense of humor, saying that it was what he ate everyday. I wasn't clear from the name that it was Thai style fried shrimp cakes, but after ordering it, he said it was enough food and we shouldn't order the sandwich.



First came the plate of basil and bean sprouts and shortly after, a steaming hot small bowl of rare steak pho. (NT$140) The broth had a distinctive beef flavor, slightly sweet and spiced by onions and star anise. It really stood out from other broths I've had in Taipei. The beef quickly cooks after a few swishes inside the soup.



When I asked the waiter which of the rice vermicellis we should try, he suggested the BBQ pork over vermicelli with egg rolls (NT$140+30). You can also get bbq pork chop, chicken or beef with rice.



The large slices of grilled pork were tender and carmelized, like a Vietnamese take on the more familiar char siu. Buried underneath the pork were plain rice noodles on a bed of bean sprouts, where you could pour the house made dressing (or "nuoc cham") and make a sort of cold noodle salad.



Next came the fat slices of the shrimp moon cakes, or called Luna Shrimp on the menu here (NT$180). Sure they were crispy, hot and thick with mashed shrimp, but they weren't what my friend and I came here to eat. We ate a few and offered a few to the older couple sitting at table next to us. Out of pity (and probably curiosity), they took a few.



Though we were pretty full, I still wanted to try the sandwiches. After all, that was a rare find in Taipei. We reasoned with ourselves and decided we'd just sample it, and if we couldn't finish, we'd take it home. After ordering and waiting a few minutes, the BBQ chicken with pickled vegetables(NT$120) on french bread came.



O.
M.
G.



The succulent, hot, grilled chicken thigh, warm crusty french baguette, tangy julienned pickled carrots and radishes, and a slightly sweet mayo-ish sauce they used to "glue" it all together. It is perfection. And believe it or not, it's hard to find a good sandwich in Taipei, much less a good Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. I'm drooling as I write this and it's not even lunch time.

The food is so good, I must go again the following week with a gaggle of friends and order all the same things, but also try the spicy green curry with french baguette and the classic ham, meat loaf, liver paste with pickled vegetables banh mi sandwich (NT$120), which are both also amazing. Although this time, we have trouble getting service when the initial order of food is not enough (they are packed to the brim and running around like crazy. It seems only a few of the waiters are trained to take orders, some of the others are just delivering plates/cleaning up) and one sandwich order gets dropped for 20 minutes until we repeatedly ask for it.

It's pretty bold of a place to declare itself the best, as Yue Yuan Pho does on its Facebook page (or maybe a superfan set it up for them), but in this case, it is earned. It even kicks the butt of my former favorite local Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Hoa. The word of mouth is quickly spreading for this six month old restaurant in the good Vietnamese food deprived city of Taipei.

A second shop is already set to open this week or next, in the killer location between the Dun Hua Diner and Carnegies.


View Larger Map

2nd Annual 2009 Best of Taipei Restaurants Readers' Favorites Poll

It'a that time of year again! I had a lot of fun finding out what your favorite eats in Taipei were last year and I'm hoping more readers will share this year. Copy and paste the area below, fill in the ones you want to vote for and paste in the comments section.

I've added a few fun categories that I hope you guys will participate in... I know some of you are visitors, so you can share what you miss when you're not here!

VOTING

Voting will be open from November 24th - December 26th. There must be a minimum of 5 categories filled out (with different restaurants) in order for the vote to be counted. For example, you cannot fill out the same restaurant in 3 categories and nothing else. But if you really love that restaurant, vote for it in the applicable 3 categories and fill out 4 other categories, then it will count.

I changed it from "best" to "favorite" because some people told me it was too much pressure to declare something the "best" when they hadn't eaten everything. It's okay if you haven't tried everywhere in Taipei! No one has. It does not have to be a restaurant I've reviewed. So just vote for your favorites!

You don't have to have a google account to vote. Just pick the "name" or "anonymous" option and put in your first name or initials if you don't want to put in your name.

Also feel free to campaign for your restaurant or favorite eatery on Facebook, Twitter or your website with a link to this page. But only votes on this post will count.

I will tabulate and announce the winners by January 15th, 2010 (fingers crossed!).

2nd ANNUAL HungryInTaipei.com's
2009 BEST OF TAIPEI RESTAURANTS READERS' CHOICE AWARDS

Favorite Restaurant in Taipei
Favorite New Restaurant in 2009
Favorite Cheap Eats
Favorite Special Occasion Restaurant
Favorite Restaurant in a Hotel

Favorite Western Breakfast/Brunch
Favorite Chinese Breakfast
Favorite Late-Night Bites
Favorite Kid Friendly/Family Restaurant
Favorite Romantic Restaurant
Favorite Buffet
Favorite Night Market
Favorite Restaurant to take Tourist Friends
Favorite Unexpected Find in Taipei
Favorite Place to Meet for Drinks
Favorite Delivery
Favorite Food Court
Favorite Fast Food

Favorite Taiwanese Restaurant
Favorite Chinese Restaurant
Favorite Japanese Restaurant
Favorite Sushi/Sashimi
Favorite French Restaurant
Favorite Italian Restaurant
Favorite Indian Restaurant
Favorite Mexican/TexMex/Spanish Restaurant
Favorite Thai Restaurant
Favorite Vietnamese/Southeast Asian Restaurant
Favorite Korean Restaurant
Favorite American/Western Restaurant

Best Ramen
Best Beef Noodle Soup
Best Xiao Long Bao
Best Dim Sum
Best Hamburger
Best Hot Pot
Best Pizza
Best Steak
Best Vegetarian
Best Afternoon Tea
Best Desserts
Best Ice Cream
Best Frozen Yogurt
Best Shaved Ice
Best Coffee/Tea shop
Best Bakery- Breads
Best Bakery- Cakes

Favorite Food I Miss When I'm Away From Taipei
Favorite Food That Needs to Be Brought To Taipei
Favorite Restaurant that Needs to Open a Branch in Taipei

japanese/sushi: i recommend NIU SUSHI

NIU SUSHI
No.150, Xin Sheng N Road, Sec 1,
(02) 2542-9978

MRT: Zhong Shan

hours: 5:30pm-12am Open only evenings. advance reservations strongly suggested

$$$-$$$$

Kid friendliness: tight space, no high chairs spotted. mostly sushi bar seating, with only a few small tables

Visit reviewed: 10/20/2009



I'm pretty proud of myself. Somehow, I've slowly managed to try almost all the places that won the 2008 reader's poll that I had never eaten at before.... Flavors, Chicago Pizza Factory, now Niu Sushi, which won for Best Sushi/Sashimi. I think I only have Tutto Bello and Lao Zhang left. And speaking of the reader's poll, it's almost that time of year again- I'm going to be drafting up this year's categories, so start thinking about who you're going to vote for!



So back to Niu Sushi... It's located around the corner of Nanjing East Road on a row of restaurants, with a huge neon sign with "niu" or the Chinese character for cow to let you know you're at the right place.



Once inside, you know you're at the right place, as the sushi bar takes up most of the room. Make sure you make reservations as it's a popular place and the sushi bar sits about 22 people, with some table seating on both sides. A sushi bar seat will take you face to face with the sushi chef, and you can get up close to the fresh sashimi at the counter or on the left side, with the tank of shrimp and mussels that you might be eating for dinner.



I'm happy at the table on the right side and the air conditioning is a bit strong, so the waitress kindly offers me a pashmina to wrap my shoulders when she's turned down the AC a little and it's still cold. We haven't even ordered yet, and I already have a good feeling about the place.

The menu is in Chinese, but instead of ordering ala carte, you should put yourself in the chef's hands and order omakase or chef's choice. The prices range from NT$1000-NT$4500, so we end up trying the NT$3000. If we're going to splurge, let's splurge. Some of the pictures below are one person portions, some are two, as some of the nigiri and sashimi, they bring out a pair, one piece for each person.



First course- uni and monkfish liver (for one)

The first dish comes out rather quickly and I'm excited! It's one of my favorites- uni- and there's a whole mini-pile of the sea urchin, and on the right, I think monkfish liver. Both were slightly sweet and melt in your mouth, sort of like a foie gras of the sea. The creamy liver is slightly fishier than the uni, but was offset with a nice ponzu soy sauce that had a citrus touch. There's a bed of slippery seaweed underneath the liver and though it was a bit slimy, the viscous texture created a new sensation for my mouth.

This is one of my favorite courses of the night.



Second course- sashimi platter (for two)



The waitress explains that some of the sashimi is specially selected from a rarer kind of salmon, but to a casual sashimi eater like me, it tastes sort of the same as regular salmon. The waitress also notes that the roe on top are from the sweet shrimp. I do enjoy the seared sashimi and I love sweet shrimp. I'm not crazy about toro- it's a bit too fatty and rich for me, so I give my piece to my date.



Third course- Bluefin tuna handroll (for one)



Okay, now is where it starts to get a little fuzzy. Sometimes the waitress would announce what it was when she delivered it, sometimes she didn't. I couldn't really hear her when she did, and when we asked a few times what things were, I wasn't entirely sure- since she spoke in Chinese and I don't know a lot of the Chinese names for things that are less familiar to me. So if anyone can ID what we ate, I'd be happy to learn!

We are not sure what this is- we thought it was a tuna roll, but I'm not crazy about it. After a bite, I also give this to my dinner partner.

Fourth course- roasted heads of sweet shrimp (for two)



The heads are bigger than I've seen before and I get a little bit of the shrimp's brains out. Imitating my friend, I chew on a few of the crispy bits, but they are kind of tough. Of course, this is a bonus course from the sweet shrimp in the sashimi, so you don't have to eat it if you don't like shrimp heads.

Fifth course- nigiri



This was good, slightly warm with a slight chewy, fattiness.

Sixth course- abalone soup (for one)



Large pieces of abalone that were either steamed or cooked in a broth. Chewy and filling, while the broth tasted like the daikon oden soup.

Seventh course- grilled scallops with shiso leaf (for two)



The scallops weren't as melt in your mouth as I would have liked, and the seaweed was soft rather than crispy. I was still working on my abalone when I ate this.

Eighth course- nigiri (for two)



I liked the warm seared nigiri though my date thought that his previous visit to Niu Sushi was better (with a cheaper set). Perhaps it's because he sat at the sushi bar and could eat it right away, or the chef noticed what he liked or didn't like and could adjust what he gave.

Ninth course- seared beef (for one)



This was another one of my favorites. The two seared pieces of beef were pretty bloody on the inside, but it was good. Sometimes a few bites of good beef are better than a big steak that's overdone or not high quality.

Tenth course- half lobster in shell (for one)



I love lobster, but unfortunately, this baked lobster was a bit overdone and dry. The meat came out easily with the fork and after eating it I was starting to feel a little full.

Eleventh course- nigiri (for two)



Nearly translucent texture to the fish, the nigiri was again fresh and a mystery to me what I was eating.

Twelfth course- mystery ball(for one)



I wasn't crazy about this dish- it had a slightly tough texture and soft filling. It didn't taste like anything I had eaten before and I didn't finish it.

So one of the cons of not knowing what you're eating, is eating it and finding out later what it is. While I half joked that we were probably eating some testes with the shape and texture of this next spoonful... after some googling I found a site in Chinese that had the same dish. I cut and paste the Chinese into Google Reader and it said "Globefish Shirako (Swim Bladder)" and after googling "shirako" and "globefish" it turns out I was pretty much right. Not only was it male sperm sac of a fish, but a pufferfish!

Ewwww...

Thirteenth course- stirfried veggies



Solid stir fried vegetables, this was really good. Crunchy, fragrant and the right texture.

Fourteeth course- clam soup



By this time, I'm getting quite full. I think I ate the clams, but the soup was too gingery.

Fifteenth course- crab legs (for two)



What?! Crab legs?

I thought the soup was the last course and I wasn't mentally prepared for another course, so I'm a little too lazy to really dig into the crab legs and all the intricate shells. I get as much meat as I can out, but it's not super sweet so I'm not putting in the effort and I'm wisting for something easier...

So we request more scallop.

Sixteenth course- seared scallops



Now this is what I was wanting... If there were more courses like this, then the sushi chef would have been a mind reader. I think if I ever came back, or for first time visitors, you should start with a cheaper course around NT$1500 because I think the more expensive courses just get loaded with grilled/hot dishes that aren't really worth the price if you are just looking for sashimi.

Seventeenth course- honeydew and mung bean soup



Yay! We're finally done. It's been a long night and time to go home. I'm full, but indulge in the mung bean dessert soup and ultra-sweet honeydew melon. I can check another sushi place off the list, and the 2008 winner no less. After trying it, I can't say it's the best that I've had in Taipei, but it's definitely worth a try.

Speaking of the readers' poll, I'll find some time to set it up and so get your votes ready!