HsinChu *Special*

HsinChu has the nickname of 'the windy city', but for me, HsinChu is a city less aimed at tourists than that of Taipei City. Therefore, I feel it is easier to walk into a more traditional Taiwanese eatery in HsinChu, than if you stroll around the center of Taipei. 

We specifically aimed for the area around 城隍廟 chéng huáng miào.

The temple is actually inside here!

A lot like the Temple at 士林夜市 ShiLin Nightmarket, the temple here features at the market. Just inside the main entrance to the market, on the left side. It's quite special, and the aroma of the incense sticks fill the entire market.


Here's what we ate:

1. 肉圓 ròu yuán Deep fried meat pocket $40

2. 蚵仔煎 é zǐ jiān Oyster omelet $60

3. 乾麵線 gān miàn xiàn Dry rice noodles $60

4. 咖啡仙草茶 kā fēi xiān cǎo chá Coffee and grass jelly tea $50

5. 仙草茶 xiān cǎo chá Grass jelly tea $45

6. 潤餅 rùn bǐng Vegetable and meat wrap $35

1. 肉圓 ròu yuán Deep fried meat pocket $40

This is often referred to as Ba-Wan.

Each Ba-Wan is filled with a meat and bamboo mixture. Often they are filled with a special type of 叉燒肉 which is a sweet glazed pork. The dough mixture is moulded into a disk and then dropped into the oil to slowly cook.

Whilst it is dropped into oil, the oil isn't so hot as to deep-fry the disk, per se. Rather it is heated slowly where the dough itself remains elasticy and chewy. It is quite a unique texture, with a lot of 1st timers not particularly enjoying it.

The Ba-Wan is coated in a sweet sauce, each bowl containing two of the Ba-Wan's. This one is pretty good, with the filling tasting quite fresh. 

2. 蚵仔煎 é zǐ jiān Oyster omelet $60

3. 乾麵線 gān miàn xiàn Dry rice noodles $60

Oyster omelet is something I treasure, and so plentiful throughout the entire island! On this particular one, there is a lot of sauce, and really I think there is too much. In fact, give me half the sauce and I am still thinking it may be too much...

However, this is one of the best oyster omelets I have had, so far: It was really thick, the oysters were big and juicy, the vegetables were still crunchy and actually the omelet edges were also a little crunch - which I liked! 

From the same shop as the Oyster omelet, comes this bowl of dried rice noodles.

I would choose a bowl of the dried rice noodles over the wet noodles in soup every day. Personal preference, I guess. 

These rice noodles were cooked perfectly, the beansprouts and the green onion was crunchy and juicy, the meat pieces were plentiful and big and also the deep fried red onion and garlic sprinkle put on top makes the dish pop alive with character. A hit, definitely!




4. 咖啡仙草茶 kā fēi xiān cǎo chá Coffee and grass jelly tea $50

5. 仙草茶 xiān cǎo chá Grass jelly tea $45

There's a couple of these stalls in the market, we chose the one just outside the main entrance of the market. This place specialises in 仙草 xiān cǎo which is Grass Jelly.

They use a good quality milk to make the drink, but it isn't top quality, so don't get too excited.

The menu is quite big for a small 1 manned stand.

The grass jelly itself tastes good and isn't very chewy at all - a tick in the plus column, not the minus! 

The coffee one was good, with a latte flavour to it. However, it wasn't overly sweet.

The original flavour was also very good, with a somewhat neutral flavour throughout. Again, it wasn't sweet, which I am thankful for. Often a lot of drinks from these types of stalls can be too sweet.

6. 潤餅 rùn bǐng Vegetable and meat wrap $35

On the way out of the market, if you're still hungry, you could get one of these wraps.

Each costs just $35 and is packed with beansprouts, meat strips, cabbage, pork floss and sweet sauce. They're very filling, so share with a friend or take 1 down for your lunch.

All combined into one and wrapped inside a thin pancake/crepe, wonderfully simple but wonderfully tasty! 

新竹市北區中山路75號

No.75 ZhongShan Road, North District, HsinChu City.

Eating in Taipei

Happy Eating!