Taipei City - 牛易館太極牛肉麵

Value for money: 9/10

Cleanliness: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

*invited*

The restaurant itself, looks ok from the outside. It's just a shame that so many restaurants like this are housed underneath apartments with things that begin to detract from the restaurant itself.

Check out what you want before you go in.

Alternatively, for a better look at how the dish will be presented, there are pictures inside.

We arrived at 12:00 and there were a few people inside. However, from around 12:30 onwards there was a steady stream. This was a Sunday, maybe a Saturday is busier, maybe not. 

The 老闆 owner pointed out that these 3 were the top 3 dishes, here, obviously not discounting the others. But, each restaurant has to have its specialities, right?

Unfortunately, a lot of the side dishes were a little greasy and (even though it may not look it with all of the greens, reds and purples, they were looking rather tired, too).

Help yourself to a cup of the 青梅汁 Plum juice or the 冬瓜茶 winter melon tea. I think the plum juice is a good pairing with the beef noodles as it offers a sourness that cuts through the dish.

It's always nice to see the cooking process. 

We went with (from left to right) pickled cabbage, curry sauce, spicy sauce. All were good, but I do like a good bit of spice, so the spicy one was my favourite. Don't add these sauces to your beef noodle, but rather dip in some of the meat or dip in some of the noodles. It's sure to give your mouth a good surprise!

Here's what we ordered:

1. 番茄牛肉麵 fān qié niú ròu miàn Tomato beef noodle soup $140

2. 筋包牛肉麵 jīn bāo niú ròu miàn Tendon beef noodle soup $200

3. 太極牛肉麵 tài jí niú ròu miàn TaiChi Style beef noodle soup $250




1. 番茄牛肉麵 fān qié niú ròu miàn 
Tomato beef noodle soup $140

I am a big fan of the tomato beef noodle soup. This is my usual order at any beef noodle restaurant. Tomatoes tend to impart a greater depth of flavour and sweetness that I like in beef noodle soup.

There's plenty of beef in the soup, definitely no complaints there! However, the broth is a little on the salty side.

A lovely cut of Australian beef, here. The beef was fantastic, really, I have no complaints at all! The beef is only cooked for around 8-10 minutes, but the broth is cooked for around 4-5 hours - impressive!





2. 筋包牛肉麵 jīn bāo niú ròu miàn 
Tendon beef noodle soup $200

Quite clearly the lighter of the two broths in colour, but also it was a lot lighter in flavour. However, it was still too salty...

Again, plenty of beef!

 A different cut of beef, here, and a more fatty beef but still quite clearly delicious.



3. 太極牛肉麵 tài jí niú ròu miàn 
TaiChi Style beef noodle soup $250

As we spoke to the owner, he is quite clearly a man with a huge love not just for beef noodle soup, but for everything to do with the dining experience and the experience of eating beef noodle soup.

Separated into two broths, this broth is the clear broth as in the 2nd bowl of the beef noodles above. However, some of the cuts of beef are a little different. The beef belly is really quite great, and the other two cuts of beef are great, too!

This side of the broth is the 紅燒 version, with more depth of flavour than the clear soup (still a bit salty, though).

This was the star of the show - fatty meat! It is no secret that I love a good fatty piece of meat, whether it be in a beef noodle soup or the other great Taiwanese lunch of 焢肉 (fatty pork). 

The owner showed us this article from the Discover Taipei magazine, so 牛易館 is certainly doing very well throughout Taipei. Also, the owner told us that he has been over to China a couple of times to teach how to make beef noodles - awesome!

The Taipei City Mayor has even been here to eat. Anyone else thinks he looks a little like a cartoon character?

Tel: 
02-87872677

Opening Times:
Every day 11:00 - 21:00
Chinese New Year off

牛易館 Facebook Page

臺北市中山區四平街30號

No. 30, SiPing Street, ZhongShan District, Taipei City

Eating in Taipei

Happy Eating!