Friday, May 27, 2016

The food that makes 永和 YongHe so great!

永和 YongHe


3 years ago, when I moved to Taiwan, my plan was to stay for a year at most. Now, I find myself loving life and staying, with no plans to leave. I am from a fairly small city in England. Therefore, Taipei is a wonderful blend of tradition and futuristic that I haven't seen before. But, whilst I love Taipei, it's YongHe that keeps me so entertained.

YongHe has a certain 'charm' that has (previously by a friend of mine) been dubbed the "Wild West" of New Taipei City. Once one of the most densely populated areas on Earth (yes, you did read correctly, EARTH), YongHe has a rough population of 225,000 housed in an area of just 5.7km squared kilometres. Just take a moment to let that sink in, that means that there is almost 40,000 people per square kilometer. That's almost as many people than live in my home city of Derby, at a fraction of the area.

 YongHe is full of people, but also full of delicious restaurants, ergo delicious food. Win Win. I want to share with you 10 places in YongHe that I love and regularly eat at. All within walking distance from an MRT or easily accessible bus routes. Plus, the fairly recent addition of Ubikes make it just as easy as Taipei to get around and, lets face it, everyone has a mobile phone with maps built in.


1. 世界豆漿大王 
World Soy Milk King

 This place is a regular feature, for me. It has everything I want for my weekend breakfast needs: soy milk (hot or cold depending on your mood), soup dumplings, radish cake, little sweetened red bean pastries, steamed cake and (my personal favourite) the fried dough stick wrapped inside a baked ShaoBing.
A photo posted by Eating in Taipei (@eatingintaipei) on







2. 廣東正龍城烤鴨
GuangDong ZhengLong roast duck

Every night, this place is booming. Every night expect a queue outside the door for take-outs. But, the best part about this place, is you never have to wait to eat in. People just seem to love taking out, here. This place serves up some of the best fried rice I have had in Taiwan, it serves up a selection of 3 meats put on top of rice with some veggies, it serves up a Cantonese style crispy noodle dish and it serves up some awesome duck.


3. Korean restaurant
(Not on google maps)

Sometimes I don't want to pay the prices of Taipei, as they are usually more expensive than in YongHe. When that Korean craving starts creeping in, I come here. Unassuming, it sits in a back alley just off the busiest road in YongHe, ZhongZheng road. This place serves up a delicious bibimbap, some great noodle soups and a pretty decent rice cake dish, too. It's worth checking out!

This is where it is, but it is unnamed and not on google maps





4. 鉄腕製麵
Japanese Ramen
I hope you have all had the opportunity to eat some ramen noodles in your life, if you haven't then this isn't a bad place to start. This restaurant has been in YongHe for 3 years, now, and consistently serves up tasty Taiwanese style Japanese food. My usual order is the pork chop curry, but I have often eaten their ramen noodles with chicken and it is pretty darn good! 





5. 香港新成記粥麵
Cantonese congee and noodle restaurant

Cantonese food is synonymous with 'Chinese' food in England. So, I expected everything in Taiwan to be like this, when I first arrived. It wasn't, which didn't neccesarily upset me, but I do like Cantonese food so I make sure I have plenty stored in my pocket for when I fancy it. This place does a delicious congee, so note it down!

6. 義聚東劉家水餃
Liu Family Dumplings

 I do love me some dumplings. You buy these in 10s, and usually pair it up with a bowl of their delicious soup. The skin on the dumplings is quite thick, the filling is delicious and the soups are equally as good. They also do some good noodle dishes. This place is popular, so be prepared to wait a few minutes for a table. But, it's definitely worth it!

A photo posted by ᴮ竹攸小 (@b_hsiaohsiao) on






This is my go-to restaurant for when I am sick. They do some fantastic soups here where they make them in their own individual bowl and then put them in a high pressure steamer to cook. The meat (either pork or chicken) falls off the bone and all of the soups are simple, delicious and healthy (I know, as I have ticked off every dish on the menu). They do a great pork gravy over rice and they do some delicious stewed vegetable dishes, too.



Another firm favourite. I could eat this ever day. Cold braised duck wings, pigs blood rice cake, tempura, seaweed, kidney, heart etc etc. Nothing is over-salted, the flavours are simple but delicious. Make sure you get them to add on some of the pickled veggies, too!


9. 麒麟閣沙茶火鍋
QiLinGe Hot pot

 When you want a hot pot, and some fried chicken, too. But, seriously, the fried chicken at this place is really quite good! Order whatever you want to drop into the hot pot (all good ingredients), choose your soup base and enjoy. Make sure to order a side of fried chicken!
A photo posted by 庭̆̈ (@1215_3022) on






A fairly new place, specialising in the Japanese snack of HongDouBing. They do a whole host of flavours: tuna, cheese, taro, red bean, sesame, matcha. They're all pretty darn good! And it's close to YongAn Market station, too. So, go for a wander around the winding back streets near the MRT station, and tuck in to a couple of these along the way!





Happy Eating!

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posted by Unknown @ May 27, 2016   0 Comments

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Taipei City - 平安京茶事


Value for money: 8/10
Cleanliness: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Quality of food: 9/10

Overall: 9/10

This is just an update on the post above. This time we ordered slightly differently, so take a look at both posts to see which you prefer.

 Basically this should be called:
"The Everything Set"
$1000

Because that's pretty much what you get: a bit of everything!

Ok, so, here we have: Matcha cream roll, Matcha madeleine, Matcha Canale, Matcha Layer Cake and a Japanese rose dessert.

Wow, wow, wow! This is just a Matcha overload all crammed in to one picture.

 Matcha cream roll - 10/10 show-stopping. We went for a no added sugar option of the matcha cream. We were warned it would be bitter, but we both absolutely love matcha tea, so this was no issue in any way whatsoever. However, for the not so regular matcha consumer, I would probably recommend a slightly sweetened version.

 Matcha madeleine - 8/10 Really very good! My reason for the 8/10 is that it was bordering on the dry side. However, it is worth noting that it is still awesome and definitely worth getting. Maybe I am just being over-critical because the cream roll and the layer cake were just that good.

 Matcha Canale - 8/10 Also very good. However, the outside wasn't quite crispy by the time it had got to us, and the centre was quite cold, too. It had definitely been left to cool and then put in the fridge. Which, in itself, is understandable as they can't be expected to bake them to order, however, I have had better elsewhere.

 Matcha Layer Cake - 10/10 An absolute winner every time. This is a must-order here. It hasn't changed from the first time I came and I never want it to.

 Japanese rose dessert - 8/10 A Japanese slightly sweetened dessert with a wonderfully fresh and floral rose flavour. A delicious end to a lovely meal.

 Matcha Ice cream sundae - 8/10 Top drawer matcha, but maybe a personal taste of not particularly liking tapioca balls means this only scores 8, for me. The matcha ice cream isn't sweet but the matcha latte within is a little sweet. Using Hokkaido milk, the ice cream is thick and rich - delicious! At the bottom of the glass there are plenty of tapioca balls, if this is what you are into (I, however, am not. Unless they are at 陳三鼎).

Can't come here and not get a cup of wonderful Matcha. We got this as part of the meal, simply swapping out the Matcha Latte and ordering this instead. I am not a big fan of latte, especially when a cup of matcha is on the cards. You don't get a big cup, but the matcha is of a high quality, imported from Kyoto (the home of Matcha) and really ticks all of the boxes when it comes to taste. Served with a cherry blossom flower on top.

Tel:
02 2368 2277

Opening hours:
The first Monday of the month Off
Every day 12:30 - 21:30

Week days before 18:00 minimum charge of $300 per person
Week days after 18:00 minimum charge of $150 per person

Weekends before 18:00 minimum charge of $450 per person
Weekends after 18:00 minimum charge of $300 per person

平安京茶事 on Facebook


Eating in Taipei
Happy Eating!

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posted by Unknown @ May 24, 2016   0 Comments

Monday, May 16, 2016

Taipei City - 韓石鍋

Value for money: 8/10
Cleanliness: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Quality of food: 8/10
Overall: 7/10



Easy walking distance from NTNU campus means that this place can be busy during the evenings, but we went during the day and it wasn't that busy.


Modest interior.


Good selection of dishes, with 鍋巴飯 meaning the hot Korean bibimbap and the 石鍋拌飯 meaning the Korean stone pot bibimbap.

Here's what we ordered:



1. 豬肉鍋巴飯 zhū ròu guō bā fàn Pork with stone pot baked rice $150
2. 海鮮煎餅 hǎi xiān jiān bǐng Seafood pancake $150
3. 烤羊肉飯 kǎo yáng ròu fàn BBQ lamb with rice $130


1. 豬肉鍋巴飯 zhū ròu guō bā fàn Pork with stone pot baked rice
$150


This is definitely a weakness of mine at Korean restaurants, due to the awesome crusty crunchiness on the rice. The pork was also good, cooked with lots of onions and put on top of the rice. I recommend to leave for 5mins upon being put on the table, then stir everything together, as this allows the rice to reach peak crispiness. Delicious!

2. 海鮮煎餅 hǎi xiān jiān bǐng Seafood pancake
$150


This isn't the best seafood cake I have had, but it certainly wasn't a million miles away. Inside could be found plenty of shrimp and squid. It wasn't too greasy (due to the greaseproof paper that you can see placed underneath), however, it still was a little soggy around the edges.


 3. 烤羊肉飯 kǎo yáng ròu fàn BBQ lamb with rice
$130


This was delicious! I rarely get lamb in Taiwan due to the popularity of pork, chicken and beef in the majority of dishes. However, when I do go to a Korean restaurant I will try and get lamb if they have it on the menu. 

This lamb was fried together with onions and garlic in a light sauce and it was delicious. Served with rice and a fried egg on top, I recommend spraying copious amounts of the deliciously spicy tomato sauce (red bottle) on the egg and then cutting it into the rice. 



One of the greatest things at many Korean restaurants is the small plates 小菜 that they provide complimentary for you. Here we have seaweed, tofu with little fish and fish tempura 
(not tempura in the Japanese sense, but more a translation of the lone word in Chinese. It is a fish paste made into small and soft longs - quite good).



臺北市中正區羅斯福路3段40號

No. 40, Roosevelt Road, ZhongZheng District, Taipei City





Happy Eating!

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posted by Unknown @ May 16, 2016   0 Comments

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Taipei City - 博多拉麵 Ramen noodle

Value for money: 8/10
Cleanliness: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Quality of food: 8/10
Overall: 7/10


Very rarely do I find myself not wanting to eat Japanese Ramen Noodles. This was one of those days where the smells wafting outside just drew me in.



This chain store has 5 stores throughout Taipei: FuXing South Road, BanQiao, NeiHu, Civic Blvd 1 and Civic Blvd 2


 The inside is modest and my only criticism is that I think the tables are too close together, to the point where you're almost touching elbows with the table next to you.

I wrote on the menu, to help you a bit. You can choose from a pork, curry, miso or plain soup base. You can also choose your meats: 炸雞 chicken, 叉燒 Cantonese pork, 玉米海帶芽 corn and seaweed, 肉排 pork chop.

1. 肉排咖哩 ròu pái kā lī Pork chop with curry soup
2. 炸雞博多 zhā jí bó duō Fried Chicken in the house special soup
3. 起司可樂餅 qǐ sī kě lè bǐng Deep fried cheese and potato cake


Top dish is the house special soup and the bottom is the curry

 1. 肉排咖哩 ròu pái kā lī Pork chop with curry soup


I like Japanese curry, I like ramen noodles, so why not try when both mixed together?

The pork chop was tender and tasty and the curry was mildly spiced with a nice rich flavour. I am unsure why, but I didn't have much of an expectation of this place, it certainly delivers on flavour at a reasonable price for a big bowl of steaming ramen.


The noodles themselves are also fairly good and plentiful.


 To keep it warm, it's placed atop this burner which will eventually burn out. In fact, due to the fact that it is raised up, it is at a comfortable height to eat at without bending down - as a tall guy, I am a fan of this!

2. 炸雞博多 zhā jí bó duō Fried Chicken in the house special soup
Apologies for the quality...

 I also liked this soup base, but I prefer the curry. In fact, if I ordered the curry with this chicken then I'd be a very happy man, indeed! The chicken here is delicious: tender, juicy, plentiful, tasty. Order the chicken, with the curry soup and I am sure you won't be disappointed.


3. 起司可樂餅 qǐ sī kě lè bǐng Deep fried cheese and potato cake


 I probably wouldn't order this again. I have had much better deep fried cheese and potato cakes for around the same price. It was crunchy on the outside but there wasn't enough cheese to really make it special or memorable enough.
I think in Eastern Area, this isn't bad for 2 people eating Ramen Noodles

Overall, I would recommend this place and recommend getting the chicken with the curry soup base.

Opening Times:
Monday - Sunday 
11:30 - 21:30


Tel:
02 2784 0738


臺北市大安區市民大道4段74號

No.74 Civic Blvd, Section 4, DaAn District, Taipei City


Happy Eating!

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posted by Unknown @ May 12, 2016   0 Comments