Taipei City - Nagi (仁愛店)

Value for money: 8/10

Cleanliness: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

If you choose door number 1 (left) then you will head into Nagi. However, if you choose door number 2 (right) then you'll go straight into The Mighty Quinn's. Either way, it's a win win!

But, this time, we chose left.

Immediately you're hit with vibrant reds and pictures everywhere.

The seating is ample, with a bar area, too.

As we sat at the bar to the left, we could watch everything going on in the kitchen - I always enjoy watching kitchens...

Anyway, the menu:

But, I was here for one thing, and one thing only:

Recently, Nagi teamed up with their next-door neighbours to offer a limited time only 

Mighty Quinns X Nagi Ramen dish. Read more, below.

As they prepared our ramen, our accompaniment arrived:

Gyoza

$120

They looked great sizzling away on the plate with a huge dollop of radish.

However, they didn't live up to expectation.

They were mostly leek inside, which was fine, but they were just pretty plain. I won't be ordering them again.

Mighty Quinn's X Nagi Ramen

$290

This had a lot of work to do, especially after that obnoxious price tag.

Here you are going to find the beef from Mighty Quinn's, pickled cucumber and onion which can be regularly seen here, some delicious ramen by Nagi, soup broth also by Nagi and then finished off with a hefty chilli sauce on top and a generous glug or two of smokey oil from Mighty Quinn's.

Let me tell you, this delivered on all fronts, and had me grinning from ear to ear.

Let's start with the broth - deliciously clean and deep in flavour, but combined with both the chilli sauce and then the smokey oil, and you have a match made in heaven. It really is delicious.

Now the accompaniments - the pickled cucumber and pickled onion go down wonderfully in cutting through the fat of the oil, broth and meat, doing exactly what they should with a good amount of flavour and texture.

The noodles - Nagi always delivers consistently awesome noodles in their dishes. You can have that cooked how you liked, and they are perfect every time. I like mine with a slight 'bite' in the middle.

Finally, that meat - beautiful, fatty, rich, strong, plentiful, thick. Yeh, all of those, and more - a triumph.

However, I have to be the bearer of bad news - the dish is no longer served at Nagi. I believe it was a one-off thing with neighbours to see if they could make it work. The dish works beyond belief, so I hope they will be bringing it back to Nagi - as I would go and eat it again, and recommend you to go, too.

Black King

$230

With a much more sensible price tag, comes this disgustingly coloured bowl of black sludge. As unappealing as it seems, if you get past the fact that it is jet black then you can actually find a great bowl of ramen lurking inside. The sauce is made a little bit thicker with the addition of sesame, and has a great nutty aroma to it. 

The pork inside is cut a lot thinner than the beef is, but that is fine - it is still great.

The crunchy "nagi spices" on top add a nice texture but become a little soggy when mixed in with the sesame and the minced pork.

The cabbage and the bamboo add a nice crunch that the dish needs, too. It's a good choice, but it doesn't come close to the aforementioned 'Mighty Quinn's meets Nagi Ramen and they have a beautiful baby' bowl.

Opening Times:

Sunday - Thursday
11:30 - 21:30
Friday and Saturday
11:30 - 23:00

Tel:
02 2775 4688

台北市大安區仁愛路4段109號1樓

1st Floor, 109 RenAi Road, Section 4, DaAn District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!