Taipei City - 朱記

Value for money: 8/10

Cleanliness: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

This place is ideal if you are wanting somewhere where you can sit with a group of friends and have some good, clean, Taiwanese food.

Whilst this location is fairly new for 朱記, they have been around a while in many other locations.

Clean and accommodating inside.

At lunch, it can get busy, but you shouldn't have to wait too long.

peanuts with tiny fish and chilli to the left, then taro and also seaweed far right.

They have a good assortment of 小菜 small plates, I'd probably take one of each quite happily.

Bitter melon to the left, edamame beans to the right

This little area is for your sauces. However, they just have one pot of spicy chilli oil, a bowl of sugar (for the congee) and a flask filled with water.

Not quite the Korean idea of kimchi, more a Taiwanese version with less chilli,sweeter and with more vinegar.

We took these two small plates - pickled cabbage 泡菜 Pàocài and Lotus root 蓮藕 lián'ǒu. The lotus root was great. Although the flavour is quite mild, it has an enjoyable texture and an earthy sweetness to it that cleanses the palate nicely.

Spicy pork wontons

鮮肉餛飩炒手

Xiānròu húntún chǎo shǒu

$110

These were solid. In fact, I could've done with two portions of these just for myself. We asked for them with just a little spice, as they gave us the option - 小辣 xiǎo là. They were slightly sweet and nicely spiced (I will go for spicier next time, though - spicier 中辣 zhōng là, hell sauce 大辣 dà là) and inside there is a good amount of pork without it being heavy.

Noodles in soy bean sauce

炸醬麵

Zhá jiàng miàn

$95

These were the biggest let down of the meal. Whilst they looked incredible when they arrived and smelled amazing when mixed, the flavour was really boring. Usually there is a nice meat sauce with some tofu or some sesame with cucumber, carrots and/or beansprouts. Here, the flavour lacked on all fronts. It's a shame, because the noodles were really quite good.


Beef pancake roll牛肉捲餅
Niúròu juàn bǐng
$130

It's been a while since I've had one of these. This was a good one to enter back into the game with. The beef was nicely cooked so it wasn't too dry, the cucumber and scallion helped to keep the roll fresh and crispy, too. The spicy chilli sauce complemented it all very nicely.

Fried beef pocket

牛肉餡餅

Niúròu xiàn bǐng

$45

Not bad, but I won't be ordering it again. I can't help but feel like the meat inside was a bit greasy. Be careful when biting into this hot pocket as the meat juices will squirt out in all directions and they are damn hot! The flavour of the beef was good, but the whole thing just tasted a bit greasy, really.

Opening Times:
Monday - Sunday
11:00 - 21:30

Tel:
02 3322 2156


台北市大安區永康街6巷10號

No. 10, Lane 6, YongKang Street, DaAn District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!

Taipei City - 1976 Hong Kong Restaurant

Value for money: 10/10

Cleanliness: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

When I first arrived in Taiwan, I wasn't much a fan of the sticky and gloopy rice known as Congee. However, if you ever feel a bit ill or sick, then this is a sure fire way to make you feel that little bit better. Or, better still, is to get this when winter sets in and you start to feel cold.

Self-proclaimed first Hong Kong style restaurant in this Taipei area, 1976 offers up some very good dishes.

You can even buy some Cantonese style sausages outside the shop, next time!

Within the last 2 years or so, the restaurant has been through a refurbishment, and it since looks so much better!

The kitchen is fairly clean, and the staff are attentive from the moment you step in.

Choose what you would like from the Dim Sum 點心 cabinet, or order off the menu. 

This time, we went for two dishes:

狀元及第粥
zhuàng yuanjí dì zhōu 
The best congee 
(self-proclaimed, I didn't make this up!)
$90

豬肝撈麵
zhū gān lāo miàn 
Pork liver with Lao noodles
$110

Their congee is thick (I much prefer this style) and nicely salty. The fried dough sticks are good and the flavour of the meat and the liver inside is delicious. It's a big bowl of hearty goodness.

I wasn't quite expecting this much liver, but then again, I am not complaining. A lot of people find liver a bit overpowering with an iron flavour, and whilst I do get that it is a strong flavour, I just can't get enough!

Biting in to the liver, it is creamy and silky smooth with a strong liver flavour. It melts in your mouth and then comes through (slightly) hard noodles and thick salty sauce. I could eat this every day.

香港菠蘿油包
xiāng gāng bō luó yóu bāo 
HK Pineapple bun
$50

We couldn't leave without trying it. Turns out, next time, I probably won't order it again. The one at YanJi street does a much better pineapple bun. This one here isn't going to win any prizes, but it will do the trick to satisfy your craving. However, I like mine warm, crunchy and the butter should be melting.

A firm favourite for congee and liver in Taipei.

Opening Times:

Monday - Sunday

11:00 - 21:00

Tel:

02 2777 1976

台北市大安區敦化南路1段233巷11號

No. 233, Lane 233, DunHua South Road, Section 1, DaAn District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!

Taipei City - 麺屋一燈 Ramen Noodle Restaurant

Value for money: 9/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Live in Taipei and can't afford a plane ticket over to Japan to eat your favourite Ramen noodles? Have no fear!

I have to share this place with you! 麵屋一燈ITTO do Ramen Noodles (拉麵) like I've never tasted before. Dishes range from $230-$370. Pictured is the $370 special. It is pricey, but let me tell you this: it was absolutely awesome! Keep half an eye on www.eatingintaipei.com for the full review coming shortly... Where do you go for your Ramen? #Taipei #Taiwan #eatingintaipei #eating #eat #food #feedme #ilovefood #iloveeating #Japanese #ramen #noodles #ramennoodles #love #new #photooftheday #picoftheday #麵屋一燈 #itto #egg #dip #pork #chicken #instapic #instafood #foodporn #foodgasm #a #foodlove

A photo posted by Eating in Taipei (@eatingintaipei) on Jun 13, 2016 at 5:16am PDT

But, do be prepared to line up. With lines around the corner most times of the day, allow yourself around 20-30minutes to queue up. We went on a Saturday at 14:00 and waited for 25mins outside and a further 15mins at our table.

Anywhere that has this many awards for their Ramen has got to be a worth a visit, right?!

I want everything!

And I definitely want the goose liver in the middle, too!

(We asked what the tiny elastic bands were for - for girls to tie their hair back so the hair doesn't dip or fall into your Ramen noodles. The thoughtfulness of the Japanese, I guess).

Here's what we ordered:

1. 濃厚魚介沾麵 Special Ramen Noodles with chicken and pork $370

2. 芳醇干貝雞湯拉麵  Scallop Ramen Noodles with pork and chicken $230

3. 溏心蛋 （酒味道的）Soft boiled egg (Brandy flavoured) $30

1. 濃厚魚介沾麵 

Special Ramen Noodles with chicken and pork 

$370

The price is stupid, I accept that. However, IT IS DELICIOUS!

The noodles couldn't be cooked better: slightly hard in the middle, of a good amount and well seasoned.
The meat is also great: pork is well seasoned and cooked until it falls apart. The chicken is of equal quality, too!
The egg is unreal: the yolk is still runny and it cooked in brandy which imparts an incredible flavour!

Don't drink this sauce directly, simply dip your incredible noodles in and then slurp them out.

This was a sad moment - the last spoonful of noodles.

2. 芳醇干貝雞湯拉麵  Scallop Ramen Noodles with pork and chicken $230

Inside this garlic and light scallop flavoured broth sit similarly beautiful noodles as the first dish, as well as the meat and some braised bamboo. The addition of the seaweed works beautifully, too!

3. 溏心蛋 （酒味道的）Soft boiled egg (Brandy flavoured) $30

It was so good that I needed to order another one of these eggs, they were unreal! Definitely get the egg!

Ice Cream
冰淇淋
Free (免費的)

Yeh, it was alright. Glad I didn't pay for it. We only got one between two, and upon looking at other tables it seemed that only the women were given ice cream...


Closing thought: go here. I cannot recommend it highly enough!


Facebook Link

臺北市中山區南京東路1段29號

No. 29, NanJing East Road, Section 1, ZhongShan District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!

KeeLung - What KeeLung has to offer!

There aren't many things in KeeLung, but there is a lot of good food! Let's start with breakfast:

周家豆漿

A stop in KeeLung isn't complete without breakfast. Around a 10 minute walk from the Train Station is this breakfast place.

The speciality food here is the fried green onion cake 葱油餅.

It was so busy, that we got sent up to the 2nd floor.

I definitely wasn't expecting to see this many green onions drying out up there.

2nd Floor.

These Taiwanese ladies were also wrapping up the wontons for the wonton soup that's on the menu. It does seem weird to me that wonton soup is on the menu at a breakfast house. But, who am I to judge?

What we ordered:

1. 葱油餅 cōng yóu bǐng Green onion Pancake $17

2. 蛋餅 dàn bǐng Egg pancake $25

3. 冰豆漿 bīng dòu jiāng Cold soy milk $15

1. 葱油餅 cōng yóu bǐng 

Green onion Pancake 

$17

The signature dish at this breakfast store, and it was pretty good. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be (considering we lined up around 20-30 mins), but it was still pretty good. Packed with green onions and soft on the inside yet crunchy on the outside. It certainly satisfied my breakfast desires.

2. 蛋餅 dàn bǐng 

Egg pancake

$25

This was the better of the 2 breakfast orders. Essentially, it is the same as the 葱油餅 just with a fried egg on top. 

3. 冰豆漿 bīng dòu jiāng 

Cold soy milk

$15 (each)

We forgot to ask for a non sweetened soy milk, so it was quite heavily sugared. Nevertheless, it was still alright.

基隆市中正區信二路309號

No. 309, XinEr Road, ZhongZheng District, KeeLung City

Tel
02 2425 9988

Opening Time
05:00-12:00

春美肉圓 and 順記麵線

順記麵線

The 'restaurant' to the left is the fine rice noodles one, the one to the right is the BaWan.

Simple. Each bowl is $40.

How to order: 一碗 yī wǎn (one bowl).

The rice noodles are in a thick soup, with fish balls inside. 

This is the menu for the BaWan 肉圓 ròu yuǎn place.

They create a jelly like substance, encase bamboo, pork and loveliness inside, then deep fry it. But, due to the nature of the jelly like substance, it doesn't become crispy. It remains jelly like.

               肉圓 ròu yuǎn BaWan $35                     麵線 miàn xiàn Rice Noodle Soup $40                       

The BaWan is served with a 'special' sauce and coriander (left) and the rice noodles are just served in a bowl - simple (right).

I would highly recommend the BaWan: the ingredients encased within are all delicious and bursting with flavour. Although, there is possible a little too much sauce. 

I wouldn't recommend the rice noodle soup, as it was neither tasty enough nor did it have depth of flavor.

基隆市仁愛區仁義路317號

No. 317, RenYi Road, RenAi District, KeeLung City

Tel

02 2427 5373 (Both Restaurants share the phone number)

Opening Times

09:00 - 23:30 (BaWan restaurant)

10:00-24:00 (Rice Noodle restaurant)

Next up: 
長腳麵店

Hidden in this little alley, is this surprisingly good noodle place (In fact, we wanted to go to the restaurant nextdoor, but it wasn't open. Nobody likes a failed journey, so we went here instead).

This is a good sight, right?

My favourite type of (unfortunately named) tofu - Oily Tofu 油豆腐

This kind of tofu is stewed for a long time in this delicious pot of goodness, sometimes it is served up with a thick soy sauce or sometimes just by itself. It is delicious, and usually less then $50 on a menu, too!

Not a particularly appetising view, are these pigs feet. Now, let's be honest, they look revolting. This can't be sugar-coated, they look disgusting.

BUT, I implore you to try them out and see what you think. The real flavour comes from the long stewing in spices by the restaurant in which they are served, allowing the (not in particular abundance) meat to be effortlessly delicate and the skin to be a silky deliciousness in your mouth. Really worth a try!

豬腳麵 zhū jiǎo miàn
Pig feet/pork knuckle with noodle soup
$75

You can already see the pork is meaty and thick, delicious in flavour and incredibly delicate. The skin is silky smooth and melts in your mouth with pops of flavour.

The noodles are perhaps a little overcooked, but it's a solid lunch!

三兄弟大腸圈

In the opposing alley off the same street, a different stall caught our eye...

The sign above outlines what the speciality dish is, here. It is a rice sausage stuffed into intestines - 原此巷口大腸圈 yuán cǐ xiàng kǒu dà cháng juān 

I saw that they were steaming a whole host of offal in the steamer above. But, I thought underneath was a broth used to steam the meat above. Nope! She took off the top steamer and unearthed around 7-8 scoops like this, of intestines, heart, kidneys and various others! 

Rice sausage encased in pig intestine
原此巷口大腸圈 yuán cǐ xiàng kǒu dà cháng juān
$40

The name doesn't do much to help sell this product, I grant you that. Basically, sausage is either encased in intestines, collagen, plastic or cellulose. Obviously, intestines are going to impart a slightly heavier flavour and will often add a different taste to the sausage wrapped inside. 

The rice sausage had a great flavour and had been steamed with a range of different spices and ingredients imparting a heavier meat flavour, without containing meat within. It's filling, so make sure you're hungry. This is something you should definitely consider sharing!

So, KeeLung doesn't really have much that I am interested in. I mean, granted, it has good food and it has some decent seafood around the harbour. But, other than that, I don't find much else to get me wanting to go back for more.

With that being said, it shouldn't be overlooked for a day trip, as like the post above has outlined - there is some great food there! But, I wouldn't find it very interesting to spend a weekend there...

Happy Eating!