Taiwan Trip #2 - 2013: Casual Dining

Ming Yue. This is also a must visit on every trip. Just around the corner from my grandma's place. I think it beats Ding Tai Fong... less hype, less wait, cheaper, and just as delicious!
Rice Cake

Xiao Long Bao (Pork Soup Dumplings)

Stirfried Water Spinach

Pot Stickers

Green Onion Pancakes

Modern Toilet. I've been to both locations in Taipei. My cousin wanted to go so we took her to the one in Ximen Ding.
Shaved Ice (with various cookie toppings, raisins, chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, sprinkles) NT$120 The waiter told us this was shareable for 2 people. Um... Are these 2 people ginormous?! It was HUGE!! Set on a giant squatting toilet dish, this was bigger than my head. And it looked pretty nasty. hahaha. Which is the point here. A mountain of shaved ice with chocolate sauce and condensed milk. And all sorts of toppings to look like.. well you get the idea. haha. I don't want to get super gross. There were 3 of us. We made it through most of the toppings and maybe 1/3 of the ice. Not the greatest shaved ice, but it was fun and definitely photo worthy. 

 

 

Royal Honey Milk Tea (cold) NT$150. My sister also got this. It comes in a "urinal" hehehe. Their drinks are pretty good. 

My parents told us of this beef noodle soup place that was supposedly the best in Taipei. It's won awards or something. They hand make the noodles and also the pancakes for the beef rolls.

Beef Rolls. These were yummy. The pancakes were nicely pan fried and slightly crispy. The sauce inside was kinda sweet which I liked. 

Zha Jiang Mien (dry noodles with meat/tofu sauce, cucumbers, carrots) Small. I love Zha Jiang Mien. It's probably my favorite. So I got it since I can try the beef noodles from other people. It was ok, definitely not the best I've had. I'm all for thick noodles but these were a tad too doughy. Still tasty though. 

 

Beef Noodle Soup (half meat, half tendons) Small. Same type of noodles. The broth flavor was really good though. I'm assuming they won an award based on that. The beef tendons were awesome... great texture and huge pieces! The beef was really dry so that brought it down a little. 

 

Yong Kang Beef Noodle Soup. One of my cousins took my sister and I for more beef noodle soup. This place is well known in Taipei. We've been before, years ago. There was a line outside at 2pm! We got seated pretty quickly though. We had to share a table with 2 other groups.
Beef Noodle Soup (half meat, half tendons) Small NT$210. I think the broth flavor ranks just a smidge under the previous noodle place. But this place had better noodles and beef. So I say they win!

Spicy Steamed Pig Intestines NT$100. We like pig intestines cooked any way. haha. This was tender and slightly spicy. 

Spicy Wontons NT$100. It had a peanut sauce which was very tasty. Yum!

Man Tan Hung Hot Pot - All You Can Eat. 

Some people have left already but all the remaining relatives joined us on our last night for some hot pot! All you can eat hot pot in Taipei is the way to go. Food, drinks, and Haagen Dazs ice cream included! Unlimited Haagen Dazs!!!! Did you hear me?? haha :D
Spicy Hot Pot

 

 

 

Unlimited Soda

Unlimited Ice Cream

 

 

Last but not least... Can't pass through Narita Airport and not visit the JAL Lounge! The best lounge I've ever been to and they have the BEST beef curry ever!! I got to take my sister for her first time and she loved it!

 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~