JANUARY: Taipei Eats

For my January post, it's gotta be about my trip to Taiwan! It's been 5 years since I've been back... Which is crazy! Cuz before that, I went back every year! I definitely missed it. 

The food this time around was a bit disappointing though. Since I was there during Chinese New Year, I didn't realize most of the restaurants/businesses would be closed! T_T We still had some pretty good stuff though. Here are my top 5 bites or meals! (In no particular order.)

ManTangHung Spicy Hot Pot
Inside Bellavita Mall by Taipei 101.
B2, No.28, Songren Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City
Phone: 02-2723-6300

AYCE spicy hot pot! There are different menu packages to choose from. We did the cheapest which is NT$799 I think and it was already more than enough options. My parents have done the more expensive options and said it's not much better. They even gave us complimentary seafood platter. This is a fancy hot pot place. The decor was very modern. They had several private rooms for larger parties. And they have not one but FIVE self serve ice cream stations.

So good! They also have other dishes to supplement the hot pot. Like Lu Rou Fan (braised pork on rice)... one of my all time favorite Taiwanese dishes. Hot pot in Taiwan is one of the best imo. Quote me on that!

Ming Yue Tang Bao (Soup Dumplings)
No.40, Lane 171 Tonghua Street, Taipei 106 Taiwan
Phone: +886 2 2733 8770

One of my must visit places in Taipei. I'm so happy this place is within 5 min walking distance from my Grandma's apartment so we'd been going here for most of my life. We almost always never have to wait and my family and I think it's better than Ding Tai Fung. Yea, I said it. I think DTF is overrated and overpriced and why wait in line if I have a better option!

Soup Dumplings

Sauteed Cabbage

Sauteed Water Spinach

Black Sesame Mochi (with peanut powder). OMG, so yum!

Tsujiri
Inside SOGO Food Court
106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, No. 45 B1
Phone: +886 2 2721 6863

I'm pretty sure I've seen a shop with this name when I was in Japan. It's probably a chain but also maybe just a popular name?

I got a ceremonial matcha (matcha with water) and a matcha cheesecake. It was a combo so I saved some money! The matcha was beautifully green and so good. The unsweentened tea paired well with the cheesecake, even though the cheesecake itself wasn't too sweet. I loved the layers and the bitterness of the matcha. One of the best desserts I had on this trip.

Thai Town
Inside Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi Place A9
7, No. 9, Songshou Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
Phone: +886 2 2723 9987

Thai Green Papaya Salad. Great flavors and textures!

Special Rice. So pretty! I'm not really sure what the red specks are in there... I didn't taste anything particular. But I love that it was served in a silver container... kinda made it feel like fancy rice.

Yellow Curry Chicken. Super tender. So tasty.

Stir Fry Water Spinach. My most favorite vegetable!

This was one of our more expensive meals. It was just me and my mom so typically we'd just go to the food court and get something for way cheaper. But we saw this and she said it was good, so we went. Funny though, it's STILL inside a department store!! Wow! One of the best meals of my trip. We ordered a lot of food but we ate it all!!! 100% would go back to this place.


The Who Cafe
110, Taiwan, Taipei City, Xinyi District, Zhuangjing Road, No. 214 2F
Phone: +886 2 2758 6512

On my last day, my parents and I went to this cute little cafe recommended by my cousin. I told her I wanted to go somewhere with 3D latte art and she found this place online. It turned out to be kind of a cat cafe. All the decor were were of cats as were the cups and saucers. They even had a resident cat walking around the cafe.

I got a matcha latte (unsweet) and it came with a cute kitty 3D latte art. The mug was saucer and spoon were also TOO CUTE!

We got dinner as well. The prices for food were a bit expensive compared to what other options we had but the portions turned out to be pretty big and they were really delicious! I love that there were multiple veggie options on each plate. You order the protein and it comes with whatever vegetable options they had that day. I LOVED all of them! Cabbage, creamed corn, spinach. And the protein was served in a super cute mini cocotte (dutch oven). Very filling meal... I didn't have room for dessert. I wish I had discovered this place earlier cuz I would've gone back for more drinks and dessert!

Extra entry ~~
2nd favorite dessert of the trip. Two Day Souffle Pancake.

Inside Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi Place A8
No. 12, Songgao Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
Phone: +886 923 312 545

Inside another food court. Lol. The Chinese food courts are just on a whole other level. You'd never need to go to a free standing restaurant. There are SO many options and the decor is always on point. They make the American food courts look so so sad.

The fluffy Japanese pancakes are quite common in Taipei now. I saw several places that did this... although they all looked slightly different. My dad and I wanted dessert after lunch so we just went to the first one we saw. SO FREAKING SOFT! This wasn't nearly as tall as the one I had at Gram in Tokyo but I haven't seen one as tall as them anywhere. This was even softer than Gram. It was almost like eating clouds. Topped with a dark chocolate sauce, it was almost unsweetened chocolate. I really liked it. Not too sweet at all, so pillowy, and cute in its little box. I think I like the one from Japan better, but this was also a good experience. If you like sweet desserts, this would not be a good choice.

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Taiwan March 2015: Road trip to CingJing Farm

The 2nd night we went up into the mountains which is in central Taiwan. After checking into the hotel, the driver took us to a restaurant he recommended. They cook the chicken in these contraptions. We got the 4 dishes set menu for NT$1100~

 

Mountain Chicken. You get a whole chicken, steaming hot, gloves, and plastic gloves. Put the plastic gloves over the gloves and use your hands to break the chicken apart. Pretty fun! The chicken was amazing. Super tender, juicy, and so much flavor. These chickens are raised in the mountains. 

 

Pork with Mountain Vegetables. Deeeelicious.

Sauteed Bamboo

There was also sauteed cabbage that's grown in the mountains. I forgot to take a picture of that. And the meal came with a soup. 

 

The morning breakfast at our hotel in the mountains was also fantastic. Unlimited porridge, with an egg pancake and sauteed cabbage. So simple, yet homey and comforting. 

 

 

And the views in the mountains are amazing. This isn't food...but just look at the view!!! OMG! I recommend Stargaze Villa, where we stayed.

On the way back to Taipei we stopped at the QingShui Rest Stop. Probably my favorite part of the road trip. Haha. It's like a giant food court/shopping center. The food was pretty good and there were so many snack vendors.

Rice with Minced Pork, and veggies

 

Sizzling Plate with Mushroom Patty and Spaghetti

Korean Rice Cakes

Best find!! Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake. Asian cheesecake is not at all like American cheesecake. It is very light and fluffy, almost like a sponge cake with cheesecake flavors. We saw Uncle Tetsu's and decided to get one. Not very expensive to get a whole cake. So we got super lucky and got the last one of the batch. Decided to dig into it right then and there and it was OMG AMAZING! The best Asian cheesecake I have ever had. It was like eating clouds... so fluffy and light. 

 

 

So we decided to go back and get another. haha. Now they only make 10-12 cakes each time and so there's a 10-16 minute wait between every batch. Everyone lines up to watch them prep, bake, and package it. It was quite cool. For every cake, they brand their logo on it, unwrap it, then place in a box. The line was already super long but we got in it anyways. Didn't take too long before we got another! :) And it's limit 1 per person so you can't just buy it all up. Check my Facebook page to see some videos! Sooooo freaking good. Man I want some more now... 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Taiwan March 2015: Road trip to Kenting

My parents planned a 3 day 2 night road trip for all of us around Taiwan so we can see some sights! Normally we just stay in Taipei so this time we get to see the rest of the country. However, due to some misinformation, the trip ended up being 70% in the car and not being able to enjoy much of the cities we are in. :( Word of advice... when you go to Kenting (the southernmost part of Taiwan, take the train most of the way AND THEN get a car. We had a driver from Taipei to Kenting and it was torture. Took wayyy too long. We didn't arrive until it was dark and wasn't able to enjoy the beach at all. Also... another piece of advice... 3 days 2 nights is not enough to hit 2 different cities and see the sights. It was basically views in the dark and then views from the car. Blehh... Although we did make time for food and everything was great! (except the afternoon tea...)

On the way south to Kenting, we stopped at a rest stop for lunch. Now the rest stops in Taiwan is nothing like the ones in the US. They are amazing! Large, clean bathrooms, and food courts and shops! The food was pretty good too!
Pork Chop Rice

Tonkatsu Curry

Croissants

Matcha Ice Cream in a Croissant Cone

We arrived in Kenting and my dad had reserved for us to enjoy afternoon tea at the UFO Lounge in the H Resort. It has a 360 view of the ocean, too bad it was cloudy and stormy all day... we didn't get to enjoy the view.

UFO Lounge High Tea NT$450 + 10% gratuity/service charge. Normally in Asia you don't pay tip, but certain places charge you a service fee. The High Tea includes 4 types of desserts, 3 savory pieces, seasonal fruits, and a beverage.

My mom got the fresh Kiwi Juice. 

I got the Earl Grey Tea. There's no milk but they made it frothy! It was soooo strong though.

We each got a food carrier/tray. I always loved this presentation. Starting at the top we had cheesecake, some sort of custard tart, cranberry scone, and a panna cotta with blueberry sauce. The middle tier was a deviled egg, ham and cheese sandwich, and tuna mousse. The bottom was watermelon, pineapple and kiwi. 

 

It looked good and fun. But we soon discovered that you pay for the view, not good food. It wasn't that good at all. The cheesecake was my favorite. 

The scone was too dry, but I spread some of the "artificially tasting" blueberry sauce from the panna cotta on it and it was not bad. Actually we ended up crumbling the scone and mixing it in the bottle with the panna cotta. Genius! haha. 

 

The flavor of the tart was indiscernible. 

The ham sandwich is so generic. 

Deviled egg was good. 

The tuna mousse was soooo salty. 

After we checked into our hotel in Kenting, the driver took us to the main street where it's basically a giant nightmarket. Shopping, food, and lots of people walking around. They had some different things in the nightmarket that I haven't seen before.
Korean BBQ Chicken Skewers. Sooo freaking tender. Delicious!

 My sister got some Clams. They cook on the spot for you!

The difference with this nightmarket? They have booths with bartenders, actually doing mixology and stuff! Not just beer, but cocktails. Wow... first time seeing that. 

Student Chicken Bar. We got a Chicken Bar, more like a wrap. NT$70~ The guy rolls out the dough and cooks it after you order so it's still hot. Fills it with diced chicken, cabbage, onions, some salad sauce, and pepper. It was my favorite of the night. Like a crepe/chicken wrap. 

 

 

 

Grilled Squid - 3 for NT$100~ This is something we always have to get. It was pretty good. This place used pepper instead of chili powder for the spicy version, so it wasn't really that spicy. 

Breakfast - Complimentary of Fun Space (our boutique hotel).
Black Tea and Soy Milk, self service

Yogurt with Granola, Bananas, and Honey

Homemade Sandwiches (with side salad and steamed egg). 

I got to the lobby too late so I got ham and cheese. My family got there earlier and they got sandwiches with chicken, and it was really good! All the food was fantastic, and the hotel was so cute! I'd definitely recommend staying there. It has an ocean view from the front of the hotel.

For lunch, the hotel recommended us to go check out the Kenting Fishmarket. There are multiple vendors but they told us to go to Ah Xing. 

 

 

 

You pick the live seafood you want and they prep and cook it right there. This was one of the best meals on the trip and guess how much it was total? For 6 people!! US$40 freaking dollars!!! That's normally the price of 1 person at a seafood place in the states.
Super fresh sashimi (tuna, salmon). Freaking US$3~ for 20 pieces!!! What?!?! I'm still in shock! And it was like buttah... Mmmmm.

Squid with Basil

Uni (sea urchin). This was only US$5~ but it didn't really have much stuff in it. Worst choice of the meal. 

Stirfry Noodles

This is Shark Meat!! I've only had Shark Fin, but the meat is good too.

Veggies

 

Fish Soup (made with salmon)

Clams

Whole Steamed Fish

Some sort of Egg and Mushroom mix. It looked like seaweed, but my mom said it was some sort of mushroom. Either way, it was tasty. haha.

$40 US DOLLARS TOTAL!! AHHHHH!!!! Never in a million years will you find this in the US. 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~