Taipei 2014: Day 2 Part 1 (Ximending - Wufenpu Market)

This post continues from my previous post Taipei 2014: Day 1 Part 2 (Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall - Taipei 101 - Ximending). Well we got a slightly later start to our second day (just wanted to sleep in and catch up on some Zs).

Waking up, we decided to walk over to Ximending for breakfast, shopping and lunch.

As usual, we stopped by the FamilyMart next to our hotel to pick up some random drinks/snacks for the day.

How cool is this! Roasted sweet potatoes in FamilyMart =)

We decided that before we would head to Ximending, we could explore the vicinity of our hotel. We stumbled upon this steamed bun shop and bought one for breakfast.

The steamed bun shop, just about 2 mins walk away from CityInn Hotel 1.

The yummy, juicy meat bun which cost about TWD20. Cheap and awesome.

The verdict? Yummy stuff not to mention with a great price! Steamed bun shops in general are of a relatively good standard. If you're more carnivorous I would suggest choosing meat buns as they will definitely not disappoint. Certain vegetable buns may not be entirely acceptable to everyone's palate.

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*A general tip for all travellers to Taiwan: SHARE YOUR FOOD!
Taiwan is the land of ultimate eating and feasting be it street food or restaurant food. Sharing your food makes trying a larger variety of food possible.

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Thereafter, we made our way to Ximending. Here are some pictures I took along the way.

A fire station in Taipei - compacted into the ground floor of a building.

Traditional meets Modern - somewhere between Taipei and Ximending.

Arriving at Ximending, we decided to stop for some "brunch" of the very famous Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan.
It wasn't a particularly special stall that we stopped at, it just seemed the most promising out of all the stalls we walked past. An average, normal stall somewhere on the edge of Ximending called 楊記排骨酥麵 (Yang's Spare Rib Noodles?).
We ordered Lu Rou Fan 卤肉饭 and Gan Ban Mian 干拌面.

Not much meat. The dish was yummy, but just to an average standard.
Served with some pickled vegetables.

The dry (gravy) noodles. I believe the sauce is the same as the rice above. This dish was much better. The noodles were delightfully springy and the meat tasted more compatible with these noodles than the rice. The beansprouts provided a crunchy complementing texture to the dish.

The verdict? The Taiwanese may be known for their service but not at this stall. It is a fuss-free, quick dining place with typical Taiwanese favourites like stewed pork rice and pork rib noodles or soup. Prices are reasonable and food is not bad. Come here if you really needed a quick bite and there weren't any visible food places in sight. Otherwise, hold that hunger in and head to Ximending where there is a larger variety of food.
楊記排骨酥麵
Address: 108, Taiwan, 台北市萬華區漢口街二段17號
Phone: +886 2 2388 6488

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We shopped around in Ximending where I bought a small sling bag for my brother from a bag shop that was having a closing down sale. Look out for such sales in Ximending. Truth be told, Ximending has some really cool things but you can most likely find these products cheaper elsewhere. The boyfriend bought a pair of shoes which were way cheaper in the Taipei Underground Mall. We dumped our stuff back at the hotel and decided to headed to Wufenpu Market (the one we skipped on Day One). Before we shopped at Wufenpu, we decided to get lunch at Formosa Chang.

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Formosa Chang is famous among tourists for being the best place to get Taiwanese delicacies. Considered to have the best Lu Rou Fan or stewed pork rice in Taiwan, this is your go-to place for fast food and satisfied tummies.

The boyfriend and I decided to order a little food (since we were still full from the previous meal near Ximending). We got the famous Lu Rou Fan and the Tang Shan Pai Gu from the menu.

The famous Stewed Pork Rice. I apologise for the photo that doesn't do this dish any justice.
A sweet, savory saucy dollop of fatty minced pork poured over steamed white rice and served with pickled ginger. Absolute yums.
And for you nitpickers out there about how rice should have separated grains, this does that completely. Splendidly cooked rice, and comforting stewed pork. Delicious.
You may order this dish in small or larger bowls, depending on how hungry you are.
This bowl just about fits into the palm of your hands.

One of the most delicious things I had on this holiday. 唐山排骨 (tang shan pai gu).
Fried to a crisp. Juicy, tender marinated pork meat encapsulated within that beautiful batter.
This is absolutely divine.

The verdict? Definitely a must-go. These dishes were not at all disappointing and wonderfully priced. If you are looking to try authentic Taiwanese food with good service and prices, this is the place to come. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Also this place is not too difficult to find if you are headed to Wufenpu Market. It is between the Houshanpi Subway Station and Wufenpu Market.

Look out for this bearded man on the yellow signboard. You can't miss it!

This is what you'll see before you cross the road to this place.

Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張)
新北市永和區永和路一段108之1號
No. 108-1, Yonghe Rd., Section 1, Yonghe District, New Taipei City

DIRECTIONS: From Taipei Main Station, take the subway to Houshanpi Station (Bannan Line - 16mins, 8 stops). Take Exit 1, and walk straight along Yongji Road for 3 mins. You should see the yellow signboard with a bearded man across the road. Then simply cross the road to get there. See photo above for reference.

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Wufenpu Market is known for its cheaper prices (not really) and being a clothes shopping haven. Be cautious that you do not plan to go on a Monday as that is a special day for wholesalers to shop there. If you go on a Monday, prepare to be snubbed when you try bargaining. Also, a majority of the shops there are for female clothes, so boyfriends, prepare your iPads, gameboys, DS, extra batteries if your girl plans to shop there.

Sorry for a lack of photos (because I was too engrossed with shopping). When we we arrived at Wufenpu, it was pouring. POURING. It was terrible for shopping in such wet weather. It was difficult to get to different shopping lanes and such. The boyfriend spotted an old lady selling quail eggs on one of the streets so he bought a stick. YOLO he said to me so I was told to try it. Really yummy - crispy on the outside but yolky and flowy on the inside. Perfect wet weather food.

HIGH CHOLESTEROL DISH - you have been warned! Yet so absolutely delicious and only NT20 per stick - it is worth the cholestrols!

We ended up having to run into a dessert shop to wait for the rain to stop pouring where we ordered some sub-standard tau huay which is still pretty good (compared to some of the crap ones I've had in Perth).

I ordered Tau Huay with Pearls while the boyfriend ordered Tau Huay with Lotus Seeds.

The rain was terrible and spoilt all our plans. We couldn't shop, neither could we walk about freely. We ended up going into a FamilyMart and eating instant noodles while waiting for the rain to stop. Talk about dampening of mood.
Don't you rain on my parade.
Rain, rain come again another day.
Raindrops keep falling on my head.
*insert more song lyrics about rain*

Stay tuned for the next post on Day 2 Part 2, where we moved on to the Songshan Train Station and then the famous Raohe Night Market.

Don't forget to leave any comments or tips for me on how to improve my blog posts!

Till then,

Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V