If you missed my previous post on Day 1 Part 2 where we went to Yongkang Street and Shihlin Night Market, click here for the link: http://vanvanscully.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/taiwan-2014-day-1-part-2-yongkang.html
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| Posing with random structures on the way to the shop! |
We woke up excited for a brand new day of never-ending eating and shopping. No trip to Taiwan is complete without a traditional Taiwanese breakfast. From our hotel at City Inn 3, we walked over to Four Seas Soy Bean King otherwise more famously known for its mandarin name as 四海豆漿大王. This shop is literally down the road from City Inn 3, and while it is less famous than Yonghe, this little shop packs a punch too! Upon exiting the hotel, just turn left and keep walking straight - the shop is a 5 minute walk away from the hotel.
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| It is a relatively small sign - so keep your eyes peeled for this red sign. |
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| 小笼包 Soup Dumplings which we ordered - not too bad - the meat was juicy and the skin thin. |
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| 猪扒烧饼 Pork Cutlet Pancake - not too much to my liking it felt a little dry? But that is probably just me. The pork cutlet was good - tender and juicy and the pastry slightly flaky but I would have liked a sauce or sorts perhaps? |
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| A spring onion omelette - urm just meh - you don't have to order it. |
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| 咸豆浆 Salty Soy Milk - rather unique and one of the main recommendations in such breakfast places. It has some fried dough fritters (you tiao) as well as some preserved radish (chai por). |
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| Letting you glimpse at the juicy pork chop. |
四海豆漿大王
Four Seas Soy Milk King
29 Chang’an West Road, Taipei| 台北市長安西路29號（當代藝術館旁）
Operating Hours: 5.30am-10pm (Mon-Sat), 5:30am-1pm (Sunday)
29 Chang’an West Road, Taipei| 台北市長安西路29號（當代藝術館旁）
Operating Hours: 5.30am-10pm (Mon-Sat), 5:30am-1pm (Sunday)
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| A little shoe shopping at Taipei Main Station en-route to Ximending. Taiwan is one of the largest manufacturers of shoes so don't hesitate to buy shoes when you are in Taiwan since they are local products and of pretty good quality. The drawback could perhaps be that they do not carry very big sizes - the maximum is about a Size 8/39 or even much lower than that, depending on your luck. |
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| The guys waiting around while the girls get their shopping done. Men - this may be you. |
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| My next recommendation for you is in the trendy and bustling Ximending which is only a stop away from Taipei Main Station. The name of this shop is slightly confusing. It says 鸭肉which means duck meat, but they actually sell 鵝肉 goose meat - which is nevertheless tasty. The stall is buzzing with activity as they are very popular with tourists and locals. |
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| A plate of goose meat - juicy and packed full of flavour! |
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| The stall often recommends that you get some form of carbo to go with your order - they are relatively small portions - you can either choose noodles or rice that has a sprinkling of meat on top to keep you full. They are not too expensive as I recall and if you are a small eater you could share this with someone else. |
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| Geese Gizzards on the left - gosh that's a bit of a tongue twister. Definitely an acquired taste for many I believe - it is slightly crunchy and denser than meat in terms of texture. Geese Intestines on the right - the beige looking stuff.This was my first time eating geese intestines and they were surprisingly awesome - they taste like chicken skin (but slightly crunchier). |
My verdict? Definitely highly recommended especially if you love to eat poultry meat. The quality of food served here is pretty good even with the relatively speedy and efficient service. While it is a place that wants you to eat and get out - they are not rude in their mannerisms but simply very busy!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
鴨肉扁 Goose Meat Shop
No. 2, Wuchang Street, Wanhua District, Taipei | 台北市 萬華區武昌街二段2號
Tel: +886 2 2371 3918 | Opening Hours: 9.30am-10.30pm
- Goose Meat, Noodle Soup
No. 2, Wuchang Street, Wanhua District, Taipei | 台北市 萬華區武昌街二段2號
Tel: +886 2 2371 3918 | Opening Hours: 9.30am-10.30pm
- Goose Meat, Noodle Soup
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Let the street food fiesta begin! Ximending is home to countless street food stalls - either as legitimate stalls on their own, or as push cart stalls (which can be a little shocking for first timers but let's not get ahead of ourselves).
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| You can't come to Taiwan and not have their Taiwanese Oyster Omelette. It is a classic Taiwanese street food - but truth be told its not much to my liking. Perhaps because I am rather accustomed to the Singapore style Oyster Omelette which is crispy and without a gravy. The Taiwanese version is slightly starchy and chewy, with a sweet gravy to go along with it. Its good, its just not what I prefer. Nevertheless, a trip to Taiwan is not complete until you have tried this. Most stalls generally have the same standard so there is no particular stall I have to recommend. |
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| Ah Mao - the famous dog mascot of a cafe in Ximending - actually about 2-3 cafes. Reading other blogs, I think they use to shuffle Ah Mao between the two cafes that they initially owned and thus they suggested that you didn't touch Ah Mao as he would be tired and might be grumpy - he greets all customers and can open the door for you with a touch button that the shop installed on the glass door. When I went recently, I think they have at least 1 dog per cafe now and thus it is not too stressful. It is adorable though, I saw the shop worker coming out of the store and she got Ah Mao to open the door for her. The little paw went tap on the button and the glass door slid open, while Ah Mao tagged along to go outside. I've not tried eating at this cafe because everyone says there's nothing fantastic and the main attraction is Ah Mao - plus I can't just turn my back on all the street food in Ximending. |
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| Road junctions and alleys are a foodie's dream come true. Why? Because you will have a million and one pushcart stalls serving piping hot food for the unsatisfied tummy. You can get anything from Taiwanese style pancakes, to fried mushrooms, Taiwanese sausages (yummm), smelly tofu and fried sweet potato balls. OMG don't even get me started on the sweet potato balls - they are what God invented to feed everyone that went to Heaven. |
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| They may look like they are nothing special - but they are amazing. Crispy on the outside - but chewy and moist on the inside. It basically expands to be a hollow ball upon frying which means that you can just keep popping these morsels into your mouth without getting full that quickly. There are two pushcart stalls selling this - an old lady and a younger man - who are mother and son. The mother's sweet potato balls taste better - maybe with the technique she uses to fry them - but she asks that we go to her son if we can because he is trying to earn money to support his family =\ awwwww.. Stand there at the stall and watch them fry these amazing things - you will be awed visually - before you are awed upon consuming it. EXTREMELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! |
*Something important that I have to tell you about especially if you are in Taiwan for the first time, or do not have much experience with push cart stalls.
While we consider these streetside stalls part and parcel of the Taiwan street food experience, as do the locals, these stalls are actually illegally setting up their stalls. So occasionally (or actually relatively frequently throughout the day) you will hear a police siren, and these pushcart stall owners will get into a frenzy and start "packing up" to run away into a smaller alley or to make a big round and come back to where you were.
Do Not Panic
they are not going to run away with your money without giving you your food - these people are usually honest as they set their stall up everyday and won't risk getting into trouble for your order. They usually come back to the same spot that you are at. Otherwise just keep a lookout for where they run off to in case they have to duck into a small alley. They will eventually come back to the same spot.
You will probably panic at first, but once you get used to it, it is actually quite funny.
Anyway, back to the food!
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| This grilled mochi is a crowd favourite - there's always a long line to get this but don't fret - its completely worth the wait. These are grilled rice cakes which makes them slightly crisp on the outside while being sticky and chewy on the outside. I didn't have much expectations for it - but this was surprisingly good. You have to choose the right flavour though. |
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| The peaut mochi is really good - the chocolate one is not too bad but the chocolate seems a little too watered down and so the chocolate taste was not strong. |
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| Our final orders were peanut, chocolate and black sesame - only the peanut was really good, the black sesame interesting but too watered down as well. Perhaps you can try other flavours. |
There were plenty of other street food stalls but we decided not to eat too much since we were headed to Raohe Night Market at night for more feasting!
Stay tuned to the next post where we go to Raohe Night Market for more street food feasting!
Till then,
Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V
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