[TAIWAN] Du Hsiao Yueh: Good Enough

(Tan Tsai Noodles: the one Taiwanese dish that moves me)

Yes yes yes, it's a tourist trap. But I made the pilgramage anyway and hit up Du Hsiao Yueh during my Taiwan trip. One of the oldest AND most authentic Tainan joints in Taipei City, Du Hsiao Yueh does a mean Tan Tsai noodle (NT$50) topped with the traditional works of mince and single shrimp.

Compared to the starchier, thick noodles of Taipei, Tainan Tan Tsai noodles are on the lighter, more slurpable side. Personally, I prefer the latter, even in terms of the broth. And seriously, at NT$50 a pop, it'd be obscene not to lap it all up.

(Open since that long ago)

(Lobster roe roll)

As for the other dishes, it blew hot and cold for me. I guess I just really don't "get" Taiwanese food. Among the many small plates we ordered, only the lobster roe roll (NT$200) stood out for me. Part of me resented its resemblance to an American fusion sushi roll (random vegetables + pickled carrot + lobster roe + dab of mayo --> wrapped in nori --> wrapped in rice paper roll) but it was interesting, at least.

I'll probably never understand Taiwanese food. But at least I'll have the Tan Tsai noodles to fall back on. That's good enough for me.

DU HSIAO YUEH ($)
No. 12, Alley 8, Lane 216, Sec 4 Jhongsiao E Road
Taipei City, Taiwan
(886) 2 2773-1244
www.iddi.com.tw

Yiu Kee: Summer Seafood Tour

I don’t usually trek out to faraway Ap Lei Chau for lunch on a weekday. But when my favorite food writer, KC Gourmet offered to take me on a seafood tour of the area, how could I say no?

To start things off, KC took me to the fishing ships parked out in the Ap Lei Chau waterfront promenade. Two fisher people were diligently cleaning and gutting their day’s catch with lightning quickness. Impressive. After trading in $20 for a big bag of fresh loach fish, we made our way back to the Ap Lei Chau market for the rest of our lunch provisions.

(Daily catch)

(Loach for lunch)

KC took me on a quick round of the seafood market, all the way explaining to me how to tell if an abalone is fresh or not, or where to buy the best pounded cuttlefish in the winter. We ended up with a few more bags of fresh seafood and made our way up to the second floor cooked foods center to drop off the goods at Yiu Kee. While Yiu Kee has its own menu of stir-fried noodles, rice and bla bla bla, most people tend to do what we did. That is, buy some seafood from the market downstairs and bring it up to Yiu Kee and ask them to cook it to your liking for a nominal “oil fee.”

(Sea snails: big n' fat)

(Steamed abalone: sweetness)

First to arrive was a heaping plate of blanched sea snails. We were ooh-ing over how big and fat the snails looked in the market. Cooked, they were succulently sweet, with a nice bit of chew and bite. Within mere minutes, the two of us had worked up a huge mound of snail shells on the plastic covered fold-up table. Our table was then graced with a half dozen steamed abalone – again, sweet and fresh, albeit with a more deepset flavor and fragrance than the sea snails, thanks to the addition of dried pomelo peel.

(Steamed scallops: lowlight)

(Loach fish in oil salt water)

(Single loach)

The steamed scallops with vermicelli and minced garlic paled in comparison to the first two dishes. Sad, since this dish is usually one of my all-time seafood favorites (well, mostly because of the piled high minced garlic). The scallops were overcooked and tough and stuck to the bottom of the shell. Thankfully, Yiu Kee redeemed itself by doing right by the loach fish. KC had asked for it to be prepared in traditional fisher people fashion known as “oil salt water.” Instead of cooking the fish with direct heat, the fish are submersed in hot water and then a mixture of oil, salt and water is ladled over it. This causes minimal damage to the fish, keeping the flesh soft and tender and locking in all its natural sweetness.

(Mantis shrimp: garlicky good)

(Crazy roe!)

But it wasn’t until the end that the meal reached its ultimate high note when our four mantis shrimps stir-fried in chili and garlic arrived, glistening in its tin pan. We cracked off the shell and took a first bite into the flesh to reveal a big beautiful, bright orange strip of roe. No joke – there was more roe than flesh. I felt like I was eating a mooncake egg yolk. And though mantis shrimp roe is less sweet than, say, crab roe or even lobster coral, it was still pretty effin’ amazing.

What was even more amazing though, was how the two of us managed to polish off everything. The amount of food we had for lunch was pretty obnoxious – it’s the first time I’ve ever downed two whole mantis shrimps and half a dozen steamed scallops and abalone in one go for lunch. But like I said earlier, how could I have said no?

FOOD: 3.75/5 (varies dependent on what you purchase from the market)
SERVICE: 3.75/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5 (it’s a cooked food center after all)

YIU KEE ($-$$)
Unit CF3, 2/F
Ap Lei Chau Complex
Ap Lei Chai
2553-1938

[TAIWAN] Snow King: Tastes Like Chicken

When I heard about Snow King, I knew it would be a place I had to visit. This legendary ice cream shop sells over 73 flavors of homemade ice cream, ranging from the ordinary to the way-out obscure.

(73 flavors!)

I made the pilgrimage to this tiny store and perused the menu. Flavor headings included nuts and pulses, “healing” herbal flavors, fruit, alcohol, vegetables and teas, among others. The family went with more orthodox offerings, such as the creamy coconut ice cream (NT60), a perfumed almond flavor (NT65) and a sweet, fresh strawberry (NT55).

(Sesame oil chicken: no joke)

Wanting to take advantage of the quirky flavors, I pendulum-ed between the pig’s trotter flavor (NT110) and the sesame oil chicken (NT110), eventually deciding on the latter. Snow King doesn’t like—my ice cream sphere smelt exactly like sesame oil chicken and tasted that way too. The first bite was hilarious. But somewhere between bites four and five, the sesame oil became way too pungent… it should be no surprise the sesame oil and dairy doesn’t exactly mix well… not to mention the little bits of hardened ginger salt flecked in the ice cream. To be honest, it was pretty damn gross. But hey—it touts itself as being sesame oil chicken flavored and, without a doubt, that’s what it delivered. So kudos to that.

The uber friendly store owner assured me that the sesame oil chicken flavor is fortifying for the body (because of the ginger, she says). I’ll take her word for it. But the novelty aside, Snow King does do some quality ice cream. And if you're not ready to plunge into the chicken/curry/pork floss flavors yet, there's still a myriad of interesting options for you to sample.

FOOD: 4/5 (an extra point for originality)
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 2/5

SNOW KING /雪王 ($)
No. 65, Wuchang Street, Sec 1
Taipei City, Taiwan
02-2331-8415

[TAIWAN] Jiu Dao Kou: Chiu Fen For a Day

(Soy braised and pickled)

After what I thought was a disappointing bowl of braised beef noodles from Liang Pin, I gave my usually favorite form of carb another shot. This time, it was during our day trip to Chiu Fen where we made a lunch stop at the area’s famed Jiu Dao Kou Niu Rou Mian / 舊道口牛肉麵.

(Yang chun mian: less is more)

We started with two snacks for appetizers—soy braised tofu and eggs and pickled vegetables (both NT30). Not really in the mood for another bowl of beef noodles, I opted instead, this time, for the plain yang chun mian / 陽春麵 (a ridiculously cheap NT35). Don’t underestimate the simple bowl of plain soup noodles; it’s when you strip the dish bare of its toppings and over-cumbersome flavors that you can really tell how good the actual noodles are. And the ones are Jiu Dao Kou aren’t bad. The noodles are more delicate than the thick knife-cut ones at Liang Pin. They’re less al dente but nowhere near mushy. They’re still thick and flat enough to pick up the delicately savory broth, flecked with bits of chopped scallions. Just goes to show that sometimes, less really is more.

(Shaved ice)

And after polishing off the noodles, we picked up a bowl of chilled beancurd pudding in ginger syrup, topped off with glutinous taro and sweet potato dumplings and finely shaved ice. It’s an interesting mishmash of textures (the fine crunch of the ice works particularly well with the chewy, squidgy dumplings) and a refreshing (if still a little filling) way to end a meal.

FOOD: 3/5
SERVICE: 1.5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

Jiu Dao Kou Niu Rou Mian / 舊道口牛肉麵 ($)
4 JīShān Street
Rueifang Township
Taipei City, Taiwan

[TAIWAN] Liang Pin Beef Noodles: First Time

(Red braised beef noodles: meh)

I wanted my first official meal in Taiwan to be something special. Something memorable. Something effin’ good to eat. Not too much to ask for, right? I definitely thought we were in safe hands when we strolled into Liang Pin Beef Noodles / 良品牛肉麵. After all, their noodles are apparently of the award-winning variety. We plunked ourselves down on one of the grotty stools around one of the grotty tables and—of course, went with the signature—red braised beef noodles/紅燒牛肉麵 (NT100) and a plate of dumplings (NT45).

Unless you request otherwise, the folks at Liang Pin will serve you Shanxi knife-cut noodles. These fat, irregular strands are thick, chewy and unbelievably filling. These carb ribbons slipped and slid between my chopsticks, splattering oil-laden broth (it’s so greasy, it’s undrinkable) all over my shirt. As for the beef… it wasn’t particularly tender or particularly well-seasoned. Long story short—I was pretty unimpressed. I’d take a bowl of HK-style beef brisket noodles over this any day.


The dumplings fared better. Plumped full of tender pork and meat juices. But also, nothing special. Then again, the meal came to about HK$40. I guess I can’t complain too much.

FOOD: 2.5/5
SERVICE: 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

LIANG PIN BEEF NOODLES / 良品牛肉麵 ($)
No. 10, Kai Feng Street
Zhong Zheng District
Taipei City, Taiwan
02-2371-2644

Antique: Sugary Sweetness

The beautiful Shen surprised me with a box of macarons from Antique during her visit. I lurved the colors. If Betsey Johnson’s dresses transformed into French pastries, they would be a box of Antique’s macarons.

Whee to good friends and good food!

(Macarons: so pretty!)

ANTIQUE PATISSERIE ($)
46 Lyndhurst Terrace
Central
2542-2816

Bitte Bitte: The Virtue of Trying

I had heard the hype about Bitte Bitte before. But, not being a particularly big fan of hotdogs (thanks to too many tasteless, boiled frozen sausages, served dry in a Garden brand hotdog bun during my childhood days), I didn’t think it was something worth noting. That is, until we were told straight up to give this place a try. I figured, as long as I didn’t have to queue up for an hour for a hotdog (à la that RIDICULOUS episode at Pink’s Hotdog, Los Angeles), I’d give Bitte Bitte a shot.

(Alligator MESS!)

We trekked out way behind the Causeway Bay Sogo and found the open-air, shoppe. After perusing the many… and I mean MANY, topping-sausage combinations (six different types of sausages and a myriad of different Japanese-inspired toppings), we settled on the Alligator Bites Dog ($27) with avocado, tomato salsa and mayo.

The dog was actually pretty good. The bun was toasted and was fluffy on the inside. The sausage had a nice taut, pop to it on the first bite, which yielded to a well-seasoned, meaty center. The flavors of the toppings worked well too. Our only complaint though would be that the sausage was pretty much sitting on TOP of the bun, instead of being sandwiched IN it, making the whole thing unbelievably impossible to eat without appearing like the district’s clumsiest and unmannered brute. We had mayo smeared across our faces, bits of avocado dropping all over the table, and a sausage constantly in danger of slipping out of its bun.

(Fries: YUMMMMM)

But to end this on a positive note, the fries are abso-effin’ stellar. So beautifully golden and crisp on the outside, flecked with just the right amount of salt. A bite revealed the fluffiness of the potato.We were so enamored, we asked the staff who their fries suppliers were. They didn’t reveal, of course, answering merely “local suppliers” with an awkward smile. Ah well, at least we tried. And sometimes, trying is the most important part.

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 3.75/5
ATMOSPHERE: 2/5

BITTE BITTE ($)
Shop B&C Hoi Tao Court
15 Cannon Street
Causeway Bay
2777-7220

Shanghai Lane: $38 Worth of Yumminess

Lunchtime in the office district can be a pain sometimes. You go here and it’s packed, you go there and it’s packed. Not cool. So when Moe and Leo wanted to meet up for lunch in the area and asked me to choose the restaurant, I based my choice on one thing – seating availability.

(Appetizers with a spicy kick)

And that led us to Shanghai Lane, the not-really-new-anymore eatery that opened on Gough Street. The place was bustling, but we managed to grab a seat, thanks to the super-polite and helpful staff there. And being that I only had an hour to blow – I ordered the quickest thing on the menu. The chilled Shanghai mixed noodles ($38).

(Noodles: pre-mix)

(Noodles: post-mix)

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much more than a quick bite to satisfy the hunger, but I was actually really impressed by the noodles. It was a giant bowl of chewy strands, served with thin strips of cucumber, egg, ham, and shredded chicken. I mixed everything into one giant mass with the peanut sauce. Such an appetizing mix of flavors. I finished every last noodle and licked up every last bit of the fragrant peanut sauce. Yum. And all for $38? Not too shabby…

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 2/5

SHANGHAI LANE ($/$$)
35-37 Gough Street
Central
2850-7788

Thai BBQ 2: When Food is Just Right...

Sometimes, you come across something that just makes so much sense in life – something so beautiful, so right – you just start to wonder why you or anyone else has never thought of it before. Such was the case about two months ago.

Not content with our first dinner of a mediocre claypot rice (it was alright but nothing fantastic or blogworthy), we taxi-ed our way out to the food mecca of Kowloon City in search of a spot for “second dinner.” A quick stroll around the block led us to Thai BBQ 2 – a dingy little eatery… the type that has a see-through vinyl door curtain and cheesy Thai soap operas playing in the background. Perfect.

(SO much meat...)

We plunked ourselves down and ordered the very-necessary bottles of beer. And wanting to try something really special, we requested for the Thai style hotpot-grill ($2xx) the restaurant had displayed out front. To elaborate, this genius creation consists of a charcoal-heated barbecue grill, which is raised over a “moat” of hotpot broth. The idea is to cook thin slices of meat on the sloped grill and let the meat juices trickle down into the broth. Sigh… awesome? Quite.

The dainty-cute restaurant lady brought out our platter of meats, which – in all honesty – was probably designed to feed four hungry individuals, as opposed to two already-had-“first-dinner” people. There was a huge portion of beef, pork and chicken – all marinated in a rich-red sauce – along with various pork and cow entrails and beef and fish balls. And let me draw special attention to the grill for a bit, which was brought out, topped with a hunk of beef lard to lubricate the grill and to give the meats an extra aromatic edge when cooking. I was totally in food excitement mode.

(Watch as the meat juices trickle down)

(What love looks like)

We dived right into the meats platter, “ooh-ing” over the tender pork and “aah-ing” over the flavor-soaked beef. So perfect with the beer. And it was a whole new level of amazingness, cooking the basket of greens, enoki mushrooms and vermicelli in the meat-flavor enriched hotpot broth. The vermicelli, in particular, was just beautiful in every way – like little glassy strands that soaked up every ounce of flavor from the soup. All the way through the meal, we kept repeating “hell, I’m so full,” and “crap, I think I’m done.” But the whole thing was so delish, we just kept on eating and eating. We definitely ate more than any decent person should eat, polishing almost the whole meats platter. When the lady came by the clear our plates, she couldn’t help but comment on how impressed she was with how much we managed to finish. Yea, we’re kinda disgusting… but also kinda awesome…

(Proof that we are pigs)

The hotpot-grill plus several beers came in at less than $300 for the two of us. An awesome deal, considering how much food we had. It just all goes to show that when it comes to food, it’s never about the fanciness or the extravagance. Whether you’re eating a slab of foie gras, or something super complicated like uni with cucumber and apple gelee and burnt flour foam… if a simple platter of meats and a few cold beers can make you just as happy and satisfied, then that’s the most important thing. That’s what eating should be about. And thank God for that.

(Dessert after second dinner)

And because we’re absolute pigs, after that big fatty second dinner, what do we do? Head a few streets down to Tei Mou Koon to grab dessert of course! Hong Kong styled double boiled milk ($14) and a small dish of gooey-chewy glutinous rice balls with sugar and chopped peanuts ($10) for a very satisfying food end to a very satisfying food day.

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

THAI BBQ 2 ($$)
17 Nam Kok Road
Kowloon City
2718-6219

FOOD: 3.5/5
SERVICE: 2/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

TEI MOU KOON DESSERT ($)
47 Fuk Lo Tsun Road
Kowloon City
2382-5004

Charcoal Egg Waffles Cart: A Brown Paper Bag

Last week, walking back from a busy restaurant shoot, we came across something that I personally haven’t seen in a long time – an egg waffles cart with a charcoal heater. Old school. And though I had just finished a fatty Middle Eastern lunch not too long ago, with the delicious eggy pastry aroma wafting through the air, how could I resist?

(Proud Cart Owner)

I plunked down a ten while the friendly, chatty man poured a stream of egg batter from his Heineken plastic jug into the pasty mould. Not even two minutes later, there it was – a fresh piece of golden eggy waffles, à la nostalgic Hong Kong style. Crispy on the outside and warm and pillowy on the insides… sigh. Those ten bucks worth of little domes of deliciousness in a brown paper bag were, without a doubt, a very satisfying step back in time.


FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 5/5
ATMOSPHERE: N/A

Charcoal Egg Waffles Cart ($)
Around 3-4pm
Near Ladders Street/Bridges Street Intersection

Bowl Burger: When They Won't Shut Up Behind You

(Burger: The road to get to you was painful)

Wednesday lunch place was supposed to be my choice and I suggested checking out that shiny new Chinese joint that just opened up near the office. Was supposed to be a good plan. But all our way down, I had – not one, but TWO annoying voices behind me going:

“Are we there yet?” “Ohmigawd this is SO far.” “Are we walking to the…omg is this the MTR station?!” “How much further is this place?” “Oh great, look at all these people. Now we’re going to have to wait.” “Don’t tell me you’re lost.” “You’re lost aren’t you?”

I was so disconcerted by these two annoying non-shutter-uppers that I lost all sense of direction, my brain only being able to think: “SHADDUP! SHADDUP! SHADDUPPPPP!” but half exhausted by their sea of complaints, I gave in on my search for the new Chinese place and instead, we dove into the shoebox-sized Bowl Burger on Mercer for a bit o’ beef and carbs.

…which reminds me, I haven’t actually had a fast-food beef burger since moving back to Hong Kong (I had one of ‘em Four Seasons burgers a while ago but, good as it was, it’s just really not the same thing). Weird. We placed our orders and obnoxiously hovered over two just-finishing-up diners with our “we’re waiting for your table, so hurry” expressions.

I went with the #2 single patty beef burger set ($42) with drinks and paper bag of fries. I had read before that the burgers here are all handmade using 100% ground US beef, so I was actually pretty excited to give it a try. True enough, the burgers were perfectly juicy with a good bit of bite. Could’ve been grilled just a little more (I like ‘em kinda charred) but still, would have to say that it was a pretty well-rounded burger overall. Good sauce, good flavor, and none of that ridiculous overflow of unnecessary fillings (my burger pet peeve). The burger was a hefty portion too, though nothing that the food champion in me couldn’t down in its entirety.

(Fries: a paper bag of warm deliciousness)

And special mention goes out to their fries. Leaning towards the thick-cut variety, with perfectly, pillowy-soft potato innards and a hot, crunchy, exterior… I loved. Time permitting, I would’ve downed the whole bag…and gotten another. But time did not permit. Next time then…

So yes, the trip down to lunch was annoying. But the food was good. And on the way back, I had an errand to run so I took a separate, SILENT and PEACEFUL route back to the office. So I guess it ended up being still quite a pleasant afternoon.

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

BOWL BURGER ($)
25 Mercer Street
Sheung Wan
3118-0676

Monsieur Chatté: You Can't Always Get What You Want (But You Get What You Need)

I had a very idyllic plan for today.

Type away at the office (klack klack klack). And then…
1) Grab lunch-to-go from somewhere close.
2) Fill up on cookie cutters and colored sugars.
3) Maybe pick up a bunch of flowers?
Skip back to the office.

Well, one out of three isn’t a bad run. I made my much-delayed stop at the rustic red French specialty foods store, Monsieur Chatté. I LOVE the bakery smell that fills the place. And the bottles of wine amidst jars of jams, and boxes of biscuits next to cartons of candy. How lovely.

I picked up a Provence veggie baguette sandwich ($38), filled with thin slices of grilled eggplant, zucchini, peppers, carrots and fresh arugula. I ticked off the first thing on my to-do list. Stopped by Pantry Magic on my way back and realized they didn’t have anything I wanted. Disappointing – I wanted to have a giant shopping extravaganza a la Surfas in LA. No dice on number two. Walked by a flower stall but realized I still didn’t have a vase. Cross off number three.

Well, things don’t always go according to plan. At least I had my veggie sandwich… that’s good enough for today.

Monsieur Chatté ($)
121 Bonham Strand
Sheung Wan
3105-8077
http://www.mrchatte.com.hk