I recently made a brief visit to Taipei. Before the trip I had in mind to revisit three places of my all time favorite ‘old flavour’ stores. Places I would go with friends or family during the 70s before the unimaginable expanding food culture developed throughout the last 30 years. They are all at exactly the same spot where I knew them. Newer and bigger shop fronts, internal deco modernized and cleaner maybe, but the taste I am so pleased to say, has not changed over the years! Good tastes don’t fade, and good trades don’t die.
You Bing @ Wenzhou Street (see my previous post)
It is within a few minutes’ walking distance to where I stayed and I had them twice for breakfast. Both times one ‘Luo Bo Shi Bing’ and one ‘You Bing’ with egg. I went before 8:30am and each time I waited about 15 minutes to be served. The queue wasn’t particularly long at that time, but bag ladies on scooters parked up periodically and ordered half a dozen or so (office breakfast round I guess, from the other side of town). That’s how popular it is. I passed it several times during my stay at different times of the day, and be it rain or sun, the queue got longer and longer into the early afternoon. They were, in fact, even tastier than I had remembered, lighter and crisper – perhaps the result of shallow fried on a griddle rather than deep fried as in the old days. I managed to have a quick chat with the chief YouBing man, though he obviously was far too busy to stop to chat for long. He is in his early 50s I think, and was the little boy I knew who helped out his parents during holidays. The three generations have been there for at least 40 years. He took over from his parents who retired a number of years ago. The store opens at 7:30 am every day except Sundays and national holidays and finishes early evening or when they’ve sold out. Its trademark Luo Bo Shi Bing is usually sold out by early afternoon. This was the only information I managed to get from this busy man. As I approached the front of the queue, I could swear there were at least 20 cakes of assorted flavours, but all had gone by the time I got to the front. A lady on a scooter apparently pre-ordered for collection and, still on the scooter with the engine running, was handed a carton box of her order and whizzed away in seconds. The waiting was worth it though, they were delicious! The man is a local celebrity. People who lived in the area for decades all know a little something about him. A neighbour told me he was a Master graduate but decided to continue the family trade with the help of two young men, his son and son-in-law. They worked hard and bought a house behind the store where they made fresh dough and prepared ingredients round the clock. A woman is often seen carrying and delivering buckets full of ingredients from behind the store. ‘Think it’s his wife’ she said – she heard it from another neighbour.
浙江好味道排骨大王 / Zhèjiāng Hǎowèidào Páigǔdàwáng
Pork Chop over Rice @ Wuchang Street Pork Chop King
This is the original shop (established in the 1960s) of NYC’s Mei Wah/美華便當大王 on Hester Street in Chinatown, Manhattan, a branch opened by the owner’s daughter.
What I love about it is the meat has all different kinds of flavour. The outside is fried and kind of crispy but without batter which you normally get with pork chops. The inside, might be a bit dry for some people’s liking, but I like it as it has a nice bite to it, not the mushy kind. I am a total noodle lover and would choose it over rice on almost every time, but on this occasion, I would definitely recommend it with rice. The meat sauce is just the best, but you don’t get it in the noodle soup and the soup slightly reduces the meaty taste too. You can also say if you prefer chops with lots of fat, little fat or no fat. A lady asked for hers to be exchanged for one with more fat. She went over to the counter to choose her own chop and the people working there seemed pretty much used to it.
They do chicken legs and fish steak too, for those who prefer, just as flavourful though not as popular. All flavors come with rice and noodle or on its own if you just want the meat.
They also do a good selection of small savory dishes (Xiao Cai) displayed at the front of the store looking fresh and tasty. I only noticed them on my way out and they weren’t on the menu. So check it out on your way in. They were on the left of the store.
Oh, one small tip for travelers who don’t read Chinese, most bowls of rice or noodle soup dishes in Taiwan come in two sizes: large and small. Tell them which size you want when you order, if you don’t, you’ll be given the large bowl, so be prepared to pay for it!
武昌街一段11號No.11, Sec.1, Wuchang St.(02) 2361-9657. A couple of doors from Café Astoria Bakery (Opposite Cheng Huang Temple)
Shiyun (Olympia) Bakery and Shunchen Bakery (順成西點麵包) are two of the original bakeries in Taipei trading to this day since their opening in the 1950s. Both started as western pastry stores but now Olympia has developed to sell a diverse range of pastries, cakes and is particularly known for its Dim Sum snacks and滷味 Luwei (Braised egg/meat/tofu in soy, five spiced sauce). Both Shiyun and Shunchen Bakeries have several branch stores in the city – for Shiyun it is the branch at Bo Ai Road that is most popular and the one I visited after having lunch at the Pork Chop King.
I am normally not much of a Gua Bao fan, mainly because they mostly come with an overly fatty pork slice and sweetened by the more than generous portion of peanut powder which I sometimes think is used to cover the inferior quality of the meat. With Olympia’s, I have no complaint – every part has its flavour and the peanut powder although visible is a flavour in the background and blends well with the braised meat and half an egg. The portion is as generous as it looks too! The clever bit in my opinion, and is what makes it special, is the taro (芋頭) slice at the bottom of the bun which gives it an extra layer of texture and flavour. I bought one and a cup of low sweetness mung beans bubble tea from a store a few doors away as an afternoon snack – thoroughly enjoyable!
Their Luwei though popular and recommended by many Taipei ‘foodies’ are not for my liking, the sauce being too sweet and five spice seasonings overpowering.
博愛路 103 號 (近中山堂)
No. 103, Bo Ai Road
(02) 23310729
*Many bubble tea/fruit shake vendors in Taipei offer a variety of sweetness preference.
Oh, one small tip for travelers who don’t read Chinese, most bowls of rice or noodle soup dishes in Taiwan come in two sizes: large and small. Tell them which size you want when you order, if you don’t, you’ll be given the large bowl, so be prepared to pay for it!
武昌街一段11號No.11, Sec.1, Wuchang St.(02) 2361-9657. A couple of doors from Café Astoria Bakery (Opposite Cheng Huang Temple)
世運麵包刈包/ Shiyun Mianbao Guabao
Gua Bao (Taiwanese Hamburger/Pork Sandwich) @ Olympia Bakery – Bo Ai Road Store
Gua Bao (Taiwanese Hamburger/Pork Sandwich) @ Olympia Bakery – Bo Ai Road Store
Shiyun (Olympia) Bakery and Shunchen Bakery (順成西點麵包) are two of the original bakeries in Taipei trading to this day since their opening in the 1950s. Both started as western pastry stores but now Olympia has developed to sell a diverse range of pastries, cakes and is particularly known for its Dim Sum snacks and滷味 Luwei (Braised egg/meat/tofu in soy, five spiced sauce). Both Shiyun and Shunchen Bakeries have several branch stores in the city – for Shiyun it is the branch at Bo Ai Road that is most popular and the one I visited after having lunch at the Pork Chop King.
I am normally not much of a Gua Bao fan, mainly because they mostly come with an overly fatty pork slice and sweetened by the more than generous portion of peanut powder which I sometimes think is used to cover the inferior quality of the meat. With Olympia’s, I have no complaint – every part has its flavour and the peanut powder although visible is a flavour in the background and blends well with the braised meat and half an egg. The portion is as generous as it looks too! The clever bit in my opinion, and is what makes it special, is the taro (芋頭) slice at the bottom of the bun which gives it an extra layer of texture and flavour. I bought one and a cup of low sweetness mung beans bubble tea from a store a few doors away as an afternoon snack – thoroughly enjoyable!
Their Luwei though popular and recommended by many Taipei ‘foodies’ are not for my liking, the sauce being too sweet and five spice seasonings overpowering.
博愛路 103 號 (近中山堂)
No. 103, Bo Ai Road
(02) 23310729
*Many bubble tea/fruit shake vendors in Taipei offer a variety of sweetness preference.
