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)
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.
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)
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!