One of the places the Missus really wanted to visit was Taroko National Park. It was nearest big city was Hualien, so I hired a driver for our visit to Taroko Gorge and we had a rather easy three hour train ride from Taipei. We stayed fairly close to the train station at the Kindness Hotel, which actually lived up to their name. The folks working were really nice.
The city, at least for us, had a real small town feel, though it seemed to be rather sprawling. Once we checked in, we decided to head out in spite of the damp and drizzly weather to explore and get some dinner.
I had read that a must try in Hualien was goose. I had Mr Goose on my phone. Of course there were distractions along the way. On Jinfeng Street we passed this wonderful looking temple and decided to take a look.
From what I could gather, this is Dijun Temple.
It was something to see……
It was quite impressive, though there's not much in English on this temple. I'm in the process of trying to find a book or publication on these temples of Taiwan.
Along the way we passed a couple of food streets like this one, along Gongzheng Street.
Apparently, this baozi stand is quite well known.
We really wanted to try some roasted goose in Hualien, so we headed over to the very popular Mr Goose only to find it closed for the holiday. So, I had to find a plan B. We did enjoy shopping at this dried veggie/fruit shop.
While shopping, I found another possible goose restaurant so we headed on over.
Right next to the shop and the closed Mr Goose was this interesting looking church.
After "Googling around", I found that this is the Hualien Port Church.
From here, we pretty much headed back in the direction of the hotel.
Out on Jianguo Road was a place I saw as A Cheng Goose Meat on the map, though the English sign said "Happy Town Goose".
The place was empty when we arrived, but slowly filled during our meal.
The Missus placed our order and our "stuffs" started arriving.
The bamboo shoots were simple, but well seasoned, crunchy, and full of flavor.
The goose intestine with preserved vegetable was interesting. The goose intestine was very mild in flavor and quite crunchy.
The Missus had ordered the goose two ways; salted and smoked.
The dish came with two sauces which we didn't need. I expected the goose to be gamier than duck, but it wasn't. It did have some nice gaminess, was super tender and moist, and nice and rich. The "smoked", which was more like roasted to me had a stronger flavor profile, though the salted version seemed more moist. Both versions were tender and I'd have this again in a minute!
We loved the veggies in Taiwan and here was just another example; the wonderful, tender, mildly sweet – chlorophyllic baby fern shoots.
And the very "ong-choyish" stir fried yam leaves. So tender and grassy-nutty. Just simply seasoned and perfectly stir-fried.
When you have good ingredients, simple is probably the best.
We enjoyed our meal at A Cheng and like I wrote earlier, we'd return in a heartbeat!
A Cheng Goose Meat
No. 85 Jianguo Rd.
Hualien City, Taiwan
After dinner we strolled around a bit.
Before heading back. The Kindness Hotel, like other places we stayed at on this trip has a buffet breakfast. But they also serve snacks and drinks during the day, and what we were told was a evening "snack", which was more like a full on buffet dinner. As you can imagine; it was quite popular with hotel guests.
Of course we'd already eaten; but the Missus couldn't resist getting a snack; Taiwanese shaved ice.
After which we took a ice stroll. It was kind of interesting. We hadn't seen too many bars and such in Taiwan; but the area around the hotel seemed to have quite a few bars. I'm thinking it might be all the hotels, thus tourists in the area?
We headed back to our room excited about our upcoming visit to the Taroko Gorge the next day.
With dreams of goose dancing in our dreams……
Man, this was a nice surprise. The pork was tender, not overly fatty, and braised well. Mei Cai Kou Rou can be overly sweet, but this was nicely balanced, good salty-savory-ginger-anise-sweet balance. It was also not overly greasy and we could taste the preserved vegetable, which added pleasant sour notes, and a slightly crunchy texture to the dish. This also had julienned napa cabbage, which one could complain is filler, but it added a hint of sweetness and a nice contrast in texture. This dish got the Missus to exclaim, "when we're done with the roast duck exploration, let's do Mei Cai Kou Rou!" Be still my arteries!
Yes, that's what the plate looked like. Man, those…in very loose quotes "won ton" were like a cardboard gau gee, time didn't do the wrapper any favors as it was quite chewy.
The chicken wings were still a crisp-crunchy when I got back to the office, but had way too much MSG and had me gulping down water in no time at all.
It seems that I had a "shift" in the tomatoes on the drive back to the office. I was just happy to have tomatoes on my dog which were MIA on my last visit. The fries, which were crisp on my last two visits, were soggy and dry this time around; though I kinda liked the pieces that had celery salt on them.
All the chicken, both the karaage and the wings were nice and crisp and very moist; nicely seasoned, a hint of soy, but not overly salty. The best I've had from Tenkatori thus far.
Decades ago, this location was the first restaurant where The Mister and I had Dim Sum (carts and all). The area at the front door had a window counter display case of roast ducks and roast pork; we would stop here for some roasted treats to take home if not going to Woo Chee Chong down the street.
Fried squid appetizer ($8.99). This came out last and was freshly fried to a nice, light crunch, not oily and was an excellent version, with garlic and peppers. This could have been my meal, but we shared.
House Special Pan Fried Rice Noodle ($17.95). Beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, egg, rice noodles all stir fried with a smoky wok hey comfort flavor. A nice plate that we enjoyed.
Combination Platter-Choice of Two roasted meats from the window display at the back of the eating area ($19.95). Roast duck and roast pork belly. Juicy, fatty, crisp skin with moist, flavorful, meaty goodness. Enough left over for a nice dinner. 
Prices are in line with other Cantonese style restaurants. Quality is great. Service is excellent. We will try again.
See-the hanging ducks and pork are back in the corner display case.
 The skin on the Roast Pork was slightly crisp, but the flavor was way too sweet and the flesh was too hard and chewy. The skin on the roast duck wasn’t bad, the fat had been rendered nicely, unfortunately this too was quite bland and tough.
The noodles were the same as the NRM. The duck was much better this time around; you can tell by the color, there as much more five spice flavor and the meat, while on the tough side had taste. The skin was still a bit rubbery for my taste, but the fat had been rendered nicely. This was a definite improvement.
The former movie theater, now a Vietnamese Market, with the Cantonese restaurant in the former lobby has survived Covid-19. 
From the small Dim Sum menu, we ordered XLB-soup dumplings ($6.38). A nice bite and, as you can see, not quite perfect, but no soup was actually lost because of the creative steaming system.
From the 'appetizer' portion of the menu, we ordered the 'Double Delicacy' ($19.95) because we couldn't decide on roasted pork or roasted duck and this was a way to get both (there were leftovers) (both of these meats are really good; tender meat, crisp skin, not too salty.).
Lately, Chow Fun fulfills the craving I've been having for noodles. The wide, flat, rice noodles, stir fried to get that smoky 'wok hei' flavor always seems perfect. (This order was shredded pork with preserved vegetable chow fun ($14.95). I enjoy the briny 'pickle-ness' of preserved vegetables in any dish and combined with the smoked noodles, each bite was delightful).
Hot tea is always free. We did have to ask for chopsticks.