**** This is a pretty long post so I'm not going to spend too much time on food (and whiskey), so if you'd like to return tomorrow I wouldn't hold it against you. But, if you'd like to see more of Taiwan, read on….
Time was flying. It seemed like we had just arrived yesterday and here we were leaving in two days! Wanting to make the most of our remaining time in Taiwan, I went ahead and booked two private tours/drivers. On this day, I wanted to visit one of my favorite whiskey makers while exploring a part of the island we hadn't been to yet.
Our driver was right on time and while she spoke no English, the Missus's Mandarin came in handy. Our driver had an end destination and we left it up to her to make stops along the way.
The first stop was in Yilan. A rather newish "Ecopark", the Dongshan River Forest Park. Opened in 2016, it was a wonderful green space, with art installations along the way. And the railroad still passes thru the park as well.
We enjoyed wandering around and just taking in the art and the beautiful sunny day.
We had some coffee and then headed off to our next stop. Apparently, our driver just got a sort of "vibe" from the Missus for our next stop.
We stopped in Wujie Township at the National Center for Traditional Arts. This 60 acre "town" is devoted to preserving and accenting the heritage of Taiwan, be it crafts, arts, music, and so on.
The various structures represent various architectural styles of Taiwan as well.
There are even temples onsite.
And performance areas as well.
And of course art abounds.
While one could take in the art…..
Or perhaps take a boat ride in the lake…..
There was some serious shopping to be done here.
There ere workshops with artisans in residence actually doing their "thing"!
And you were free to watch.
The one shop were I wish the Missus actually bought something was the one dealing in Black Jade.
Some of the item were just plain stunning.
In the end, after being tempted so many times……
We found something we both liked.
This was fun. We actually spent almost 3 hours here!
And when we left; it was time for lunch. Our driver headed into Yuanshan. We parked and then were led past pools of fishes and other creatures being raised.
This was the restaurant of Bajia Fish Farm. As a whole, a tourist type restaurant.
The interesting thing being that the main product of this "fish farm" is Ayu, also know as "sweetfish". I was quite interested to see how it would taste.
I had read about the fish smelling like watermelon, being sweet and fruity and so on. Basically, this tasted like a milder version of sanma to me.
I was glad to have tried it here, but it wasn't anything special to me. Perhaps being farm raised changed things a bit?
Bajia Fish Farm 八甲休閒魚場 (Yuanshan)
No. 1之10號, Bajia Rd
Yuanshan Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 26444
After lunch we headed down the road a bit, soon arriving at the Kavalan Distillery.
When planning our trip to Taiwan, I had really wanted to visit Kavalan. I first had Kavalan in, of all places Paris at Arnaud Nicolas. The Missus and I really enjoyed it, when having it again at Seven Grand and found that Old Town Liquor carried Kavalan, though I really didn't get the expensive stuff. Over time, I found that I really enjoyed the Solist Amontillado Sherry Cask, but heck, I ain't spending $500 a bottle for it. Anyway, our driver dropped us at the front of the distillery. And we headed in.
Because of the amount of time we'd spent at the National Center for Traditional Arts, it was getting later in the day, and we decided not to do a tour. Instead, we went to the "main" tasting room.
And the Missus and I shared the "World Championship Series" tasting.
And with a touch of water to "open things up", the Amontillado Sherry Cask, with the rich, slightly smoky-nutty-stone fruity flavor was again our favorite.
We really enjoyed this stop!
Kavalan Distillery
No. 326, Section 2, Yuanshan Rd
Yuanshan Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 264
Soon after, it was time to head back to Taipei. It had been a fun day, but now the question was; "what's for dinner?"
Stay Tuned!
The wrappers were good when the dumplings were first delivered, fairly tender, but got brittle and chewier as the dumplings cooled off. The filling was tender, moist, nicely seasoned, and full of pork flavor. This was a pleasant surprise. The filling was more finely chopped than many versions I've had recently. I think this compares favorably with 
The pieces of beef were decently tender and nicely flavored, good anise tones, with a hint of sweetness. The soup was of the clear variety and had some five spice and white pepper seasoning going for it, but it lacked beefiness and decent richness. At least it wasn't overly salty. The noodles were overcooked for my taste and lacked the springiness I enjoy.
There were 8 dumplings in all, enough for a light lunch. One of the XLB, the one on the bottom had, ahem, an 
A lot of the business is take out, but we managed to grab a seat at one of the five tables inside.
There is a menu on the front window and we were handed menus when we sat down. There are lunch specials!
The Mister ordered a lunch special, which came with a chicken based, thick egg drop soup. Complimentary 'crunchies' were brought out with the silverware.
Soon, our orders were brought out. Egg Foo Young (because it was our first visit and I always order EFY on my first visit to any Chinese restaurant-everyone makes EFY uniquely). Lunch Special #23- Salt and Pepper Fish.
The Lunch Specials are $11.95. The Special comes with steamed jasmine rice or fried rice and a vegetable egg roll in addition to the soup (choice of egg drop or hot and sour). You can substitute steamed vegetables and chop suey for additional fees. The batter and fry of the fish was excellent- not greasy, light and crisp. The fish was light and flaky. This was tasty and a good portion.
Mixed Vegetable Egg Foo Young ($14.95)-what a delightful version! Three large patties, filled with bean sprouts, broccoli, peas and carrots and so eggy, fried nicely with a light and crisp crust and topped with a proper (not thick, not salty) brown gravy. One waitress brought us more gravy halfway through- which was just enough to take home with the leftovers.
These seem a little smaller than I recall, but the sausage was nicely grilled and the proportion of ingredients seemed right, so one could enjoy the salty-sweet-savory flavors of the "bouncy" nem nuong and the crunch of the crisp egg roll wrapper. The wrapping was done perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight which would make the rolls tougher, creating what I'd call "bad botox spring rolls". The sauce was as before slightly sweet-sour, with garlic and umami tones. I does seem a bit more watered down than I recalled.
I did notice that one of the shrimp was "MIA". Still, the Missus enjoys the crisp rice flour cup/shell, which has a hint of coconut. The shrimp were plump and tender, nicely cooked. These are quite a treat with the mung beans, pickled veggies, the anise-citrusy tiet to (perilla), and the slightly sweet-chili-fish sauce concoction.
And yes, more pineapple cake to carry back with us. 
Since I arrived before 11, I took a stroll around the strip mall. It was quite interesting. Back in 
This was a fairly straight-forward bowl. The broth had a decent beefiness, hints of five spice, and was not as spicy as it looked. The broth was not very rich either.
Man, this as a mistake. The pork, which seemed like strips of super lean, pounded pork chop were really tough, almost hard and dry. The batter was on the chewy side as well. The strips were lightly seasoned and not particularly spicy. I ended up using the dried chilies and a big splash of chili oil to help me consume this. I had a ton of it left over.
In retrospect, the egg was also a mistake, it was ice cold, the yolk severely overcooked and dry.
I don't know if they went easy on me, but this wasn't particularly spicy…I mean, it did have some heat, I actually enjoyed the funk induced broth, which was lightly permeated with the flavor of the "fat intestine". The broth edged on the salty side but was by far my favorite of the three visits. I enjoyed the offal-ly, funky, earthy pork bung. Yes, it was a bit chewy, but in a pleasant way.
