Taiwanese Food and Restaurants – Page 2

Taiwan – Dongshan River Forest Park, National Center for Traditional Arts (Wujie), Bajia Fish Farm 八甲休閒魚場 (Yuanshan), and Kavalan Distillery

May 18, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Distilleries, Seafood, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

**** 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!

Roadtrip – Brodard (Fountain Valley), Wing Hop Fung, and Mandarin Noodle House (Monterey Park)

April 19, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Orange County, Road Trip, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel, Vietnamese Restaurants

A few months back, what is now several road trips ago, we decided to head on back to one of our favorite lunch restaurants in Santa Barbara County. Instead of making it a single over night stay, we decided to stretch things out into three nights. We'd be doing a bunch of shopping along the way and be able to take our time. We'd spend the first night at the huge Courtyard by Marriott again, then head off the next morning.

We started off early, with thoughts of hitting up Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ again. But we had gotten an early start and the Missus changed Her mind and suddenly requested a visit to Brodard. Brodard! I told Her that Brodard had moved since we last visited over a decade ago(!). Cathy has visited the "new" (it's all relative) location a couple of times.

We arrived a shade past 9am.

The place was almost empty, with one two top occupied.

The restaurant is quite large, with a dedicated takeout area. The space is modern and clean.

I could never have imagined Brodard being this quiet.

Service was quite pleasant and relaxed.

Of course we had to order the Nem Nuong Cuon. These days you can order just two rolls if you want for $2.50 each!

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.

We also got the Banh Khot ($14.95).

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.

We're glad we stopped by and will make sure to visit more often.

Brodard Restaurant
16105 Brookhurst St.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Hours:
Daily 8am – 9pm

We then headed off to the SGV. We did some shopping at the TS Emporium off Rosemead (I'll do a bunch of shopping/misc posts later) and some other stops before heading to the Courtyard. We were lucky enough to be able to check in early and spent the rest of the afternoon napping.

We hadn't made any plans for dinner. We were just going to play it by ear. It was a Wednesday, so we didn't expect things to be too crowded. The Missus wanted to walk to our dinner destination, so we headed down Atlantic, pausing at Daikokuya, then crossing over and taking look at a couple of places. We crossed back over Garvey and noticed Wing Hop Fung in the strip mall that housed 99 Ranch Market.

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We had passed by many times over the years, thinking this was something along the lines of TS Emporium. But once entering….whoa….

The Missus made a beeline for the teas.

And really took Her time checking out the Pu-Erh. Well, this was no cheapo shop.

It seemed like some good quality products here.

And in case you have $1800 lying around.

And the wine/liquor section was no less intense.

They also carry a good selection of Kavalan, one of our favorite brands. My favorite over time has been the Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Malt Whiskey. Our visit to the Kavalan Distillery affirmed that it is still my favorite. You can get that here. It's ahem, "only" $549 a bottle. I'll just admire it from afar for now….

We enjoyed our time in Wing Hop Fung, it looks like the herbs/tea are high quality and the selection is vast. I understand that for many years Wing Hop Fung had a very popular store in LA's Chinatown. Though I really don't recall that.

Wing Hop Fung
725 W Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

We walked out of the store suffering from a bit of sticker shock. We decided to get something comforting and simple for dinner. We had passed a Taiwanese place right around the corner named Mandarin Noodle House many times over the years . It had been around back in the days when we lived in the SGV! I was really missing the pork chops I'd enjoyed in Taiwan, so I thought it would a great time to finally stop by. We turned the corner and there it was.

The restaurant is simply adorned, a typical mom-and-pop type establishment that immediately made us comfortable. The prices seemed so reasonable.

The gentleman working was nice and efficient. Ordering was a breeze as we immediately set our sights on two dishes.

Of course I wanted the Pork Chops. At $14.95, this seemed a bargain for these times.

The rice was decently cooked, the pickled greens were fine. The soy sauce egg had been cooked to death, the yolk dry. I enjoyed the Taiwanese spinach. The pork chops had a good amount of pepper, but not enough five spice flavor, was on the salty side, and really tough and chewy. Sadly, it did not remind me of Taiwan.

The Missus got the Pig's Feet ($14.95).

Which came with the same cooked to death soy sauce eggs. But after that, things got so much better. The wonderful porky-sweet-savory-soy based sauce had been poured over the rice. Oh man, talk about comforting! The pigs feet had been cooked perfectly; still intact, but the skin was so tender, the flavor of the cooking liquid had permeated every nook and cranny of the trotters. Once the skin was off, the meat fell of the bones, porky deliciousness. We got a winnah here!

By this time, folks had started coming into the restaurant. Different nationalities, all classes, from guys in workwear and boots speaking Spanish, to three guys in suit and ties, an older couple who knew the guy working. All converging on this little business, it was great to see. Looks like Mandarin Noodle House might be what I call a "thread in the fabric" of this neighborhood!

Mandarin Noodle House
701 W Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Hours:
Daily 1030am – 9pm

Taipei – Mountain and Sea House Restaurant

April 10, 2024 mmm-yoso Beer, Fine Dining, Memorable Meals, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

While planning our trip to Taiwan, I came across a Michelin listing for a place called Mountain & Sea House, which had one Michelin Star. But what really got my attention was the restaurant served Taiwanese dishes that harkened back to the 1930's. In addition, the restaurant sourced their ingredients from their own farm, their swine from a ranch that raises indigenous breeds and so forth. Honestly, I could've spent the entire trip eating Lu Rou Fan (and of course pork chops), but that wouldn't be any fan fun, would it? A big plus is that Mountain & Sea House did online reservations, which I took advantage of.

The walk from our hotel was about 25 minutes where we ended up on Ren'ai Road and a lovely looking structure. The really knowledgeable staff told the Missus that the building is in the style of the Japanese Meiji Taisho period, which coincides with the time period of Japanese rule in the country and what is considered the heyday of Taiwanese banquet cuisine by many.

01 Mountain Sea House

The interior is austere yet classy.

Of course, it was only the Missus and I, so ordering huge banquet dishes was not a possibility, but there is a huge "family menu" for 8 people that needs to be ordered in advance; a bunch of set menus, whole suckling pig, chicken cooked in pork stomach, and a bevy of seafood offerings as well.

We just ordered a couple of interesting items off the a la carte menu.

What was interesting is the the restaurant had it's own beer, barrel aged in wine barrels.

This had some nice tart-fruitiness to it; but wasn't as strong as say, a Belgian (of which I've had a few).

The Missus started with a Rose from Weightstone and winery in Taichung.

Which She really enjoyed. She would have a glass of white from the same winery, which was exclusive to the restaurant later during the meal.

After our tea service….

Our food started arriving. First up, was the eye catching "White Flowered Mountain Gourd".

The zucchini and carrot laced parcel was filled with a concoction of dried scallops, black pork, and several different type of mushrooms. It was a bit milder in flavor than we had anticipated, but man, the velvety chicken stock, seasoned perfectly, studded with sweet-earthy mushrooms was fantastic.

Next up were the Oyster Fritters.

It was the two types of greens; bitter-vegetal-crunchy that made this dish. The oysters and pork were quite mild in flavor and the fritter batter not as crisp as we would like.

My favorite dish of the evening was the Three Cup Pig Tail Stew. What seems like a bajillion years ago, I had my first taste of Taiwanese food in a restaurant in the SGV. One of the dishes was Three Cup Chicken. It was love at first bite! It was strange for us to not come across that dish in restaurants we visited in Taiwan? Regardless, this was amazing.

At first glance, the pork looked really dark, but it wasn't overly salty, loved the whole cloves of sweet-pungent garlic, a hint of ginger wafted through the air. The earthy mushrooms added another "meaty" dimension to the meal. The pig tail was swiny, the skin soft, the pieces of cartilage perfect for gnawing. The fragrant basil added the necessary herbaceous-anise tones to the dish.

The "Maqaw" Roast Pork was fine if a bit underwhelming.

Love the tender – porkiness; but the pork seemed to have not been marinated long enough for our taste.

I had our wonderful, friendly Server order me a glass of local Whiskey, he told me it was Lychee Flavored. It was quite nice.

This was a fun meal. We enjoyed the service and watching the families, many multi-generational enjoying their meals here. While we could have easily stuck with smaller restaurants, night markets, and street food; I'm glad we made time for places like this!

Mountain and Sea House Restaurant
No. 94, Section 2, Ren'ai Rd.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan

Taipei – Chia Te and the Taipei 101 Food Court

March 22, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Desserts, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

So, now that we were back in Taipei, it as time to resume our hunt for Pineapple Cake for my MIL. We had a specific target on our schedule; but first….well, the Missus needed Her tea and I wanted a cup of coffee. Que in Wilbeck, a shop right around the block from where we were staying.

A decent Americano for $50NT – $1.25/US and the Missus got some tea as well.

Interesting place…..

And then we were off…..we had started collecting Pineapple Cake in Taichung at Dawncake and a couple of other places in the city, then at another place in Chiayi. But the one place the Missus was looking forward to getting pineapple cake from was this one.

Google best Pineapple Cake in Taiwan and Chia Te will just about always be on the list. Established in 1975, Chia Te has won best Pineapple Cake at the first Taipei Pineapple Cake Festival in 2006 and from what I gathered four more times after that. Add to things that Chia Te has only one shop, located in Taipei (though I understand you can order delivery and get boxes at the airport), you can understand this:

Yes, a line of course. We had arrived at around 815, Chia Te opens at 830, but the line already stretched all the way down the block and around the corner. Unlike typical lines in Taiwan; this one didn't move quickly. It took us nearly two hours to get into the shop.

They kept posting signs listing items they were out of.

The actual shop is tiny, we got our act together and ended up getting all of this.

I will say, that I really enjoyed this. I wish I got more than one small box.

You can get Chia Te in the states; but it is $$$. Though I'm not sure I'll want to stand in that line again when we return to Taipei.

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Chia Te Bakery
No. 88, Section 5, Nanjing E Rd.
Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan

By the time we finished it was time for lunch. Being on this side of the city, Taipei 101 was a 30 minute walk away. I thought it would be fun to check to grab lunch at the food court there. Yes, I said food court. I know most folks would head to Din Tai Fung here, but we'd already been to the original location of DTF in Xinyi and as tempting as that was; I'd read about a Chinese BBQ Hawker with a Michelin Star having an stand in the food court. So, we headed to the basement of Taipei 101.

It was just past 11am when we arrived, so the place wasn't overly busy, though that changed quickly. And we quickly found the shop I was looking for.

And the Missus ordered some Roast Duck and Char Siu.

We saw this stand.

And we'd been wanting to try an oyster omelet, so we walked over and ordered that; along with another item….

We had no problem finding a table. We were lucky because in what seemed like a few minutes later, the place was packed.

First up; the Oyster Omelet and of course a pork chop.

We enjoyed the oyster omelet, even the sweet-sourish gooey sauce which added a nice acidity. The eggs were nicely tender, the small oysters meaty-briney; there were some nice greens mixed in. Overall, really savory and good.

And of course, the pork chop.

Nicely pounded, salty-peppery-porky; some mild garlic tones, mild crispness. Yes, I know, "I didn't meet a pork chop I hated in Taiwan".

On that note; the duck and char siu were diappointing.

The duck was dry, lacking in fattiness, the skin hard, not crisp, without enough five-spice flavor. That pork was tough as leather the edges strangely bitter, and also lacking in flavor.

Well, you can't win 'em all. Though about that Michelin Star thing……

No.45 City Hall Rd.
Xinyi District, Taipei City 110, Taiwan

All was not lost though as we saw this on our way out.

And yes, more pineapple cake to carry back with us.

I'm sure we'll be back to the area. We need to check out the observatory at Taipei 101.

From Taipei 101, it was a 30 minute metro ride back to the hotel.

We had time to rest and relax. And wonder….we had reservations at a Michelin starred restaurant for dinner. How would that fare?

Taipei – Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice

March 21, 2024 mmm-yoso Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

After returning to Taipei from the Taroko Gorge we relaxed a bit at our hotel. The location of Sky 19 Hotel might seem a bit odd, occupying only the 19th floor of an large business building, but the location, right out the exit from Taipei Main Station was great. All the stores and shops in the area didn't hurt things either. Of course the subject of dinner came up. The Missus was wanting to get Lu Rou Fan, a classic braised pork on rice dish. I had a couple of places on my "list" and one of them had come up in the Missus's discussions with various drivers; Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice. The shop was located about 2 kilometers from our accommodations and after having my TR Pork Chop Bento on the train back from the Taroko Gorge, I thought a nice walk might help me burn off the pork.

We arrived at the busy corner where Jin Feng stood in about 25 minutes or so.

Good thing the Missus reads Chinese and speaks Mandarin as there are two queues; one for takeout orders and one for dining in.

Like just about everywhere in Taipei, the lines move quickly. There's no dallying, we got a table, which could be easily divided by plexiglass for single diners in less than ten minutes.

The menu has quite a bit of choices.

But we were after one thing; the Lu Rou Fan, braised pork on rice.

My goodness, where have you been all my life. The rice was cooked nicely and fragrant; that sauce was rich, porky-soy sauce deliciousness. A nice collection of tender meaty pieces, along with rich, fattier pieces that basically melted in your mouth. And for a medium bowl at $40 NT; that's about a buck-twenty-five…. you get the picture, right?

We also got the pork belly; which came out looking dark and somewhat foreboding.

This was quite silkenly tender; surprisingly so. It wasn't overly salty, with hints of anise, and a touch of sweetness.

And of course, after punishing our arteries; we needed some veggies. We had enjoyed all variations of Bamboo Shoots during our time in Taiwan and this version was no different.

Crunchy and earthy with a touch of sweetness, the preserved vegetable added a bit of oomph to things.

The Ong Choi was also crisp and fresh.

A touch of soy and garlic, to bring out the chlorophyllic – nutty notes.

This was a nice, comforting meal, and if I recall, came out to around $4.50/US! No wonder we've been grumbling about the prices here in the US recently. In some places five bucks would get you little more than a cup of coffee here!

Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice (金峰魯肉飯)
No. 10, Section 1, Roosevelt Rd.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan

After dinner we took a different way back to the hotel, exploring the area a bit more.

We had started to learn some interesting things to note about everyday life here. You'd hear some music, it was always the same song emanating from a truck. Well, this was the signal to folks that trash pick-up was occurring. We'd see folks rushing to the curb to deliver their trash for pick-up.

Further up the street we walked past the Judicial Building.

Where this little "soldier" was hard at work doing drills led by his Mom….who seemed to be filming from her phone. Perhaps for Taiwan's version of Tik Tok?

There was a kind of lively, yet orderly sense to things here.

And of course, every time the Missus saw a line She needed to investigate.

We were really enjoying our time in Taipei!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Taiwan – Taroko Gorge Part 2, Buluowan Suspension Bridge, Swallow Grotto, Eternal Spring Shrine, and the TR Bento

March 3, 2024 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Buffets, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

After our lunch and briefly walking along the Buluowan Upper Terrace we were guided to the Liwu River. There stood a impressive suspension bridge crossing over the gorge.

This is the Buluowan Suspension Bridge. A suspension bridge was first built on this site in 1914 during the Truku War. This is the fourth iteration of the bridge which was originally named the Shanyue Suspension Bridge and was opened to the public in August of 2020. It had a stunning view of the gorge and river below.

At the end of the bridge is a short trail to a wonderful viewing spot named Brawan Lookout. You really get a wonderful perspective of the bridge from here.

From here we headed back to the Upper Terrace and the car, taking time to stop at the Visitors Center and check out the Atayal Cultural Center displays.

And then we hit the road again, making a couple of stops along the way.

Until we came to a toll booth. Our driver pulled to the side and instructed the Missus to walk the trail overlooking the gorge and he would meet us at the end. This was the Yanzikou Trail overlooking the Swallow Grotto.

We ambled along thru tunnels cut out of rock with a view of the gorge and river below from ledges. We read that this was how the road used to be like for the entire gorge!

There were many places where you could look out over the river and marvel at the geological beauty.

The formations, river, and plant life made for an interesting walk.

And there was indeed some entertaining formations along the way. Can you make this one out?

While actually named the "Elder Stone" (太魯閣族長老石- 長老側臉) – this is what the sign said:

Our driver met us at the end of the short half kilometer trail and then we headed on back. There was one more stop on the way and it might be the most picturesque of them all. Stopping in the parking lot and walking to the lookout point, your eyes are immediately drawn to this.

This is Eternal Spring Shrine (Changchun Shrine).

The shrine was built in 1958 to commemorate those who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway. The shrine is built above a spring which empties into the Liwu River below.

There's a short trail to the temple which we decided to take.

As you make your way up the stairs you'll encounter a cave with statues of Guanyin, the Goddess of Compassion, Mercy, and Kindness.

It was great to stop here, because boy do we need more compassion, mercy, and kindness these days!

I think the water rushing out from under the shrine really adds photogenic drama to things.

We were then driven back to our hotel. Our driver was outstanding and so very pleasant, something we'd find is the norm in Taiwan.

The Missus made sure to hit up the hotels afternoon snack buffet.

We then took a short nap, before heading downstairs for a nice evening walk.

And then, yep the evening "snack" (aka dinner at the huge buffet).

Before hitting the hay…..

The next morning, our train back to Taipei was scheduled for 1253 and was right on time. We'd had a great time visiting the Taroko Gorge and highly recommend it.

We were taking the TR Taroko Express back to Taipei. We had stored our bags at the Sky 19 Hotel in Taipei so didn't have much to lug around.

I had noticed that on some routes/times folks are able to order a Train Bento for on board consumption. And on this route it was available. So, like the Missus said, on this trip ""you didn't meet a pork chop you didn't like." Well, guess what?

Of course I ordered some! And the prices were the same as if I'd bought them at a cart at the station; just about $2.50. Delivered to our seats.

The pork chop had hints of five spice, soy, garlic, ginger…..and was surprisingly, decently tenderized. I'm convinced that most pork outside the US tastes better! There's pickled veggies, and nicely flavored soy sauce eggs, great five spice tones, with a hint of sweetness….a Spam like mystery meat that increased my sodium level ten fold….this was just a fun meal.

Was it haute cuisine? For $2.50???? C'mon, this is food for every man/woman…..pork chop lover. For some history, here's a great post.

I love Taiwan!

Thanks for stopping by!

Taiwan – Taroko Gorge Part 1, Qingshui Cliff, Shakadang Trail, and Lunch at Taroko Village Hotel

March 2, 2024 mmm-yoso Buffets, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

We had a nice night of sleep after settling in at the Kindness Hotel. I had gone ahead and hired a driver to take us to and around Taroko National Park. But first came breakfast. And as I mentioned in my previous post on Hualien our hotel provided a breakfast buffet, which was quite varied and good.

Our driver arrived right on time. Though he didn't speak any English, the Missus enjoyed conversing with him in Mandarin. He was very friendly and, as we'd find out later quite thoughtful. The Taroko Gorge area is vast and we were only doing a day trip, just seeing the main sights and taking a couple of walks, so being English speaking wasn't necessary.

Hualien seemed quite spread out; based on where we were staying, which was in the area close to Hualien Station. The city is close to the ocean and we stopped for some photos (our driver really liked taking photos of us!) at Qixingtan Beach which was right past the airport.

There was no one in sight, so perhaps that's why the beach seemed vast and expansive?

I'm thinking that this was a Friday right after a major holiday week Qingming Jie (清明节 – "Tomb Sweeping Day"), so maybe that's why the place was deserted?

From here it was back onto the highway and eventually the the terrain changed dramatically. Rising up the side of mountains, it reminded me of the portion Kalanianaʻole Highway near Makapu'u back home. We made a first stop at a lookout. Man, was the view quite dramatic. This is the Qingshui Cliff area.

Beautiful rugged coast views on one side; imposing mountainside on the other.

From here we drove further up the coastline, the passing thru a tunnel, before parking at the Huide Rest Stop. From here, there an easy walk to the lookout. I actually saw the train tunnels below us as well took our walk.

We then headed off and into Taroko National Park proper. After driving thru a tunnel we arrived at a parking lot and a bridge. After a short conversation with our driver, the Missus told me this is the Shakadang Bridge and we headed down some stairs to the Shakadang Trail (also known as the Mysterious Valley Trail). It's more of a nice nature walk.

Once on the trail you get a nice view of the bridge.

The trail was nicely maintained and not very crowded when we visited. The Shakadang River is known for the crystal clear, emerald water that flows thru it.

I loved the jewel like marble boulders strewn along the riverside. The Missus took Her shoes off, sat, and soaked Her feet in the cool comforting water in front of this striking boulder.

About 1.5 kilometers down the trail there an actual snack shack-coffee stand! Yes indeed, this is Taiwan. It was interesting to see actual motorbikes and other vehicles using the trail!

After the snack stand we decided to head on back. When we got back to the car, we noticed our driver busy on his cell phone. We thought it was some kind of personal call, but would find out shortly what it was about. Our driver chatted with the Missus as we weaved our way to a large flat area with buildings and a hotel. This was Buluowan, the former sight of a village of the Truku people, the Indigenous inhabitants of the area. We found out that the reason our driver was on the phone was that in chatting with the Missus, he discovered we enjoyed food. So, he called the restaurant in the Taroko Village Hotel to make sure and reserve two of the lunches which featured a couple of traditional Truku dishes for us! Did I mention how much we loved Taiwan.

We led us to a table in the restaurant, so I did get many photos, but this is what lunch looked like.

Of course we loved the tender, grassy-mild sweetness of the fern shoot.

The cuts of boar and boar sausage provided interesting contrasts in flavors; porky-mild sweetness, familiar flavors.

But, I really enjoyed the sticky rice cooked in bamboo. The rice attained an almost creamy texture, the slightly floral flavor heightened with a pleasant mild sweetness!

This was a fun meal. And we made sure to have our driver join us and pay for his lunch as well!

Taroko Village Hotel
972, Taiwan, Hualien County, Xiulin Township, 231-1號

After lunch we walked around the grounds of the Buluowan Upper Terrace.

Before being walked over to the next site on our agenda!

Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

Hualien – A Cheng Goose Meat

February 11, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

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……

Bafang Dumpling (Mira Mesa)

February 8, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

Man did Bafang Dumpling generate lot of buzz when they opened at the end of December. Folks that I know who went talked about crazy lines and 30-40 waits for food. Funny thing, we thought about checking out Bafang during our trip to Taiwan, but things never worked out. We even had considered going to the City of Industry location, but ended up having not so great guotie and XLB at Jiou Chou Dumplings instead.

But now it was nearing the end of January and the rain has left San Diego a soggy mess, Bafang opens at 10am, and it was Monday. Sounded like a good time to see if the place wasn't too crazy, so I drove on over with a plan B (turo turo) just in case. I needn't have worried.

Bafang 01

As the nice young lady opened the door telling me; "welcome, you're the first customer of the day".

Bafang 02

Bafang is one of those fast-casual places, you order at the counter, pay, and are given a buzzer which will go off when your order is ready for pick up at the counter.

Bafang 03

My coworker "CY" whose family is from Taiwan went to Bafang when they first opened (of course), I didn't want him to tell me what he thought of the food, so the only advice he gave me was "make sure to visit the sauce bar, it will come in handy".

Bafang 04

Well, since I had ordered guotie and jiaozi black vinegar was a must. I also got the chili sauce and the garlic sauce.

Bafang 05

Waiting for my order I had a little taste of each sauce, all of which I thought was terrible. The black vinegar tasted watered down, the garlic sauce had very little garlic flavor, at least to me and was overly sweet, and the chili sauce was quite weak as well. Before I had time to really wonder if this was an omen of what my meal was going to be like, the buzzer and bright lights went off.

One thing I did appreciate about Bafang was the ability to do half orders of pot stickers and dumplings, which meant I could try both without stuffing myself silly.

Because it is usually pan fried, I went for the guotie ($5.75 for 6) first.

Bafang 06 Bafang 07 Looking at the dumplings gave me pause. Look at the color; it's very "light", and as I thought, these hadn't been fried long enough and were hard and chewy, rather than crisp. The tops should be somewhat pliant with a slight pull to it. These were a bit on the brittle side. The filling was decently seasoned, but had too much napa cabbage for my taste.

Not very good.

Bafang 08

One thing I really loved in Taiwan were the pork chops; like the Missus said, "In Taiwan you never met a pork chop you didn't like". So, of course I had to try the pork chop ($8).

Bafang 09

These looked pretty good; but it was really chewy. While it had some five spice flavor to it; it needed more white pepper and salt.

Bafang 10

It wasn't particularly crisp either.

Looking at the jiaozi ($5.75 for 6), I shook my head. I really looked like it came out of a bag pulled from the freezer.

Bafang 11 Bafang 12 This was pretty bad; the "skin" was hard and brittle. The filling seemed to be half cabbage, the pork mealy, dry, and was quite tasteless.

This wins the award for the worst jiaozi I've had in ages. I left shaking my head and thinking, "this is like college food court cuisine" and I'm probably not the target audience for this. Still, I needed to give the place another try. Another rainy Wednesday, meant another opportunity to not have to deal with crowds.

Bafang 13a

Bafang 13b

This time I went with the Niu Rou Mian (Beef noodle soup $16.75) and also the Spicy Fried Chicken ($8).

When I was summoned to the counter to pick my order up I was surprised at how large that bowl of NRM was! It took up an entire tray!

Bafang 14 Bafang 15 So, I hunkered down and took a sip of the broth and shook my head. It was really thin, lacking in beefiness, with just a hint of metallic-anise tones. It was in need of more richness. At least it wasn't salty….but on second thought it could have used more sodium and white pepper.

The hunks of meat and daikon were huge. This meant the meat was on the drier and tougher side and lacking in flavor. The hunks of daikon had retained its flavor but were not cooked all the way thru.

The noodles were overcooked, mushy, and lacking in the springiness….in other words, instead of "QQ", this was more like "DoDo"…..

Bafang 16

Though if you're more into portion size, this might be the dish for you.

I was ready to be let down by the Spicy Fried Chicken ($8), but it ended up being the best item I had during my visits.

Bafang 17 Bafang 18 I would skip the "chili sauce" which wasn't particularly spicy, just kinda oily.

The coating of the chicken was crunchy and there was enough white pepper and savory seasoning on this. Hallelujah!

The chicken was on the tougher side but was adequately moist.

Bafang 19

Well, that made one-out-of-five here. This kinda makes me think there must be a huge difference between Bafang here and in Taiwan, right? I read that Bafang has almost a thousand locations in Taiwan.

This sign made me laugh.

Bafang 20

In my mind it didn't stand for Bafang Dumplings; I would use another word that starts with "B". But of course, that's just me. In all honesty, because Bafang opens at 10, I was hoping this would be a good place to add to my rotation, but as it is now, it's going to be a while before I return, if ever.

I'm hoping your visits to Bafang were better than mine; please tell me about them.

You can read Soo's post on Bafang here!

Bafang Dumplings
9690 Reagan Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 10am – 10pm

Taipei – Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Fan Tuan Ba (飯糰霸), and Another Pork Chop

January 13, 2024 mmm-yoso Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

After dinner at Din Tai Fung we strolled around the Xinyi area a bit before heading back to the hotel. As we headed further down Xinyi Road we came upon Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park and the imposing Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

We walked up the 89 stairs, which represents Chiang Kai-shek's age at the time of his death.

A statue of Chiang Kai-shek resides in the hall.

And from the hall you can get a nice view of Liberty Square. With the National Concert Hall on one side.

And the National Theatre on the other.

We took a quick peek in the hall, before the doors started closing at 6pm.

We then made our way back to the hotel and had a nice night of sleep.

Our train the next morning wasn't leaving until 1145, staying right across the street from Taipei Main Station had its benefits as we could go out and explore a bit more. Also, we'd be returning Sky 19 Hotel so they were kind enough to store our excess luggage.

While walking close to the 2/28 Peace Memorial Park, which I posted on earlier, we came across this tiny coffee shop.

And we got our caffeine fix for the morning.

壹咖啡
No. 76 Huaining St.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

Right around the corner from the hotel, the Missus stopped and exclaimed "oooohh, fan tuan"! Which cracked me up….you see, when Sammy would get a bit chubby, we'd call him "fan tuan", basically "glutinous rice ball".

But this place really made fan tuan. We thought it would be nice to have one on our three hour train ride. Of course there was a line.

But lines in Taiwan move fast and the two guys making fan tuan were super fast….no wasted motion here.

The version the Missus got had a soy sauce egg, crisp nicely sour pickled veggies, and crunchy egg roll wrappers, in a nice, tight toothsome rice ball.