Villa Loherb minsu At Yilan 樂健活日光綠築
A relatively new minsu at a Yilan, not on the high mountain, in the forestry area or next to the lakes, Villa Loherb is surrounded by plots of rectangular paddy fields in the Yilan countryside. Mountainous view, fresh air, and tranquility with surreal moments fascinated us to make the choice.
The minsu is beautifully designed with seven rooms catered for families and couples. The facilities are equipped with modern technology like a projector TV and heated toilets with a bidet. Besides the friendly service, Villa Loherb serves some real good food, from the breakfast to the desserts, it did not disappoint us.
Breakfast
We were especially impressed with the panini. The bread is fluffy and chewy, we know Taiwan has very good quality bread flour and that perhaps explained the quality bread. Besides complimentary breakfast, guests can enjoy the afternoon desserts for free as well.
Both the cheesecake and chocolate cake are incredible good; both the texture and taste are amazingly nice.
Cycling is one of the activities worth considering during your stay here. Enjoy the scenic countryside on the bike and food hunt!
A: No. 372, Baofu Rd, Dongshan Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 269
T: +886 3 959 5685
Yilan Lu Hua Chicken 宜兰芦花鸡料理歺厅
It took us around 40 mins to get here by cycling. Do put on a mask if you choose to cycle around Yilan, swarms of midges are awaiting along the way, especially around any water catchment areas and riversides. You do not want to fill your stomach with midges before the meal.
Yilan Lu Hua Chicken is located right opposite the Taiwan Arts Center. What is so special about the chicken? Lu Hua Chicken was almost extinct in the 90’s and was revived through lots of research. The birds are very active and give that gives their muscles a good exercise.
The Lu Hua Chicken was roasted in the way similar to the Kampong Chicken in Singapore, the roasted bird skin was paper thin with little fat underneath, tender meat and nice flavour that was worth the try.
Other dishes we ordered were ordinary and nothing to shout about.
宜蘭蘆花雞料理餐廳
A: No. 326, Section 2, Wubin Rd, Wujie Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 26846
T: 03 950 0599
H: Thu – Fri 11:30 am – 8:00 pm, Sat – Sun 11:00 am – 8:30 pm Wednesday CLOSED
FB: 宜蘭蘆花雞料理餐廳
羅東夜市Luo Dong Night Market
The Luodong Night Market is a night market in Luodong Township, Yilan Taiwan. It is one of the biggest and most crowded night markets in Taiwan.
A: 宜蘭縣羅東鎮中央的中山公園四周
When you visit Yilan, you may notice a close association with San Xing spring onion 三星青蔥 in daily cuisine. A local agricultural staple, it is a popular produce here with a unique quality. San Xing spring onion is sweet, tart and without the strong pungency that comes with other types of spring onions. The locals are so proud of the spring onion that they set up a gallery just to showcase the spring onion. (Yilan San Xing Spring Onion Gallery三星青蔥文化館).
San Xing Spring onion related food is everywhere and your trip would be incomplete if you visiting Yilan without having a taste.
Here are some of the highlights you can try:
Yi Fong Spring onion pie 35 +10 for additional egg
Analogous to our Singaporean roti prata, the pie was pan fried to give the dough a nice crisp. The round and flat pie has only spring onion as filling, relying on the vegetable’s natural sweetness and flavour heighten the taste without any distinctive seasoning.
A: 宜蘭縣羅東鎮民生路130-1號
T：03-9577201
H：3pm to 9pm daily
七巧味三星蔥多餅
A bun filled with the spring onions and diced pork. The bun was deep fried in a pot of oil till a slight golden brown, the skin of the dough was thin but envelops the juicy filling. You can fully appreciate the natural flavor of the spring onions and we recommend you not to add the sauce given, it actually spoiled the overall taste.
A: 宜蘭縣羅東鎮公園路與振泰街交叉口
H: 4.30pm – 11pm
T：0983-951-524
宜蘭羅東+阿公仔龍鳳腿春捲
One the stalls with the longest queue at the night market. The deep fried roll contained fish paste, spring onion and cabbage, wrapped in the membrane of the pig’s stomach for the extra fragrance, the bite size stick (2 for 35NT) was sinfully delicious.
However, we somehow preferred the deep fried spring rolls (2 for 35NT) which were filled with spring onions and bean sprouts. A stall worth to try.
A: 宜蘭縣羅東鎮民生路、興東路口Minsheng Rd & 興東路 Luodong Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 265
H：11am – midnight
T：+886 911 828 258
San Xing spring onion 三星蔥豬肉蔥捲餅
Lots of varieties of using the San xing spring onions. This is another version using pork meat to wrap the spring onion, grilled and serve in a box. Unfortunately the taste was not remarkable.
Smelly French fries 堂薯薯臭薯條 $35-50NT
Smelly French fries? Yes, it tasted like smelly tofu, you can opt for different sauce to suit your taste, just pick the top favourite if you do not know what to order.
Do eat it while hot, the fries turned soggy and you can trash it once turned cold. The smell may turn off some but looking at the long queue you can be sure they have a good following.
堂薯薯臭薯條
A: 宜蘭縣羅東鎮民生路55號
T：0981-423-765 H：3pm – 11pm
平胸妹雞蛋糕
Not sure how many patrons take a glance at her breasts, not in the lusty manner, but to compare her to the name of the stall – “Flat-chested girl eggy cake”. Both her measurements and the mini egg cheese tarts are ordinary. You eat and forget it.
A：宜蘭縣羅東鎮公園路162號前
T：0981-098-811
H: Mon – Fri 2pm to 10pm，Sat-Sun 10am to 11pm
Hua Ji華記龍鳳腿
Right at the road junction, a never ending queue swarms this stall. Compared the pork roll stick from the 阿公仔龍鳳腿, Hua Ji is less impressive from the taste and texture. Both stalls have equally long queue so might as well queue for the better one.
Mutton soup
Quite a few stalls selling Angelica mutton soup in this night market, the mutton soup was different from our local mutton soup which is rich with herbal essence and thick in the soup. The mutton soup found at the night market here was clear, light and tame in the flavor, mutton was thinly sliced which is our preference and probably the only plus point.
Kekou BBQ 可口香碳烤–羅東總店
You can find all kinds of roasted, grilled or BBQ meat everywhere around the night market. Most are mediocre and finding a good one could be as challenging as finding a needle in a haystack.
Kekou BBQ is one of the better ones worth the recommendation, the skewered meats were well-seasoned and grilled, most importantly the tender meat truly made our day.
A: 宜蘭縣羅東鎮公園路110號對面
T： 0910-503880 or 0922-269310
H: Mon-Thurs 4pm – 11pm, Fr-Sun 3pm till mid night or sold out
Taro 宜兰廟口
An unique creation of encasing different fillings with the mashed taro. We went for the cheese and salted egg yolk with pork floss, the taro cakes were deep fried to a crisp skin, The taro has to be fragrant and it delivered well in this regard. Cheese-filling complements well with the taro but the salted egg with pork floss was a little overwhelming for the tastebuds.
宜兰爆漿玉子烧
The base dough is made of flour mixed with cheese and corn and is used with all the different toppings. We requested the mentaiko topping with fish flakes and mayonnaise. Not too bad the combination, it is a good snack to munch on the go.
A: 宜兰县罗东镇公园路1083摊位
H: 4pm – 12 midnight
Yilan Taiwan
We left Yilan to TaiChung after the third day. The minsu was a good experience in this trip, we finally able to get way from the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoyed a moment of countryside lifestyle which was truly rejuvenating and revitalizing. Of course, the local snacks and food are something helped to make the trip a fruitful one as well.