Last Updated on 15/04/2014

Taiwan Day 6 – Taipei Ximending 西门町 / Rao He Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市

XiMenDing – The Orchard equivalent in Singapore, a place you may don’t want to miss when in Taipei to experience this bustling metropolis and the energetic life veiled in between the sea of teeny boppers and shops.

Ah Zong mee sua /Ay-Chung Mian Xian 阿宗麵線

We were lost and asked the local for direction of the stall, without any difficulty, one Samaritan quickly pointed us to the right way, looks like Ah Zong is well-known by many.

Ah Zong Mian Xian 阿宗麵線,a street food stall within the XiMenDing pedestrian area is popular amongst the local, a shop that does not offer sitting capacity, you queue, order and eat while standing, kind of pathetic from customer service aspect but that never deterred the crowd flocking into the shop to experience this local delight.

Ah Zong uses Mian Xian or mee sua – a local popular rice flour white noodle and added with the extremely succulent broth. The broth was freaking heavenly when goes with the mee sua. We slurped up every drip of the broth and enjoyed so much that feeling like packing some home if possible. If there is only one street food we will allow trying in Taiwan, Ah Zong Mian Xian undoubtedly will be the choice.

Address: Ah Zong Mian Xian / Ay Chung Mian Xian 阿宗麵線, No. 8~1 Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City 台北市峨嵋街8號之1

Website: www.ay-chung.com

Yi Tiao Long Jiao Zi Guan/ Dumplings restaurant北平– 一条龙饺子馆

Next to the right of Ay Chung mian xian is the Bei Ping – Tiao Long jiao Zi Guan or dumpling restaurant北平 – 一条龙饺子馆. This is a famous eatery in XiMenDing with more than 50 years serving Beijing or China northern delicacies.

Dumplings

We like dumplings and ordered both the steamed and pan fried versions. The steamed dumplings were wrapped with Chinese chives, prawn and pork, the dumpling skin was chewy with right thickness, and filling was savory and scrumptious.

Pan fried dumplings were fairly tasty as well, filling was similar to the steamed dumplings.

Brinjal

Brinjal was cooked with bean paste and seasoned with ginger and other flavouring, cooked to a perfect softness and flavourful.

Sichuan Sour and spicy soup

The sour and spicy soup was packed with eggs, bamboo shoots, cabbage and other vegetables. The soup was ordinary and the spiciness from the traditional Sichuan sour and spicy soup was not distinctive.

Address: No. 10 Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City 台北市峨嵋街10號

Telephone: +886 23616166 / 23317060

Operating Hours: Mon to Fri 11.00am – 2.00pm, 4.30pm – 9.00pm, Sat / Sun: 11.00am – 9.00pm

Mango ChaCha芒果恰恰

Cold desserts during the freezing cold December in Taipei may not be a good choice, however, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to try this popular desserts as well.

Highlight of the shop is the mangos used for the desserts that reportedly come from orchards that produce top-grade varieties for export to Japan and South Korea.

Mango chacha snowflake ice that made of frozen concoction of milk and fruity was shaped into a little mountain, topped with top grade diced mango and mango ice-cream.

The mango chacha was delightfully refreshing, not overly sweet and packed with fragrance from the fresh mango and those blended in the snowflake.

Address: 562 Guangfu S Rd, Taipei City (台北市光復南路562號)

Telephone: (02) 2702-9506

Operating Hours: Daily from 11am to 11pm

Formosa Chang鬍鬚張

Not an alien name to many of the Taiwanese, the restaurant chain has evolved over the years and now operated from a central kitchen with branches all over Taipei, famous for its specialty, braised pork rice (luroufan, 魯肉飯). The bits of fatty pork stewed in sweet soy sauce and ladled on top of a bowl of white rice was savoury and homely. The Deep Fried Pork Cutlet (唐山排骨) was succulent and flavourful.

We ordered the bean sprout and fried “A” Vegetable ?? Yes, they called it “ A” vegetables, (水耕A菜) which was Spinach when served. We love all the green in Taiwan, it just tasted exceptional sweet and crunchy. Everything in Formosa Chang can be described as simple and mum’s cooked meal alike, a hearty meal indeed.

Though we don’t have the opportunity to be invited for a truly home-cooked meal in Taiwan, however, in Formasa Chang, we believed our wish has part fulfilled.

Address: Refer to the website for all the branches in Taipei

Telephone: (02) 2930-2800

Operating Hours: 11am to 10pm

Website: www.fmsc.com.tw

Last destination of the day ended at Rao he Street Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市Rao He Night Market is much smaller and has lesser crowd if compared to Shili Night Market. The night market is a stone throw from Wu Fen Pu 五分埔, a popular fashion distribution centre in Taipei. You can visit the Wu Fen Pu in the afternoon and hop over to the Rao He Street Night Market in the night time.

December is a cold and wet month in Taipei, the drizzle kind of dampened the mood but we still managed to try some of the delicious local snacks from the night market.

BBQ Chicken