We started off our last day in Taiwan by visiting the historical landmark in Taiwan, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂). This national monument is built in honor and memory of the former President of Taiwan, Chiang Kai Shek.
Look at the sky, it was really hot though it was just 7.00am in the morning! No joke, it looked like was 12.00pm in Malaysia. We came this early in the morning to avoid the crowds of tourist buses while enjoying the peaceful place. The square was actually named as Liberty Square自由广场 and act like the front gate of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.
Since we understood quite well the history of Taiwan, we didn’t enter the museum which documented Chiang’s life and career, as well as exhibited Taiwan’s history. We decided to just check out the unique building.
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂)
Operating hours: 9.00am – 6.00pm (Daily)
Changing of honored guards: 9.00am – 5.00pm (every hour)
Detailed information can be obtained from:
(English version) https://www.cksmh.gov.tw/eng/index.php?code=list&ids=40
(Chinese version) http://www.cksmh.gov.tw/index.php?code=list&ids=82
We went to one of the best braised pork rice in Taipei for our breakfast. San Yuan Hao braised pork rice (三元號魯肉飯) was one of the older diner in Taipei where many locals grew up with.
Braised pork rice (魯肉飯) is one of the must try food in Taiwan! However, we noticed that most of the restaurants actually serve it with extremely fatty pork. Since Mr. J does not like fatty meat, San Yuan Hao was perfect as they actually served the rice with relatively less fatty pork.
The rice was really good. It wasn’t like how we saw from the internet whereby it is full of minced fatty pork. As you can see from our photo, the meat was mostly lean with a little mix of fats. The fats will actually enhance the fragrance and give the melt-in-the-mouth feeling!
Apart from the food being yummy, we must say that San Yuan Hao is really generous because the bowl of braised pork rice only costs TWD20! Where else could you find such as place?
Other than their signature braised pork rice, Shark fins in meat potage (魚翅肉羹) is their another signature food. We didn’t order it but we ordered a plate of small dish which cost us TWD30 for such a large portion!
The cheapest and yummiest breakfast we have in Taipei!
San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice (三元號魯肉飯，圓環古早味老店)
Address: No. 11, Section 2, Chongqing North Road, Datong District, Taipei City (103台北市大同區重慶北路二段11號)
Operating hours: 9.00am – 9.15pm
Getting there: Take Y21 Exit at Taipei Main Station, and walk about 5 - 7 minutes to the shop
Actually, this was just around of our hotel area. We went back to our hotel area to do some shopping at Liu Fen Pu (六分埔), the wholesale place of fashion accessories.
Then, we went to Ming Yue Tang Bao (明月湯包) for our lunch! This was obviously not a tourist restaurant. This was where the locals usually visit for XiaoLongBao and signature pan fried dumpling. It was a small restaurant with no more than 10 tables. Peak hours should be avoided to prevent having a long waiting time.
Some locals even commented that their XiaoLongBao is better than Din Tai Fung’s. Let’s check it out!
We ordered 8 pieces of XiaoLongBao, 10 pieces of signature Pan Fried Dumpling and Bean Paste Noodle (known as Zha Jiang Mian). As you can see from our photo, their XiaoLong Bao is slightly bigger as compared to Din Tai Fung. The skin was finely thin and it was juicy inside. It had an average of one tablespoon of soup from each XiaoLongBao! The soup was not as oily as Din Tai Fung’s and it also gave us a clear soup feeling. Be careful on your first bite as it was really hot.
10 pieces of Signature pan fried dumpling. Very crispy on the outside, yet juicy and tasty on the inside!
Bean paste noodle. Their noodle portion was alright. The taste was similar to Din Tai Fung’s. The only difference is the poach egg which contributed to a good mixture to the overall taste and noodled texture.
Ming Yue Tang Bao (明月湯包)
Address: No. 162-4, Section 2, Keelung Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City (台北市基隆路二段162號之4)
Operating hours: 11.00am – 2.00pm and 5.00pm – 9.00pm
Getting there: Take MRT to Liuzhangli station (捷運六張犁站)
A drink is normal after lunch. Hence, we reserve it that space for Chen San Ding Bubble Tea (陳三鼎青蛙鮮奶). It was crowded when we reached there but the line was moving quite fast. We ordered their signature bubble tea (青蛙黑糖) at TWD35.
Tips: Shake the drink well before drinking as to ensure the brown sugar and milk is properly mixed.
Before
After
This is the best bubble tea that we have had in our life! The taste was really good and none of the bubble tea in Malaysia can even come close to this. They must have use very good ingredients to make such a delicious drink. Instead of milk powder, they use fresh milk. The brown sugar bubble was really good as it wasn’t too sweet and it gave a balance to the milk taste! The bubble texture was alright as it wasn’t chewy (“QQ”) like plastic. This is really a must try drink if you come to Taiwan. We regretted buying just one cup of it.
Chen San Ding Bubble Tea (陳三鼎青蛙鮮奶)
Address: No. 2, Alley 8, Lane 316, Section 3, Luosifu Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City (台北市中正區羅斯福路三段316巷8弄 )
Operating hours: 11.00am – 10.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)
Getting there: Take Exit 3 at Gongguan Station (捷運公館站3號出口)
Before collecting our luggage, we walked around in Ximending (西門町)! Ximending is similar to our Bukit Bintang area but is was more happening.
You can see that all the building was full of advertisements and occupied with shops! You could easily guess where we will drop by! All Malaysians will surely ask if you did try Ah Zhong Mian Xian (阿宗麵線) in Taiwan?
Yes, we were here to try out the best mee sua in Taipei. The shop was full of people which were either standing or sitting on a stool to enjoy their noodle. The shop did not provide any table but just some stools in front of the shop.
We ordered a small portion at TWD50. Look at this little cup, the portion was actually quite big and was bigger than the one we ate at the night market. We would say this is the best mee sua we had tried in Taiwan.
The taste was really good and the noodle portion of was big even though we only ordered the small size. We also like their chili which was really spicy! Adding just a little bit would make your noodle spicy. Of course, you can add more after if can really eat spicy food. With chili, the noodle was much yummier.
Other than Chili, there were also vinegar and garlic available at the side for you to add into your noodle if you prefer more of them.
It was unfortunate that we visited this during the summer. We believe that we would enjoy it better if during winter!
Ah Zhong Mian Xian (阿宗麵線)
Address: No. 8-1號, Emei Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City. (台北市萬華區峨眉街8之1號)
Operating hours:
9.00am – 10.30pm (Monday – Thursday)
9.00am – 11.00pm (Friday –Sunday)
On our way back to the MRT station, we saw another classic drink in Taiwan. Carambola Ice (Starfruit drink). This was the first time we heard this. The shop has more than 40-years of history and we heard that it was famous in Ximending. Thanks to the hot summer season, it made us looking for refreshing drink all the time just to cool ourselves from the extreme heat.
Quite thirst quenching! Other than their signature carambola ice, they also have other refreshing drinks.
Chengdu Carambola Ice (成都楊桃冰) - TWD35 for Big; TWD20 for Small
Address: No. 3, Chengdu Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City. (台北市萬華區成都路3號)
Operating hours: 1.00pm – 10.30pm (Closed on Thursdays)
With limited time, we dropped by Pablo Cheese Tart Taiwan (Sadly, it had closed down in November 2016). Before making its debut in Malaysia, Pablo Cheese Tart was only available in Japan and Taiwan.
Both of us were cheese lovers and desserts were a heaven for every girl! There were two sizes of Cheese Tart; big and mini. The big one would probably require at least three people to finish it. Hence, we ordered the mini size cheese tart with plain flavor!
If you are come in a big group, it would be better since you could try out more flavours such as berry, matcha, chocolate banana etc.
We also ordered a cheese drink which wasn’t too bad! A cheesy drink with cheese tart. So cheesy today!
Taiwan Pablo Cheese Tart had a new food which was Ice Pablo Cheese Tart (cold version of its signature cheese tart). We tasted the sample and it was super delicious! Both of us seem to prefer the cold version better than the hot version. Nevertheless, both versions were equally yummy, creamy and cheesy!
Before saying goodbye to this food wonderland! We had our last Taiwanese meal before flying off!
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