鮮竽仙 Fresh Taro Herbal, Taipei, Taiwan

After Kiki, walk further to Chung Hsiao E. Rd., you will see this nice local dessert shop which takes taro and herbal jelly as their theme dessert.

1/2. the shop.

3. For those who haven't been to Taiwan, this would be something unusual for them as herbal jelly is often eaten chilled cold. This one is a hot one and what should be called in Taiwan as 燒仙草 in fact delivers a stronger aroma of herbal jelly. This hot dessert is not that sweet and very nice to refresh from the hot smelly tofu.

Kiki Restaurant, Taipei, Taiwan

1/2. the shop inside and I prefer this branch to the others. This one is on Fu Hsing N. Rd opposite to The Breeze Mall 微風廣場.

3. Drunken boneless chicken thigh (TWD350, USD11) - somehow this one is a bit different from the one I tried 8 years ago. The original one was soaked with some ginseng roots. Maybe some people don't like the ginseng bitter taste, but I really prefer such a bitter taste together with the Hsiao Xing Wine (Chinese yellow wine). Anyway, it's still very nice to me. 4. my most most favourite dish of this shop - Bitter gourd stir fried with salty duck egg (TWD200, USD6). Not too many restaurants make this one nice as they are either too salty or too mashy. This shop did this one just to the right balance.

5. Kung Po Smelly Tufu (TWD200, USD6). So as you can see, this one is hot but really nice! If you can try hot and like smelly tufu, this one is good. 6. Winter melon spare ribs soup (TWD210, USD6.2) - Very nice soup as the ingredients were first pan fried and gave a nice aroma to the soup.

7. Burnt fried seasons string beans (TWD200, USD6) - this one is actually quite difficult. The minced pork should be burnt as well as the beans but both can't be too dried out. Yet, the Chinese preserved olive must be controlled at a right amount so that it's not too salty nor not to the taste. This one is very nice and perfectly done!

Book street, snack street, teenagers' street, Shin Guang Mitsukoshi, Taipei Station, Taiwan

This area behind Shin Guang Mitsukoshi has been a place for the teenagers where a lot of book shops, snack/dessert/drink shops as well as the auxiliary study courses institutes.

1. not only local snacks/noodle/dumplings, but also many busy shops like stationery, CD...etc.
2. Still the same scene as it has been in the 90's.

3. Egg on Chinese pan cake 蛋煎餅 TWD30 (US$0.8)

4. Pan fried buns 生煎包 TWD10 (US$0.3). I tried one and definitely bought it for my breakfast. Honestly speaking, this shop is even better than Din Tai Feng to me as the shop put the filling as 50/50 for veggie and pork, and I really like the raw taste and the hot and steamy of the buns. My local friends also agreed that this shop opposite to Taiwan Hospital is very good!

5. More more local snacks.
6. this dumpling shop has many branches in HK now.
7. Shin Guang Mitsukoshi used to be the landmark of Taipei before 101.

The frogs laying eggs 青蛙下蛋, Taipei, Taiwan

青蛙下蛋 the frogs laying eggs is an interesting term for one of the local snack drink. The so-called eggs are just mini chewy

dumplings and they looked like the frog's eggs. Actually most Taiwanese local snacks tend to be quite chewy.

1. This shop served this drink and the famous Ai Yu drink (kind of jello with lemon). 2. So this is it. It's quite refreshing after a greasy meal.
3. OK, now a further generation to the former part - the frogs falling in love with milk. Simply it's the drinks with milk.

Caesar Park Hotel 凱撒 (formerly HIlton), Taipei, Taiwan

Stayed at Hilton about 10 to 11 years ago and now it's changed to a local management and renamed as Caesar Park. The hotel has renovated 3/4th on the whole and I can still trace something left at the Hilton's era.

1/2. most of the bathroom/cabinet stuff were new but the bath tub was Hilton's.

3/4. most of the stuff were new except the windows. BTW, I got upgraded to this spacious suite (double size of a standard room). However, the furniture also got to be bigger. The room is a bit too spacious.

5/6. In walking into the room, the first thing the bell boy showed me is the TV partition can be switched to either side. He seemed to be very proud of this invention and I paid a very surprising look as my appreciation. In fact, it's a very good idea.

7. See the desk facing the wall at the entrance. The desk should be on a reverse position as there is much space between the couch and the desk. Then I came to realise this arrangement should be of something.

Yah Chung noodle soup 阿宗麵線, Si Men Ting, Taipei, Taiwan

The first time I was brought to this shop, it was a very small shop many many years ago. At that time, my prejudice drove me not to try it as the noodle soup looks very thick and the noodle a bit too mashy. Later on every time I passed by it, I just had a look but still didn't feel like trying it due to my prejudice. So tonight I just told myself to try it regardless of what it is.

1. The shop is all the time on a long queue but tonight it was a bit shorter (maybe people tended to go for something western on Christmas's Eve). So I took my Christmas eve dinner on something alternate.

2. OK. I paid TWD40 (US$1.3) for a bowl and add some vinegar, raw garlic and their house made chilli. I had my first bite for all these regretful years. Yes, regretful for I got on my prejudice, regretful for I was not patient enough and regretful for being too late... It was awesome! Very impressive! The chef first pan fried the Sa Cha paste 沙茶醬 and mix a nice soup with Taiwan's local unique soy paste 醬油膏. A superb aroma and balance of these 2 major ingredients. The only thing I can complain is that the pig's intestine is a bit too chewy. Should have been shimmered a bit. Anyway, the intestine has been cleaned very well. That made up for my complaint. A must try!

Si Men Tin 西門町, Taipei, Taiwan

Si Men Tin shouldn't be a stranger to anyone who has been to Taipei. Its history was once almost gone in the late 90's since the trend was going eastward from Chung Hsiao East Road to Shin Yi District (where 101 is). In early 2000's, a group of young people starting their hip hop culture and starting their shops here to bring back the glory of this place. Ever since then, this area has been expanding and attracting lots of young people for singing KTV or just hanging around.

1/2. the whole section from Cheng Du Road, to Hsu Cheong Street and from Chung Hwa Rd. to Si Ling S. Rd. has now been a walking area.

3. the shop is famous for the Lo Shui duck tongue and also very expensive now. 4. more leon light.

5/6. the area outside the subway stop for Si Men.

Eastern Fen Yuan QQ dumplings 東區粉圓

So after the 3pm soup dumpling at Din Tai Feng, why not for a dessert at this famous Taiwanese dessert shop.

1. see even it's just 4pm, it's still on a long queue.

2. the taro chewy mini dumpling and the black QQ dumpling are the symbolic Taiwanese food - chewy and tangy - what they called QQ texture QQ感. Though it may not be my favourite, it is still a nice try.

Din Tai Feng 鼎泰豐, Taipei, Taiwan

Not a fan for this renowned shop but feel like paying for a visit somehow. The shop has 4 branches in Taipei city, but interestingly 10 shops in Japan, 4 in Beiing, 6 in Shanghai, 7 in Guang Zhou and Shen Zhen, 2 in HK, 7 in Singapore, 4 in Seoul, 4 in Indonesia, 1 in KL, 1 in Sydney, 1 in Arcadia of CA, but none in Thailand, none in Taichung, Hua Lien, Tainan, Kaohsuing....etc. To be honest, I often tell my local friends that I treat Din Tai Feng as 中華料理 (subtle Japanese Chinese cuisine). OK, this time I tried their branch at soi 216 of Chung Hsiao E. Rd. sec. 4. Anyone who knows about the famous Eastern QQ-dumpling dessert 東區粉圓 should know soi 216 of Chung Hsiao E. Rd. This branch is just at the soi entrance on the main road.

1. Seaweed tofu cold dish - the seaweed was soaked for a very long time it lost the original flavour of seaweed. I would believe the Chef hoped the smelly part of seaweed wouldn't make it too unpleasant as seaweed may not be nice to many people, especially they don't use much garlic to offset the smelly part. Personally I don't like it much as seaweed cold dish is a very symbolic Taiwanese dish and should have the flavour of seaweed. Maybe I am wrong but at least I have been to Taipei close to 100 times and tried so many local restaurants for this nice cold dish. 2. the sauce tray.

3. I would recommend visiting this shop at 3-4pm and treat it as a snack. If you come here or lunch/dinner, it would be too crowded and the kitchen may not make your order well. 4. the bill.

5. See if they have more time, they can be more attentive to your food. 6. hot and spicy soup - pretty good but again some ingredients like pork belly was prepared for a long time and lost the original flavour. So it just lost the blast of the hot and spicy with the pork belly flavour....etc.

7. pan fried pork chop - if you look for a tender pan fried pork chop with five spices, this is the one. If you want the Taiwanese style deep fried pork chop 酥排骨, it's not the one. 8. the famous dumpling. I would admit that they do make the wrap very very thin but not easily broken. It's of a very high technique and their wrap is indeed immaculate. As for the filling, it should be a bit more pork aromatic. This one is a bit too sweet and lost the pork original flavour. I would hope they should pay more attention to the filling too.

9/10. closer look to the dumpling. See how thin the wrap is!

11/12. I ordered a veggie/pork bun and it seemed like they only have one size of steaming basket. Made this bun a bit too occupying the basket. This is something good about the shop making the bun/dumpling fresh to the order. The shop is excellent at the bun and dumpling wrap, but again the filling inside is a bit not satisfactory to me. Check the below.

13. So if it's veggie/pork filling, both should be a bit more balanced or maybe on a 60% veggie against 40% pork or 70/30. However, this one is 98% veggie and 2% pork. If it's a veggie bun, then the veggie aroma should be strong enough, but this one lacked the original nice veggie aroma. 14. the Entrance.