If you happen to be in Taipei now or planning a trip to Taipei, Xi Men Ding is a place you must visit or else you will regret it. Like Myeongdong in Seoul that we wrote about before, Xi Men Ding is also known as the Harajuku or Shibuya of Taipei. Xi Men Ding is one of the most happening places in Taipei with the same city energy you get from Shibuya or Myeongdong, has plenty of giant screens advertisement televisions and flashing neon billboards everywhere. When you ask someone about what to eat or what to buy in Taiwan, their answer is most probably Xi Men Ding. Since our topic today is about food in Xi Men Ding, we shall get right into it. Below is the list of food for you to try out at Xi Men Ding.
Tiantian Limei Restaurant
Check out the braised pork rice famously known as Lu Rou Fan that costs New Taiwan Dollars $45 with egg for medium size and New Taiwan Dollars $55 with egg for the large size. The meatball soup costs New Taiwan Dollars $25. Just by only using lean meat, they are able to create the melt-in-your-mouth feeling. The braised sauce is a little peppery and salty which makes really delicious when combined with white rice. The difference between this restaurant and other braised pork restaurants is that they serve really good sunny side up eggs. Ask for half cooked sunny side eggs and break the yolk into the bowl for a heavenly meal. You can get the famous Taiwanese fried oyster omelette here too. The restaurant is open from 11 AM till late daily.
Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle
This is arguably one of the most popular food in Xi Men Ding. The restaurant is always crowded with tourists and locals. Expect a long queue to get your bowl of rice noodle but the most people claimed that the wait is well worth it because their rice noodles are very delicious. There are also no tables provided and limited chairs available so don’t be surprised to see people standing or even squatting down to eat their rice noodles. However, if you are not a fan of intestines, you might want to skip this one as they put intestines instead of oysters. Some people said that the intestines make good pairing with the rice noodles. You are also advised not to hold back on the garlic, chilli and vinegar at the self-service counter. Be sure to add lots of them to bring your rice noodle to a whole new level of deliciousness. This restaurant is open at 10AM until 10.30PM from Monday to Thursday and 10AM until 11PM from Friday to Sundays.
冲绳日式碳烤麻糬 (Okinawa Japanese Grilled Mochi)
This place serves grilled mochi on a stick drenched with the goodness of lots of condensed milk and topped with thick layer of ground peanuts. Most people love this because of its crispy skin, softness and milky sweetness. It takes time for the mochi to be grilled to perfection but the wait is really worth it. Remember to finish it fast because it will get really chewy after a while. It is open from 12.30PM to 10PM daily. The store is also easy to locate as it is just next to Body Shop.
Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken and Ji Guang Delicious Fried Chicken
Two of these restaurants are most famous for the well-known Taiwanese fried chicken. Hot-Star is known for their huge XXL chicken cutlets while Ji Guang’s chickens are of decent bite size and similar to tori karage (Japanese fried chicken) and popcorn chicken. The fried chicken in Ji Guang is moist, tender and juicy. They also serve fried mushroom, crispy fried oyster mushroom, French fries with green onion and garlic and chicken fillets.
Yong He Dou Jiang Da Wang
This is a popular restaurant that serves traditional and authentic Taiwanese breakfast consisting of you tiao (Chinese Cruller), shao bing (a certain type of baked, unleavened, layered flatbread bread commonly found in Chinese cuisine), fan tuan (a type dish made by wrapping a piece of you tiao with glutinous rice tightly), carrot cake and soya milk. The shao bing with egg is great. It is crispy and you can either choose sweet or savory soya milk for the flavour.
