Been meaning to finally get a proper meal at Aoba in Zhongshan and keep putting it off. For those who don’t know it, it’s the restaurant often credited with being the first to take classic Taiwanese home cooking seriously as a sit-down dining experience — founded back in 1964, still run by the same family (third generation now involved).
I actually lived across the street from the Da’an branch on Anhe for a couple of years, maybe 15 years ago now, and somehow never went in. Walked past it constantly. That branch closed around 2012 and I’ve been mildly haunted by the missed opportunity ever since. Now it’s basically down to the original Zhongshan North Road location.
I have some overseas visitors coming and I’m thinking this could be a good place to bring them — the kind of meal where you eat things that are genuinely Taiwanese rather than things that just get marketed that way. But I don’t want to take them somewhere that’s coasting on its reputation.
So — has anyone been in the last year or two? Is the food still worth it, or is it more of a legacy brand at this point? Any dishes you’d particularly push? Ordering tips, reservation advice, portion sizes for a group?
Only a couple mentions in the forums over the years. Here is the most recent: