I’ve spent a lot of time in both the PRC and the ROC and while I love Taiwan and Taiwanese food, my stomach still gets longings for the 家常菜 I used to get back in Beijing and Tianjin. I’ve tried some places here but it just ain’t the same. Does anyone have any recommendations on where a fella can find the real thing around here (specifically Taipei)? Please give an estimate on the price and the location if you can. Thanks.
I still haven’t found one Sichuan restaurant worth the name anywhere here in Taiwan, and I must have tried a dozen or two before I finally gave up. They don’t even know to put Sichuan pepper in the Mapo Doufu. That’s as bad as leaving the doufu out …
So please, anyone who knows of an authentic_Sichuan_restaurant, POST!
Here’s a nice restaurant that you can find authentic 北方小吃. (As to MaPoDouFu, all I can offer is the recipe from my grandpa.)
The restaurant probably doesn’t have the SiChuan dishes you want though since the owner is from ShanDong.But it has great northern 家常小炒 along with different noodles of course.
Here’s the name, address and telephone number in case you want to check it out.
刁家小館 Diao1 Jia1 Xiao3 Guan3
臺北市敦化南路一段160巷24號1樓
1F, No. 24, Lane 160,
DunHua S. Road Sec. 1, Taipei.
(02)2752-2653
11:30~14:30;16:30~21:30
No, they didn’t pay me for advertising!
刁家小館 is something of a legend in that part of Taipei. The only place in town I know of where they can do proper fried egg tomato (so the tomato pieces start to fuse into the egg but don’t go mushy). In year after year of business, it seemed they only took a couple of days off – to visit the ancestral home.
But about a month ago, the laoban-niang vanished. There’s another woman there now who claims the former laoban-niang is upstairs “resting”. And without her and her husband, only the cat is the same.
Another basic Taipei place that does northern chinese food well is on Ren-ai opposite that Air Force headquarters (?) building that they were considering turning into the Legislative Yuan. The restaurant is just East of Jianguo (near the flower market) a door or two away from an Indian restaurant called Sparkle or something similar. Sorry don’t know the exact address.
It’s very popular with old veterans and their families and people often spill out onto the street while waiting for a table.
A longtime favorite of mine is the Fubin restaurant tucked in a tiny alley next to the McDonald’s at the corner of Roosevelt and Heping. (next to Macoto bank) Authentic? Ain’t been to Sichuan, don’t know. Good? Yes! Cheap? Yes!
I have for the first time been to a place serving Sichuan food here in Taipei that I actually will be returning to. They have a lot of dishes I haven’t even seen on a Sichuan menu here in Taipei. Today I particularly enjoyed the
I’ll check that place out.
The little place behind CHS “memorial” hall is OK too. You can find it by looking at the cabs parked in front. However an “Yu Xiang Rou Si” like in Chongqing is hard to find here.
There’s a place called Chili House just south of Zhongxiao East between Dunhua and SYS mrts. I don’t know the Chinese name off the top of my head, but I’ll pester the wife to tell or post it herself.
And here’s a review of that place.
[b]Kung-pao chicken doesn’t come more authentic than at Chili House.
Photo: Yu Senlun, Taipei Times
[/b]
wow, your research skills are amazing!
Does anyone know if these Sichuan places have vegetarian selections (other than 1 or 2 items of course.)?
Even though most of the Sichuan places I have been to add little pork pieces to everything from the kungpao jiding to the eggplant - you can always ask to get something “qing-chao de” or just say that you don’t want the little “rou-pian” and then you get a nice plate of veggie food.
by the way - the Chilii house “Wu-zhao-shou” (see maoman’s link above" has deliciously yummy “jia-chang” food! AND if you go there - you must get those little dumplings “hongyou shougong” (or something like that…). mmmmm.
hey mr. monk - want to go tonight??? need dumplings…
mmmmmmmmm
mrs. monk
It’s a date! where shall I meet you? mmmmmmmmm.
For Northern Chinese food, there’s “Bei Jing Lo” on Roosevelt just north of the intersection with Shita (Shida). Very tasty Beijing-style restaurant, though, as with all Chinese restaurants, it’s probably best to stick to menu items that are traditional for the area. I have never ventured away from the Beijing and Northern-style dishes there, so I can’t say if they may happen to be good, too.
For Sichuan, Chili Garden Restaurant (Zhi Yuan) at B1, #25 Section 4, Jen-Ai Road. Tel: 2751-6525. Fairly upscale in the traditional Chinese/Taiwanese way of being upscale and thus a little pricy, but great Sichuan food. I don’t recall if the food was all that spicy last I went, but I’m sure you can request that it be so, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Another good Sichuan place is Hwang(2nd) Chen(2nd) Lao(3rd) Ma (1st). I believe the Chinese characters are Hwang= emperor, as in “Hwang(2nd) Di(4th)”, Chen= city, Lao= old, Ma= mother. #5 Lane 97 Yenchi St., right on the long parking lot. Tel: 2773-6936. Some really unique dishes, most of them fiery-hot.
the wife and i were walking back from our weekly cheese run at Breeze and we passed a new place on civic blvd, just east of Breeze ctr. we haven’t eaten there (because we just had wu zhao shou) but it at least looks nice. probably expensive too.
anyone else found this place yet?
[quote=“monkbucket”]the wife and i were walking back from our weekly cheese run at Breeze and we passed a new place on civic blvd, just east of Breeze ctr. we haven’t eaten there (because we just had wu zhao shou) but it at least looks nice. probably expensive too.
anyone else found this place yet?[/quote]
The place is called Kiki and the food is outstanding. Prices are highish but it won’t break the bank. It’s one of my favourites but getting a table is difficult as it’s frequented by local celebrities. They accept reservations on the same day only and only for 7pm bookings, unless your a big cheese perhaps. They have one or two other branches around the city but I’ve not tried them yet.
[quote=“Soddom”][quote=“monkbucket”]the wife and i were walking back from our weekly cheese run at Breeze and we passed a new place on civic blvd, just east of Breeze ctr…
anyone else found this place yet?[/quote]
The place is called Kiki and the food is outstanding.[/quote]
I think one of you is mistaken, as Kiki is neither on Civic Blvd, nor east of the Breeze Centre. It is, in fact, located on Fuxing North Road, and is immediately west of the Breeze Centre (across the street).
I haven’t been to Sichuan, but I used to know some Sichuanese people in the UK and we used to cook stuff together. There’s one spice company - Bart’s - that sells really good Sichuan pepper.
People here don’t seem to really know about Sichuan pepper or how to use it - some places’ ma la huo guo doesn’t have any ‘ma’ at all and at some places it’s too old so not much flavour.
Does anyone know of a decent Sichuan restaurant in Taichung?
Thanks
Joe
[quote=“joesax”]
Does anyone know of a decent Sichuan restaurant in Taichung?
Thanks
Joe[/quote]
There’s one on
[quote=“hsiadogah”][quote=“joesax”]
Does anyone know of a decent Sichuan restaurant in Taichung?
Thanks
Joe[/quote]
There’s one on