You either love it, or hate it, but there’s no in-between!
1 Like
Forumosa has come a long way. This must have been the first post I think… It deserves an airing.
I’m not a big red meat eater, but I just looooooove beef noodle soup!!! Hmmm hmmm good!! I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t like it, unless they’re vegetarians.
I’ve acquired a taste for this Taiwanese treat and always looking for good ones around town. By good ones, I mean beef that is tasty and without the marble tendon or clumps of fat along with a tasty, robust soup and nice chewy noodles. Some of the places use herbs to flavour the soup too which is always good. So far my vote for best place is on Yen Ping b[/b] N Rd near Shimending (Ximending) where they have 3 or 4 shops in row, the best one being the 2nd shop from Kaifeng St. on Yen Ping b[/b] but always looking for others.
Hi Panda,
Did you try Ho Ma Ma’s? (155, Jin Shan S. Rd. Sec 1) Great Beef Noodles! But then again i’m no afficionado…happy hunting!
M
My all-time favourite is in the Yung Kang b[/b] St. area. Sorry I can’t give the address, but if you go to the intersection that has Cafe Mykonos (the Greek restaurant) on the northwest corner and continue going west, its the last restaurant before you hit Jinshan S. Rd. Its opposite a school. Their beef noodles are outstanding, and meet precisely the criteria you describe. You also simply HAVE to have a thing they do in a mini-steamer thing. The steamer is lined with sweet potato and filled with chunks of what I believe is pork rib, together with a little spiced rice. The meat is so tender you can lift it from the bone just using your lips and tongue.
Just make sure you visit the right one – there are two beef noodle joints in the same alley and you must go to the second one. Nothing I’ve ever had in Taipei comes even remotely close to what this place offers.
I’m sure someone here will set you right on the exact location – its a pretty famous place.
Ditto on that! The name of the place is Yung Kang b[/b] Niu Rou Mian. Just a word of caution on the mini-steamer thing. There’s two kinds of steamers: one is the paigu or pork rib, which as sandman pointed out is very tasty, the other is the fei-chang or fatty intestines. :shock: No further comment is needed on that one.
Another way to locate the restaurant is enter from Jinshan S. Rd. On either side of the alley’s entrance are a parking lot and a multi-story parking garage. From this approach, the shop will be the first beef noodle shop on the lefthand side.
there are two beef noodle joints in the same alley and you must go to the second one
A rather accurate description. 
Rascal, you’re a hard man to please! 
However, I already gave an exact description as to the location, viz. the last restaurant in the street if you’re walking west from Cafe Mykonos, so that last part was just some additional information to reinforce my IMPECCABLE directions. Tell you what, try my directions, and if they don’t lead you directly to the door, I’ll pay for your damn noodles!
One more point regarding the tenderness of the beef: If by some unlikely quirk you recieve meat that’s less than perfectly tender, just let 'em know and they’ll immediately whip your bowl away and replace it with a new serving of meat, no questions asked. The place is always packed, so they sometimes appear to be a bit surly, but they really do take great pride in their food and will be happy to make sure that you’re happy, too.
Hey come on, nothing personal - just pulling your leg a bit.
May try it out one day and if I get lost I call you … 
BTW: I know a good beef noodle shop in Kinmen if anyone is interested …
There is a deservedly famous Niuroumian place on Taoyuan St. very close to the President’s Office. If you like Niuroumian, you should bot miss this place. The beef is very high quality, and you can choose between Qingdun (clear) and Hongshao (spicy) broths. I prefer the Qingdun myself.
As far as I know, this shop has no name–it’s the second on the right as you walk north on Taoyuan St. from behind the Presidential Office. It has a large dining area on the second floor. It also has the steamed paigu.
BTW Incubus: what’s wrong with feichang? Pretty tasty when fried with ginger I think.
I’ll try to improve on the directions later.
The Liaojia beef noodle joint on Jinhua St. near Hangzhou S. Road is also good.
It’s definitely an acquired taste. I’ve acquired many tastes since I came to Taiwan, but alas, the idea of chewing on intestines still repels me.
like that place too, yeah it’s the one closer to chinshan b[/b]. ditto on the steamers “fen zheng pai gu”. that’s one of the few places you can find a good “dan dan mian” too.
I’ll definitely give the Yungkang b[/b] place a try. I had tried the place next door to it but it was too tomatoey and marble beef…
The addy for the place I go is #21 YenPing b[/b] nan Rd. Its 100 for a bowl and they have a card where they stamp it each time you buy a bowl. Get 6 stamps and next bowl is free. Its pretty similiar to the Tou Yuan b[/b] st. joint but better(twice the amount of high quality beef) and lower price at 100.
Oh yeah, the dan dan mian. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. 
It’s a good alternative to beef noodles if you ever get tired of them. The peanut powder really enhances the aroma. Make sure you mix it real well before you dig in to avoid clumps of the sauce at the bottom of the bowl.
OK we tried the place on Yungkang b[/b] St. and give the beef noodle soup a total thumbs down. While the beef is pretty good it still has a little too many clumps of fat for my liking and not much taste. The soup surprisingly has no beef taste whatsoever. Tastes more like salty herb soup with soy sauce. The noodles are ordinary machine made type - same like thousands of other joints in Taiwan. Not very special.
Do yourself a favour and try the place on 21 Yenping b[/b] S Rd next to Kaifeng St. They use homemade noodles, good quality beef and the soup has a distinguished beefy taste that sets it apart from all the wannabees.
:shock: :shock: :shock: Oh well, different strokes, I guess. Its still far and away my favourite, though.
this place kind of fit the op’s request so i’ll mention it. it was called lao shan dong, it’s in the alley right behind the ambassador theater in shimending b[/b] and has been open since 1949 according to the sign. the beef was REAL beef, like steak, cut into small thin fillets. the soup was ok, not oily but had an msg thirst fit. the noodles were thick handcut jobs that i found kind of doughy. i won’t be going back, maybe some would disagree with me though, it must have something going for it after so many years. my wife confirmed it was there a long time ago.
you got the “qing dun” clear soup they have there, they have regular beef soup too. will keep Yenping b[/b] S Rd in mind!
Having been to both, I still vote for YongKang. But the Yanping place does have one redeeming feature: all you can eat noodles and soup. Just take your bowl up to the cook after you finish and ask for more noodles/soup, and he’ll replenish it generously. 