One of my wife’s many cousins runs a restaurant in Bei Tou, and mentioned to us a few weeks ago that there is a store selling all sorts of imported foods right on 中央北路 (Chung Yang North Rd.) in BeiTou. Apparently, they’ve been open for quite some time, and I had no idea.
Last week I found the place easily, and was thrilled to see the selection of imported stuff. I particularly enjoy cooking Mexican food, and they had tortillas, chili, beans, enchilada sauce, salsa. I didn’t have time for a full inspection, but I saw that they had Ranch dressing, natural peanut butter, Ranch flavored Doritos, several sodas and candies from the US. I’ll be back this week sometime.
If you live in the northern parts of greater Taipei and Wellman’s and the Tienmu Wellcome are a bit of a trek for you, give this place a try. Here are the details:
Candy’s House (賦緊食品)
2896-6433
台北市北投區中央北路三段198號
(Chung Yang North Rd., Section 3, No. 198)
The place doesn’t have great signage, but you can find it by the address quite easily. It is located between the FuHsingGang and JongYi MRT stations.
I asked the owner about her open hours. She told me M-F 10AM to 9PM, and Saturdays from 10AM to 6PM. Closed Sundays.
Have fun. For me, a place like this is a godsend. I can’t live without my Mexican food.
I used to swing by Candy’s house (Candy is their daughter’s name, I believe) regularly when we lived in Beitou. They’re really nice people, too - even after we moved to Puli they would ship us foreign food. Highly recommended.
I don’t know if they still carry it, but when I used to go there, they had Henry Weinhard’s rootbeer. People from the northwest of the US may be familiar with this stuff - best rootbeer anywhere.
I went by yesterday and picked up some things (thanks much for the tip!). The owner said the shelves are a bit bare right now because of Christmas buying, but she expects new shipments soon. She also said that every three or four months some of the items change, so what you find now you may not find on a later trip. The prices seemed comparable to Wellman’s in Tien Mu, although a bit higher on some things, and while there wasn’t as much variety, there’s still an awful lot to choose from. My best find was Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
It’s a very short walk from Fuxinggang Station, almost directly opposite the big blue-roofed barns where they do the repairs on the MRT cars. Maybe if more of us can give them some business, they’ll be able to expand their selection.
