I am aGerman from Munich and am here in Taipei for one week now and will stay for three months.
I am at a physics institute at Taida University.
My travel guide told me that Taiwan is the Mekka of good Chinese food,
but, until now, I cannot confirm this. Probably its because I hardly know a
word of chinese and do not dare to enter a restaurant whose menu is only in chinese.
What I was served till now were mostly soups consisting mainly of glutamate with
some noodles inside.
Does anybody has a recommendation were to have lunch?
Thanks,
Fllorian
Florian,
Go to the Shihlin Night Market. It’s directly across from the Jientan (sp?) station (looks like a big parking garage). Inside you’ll find lots of stuff to try, but I recommend going on a weekday, unless you really like crowds. Or just pick one of those roadside buffets, where you get a tray and load up on whatever you like. Start with this low-end stuff and work your way up from there.
You don’t have to go that far. Check out the Kungkuan Night Market, Tingzhou Road and all the lanes running between Roosevelt and Tingzhou. Loads of nice food there, Vegetarian, different South-East Asian Cuisines, BBQs …
Another place to check out are the lanes between Hsinsheng, Roosevelt and Hsinhai Rds. Great stuff everywhere: Western style cafes, Taiwanese Buffets, a couple of nice tea houses …
Not very far either is the Shida Nightmarket. Get off at Tai Power MRT, walk Shida Rd to the north and turn right into one of the lanes. Can’t be missed.
Plenty of great food around 
Iris
walk north on roosevelt from hsinsheng, make a right at second alley, there’s a good roast pork rice joint run by hk people a few stores up. you’ll see all the meat hanging in the window. say “cha shao fan” and you’ll get a nice plate of roast pork rice. or just point at some of the other meats if you feel brave, i can never pass up those black sausages, try some one time.
Mmmmm. Lung sausage. I love that stuff too.
Dufey, your best bet is to visit the Shida night market. Lots of foodstalls there, so you can just point at what you want to try. Be adventurous! Its all pretty cheap, so if you really don’t like something you can just leave it and move on to a different stall.
Go to the movie theater on Tingzhou Street (which most people pronounce as Dingzhou, presenting an interesting romanization challenge). If you’re next to the theater, turn to face Tai-Da. Then go to your right on Tingzhou. About six (?) stores down (past the dive shop) is a restaurant that I often eat at when I’m in that neighborhood. The food is more mainland-style than Taiwanese.
I can’t remember if they have an English menu. But you shouldn’t be shy. When someone asks you for your order, feel free to point to things on other people’s tables.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help from strangers; most Taiwanese are very friendly toward foreigners, and most Tai-Da students should speak at least some English.
And do try the night markets.
Cranky, is that the place with the millet gruel and those round flat fried meat pie/cake/dumpling thingys (can never remember the name)? I love that place. Thanks for the reminder.
Yup, that’s the one. Great place.
I don’t think Taida is the greatest area to try Chinese food. Too many students on tight budgets. Try Baxian Tankao on Xinshen S. Rd. across from Da’an park or Shaoshao Ke on Renai. The address has been posted here before. For more spicy Sichuan food try Kiki’s (couple of branches). For standard but good northern Chinese try Tianyi on the corner of Jinhua St. and Ningpo Rd. Excellent Beijing Duck and the spicy cold lamb tripe ain’t bad either. The menus at many of these places are likely to be in Chinese though. Good luck.
If you’re not limiting things to the Taida area, then this thread may interest you: forumosa.com/3/viewtopic.php?t=8711