New NYT article on Taipei food

Cuisine Greater Taipei Restaurants
#1

Feasting at the Table of Taipei (New York Times, September 21)

I haven’t been to many of those places. But this article strikes me as a lot more real than most things I see in the international press about Taipei food.

This one doesn’t limit itself to high-end places. OTOH, it doesn’t avoid everything that doesn’t come from a greasy night market cart. And it doesn’t fall prey much to the scorpions on a stick school of journalism.

Bonus points for mentioning the “Q” factor.

But a demerit for getting its romanization facts wrong.

The article comes with a separate batch of photographs.

#2

If anyone ever served me this along with the no doubt ridiculous price tag it no doubt comes with I;d be sending a fuck you back to the kitchen.

Good to see Taiwan getting the ups it deserves on the food front, though.

HG

#3

Hmm… I thought it was a good effort, although all that stuff about the Other China is highly annoying. Kiki’s and the Sichuan Hot Pot are completely inauthentic and a pale Taiwanese imitation of the real thing.

I was pleased to see Mei’s get what her second mention in the New York Times.

Eat Rice lacks atmosphere big time. And the food is pretty unremarkable. Yilan’s food is hardly minimalist in Yilan. It’s just big city pretentiousness.

And then all the nonsense about what Taiwanese food is. Why not just go to a Taicai place and try it?

Luroufan is indeed a staple—Taiwanese soul food–but it does not have ‘infinite permutations’. The best luroufan in Taipei is probably at Jinfeng (No. 10-1 Roosevelt Rd Section 1), and Jinfeng serves several other classics including stewed (lu) duck eggs along with a great bitter melon and pork soup. Jin Feng just oozes with funky Taiwanese authenticity.

And where is a seafood and beer restaurant. Fucheng in the lanes off Yongkang is a good upscale example, but for the real thing complete with Taiwan beer girls, he should have been over on Heping Section 3 Lane 168. You know you are in the right kind of place when they have a bottle opener on every table and a crate for your empties on the floor.
Still not a bad effort.

#4

I commented on my blog here. I find it interesting that everyone (in fact, the only ones) whom I’ve ever known to make the claim that ‘Chinese’ food is better in Taiwan than in the PRC just happens to be married to a Taiwanese.

And I have to wonder how qualified he is to be making that sort of assertion if he doesn’t even appear to know where the best ‘mainland’ places are in Taipei.

#5

The Tourism Bureau will love this article but hate the comment about their official slogan.

I wouldn’t call Yilan mountainous, cause it’s better known for the coastal plain than the mountains.

#6

[quote=“Prince Roy”]I commented on my blog here. I find it interesting that everyone (in fact, the only ones) whom I’ve ever known to make the claim that ‘Chinese’ food is better in Taiwan than in the PRC just happens to be married to a Taiwanese.

And I have to wonder how qualified he is to be making that sort of assertion if he doesn’t even appear to know where the best ‘mainland’ places are in Taipei.[/quote]
Well I liked the article. And you know what I find interesting? That you are perhaps the ONLY person I know – Chinese or furriner, married to a Taiwanese person or single – or who I’ve even HEARD of, who thinks food in China is better than in Taiwan. :laughing:

#7

I agree with Prince Roy. Sichuan and Hunan food is far better and very different in China. In addition, simple things like shuijiao and noodles are often better in China since everything is handmade and completely fresh–no freezing or shortcuts with pre-made dough etc.

But Taiwan has loads of great Taiwanese food that is far better than most of its watered-down mainland fare. Food writers need to forget about this idea that Taiwan has credible versions of food from all over China. It once did. Not anymore.

#8

Thirded. Sichuan, Hunan, and Uighur food in the mainland kick ass and are better than any friggin’ bowl of luroufan or jiroufan that I’ve ever had here. Even the rechao seafood sort of places here are second rate to a lot of similar places I’ve been to in southern China.

#9

Yes! Uigher food! Of course that’s not really Chinese food, and so I’m not counting it or expecting Taipei to have it.

#10

Anyone who recommends Ximending as a place to dine has got to go. Yuck.

#11

I miss Sunday evenings at Mei’s…

#12

I didn’t know there were even places called “restaurants” in that forgotten place :ponder:

#13

Well, there is the best chashaofan joint in taipei i know of… and the basement of the wannian dept store for cold noodles, tienbula and yusu geng… shaweima, candied strawberries at times… could be worse i guess :slight_smile:

#14

[quote=“sandman”][quote=“Prince Roy”]I commented on my blog here. I find it interesting that everyone (in fact, the only ones) whom I’ve ever known to make the claim that ‘Chinese’ food is better in Taiwan than in the PRC just happens to be married to a Taiwanese.

And I have to wonder how qualified he is to be making that sort of assertion if he doesn’t even appear to know where the best ‘mainland’ places are in Taipei.[/quote]
Well I liked the article. And you know what I find interesting? That you are perhaps the ONLY person I know – Chinese or furriner, married to a Taiwanese person or single – or who I’ve even HEARD of, who thinks food in China is better than in Taiwan. :laughing:[/quote]

Well, as Feiren and Alidarbac pointed out, regional Chinese food in the PRC is way better than what you find in Taiwan. And ‘ethnic’ foods like Uighur, Korean, Yunnan, etc. Also, the international food is superior and more varied in BJ and Shanghai at least.

I do think Taiwan comes out on top in snacking and certain kinds of street foods. And of course, it’s better for its own indigenous cuisine; by that I mean Taiwanese, aboriginal and their fusions. But to be honest, I don’t particularly care for Taiwanese food. It’s alright, but I’m just not crazy about it.

Having departed Taiwan all of 3.5 months now, I find myself really missing just two places: the Tokyo Grill in the Tonghua night market, and 1010 Pop Hunan.

#15

“You know you are in the right kind of place when they have a bottle opener on every table and a crate for your empties on the floor.”

Words of gastronomic wisdom.

From Tainan…Where Taiwanese go to eat real Taiwanese food.

#16

Spent a month in Beijing, and just about every evening Chinese meal in Beijing was better than the Chinese food in Taiwan.

The huge variety of international cuisine in Beijing was also high quality, in trendy, modern facilities with interesting people and surroundings that made customers want to come back.

In Taiwan, high quality can be found, but trendy and modern is 10 or more years old, interesting people are in slippers from upstairs or down the block, and surroundings interesting only due to the worn-out ness, which rarely creates a desire to return. Variety is found, but quality in the variety is extremely lacking.

Taiwanese food comes from a background of poverty and lack of variety or freshness of ingredients, using everything available, stretching every piece, part or digestible (avoiding edible) ingredient, good or not.

For Chinese food, go to China (or a few other places).
For Taiwanese food, go to Taiwan.

#17

I’ll take issue with this. There is tremendous variety in ingredients and plenty of freshness in good Taiwanese food–especially seafood and vegetables. Italians also use every part of the pig, and few would deny that their cuisine is a great one. Taiwan was really poor in the 1940s and 1950s.

Tainan Cowboy is correct. The best Taiwanese food is found outside of Taipei, and some of the best is in Tainan. Kaohsiung and Chiayi are also very good. I don’t know anything about Taichung, having only visited that fair city twice in 20 years.

I suspect that Prince Roy’s lack of enthusiasm for Taiwanese food comes from a preference for highly spiced cuisines like those of Sichuan and southern Indian (two of my favorites as well). While there is plenty of garlic and ginger in Taiwanese food, the chili pepper is basically alien. Ever notice how weakly spiced “Thai” food is in Taiwan?

One also needs a good guide to Taiwanese food. The seafood places which are at the core of Taiwanese cooking can be tough because you need to know what you are looking at and you can’t order from a menu (a good sign of the emphasis on freshness).

But there is no way can Taiwan compare with what’s available in China for regional cooking and foreign food with the exception of Japanese.