Where is your favorite place to grap lunch or dinner that is relatively inexpensive?
I love the guotie (pot stickers) at the place on Ta an Rd. between Ren Ai and Hsin yi. 10 guotie for NT$50. It’s also open all day, clean and air conditioned. This is about the only place I will eat guotie.
Also love the sushi place in TungHua Jie Night market. Very fresh, very cheap.
The thai restaurant at the ShiTa night market is pretty good for the price.
Also, the Curria in Shita has pretty good curry for cheap prices, although their prices just went up to something like NT150.
This thread is an excellent idea - there are so many great places to eat in this city - it would be great if we could share our experiences here and know what places to definitely try and what places we should definitely stay away from.
For breakfasts, I highly recommend United Mix on Si Wei Road, just north of Xinyi (Hsin Yi) Road, on the North-West corner of Xinyi and Dunhua. The food there is great - hot, imaginative (Make sure to ask what the special of the day is - sometimes it’s phenomenal!) and cheap. Reasonable, anyway…
I also like Jake’s Urban Kitchen, downtown Taipei’s city cousin to Jake’s Country kitchen, which is almost a historical site in Tianmu by now… Jakes has cheap prices, good food, (excellent blueberry pancakes!), and they know how to cook an egg. After years at a famous (infamous?) Shida Rd. breakfast eatery, eating eggs that would have been better ingested with a straw , it’s a pleasure to eat at a place that understands what “quan shou” (well/thoroughly cooked) means. Jakes also has a homemade “mystery meat” (it’s pork, actually) sausage patty that looks a little suspicious but tastes great.
Er, wasn’t this thread called good CHEAP places to eat. Does anybody really think that Capone’s or Buca Buca are cheap places to eat? I mean, I’m a fan of the goose liver at Paris 1930 but I’m not sure that discussing its merits belongs in this thread.
NT$50 for 10 guotie? Seems a little on the high side. They are usually NT$4 each most places.
Big question: Does anyone remember the shop called Shandong Shuijiao Da Wang that used to be along Lin Sen North Road nnear the place they washed taxis before Kang Leh village was razed? Definitely the best shuijiao I have ever eaten in Taipei. When A-bian decided to destroy this neighborhood to put in a park, which I notice Mayor Ma has destroyed in his turn – what is about Taipei mayors that makes them think they are Godzilla – does anybody know where this shuijiao place went, if anywhere?
quote[quote]Er, wasn't this thread called good CHEAP places to eat?[/quote]
Well, it was, but I'm changing it to "Good Places to Eat". I'm interested in good value for my money, whether it's $50NT for Guotie or $500 for Fettucine.
And Lol, I too remember fondly that Shandong Shuijiao place. I would love to know where they’re operating now. I’ve never found a place that makes Shuijiao as good as that place did. Washed down with some “Tai Pi” on a hot summer night, it was one of my Friday night traditions…
Went to Jake’s Country Bumpkin place in TianMu again cuz I’m willing to suffer any culinary injustice to avoid Taiwanese breakfast.
I discovered that my tastes have either degraded considerably or they have managed something with their Mexican dishes. They don’t taste good, but with the exception of the re-fried beans, they taste kinda TexMexy. The presentation leads one to believe that the chef is blind, but don’t concern yourself with that… you can’t see it after you fork it into your gullet.
Order for two because the portions are small. Price: About $350 per person.
Glad to hear you had a good experience at Jake’s, though the times I’ve gone have been a definite let-down. And the Mexican food was definitely a disappointment. I wonder if you might have experienced Jake’s when they were having a very good day.
My experience from working in the restaurant business is that what you get depends almost entirely on who’s cooking that day. My wish is that all Taiwanese cooks actually learn to eat whatever foreign cuisine that they’re cooking, instead of cooking blindly by mimicking what they’ve been taught to do.
My other complaint about places like Jake’s is that their menu is way too vast. They try to cover virtually every type of “American” cuisine. So instead of focusing on a specialty cuisine that they can excell at, they do a mediocre job at all of them.
By the way, for breakfast, the closest I’ve come to a good American style eggs & sausage has been at Dan Ryan’s (TunHwa & NanJing). Not exactly cheap (about NT$310 for eggs, sausage, potatoes & toast with a bottomless cup of coffee), but they actually know how to cook eggs over-easy, and the service ranges from medium to excellent. Pancakes are pretty good, too.
If anybody like the kind of dumplings served at that world-famous place on HsinYi Road (damn–can’t remember the name of the place) there’s a great alternative. There’s another place where they serve the same dish (heard their cook used to work at the former place) on Chang Chun Road, just east of TunHwa. Going east, it’s just about 200 years past TunHwa on the right side.
But is there ANY PLACE that makes even half decent Mexican food? And PLEASE don’t mention the basura they serve at G’Ma Nitti’s, G’Day Cafe or Tequila Sunrise.
Good Mexican food: Someone ages ago (maybe even on a different forum) said that there was a good Mexican restaurant in the Gong Guan/Tai Da area of Taipei. Anyone been there?
There used to be a Mexican-type restaurant in the Kingstone Square opposite the movie theater in Gong Guan, but its been gone lo these many years. Anyway, it was only good in that it was the only Mexican place in town – actually, it was f****in awful.
I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned Kunming restaurant yet – very cheap, very good home-made curry (but you have to overlook the below-par chapatis and the lack of naan) served by one of the funkiest mein hosts in the city.
Do yourselves a favor and get up to the alley that runs parallel with and immediately south of Nanking E. Rd., just to the east of the intersection with Fuhsing.
Its muslim and halal and therefore no smoking or drinking, but he doesn’t really give a shit and won’t mind if you bring your own beer. He might even bring out his hookah if he likes you.
You’re right, Bu Lai An, there used to be a Mexican restaurant in Gong Guan, and it wasn’t that bad. But it moved to a horrible location on Chung Shiao E. Rd. (sect 2 or 3, I think) when that are was under heavy construction–maybe 1993 or so. I think they went out of business soon after that.
Jeff, last time I went up Hsinsheng South Road (about 7 hours ago) Tequila Sunrise was right where it has been for the last seven or eight years. (Just a little north of Taida’s main gate). Never did think much of the food though. Have they learned to warm the plates?
Hi Kathryn, thanks for the info. But Tequila Sunrise wasn’t the restaurant I was talking about. This one had a different name, but I can’t remember what it was. And it served a pretty good chimichanga!
I don’t know if it’s still there or not, but there used to be a little hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant on FuHsing S. Rd Sec 2 Lane 210, near Hoping E. Rd. I think it has/d about 4 tables. Reasonably priced (~NTD500 for 2 people) and they had some good curry and bread.
Joyce Cafe used to have an appetizer of crab meat wrapped in smoked salmon. It was better than sex! Last time I went they had taken it off the menu. Why, I don’t know, but dining in Taipei will never be the same again.
Be the judge! There’s a mexican fast food near the exit of the CKS Memorial Hall along Ai Guo E. Rd (going towards Hang Guo South Road). Not very expensive. Prices same range as McD’s. They have churros, chimichangas, mexican rice, burritos, tacos et al.
By the way, can anybody recommend a VERY GOOD Thai restaurant? I personally like Royal Thai along Jenai road. But if you’v tried other good Thai restos, please provide info. Thanks.
Taht Mexican restaurant on Aiguo Rd. I went there a couple fo weeks ago. I had a bean burrito and my girlfriend had a pasta dish. I thought it was disgusting. Worst Mexican food I’ve ever had. My girlfriend barely started the pasta before we gave up and went and got some chou dofu.
Try the Vietnamese restaurant off Hsinyib[/b] Rd (turn right off Hsinyib[/b], following the direction of the traffic) between Jinshan and Hsin Shengb[/b]. It’s actually in a sort of park area/night market…I think there is a bookshop beside the lane
The two restaurants are across the road from each other…really good cheap Vietnamese food.
Or go to the night market acorss from Sungshan Train Station off Ba De Rd. Near the entrance on the temple side, just walk in a little; there is a guy from Bangledesh who sells the most delicous kebabs…he has got his own mobile kebab machine…really yummy
40NTD …really worth it