OK, OK, all these veggie posts are makin’ me itch!
Its cold outside, so who can tell me where to find THE BEST shabu shabu or huo guo restaurant?
No impostors, please, I only want the absolute, definitive place to go for pure boiled meat. Yum.
One of the funkiest, ala Mainland China style, Hot Pot establishments I’ve seen, is the Taipower owned one. Their specialty is Suan Tsai Huo Guo,
Sour Veggie and Lamb based broth. My carnivorous friends love it.
You can find the place tucked behind your fave pub, 45, off Heping. Kind of hard to explain, but go down that alley next to 45, (where everyone smokes joints), and go through the gate of that place and around to the right. It’ll be full of families and there are normally throngs of people waiting for tables. It’s like $350nt for all you can eat, i think. And the muslims who run the place are friendly and run around bringing you more of what you require.
It really is funky. Reminds me more of a mainland restaurant than any others in the whole city. Probably it’s best enjoyed with a big crowd of friends.
For fancy hotpots, you can drop by the restaurant behind the Far East Plaza Hotel along Dunhua S. Rd. They have buttered corn, swiss cheese, curry (as base soup) etc. etc. Flavours from around the world.
It’s not very expensive.
There’s a great hotpot place 2 alleys behind DingHao, Pei Ping style (northern), next to a Peking duck place, between a Korean and a Vietnamese place. Family style samovars, friendly, cheap, choice of many spices.
And don’t talk about ma la huo guo, what a scam. Killing ingredients with fat chili is an insult.
On that subject I am revolted by Taiwanese food as a whole - there is no cuisine, just peasant food. No wonder people eat only McDonalds and 7-11 cup noodles.
Nu rou mien, nu rou fan, cold cuts, street fry-ups and oily porridge do not constitute a culture.
Healthy, hearty, mountain cuisine is essential, but there is otherwise no sophistication, no sauce, no spice, no broth, only food dumped from plastic bags to plastic bags.
I blame the KMT and President Group for corrupting the people’s supplies and tastebuds since 1949.
I beg to be proven wrong.