Does anyone have any sit-down restaurant recommendations around Ximending?
I know there are a lot of food places, but they all seem so non-descript. I find myself over there often and am always at a loss to find a good place to eat. I’ve already checked out Alleycat’s Pizza, Ah-chung’s noodle stall, and this daikon dumpling/noodle restaurant. I’m not so particular on the specific cuisine. I’m just looking for good food and a place where I can sit while I eat.
If you have any favorites in this area, please let me know. Thanks!!!
MeiGuanYuan for nostalgia and get taken back to 1950’s Taiwan with Japanese occupation. Sit on the second floor where the boss holds court (they have 3 floors). They have lots of pictures of the dishes so if you don’t read/speak Chinese ordering is easy (although you will miss a lot of the good stuff).
One of the best Szechuan restaurants (value/quality) is in the alley just past Calcutta Indian restaurant.
For MRT the easiest is exit number 6. Walk ahead and you will be on Cheng Du Lu. Keep going about 2-3 minutes until you reach KFC at Kunming Jie. Turn right when you are in front of KFC and walk 10 seconds until you reach the first little alley. Turn left into the alley and it is the first one on the RIGHT. They have a branch on the left side but the one on the right is better (2 floors - 1st and B1). Be sure to get the grilled pepper starter from the tray they show you. Probably no English but you have an index finger.
Both are very good value and have good food. If you are single MeiGuanYuan is a better option. If a group, the Szechuan is better (I’ve had a group of 8 eat until full with leftovers for around NT$1,700).
I dont know if the place is still there, but its the whole second floor of a hotel. And they have good steak dinner sets. But since I cant remember the name, maybe this post belongs in Jimis entirely useless restaurant recommendations?
I just read about Cafe 26 in Ximending. It sounds like a nice place to sit down for a good cup of joe.
You’re right about non-descript places. There’s a Korean restaurant that I like on Xining S. Rd. just north of Changsha St. on the east side of the street. But I never learned its name. I always refer to it as the cheap but good Korean eatery. I often see Korean patrons there and that’s a good sign. Will pick up a card the next time I drop in and post it here.
I absolutely second this suggestion. That’s the shop with the year “1948” or so over the entrance. Two shops across from each other, and so far I didn’t find much differences. Both offer great sashimi, sushi and other Japanese style stuff at IMO very, very reasonable prices, plus draft beer (Taiwan draft if I saw the kegs correctly) at very good prices and up to crazy sizes (king size = I think 2 liters - in a glass with 2 handles that you drink out of, not a pitcher, mind you).
Also I like the Korean style place when you go out exit 6, go into the pedestrian zone, somewhere on the right side after a few dozen meters. Nothing extremely special like the above one, but I really enjoy their rice cakes in red sauce
The szechuan place that someone mentioned here I have to try - thanks!
Just thought of another place. If you ever have a craving for a Phillly cheese steak, Dave’s Cheese Steaks is actually very good. While I’ve never had the real thing from Philadelphia, what I had at Dave’s was pretty darn good. It’s more of a fast-food style restaurant than a place you get waited on, but the food and drinks (root beer float with real root beer) make up for the lack of ambiance. They’re located deep in Ximending at the corner of Kunming and ÉMéi, kitty corner from the parking garage.
I tried the Sichuan Place just past Calcutta Indian Restaurant the other night, and it was fantastic! Thanks for the recommendation, Elektronisk! We got some type of pickled white vegetable and the grilled pepper small plates to start with. Both were very good. Then we ordered some spicy eggplant (yu xiang qiezi), deep-fried bread (zha mantou), ma po tofu, and some stir-fried greens that was a house speciality (kong xin cai in some type of cream sauce). All of it was delicious and we’re definitely going back to try more dishes. There was a lot on the menu that I didn’t recognize, but given the quality of everything else I’m more than willing to be adventurous. What a great dinner!
Incubus, I think the Cafe 26 place you’re talking about is called Somebody Café, but it’s run by 26 Creative which is a design collective. I’ve been there before and it’s a great place to work or meet up with a friend for coffee. Nice funky surroundings.
Glad you appreciate my recommendation! The mantou and mapo tofu are great. Try the other “typicals” or “safes” such as Gong Pao Ji Ding. Absolutely the best I have had in Taiwan. Some TV chef will argue that it has to be exotic. I say it has to be good. I have never had a bad dish there.
You can try “Ya Ro Bien”- Duck Meat Bien, which was the name of a guy that had a duck meat cart in the area a long time ago. The guy is long gone, but now his family has a restaurant. It’s directly across from the FAP station, BTW,the huge one with antennas that we used to go to to get our ARCs. Now, strangely enough it only serves goose meat, not duck, but it’s a very unpretentious old school eatery and the food is good. Go for a plate of goose, with sliced ginger and a soup of fishy-ish broth with bean sprouts, and maybe a side of mien sien noodles.
Then there is always the famous Ah Jong noodles, which is maybe the most famous place in Taipei for pork intestine noodles, on, I think, the first street west into Hsimending from Zhong Hua that is parallel to it.
there’s a really good chashaofan place on xining s rd, east side, south of neijiang street. there’s one or two korean places there as well.
you could always sit in the basement of the wannian dept. store and eat tienbula and yusu geng, that’s always fun. or get a saweima from the guy in the alley between xining and kunming, just off hankou street, and sit on a bench.
there’s a “wang ji” rice dumpling place on xining across from the red house area, they have about the best “bazang” going
The Korean place I recommended earlier is the first one you come to if you’re starting from the MRT station, or the one on the left if you’re facing the storefront.
I’ve seen the chashaofan place but never tried it. It’s a bit too grungy for my taste, but maybe I’ll try it on your recommendation.
And here’s the info:
Han Cai 100
191 Xining S. Rd.
2389-7108
I guess the reason it’s called Han Cai 100 is that about half of the dishes are priced at NT$100. The same dishes would be at least NT$150 on the east side with smaller portions.
It is very near the Ambassador cinemas in Ximending, so very convenient for a nice dinner before/after a movie.
Just as you said, good value for the money. Many dishes around 150 or a bit more, for good portions - so sharing with many people will not break the bank, and still give you a good variety of delicious dishes. The grilled pepper starter I suppose are those green chili? Very yummy, but too hot for many people… I ended up eating the whole portion on my own, since all other TWese with me couldn’t eat it
They do have an “English” menu, though in the right one of the two stores the server had to go over to the left one to get it. No pictures, though, so you have to guess from the English language descriptions which dish might be the “Ma Po Tofu” and which one is the “Gung Bao Ji”… better take some TWese friends with you, or try ask the servers for the names of dishes.
If I am not completely mistaken, on Google maps it is here… the recommended right one is north:
I always refer to it as the cheap but good Korean eatery. I often see Korean patrons there and that’s a good sign. Will pick up a card the next time I drop in and post it here.
