Taiwan Food Diaries - Quarantine Hotel Edition

Day 9 Lunch

Korean Kimchi Pork Rice Bowl (韓式泡菜豬肉蓋飯) with multigrain rice (五穀飯) and a baked lemon drumstick (檸檬烤雞腿)

Taste: the rice bowl was a let down - everything was bland. Luckily, I had a side order of the drumstick, which was delicious!

Price: NT$75 (Full price: NT$135)


Day 9 Dinner

Top: Fuzhou Bamboo Sticky Rice (福州手工竹片米糕) : sticky rice with taro underneath and duck egg yolk and Shiitake mushroom on top in a split bamboo tube.

Bottom: Shanghai Soup Dumplings: Pork and Chives, Curry flavor, Pork and Scallion, and Pork and Cabbage.

Taste: the sticky rice is a novelty, but the taste was unimpressive. I had never had curry dumplings - they were surprisingly good.

Price: NT$108 (Full price: NT$168)

Dragon fruit, wax apple, Asian pear, kiwi, papaya, and persimmon.

Price: NT$100 (Full price: NT$160) Maybe I am just clueless about what things cost in Taiwan, but I thought for the amount of fruit, NT$130 was a ripoff.


Day 10 Lunch

Oyster Vermicelli with Braised Pig Intestines (大腸蚵仔麵線糊) and Stinky Tofu (噴汁臭豆腐)

Taste: The stinky tofu was good, but would have been better if it were hotter. The kimchi was too sweet. The oysters were not so great (and I got allergy reactions from them), but the rest of Vermicelli was very flavorful.

Price: NT$90 (Full price: NT$150)


Day 10 Dinner

Bamboo Sticky Rice (筒仔米糕) and Steamed Egg Soup (蒸蛋湯)

Taste: So good! One of the best meals so far. I have never heard of 蒸蛋湯 before, but it’s very delicious.

Price: NT$74 (Full price: NT$119)


Day 11 Lunch

Braised Pork Chop Bento (滷排便當) and Egg flower soup with vegetable (青菜蛋花湯)

Taste: Really tasty, especial the pork chop – tender and full of flavors. The egg in the soup was super fluffy.

Price: NT$80 (Full price: NT$140)


Day 11 Dinner

Savory Rice Pudding (碗粿), Zongzi/Sticky Rice Dumpling with Pork (肉粽), and Four Spirits Soup (四神湯)

Taste: The soup was very good. Unfortunately, the restaurant forgot to include the sauces for the rice pudding and the rice dumpling… They were okay flavor-wise, but were too dry without the sauces. The dumpling was a little hardened - ordering delivery for sticky rice dumpling was probably not a good idea.

Price: NT$92 (Full price: NT$142)


Day 12 Lunch

Bibimbop (石鍋拌飯), kimchi and soup

Taste: the Bibimbop was decent, but you’d have to use a microscope to find the minced pork, which was supposed to be in there. The kimchi and the soup were tasty, but the soup came in a very small cup and it was not even half full.

Price: NT$90 (Full Price: $135)


Day 12 Dinner

Pork chop and pasta in mushroom and black pepper sauce, dinner rolls, and corn chowder

Taste: Look is deceiving – everything was delicious! Taiwanese pork is the bomb!

Price; NT$83 (Full price: NT$145)

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Doesn’t look so bad. I would eat 2x the portions though :sweat_smile:

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Some observations:

  1. Pork in the U.S. has a strong odor and is often too dry (Does it have something to do with ractopamine?) I refuse to eat pork in the U.S, but pork in Taiwan is fragrant and super tasty.

  2. The tastiest meals are often the cheapest ones…, or maybe I just have cheap taste.

  3. Sometimes I wish I had the hotel meal plan so I don’t have to spend time figuring out what my next meal is, as I work 12-16 hours a day…

  4. The ratings on Uber Eats and Foodpanda may not be in line with your taste.

  5. Just because you have the freedom to pick the food doesn’t mean you will like the results. But overall, I agree it’s more preferable than just eating whatever the hotel gives you.

  6. Translating the names of the dishes from Chinese to English is hard… :sweat_smile:

Just two more days to go… :grinning:

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I think 1 is the way pork is cooked in Taiwan.

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Anyone got tips where to order food that still tastes good when cold in taoyuan city? I chose the 4 star hotel from ownrides at 2800 yuan per night (it’s actually not rated, and rather 3.5 stars or 3 stars. Used to be a 5 star long time ago, therefore big rooms), which is chuto Plaza hotel. Actually if you want to know what hotel you get on ownrides, just use Google reverse image search. Works for all of them.

My food is only slightly better compared to the holiday in express, but I guess the room is much nicer. Even have an advanced Japanese toilet…

Today I ordered at lasante which is highly rated but mediocre (healthy however). I’m thinking of trying to waterbath the food in cooking water inside an rubbish bag for reheating…

Could so much use a plate to have the food look nicer than on the plastic or cardboard dishes…

Ubereats has loads of promos, but they refused once I entered my European credit card, and revert to kinda international things like the 220 ntd delivery pass instead of the free delivery available to Taiwanese credit card or PayPal if it would work (had to delete my PayPal payment info in order to use uber eats). Food panda seems much better too me. Way more restaurant selection and vouchers do work.

I don’t mind spending 500 ntd for a meal if it’s nice and healthy also when cold or heated up. Would love some nice and spicy food. Could really starve for good Sichuan food.
Is there something similar to 海底捞 in Taiwan. Meaning a hotpot with all the equipment that I could order??? Getting a hotpot set and returning it 10 days later would be so stoke. Could cook everything myself then :pleading_face:

Also here have to order food early, so I get it. As they only deliver 3 times per day. They do ring on the door for that. They don’t ring for the hotel food. Seems like 1/3 guests orders food from elsewhere.

Here is what I got so far from hotel.
Vs lesante ordered today.

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Anyone here have the experience that Uber Eats delivers to Government Quarantine place, but then it doesnt get delivered to the room? (asking for a friend) How to solve that?

I was told that Uber Eats and Foodpanda deliveries are not allowed at government quarantine facilities, but having friends/family drop off food and supplies is okay.

Fruits are expensive in Taiwan

It seems to vary according to location.

Meals at a government facility

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I didn’t chose the food package for my current quarantine. I personally am not a huge fan of Bian Dang. I’ve had many of them before in my youth, but now that I’m older I can’t eat as much carbs or fat.

With my current quarantine, I’m very happy that I decided to forego the Bian Dang. I purposefully chose my quarantine hotel close to other restaurants which has helped a lot. Delivery time is only 30 mins with delivery fee of 19 to 30 NT. There really is lots of mouth watering Asian food options. And if you don’t care for Asian food, McDonalds delivers 24/7. Food Panda also delivers from Carrefour which is a large super market chain.

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Almost one year later and I find myself in the same situation. Same hotel, but different room. And mostly similar food (but I am getting ahead of myself…) - although I think they might have upped their food game a bit compared to last year.

(If you’re wondering why, see the other thread:)

But let’s start at the airport: Having been through most of the process already, it was really easy to get everything done. Still sometimes a bit chaotic, but compared to last year, everything seems much smoother. Some differences I noticed:

  1. If you already have a Taiwanese SIM-card and fill out the quarantine form before arrival, you can skip most lines. No need to wait in the line with all the people who need assistance acquiring a local SIM card or need help filling out the forms

  2. Be sure to note the “quarantine hotel number” - it saves you from typing in the address in Chinese

  3. Wait time for luggage is quite long (a sign says at least 50 minutes because of luggage disinfection)

  4. The spit test is quick and easy. Inside the airport, they give you the rapid test and a container for spitting inside. I just was a bit surprised that the actual spitting happens after you get your luggage. This means that you have to put your luggage outside in a marked area while going to the test station after leaving the airport. The test is done outside and there are instructions in English on how to do it. However, my cabin didn’t have the disinfectant one should use a couple of times.

  5. There is still a paper form one needs to fill out before getting on the taxi. Unfortunately, the form needs to be filled out while waiting in line and while employees make sure that there are no large gaps in the line. So be sure to keep the address of the hotel ready and to write fast.

  6. Everyone get’s a sticker saying “Quarantine” placed on their clothes:

  7. The quarantine taxi (just like last year) didn’t accept credit cards - cash only, although all signs said that one can either pay by cash or credit card. Also, I didn’t receive any invoice - and the taxi driver took a picture of my “quarantine notice form” and sent it to some Line account. Not sure if that’s part of the process or just something that particular driver did.

  8. Arriving at the hotel, I had already sent them a printout of the “quarantine notice form” via email. However, as I had created it using iOS which doesn’t allow changing the paper format, some part was cut off. Not sure if others experience a similar issue.

Checking into the hotel was painless - staff had no issue communicating in English and they gave me a room with a nice view on the 9th floor:

This time, I learned from my last stay and brought some towels - the disposable ones the hotel provides are really uncomfortable and don’t dry very well.

The room is not too spacious - but still provides a small desk to work on and an office chair. The large windows don’t open, but there is a small window which opens. Airconditioner is quite loud (louder than in the room last year, I thing) - shower pressure is fine and there is a Japanese toilet in the bathroom. Floor is vinyl - no carpet. There are a small fridge and electric kettle in the room, but no microwave. Instant coffee packs, tea and water bottles are provided along with toothbrush etc. - not much else, however. Communication with the staff is easy using the phone - so far, they all spoke English very well. Wifi works fine without issue and also good cell reception using CHT. All just like last year.

So far, I am on day 3 of my quarantine - on the first day, I received a phone call from the police asking me if everything is fine. Day 2, I received a text message asking me about my health. Today, I didn’t receive any text message. Not sure if there is some issue with the system or if they changed their approach.

Will go back to the topic and start posting food pictures in the next post later :slightly_smiling_face:

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I’m already doing whatever the opposite of salivating in anticipation is. I think my salivary glands just switched off actually, and my taste buds definitely just atrophied. Good luck! :grin:

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I hope I didn’t keep you in suspense for too long then :grin:

So here we go:

Day 0, Dinner

That one actually looked really promising and tasted well too!
Or maybe it was just because I was already awake for over 24h at that point and quite hungry.

Day 1

Seems like we’re off to a good start: Wet rice for breakfast - not just plain one, but actually came with an egg and some toppings. Still fine.

Lunch was also edible: Some pork curry. Nothing special, but fine too.

Forgot to take a picture of the dinner somehow :pensive:

Day 2

First food that was really “meh”: A “wrap” (it had some lettuce and chicken inside), salad and a yoghurt.

Lunch was meatballs (not a fan of meatballs in general). “Meh” again…

Can’t really complain about dinner: Chicken leg (which was a bit dry, but still tasty).

Day 3

Woke up really hungry (and too late to order delivery), so I ate the hot dog and the cereal (small pack of milk not pictured) quite fast - not really focusing on taste (that was probably for the better!).

Not a fan of that kind of seaweed - and the chicken really tasted much worse than it looked like. Maybe just some kind of seasoning I am not a fan of…

Fried pork you say? Wrong! It was fish. Served with a tiny amount of asparagus, an egg wrapped in bacon and some cabbage with rice. Some more fruit today (most days, one meal comes with one piece of fruit which I don’t always fit in the picture).

Day 4 (today)

Woke up in time to order a breakfast from UberEats (not pictured to keep the thread focused). Really delicious sandwich with bacon, eggs, lettuce and some hash browns. But probably even more unhealthy than the hotel food :innocent:

I was looking forward to a nice bowl of beef with rice - however, that one also fell in the category “looks better than it tasted”. Waaaay to much fat on the meat and only a small amount of vegtables.

Nope, the meat was really hard and also consisted mostly of fat. Also, it had a taste I didn’t like. Just ate the cabbage and some rice…

… and was really glad that I kept the hotel breakfast in the fridge. Toast with egg, a slice of tomatoe and tuna. I like the 711 sandwiches more.

Now feeling quite hungry again. Already planning on ordering delivery for breakfast tomorrow… :zipper_mouth_face:

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These are all better than what I feed myself daily :pensive:

What I’m really worried about is the blatantly excessive packaging involved with these COVID meals, and the obvious threat the pandemic poses to the global climate emergency.

What happens to all of those billions of syringes and needles used in the vaccination campaigns,
not to mention the quarantine food packaging.

The vaccine shots themselves require production of massive amounts of vector/media/resources that involve plastics, paper, and metal packaging of the single use variety.

The energy used in production and disposal are obviously a major threat to the global climate emergency.

And we can add this excessive food packaging on top of that.

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I see what you’re saying about waste, but I suspect in reality all this stuff is a drop in the ocean compared to the true magnitude of the problem. I’ve edited a few papers on things like that and I’m always a bit surprised by how much of it is out of the hands of the consumer when you look at the data. I remember that @nz also wrote a few interesting posts on the topic a while ago, probably in this thread.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the net effect of the pandemic has been way carbon negative, and I suspect all these things like vaccine production, disposable masks, quarantine food packaging, etc. have been offset one or two magnitudes over by stuff like dramatically reduced air travel, lockdowns, supply chain issues, and so on.

I’m not saying we should all go make an effort to choke more turtles with surgical masks, but I do think the situation is probably far too dire for this stuff to make a significant difference either way. (It would be nice if the human race collectively did something about it before things really go to shit, but I don’t see much cause for optimism in that regard, so… :man_shrugging: :popcorn:)

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Hey is booze banned at all quarantine hotels? What if you bring it in your luggage?

I had some in my luggage and no one checked. If you have friends in Taipei who bring you care packages, most will not open the packages. I delivered my hubby a nice selection of his favorite food and craft beers. He stayed at the AT Boutique hotel. They were great about taking things to him right away so he got food while it was still hot.

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