Does anyone here even know a quality restaurant around Nangang?
I guess from this thread that Taiwan has one of the worst food/restaurant scenes in Asia. Philippines is even worse IMO. I remember a NYT article from the 1990s (or maybe it was WSJ) raving about Chinese food in Taipei. Guess that’s no longer the case.
I like the Diner when I’m in the mood for western food. Not far from the mrt station there’s a pretty good dumplings store, but I have no idea about the name. When I get home I’ll use the pc to take a screenshot and show where it is.
I personally think Philippines are better but maybe I am biased.
Wrong, still loads of great food here. Depends if you like real Chinese food or not. I know dozens of places .
Philippines better …???
It’s the worst food in South East Asia…
Go to any beach there.
Monday
Sir…BBQ fish ?
Fine mins later…
Sir …BBQ fish?
Tuesday
Sir…BBQ fish?
Repeat Ad Infinitum
2 Likes
Have to agree on Filipino food. So so so so much fried stuff, and heaps of my Manila friends don’t eat vegetables?!?!
Yes, I agree on both points. That’s why I’m a bit surprised at the overall direction of this thread.
There’s shit tons of really high quality world class restaurants here. Everybody KNOWS your average day-to-day meal here is crap, it’s just that your average Joe Bag of Zhongzhe doesn’t normally consider quality to be worth spending $ on.
Consider:
A couple years ago I just stopped being able to eat the biantang. Just couldn’t look another one in the face. Whatever I’m eating, it just won’t be the same slop riding on a shovelful of crappy rice.
Then a few months ago, my youngest read some article about Seattle’s Famous Chicken Teriyaki. Knowing I’ve spent a little bit of time there, she asked if I knew it and if it was really that special. I told her, yeah, in fact, it really is good, especially considering how basic and cheap it is. She asked if I could make it for her some time, I said sure. So one Saturday night I did, it’s easier than slipping on dog shit. Thing was, I had to make a fresh load of white rice, which I never do. And when we sat down to eat, I took a bite of rice, and it was AMAZING, it was so tasty and aromatic and just the right texture, it blew my friggin mind it was so fuckin good.
And I realized that what I had been hating about the normal street level food was, among other things, that it was constantly being delivered on shit quality, mass produced, past-its-time rice. With equally low standards applied to the rest of the meal as well.
4 Likes
Yeah I’ve found the rice here is quite often particularly bad, it often tastes mealy with no texture or bounce in the grain. I have eaten short grain for a long time before coming here 
. Personally prefer the short grain, but the quality here is very variable…
The rice is sitting in the cooker too long usually. Plus Taiwanese like the short grains fat rice whereas many folks prefer Jasmine rice.
Noodles man. There can be a world of difference between fresh noodles and mass produced crap.
There should be more fresh noodle shops. I knew some good ones in Taichung.
A variation of soup and noodles? Shocking stuff. If you think this is bad then that says more about your own taste. Soup / souple noodles / thick gloopy stuff is taiwanese peoples favorite style of food and that shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone.
Southern Taiwan food is all about the gluten (similar to some Cantonese food). Not my favourite stuff although I do like suan la tang.
Speaking of thick gloopy stuff, if you’ve ever had hot’n’sour soup or egg drop soup or princess shrimp or a variety of other dishes at a fake Chinese restaurant in N. America, then you will know a preference for thicky gloopy stuff isn’t confined to Taiwan.
The worst Taiwanese food is actually …Western food…i.e. the corn soup from a can that is so prevalent in ‘western restaurants’ here.
My kids love the stuff.
1 Like
I think it’s gotten worse over the years due to inflation, less vegetables in the noodles and soup. I could be imagining it though.
I too have been avoiding bian dangs for years.
I remember actually enjoying bian dangs in Taipei in the 1980s. Didn’t mind eating them almost everyday.
The thing is there’s nothing special about the rice at my house, it’s perfectly ordinary. As has been said, you got to ask yourself, if they can consistently produce that meal for, like, NT$75, even given wholesale prices, there’s got to be some really serious issues with the quality of the ingredients.
3 Likes
Man, now I am craving BBQ fish. Ideally with a large side of steaming hot freedom fries…
1 Like
Philippine for is no better.
Went to Ootoya Japanese chain the other day. The rice was so nice like from another world. My Taiwan friend even talked about it the whole meal.
3 Likes
Well, in my neck of the woods bientang places have either gone out of business… or raised their prices. Nevertheless, we only have two left in a whole 10 block radius around my house, which houses instead pasta places, homburger joints, fancy brunch, severla huo guo, all teh junk food you can eat, all teh drink stands from any brand and more, etc… but only two bientang bits. Cheapest bientang may be 80 NTD, yep, but average is 110 or 120 NTD.