A good number of those old soy sauce brands were probably made from recycled tires.
A lot of them were seriously dodgy . There are some very good new natural soy sauce brands in Taiwan. Extra $$$ though.
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Sadly I think the market is for noodles under 50NT and since Salary hasnt increased the owners need to use the cheapest ingredients and cut down on braising time from 3 days to 3 hrs. Also with Pho it takes 6 hrs of simmering the bones to make Pho Broth… I think they just do it in a couple hrs here.
This is the best pork chop rice I ever had… Opened by a Taiwanese Haka guy who immigrated to LA in the 1980s with his family recipe…Hes been making it exactly the same way for 30 yrs. Many Taiwanese tell him his pork chop is better than anything in Taiwan when they visit… Constantly disappointmented by Taiwanese food…I expected to find something better here after 6 yrs. Now I crave this Pork Chop rice all the time which isn’t right since I’m in the homeland of Pork Chop rice
I want Taiwan to improve its food and go back to the old ways and old recipes.
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maybe because it was the first time you ate it or it was changed slightly for american tastes? who knows. that pork rice for example looks a lot bigger than what you would find here, because americans wanna eat bigger portions.
and how good can cold noodles be? its noodles, sauce and about 10 slices of cucumber.
No it wasnt altered for American Tastes. Theres a huge Taiwanese population in LA. Westerners dont eat there or havent until recently because its a hole in the wall. Its hard to explain how good something like Pork Chops and Cold Nooldes can be when done right… It can be great…
In fact in LA that cold noodle place is so good they only open for 3 hrs around lunch only and there are lines daily to buy them to go. Some people buy 10 and put in the fridge.
Since the original poster hasn’t been here very long, he or she probably doesn’t speak or read Chinese. Getting to a basic Chinese level opens up a lot of options for food here. I agree with the OP in that some of the food is crap. Lunchbox places where the food is cooked hours before is something that I avoid.
Here’s my short list when I’m hungry for something good.
Beef noodles: https://goo.gl/maps/LUG98VmMQLr
Burger and Co.: http://www.burgerandcotaipei.com/
Mount Kao: https://www.facebook.com/mountkaosandwichshop/
Liquid bread: https://www.liquidbreadco.com/
Din Tai Fung:
Toasteria:https://www.facebook.com/toasteriacafeYongKang/
Cheap Italian food: https://goo.gl/maps/VcuVLof5NqQ2
Fuzhou gan mian with a side of wonton soup with a soft egg: https://goo.gl/maps/VcuVLof5NqQ2
Little Parisian:https://goo.gl/maps/1T2jM9eMZkF2
Monga fried chicken at the night market (unfortunately near a stinky tofu place)
Danny’s what green salad bar and their roasted vege lunch box https://goo.gl/maps/U2QxTU2jnJ72
Western food is more expensive here, so buy yourself a hotplate and a pan.
This is why I’m drinking green juice and veges for a short time. There are too many good choices and I need to shed a few pounds. 
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No argument from me with that one. Which is why I said usually it’s good and sometimes it isn’t. Meanwhile people are still lining up for the $499Nt unlimited internet phone deal.
I’ve found Vietnamese food in Taiwan almost universally disappointing. When the Vietnamese brides who open these restaurants (with their Taiwanese husbands) first come here, they probably want to do things right. But they soon find that doing things right is time consuming and costs more, when all the locals really want is a cheap bowl of sweet/salty slop, and so they quickly adapt their menus to local tastes and economics.
It would be nice to make delicious Vietnamese grilled pork, but people will complain about the smoke, and locals are satisfied with a Taiwan-style pork chop instead. And why bother serving vermicelli cold (they way it’s supposed to be), when the locals don’t really like cold stuff. Half the time when I order a cold vermicelli dish, it comes straight out of the boiling water. I even got a fried noodle dish at one place that was made with instant noodles. Why bother trying when nobody really cares (or knows the difference)?
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Heres some good spots I found.
For Healthy but really good Western breakfast - Really good prices
Antipodeon Cafe- Aussie Breakfast
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=antipodean%20cafe
Cheap but Good Burger and Hotdogs- Very American Burger.
Dumplings/Beef Noodles- Famous with Locals Been open 40+ years
Mandarin Chinese food-Local good price Excellent Shrimp Dumplings/ Wraps.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/畝畝園蒸餃.餡餅/@25.0717058,121.6179556,18.48z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xd2309b253077bfb0!8m2!3d25.0713951!4d121.6184468
Dumplings/Pot Stickers
https://www.google.com/maps/place/好餃子/@25.0685656,121.6133074,19.08z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xdb67654af7179fe2!8m2!3d25.0690971!4d121.6141441
District One Taipei
https://www.facebook.com/DistrictOneTPE/
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I found 1 place in Taipei that does decently good cold noodles. They mix the sauce in front of you using about 8-10 different sauces…its not amazing but its good vs other cold nooldes Ive found here.
The 辣妹雞排 is amazing. I saw NoNo on the street the other day and almost screamed at him that I loved his meat in my mouth. I had second thoughts about it.
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Taiwanese food is salty AF, DAHEQ you guys talking about?
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@gaboman Probably not a good thing to say… Monga chicken is better because it’s cooked to order. Most places keep cutting everything with scissors or smashing with tongs. That’s a terrible way to ruin meat. I want to tell them to stop fiddling and let it cook. That’s the problem with cooking. Once you know better, it’s hard to accept poor quality that doesn’t have to be that way. Like having a proper table to chop vegetables and washing dishes with hot water inside.
Often, but not necessarily. With soups/broths especially, I find they’re either salty enough to choke a horse or completely flavorless (or with that essence of gym socks achieved with those little dried shrimp they like to put in everything).
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Wait, matey is from Oz, land of ass-flavored Vegemite spread, sausage rolls and meat pies filled with mystery meat, and brekkies that cost 30 bucks a pop (or about 900 NTD)?
Well… okay then. 
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I feel his pain.
What kind of two-bit shithole has the gall to call itself a city and not have anyplace to get kangaroo doner kebabs and fairy bread???
Wait, I thought he was under house arrest???
Or are you sure the laoban wasn’t just telling you long time no see???
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That’s Ah Bien aka Chen Shui Bien. Hu Jao (or jow or jou) Bien was once described by another Australian friend as an Asian style pork pie. Once he found that place he at there every day until he flew back to Bali.
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Wow, really?
Thanks for the info.
It’s actually 胡椒饼, Hújiāo (pepper) Bing (bun/cake).
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胡椒餅, commie.
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You’ve mistaken the former president of the ROC with a salty meat bun, Rocket. Or perhaps the other way round.
Fortunately, JPMichaels1 spotted your error.