There is a “Burmese street” close to the Nanshijiao station. I’ve been there a couple times. I found it once by asking a policeman where “miandian jie” is. That’s not the actual name of the street, by the way. Someone else told me there are businesses catering to Thais around Nanshijiao. I’ll have to investigate more.
Welcome back from Thailand, Chris. Glad to see you stocked up on all that great stuff.
Right, but green and red curry paste?! You couldn’t find that in Taipei? Granted, Thailand of course will have a better selection, but you surely saw the curry pastes at the Breeze center when you were shopping there. And I’ve seen red, green, and yellow (massaman) curry pastes at several places in Taipei. True, you pay NT$ 40 for a packet in Taipei, while you can pick up a packet in Thailand for 10 Baht.
Anyway, best of luck with your Thai cooking.
Finally got to go to Thai Thai this Monday. The food really is very good, and so is the atmosphere. The food has all the flavors I expect from Thai food, and although it still is a little bit on the lame side, I found it spicier than the other places I’ve tried here in Taipei. But maybe it’s because it’s a few years since we lived in Thailand, and that has made my palate more sensitive.
BTW, Tai Mei Wei on Siping St. has closed. She unfortunately seemed to be unable to handle the bigger premises after she moved Changchun to Siping. The food became more geared to Taiwanese tastes, service was slow, and customers stopped going there.
I guess they must have been hiding it somewhere at Breeze Center. I’ll take a closer look next time. But you’re right, the stuff in Thailand is cheap.
Anyway, I decided to do a little hunting around the Burmese Ghetto near the Nanshijiao MRT station yesterday. I found a few shops selling Thai and other Southeast Asian food products on Hua Xin (“China New”) Street, which is known as “Burma Street”.
The Golden Eagle Market, #34 Hua Xin Street, has a fair selection, including red and green curry, fish sauce, shrimp paste, various spices, and something called “grain starch noodles” that looked a lot like Chantaboon Rice Stick noodles. At #38, there’s a tiny mom & pop shop that sells packaged, dried kaffir lime leaves and canned coconut milk. Another shop down Alley 30 on the right also sells Southeast Asian ingredients, including spices and shrimp paste, but I thought the owner was quite rude, as if he wasn’t happy to have a customer.
Just beyond #38 are a number of small Burmese eateries, featuring various curries. But get there early - they all close between 8 and 9 at night, which is unusual for Taiwan.
If anyone else knows of little Southeast Asian groceries, please post the info here!
Cool! I’m going to check it out next week. Which exit out from Nan Shi Jiao MRT?
This gives me craving of Malaysian food 
Unfortunately they aren’t any Malaysian Restaurants in Taipei that I know of. Shall there be anyone who knows any Malaysian Rest., please PM me.
TIA
There’s a simple, cheap, and tasty Malaysian restaurant on Shida road. It’s near Out of India (by all means, avoid this place; ripoff curry dishes the size of a small rice bowl cost $300NT each). The Malaysia restaurant is called Langkawai. Simple menu includes fried fish, Hainan Chicken, fried rice, noodles, and curries.
Yum.
Right, Whiskas2.
I think the road is called “Bocheng Lu,” sometimes writen as Pucheng Road.
I saw that Malaysian place when I went to Out of India (which I liked, BTW).
To find Pucheng Road, cross the street near the Watson’s on Shi Da Road and go away from the night market. That street is on the same side of Shi Da Road as Roxy Jr., the Sichuan place on YunHe Jie, and the Korean barbecue place.
But back on topic, Thai food and places selling Thai and SE Asian ingredients? I’ll keep my eyes open, Chris, and let you know what I find. I think the curry pastes at Breeze are in the Thai food section, kind of near the cheese and deli counter. There is a small Mexican food section near there as well.
Good info about “Little Burma.” Haven’t been there in a while. Might have to make a trip soon.
Bravo!!!
You guys found it for me!!! Thanks Whiskas2 and Fee for your previous info. I shall check it out this weekend and let you know whether it is any similar to Malaysia taste.
-IH
ps: Langkawai or Langkawi? Hmmm…
For those of you craving Malay/Indonesian food, I had a nice lunch today at one of the Indonesian joints at Taipei Main Station.
You have to spot the East 3 Gate, then climb up the stairs. On your left hand side is this grocery store that doubles as a cafeteria. It’s by no means elegant, but it’s cheap and it is REALLY spicy. I like my food blinding hot and I have to admit that I was satisfied!!! I walked out of there on an endorphine high and with a runny nose!
There is one pot of sauce at the end of the food counter that is filled with gado gado, a peanut sauce laced with lime powder. I could easily have eaten the whole bowl by the spoonful, it’s sooooo good!!!
The beef rendang was very tasty (just like what I had in Malaysia), the chicken gizzard curry was fiery and good, and everything else I tried was good. The jackfruit curry was outstanding.
The store also sells an aray of Indonesian snacks such as: all the shrimp paste you can dream of, shrimp crackers, chili sauces (with or without shrimp), instant seasoning mixes in intriguing flavors (Sambal Goreng Ati, gizzards in coconut sauce and gravy, Rendang, Curry…), powdered coconut milk, tamarind paste, gado gado mix, soursop drink. And the staff is helpful and nice.
As an added bonus, walk around the second floor of Taipei Main Station:
- you can find other Indonesian and Filipino stores that sell some/all of the previously mentionned.
- there are two Music/Pirated DVD stores that sell Indonesian, Filipino and, tadam, Bollywood movies. The store closest to the Indonesian joint is not the best for Indian movies, head out for the other one, somewhere in there!!! For those of you who actually dig Lungtun (Thai country pop, an aquired taste, spelling unverified), that store usually has a good selection.
I investigated the Thai ingredients scene in the last years and here are some of my best spots:
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of course, the Burmese street in Nanshijiao. Look for that small shop on the wet market alley, it carries a lot of stuff you can’t find elsewhere, including tea leaf salad kits (Burmese speciality, very good, but not exactly a night cap!)
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on the way to that street, on the McDonald’s side of the road (opposite side of the MRT station), halfway between the station and the Burmese street, on a corner, is a well stocked SE Asian grocery. I could find almost everything I need there, including spices to make Indian curries (curcuma, cumin, coriander, sorry no fenugreek). Vast aray of chili pastes, thai curries, fish sauces, rice stick, shrimp paste/sauce/liquid/solution/nightmare, dried kafir lime leaves, dried galangal, dried lemongrass (the holy trinity of Thai cuisine, better fresh), and Tom Yam paste.
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the restaurant across Shipai MRT station (exit the station and make a left, cross the street, blue sign in Chinese and Burmese) also sells a few products, including Tom Yam paste and Red Roasted Chili Paste (fire in a pot, the key to a good tom yam soup, never found it anywhere else).
By the way, on the Burmese street, there are a couple of places selling a version of nan bread, open earlier in the day, if I got it right (never been there at night). The bread is delicious, cheap and goes well with milk tea (more Malay style, same flavor but without the tarik (pulling)). The first joint is on your right hand side comming from the MRT station, about a hundred feet into the street. The second one is on the left hand side, about halfway through the street. I like the second one better, owners are really friendly.
Enjoy!
Exit 4. When you walk out of the station, you’ll see a KFC, which is on Xing Nan Road (興南路). Facing KFC, you want to walk to the right along Xing Nan Road. Then keep walking along the road for several minutes, past the point where the street gently curves to the right, until you see a FamilyMart on the right-hand side. On the left, before the corner with the Family Mart, you’ll find a street called Hua Xin Street (華新街). That’s the street you’re looking for.
[quote=“Ipoh Heights”]This gives me craving of Malaysian food 
Unfortunately they aren’t any Malaysian Restaurants in Taipei that I know of. Shall there be anyone who knows any Malaysian Rest., please PM me.[/quote]
There used to be one in the street behind the McDonald’s at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, called the Banana Leaf. But that was 10 years ago…
The Malaysian Restaurant is called Langkawi and not Langkawai. This place is at Pucheng Rd. Lane 13 (further down of Out of India). When I went there yesterday (Sunday) at noon, is not opened! What a bummer? Should I try to go during the night time? :loco:
[quote=“Vay”]I’ve recently found what I consider to be the best place to get authentic-tasting (EG not Taiwan-ified) and low-priced Thai food in the greater Taipei area. The restaurant is a cute little hole-in-the-wall called SIAM Thai HOMEFOOD. Unfortunately it’s hidden away in Beitou, so you’ll have to search around or ask for directions if you’re not familiar with the area. The address is as follows:
Beitou District, Da Tong (Big Same) Street, No. 293
2893-1087[/quote]
I second this reccomendation.
I had dinner there last night and it was delicious. The service was reasonably fast for a place with a tiny kitchen (and 15 people arrived at once) and the service was very courteous.
Small, intimate restuarant. Great food and, though recently raised, the prices make it hard to believe you’re eating out in Taipei.
For those who are looking for cheap Thai food, there’s a little eatery on the 2nd floor of the Taipei Train Station. I had some delicious Pad Thai for NT$75, much tastier and more generous than some $230 Pad Thai I’ve had elsewhere in one of Taipei’s sleek, post-modern Thai joints.
It’s in the same area where the Indonesian eateries are. There are also Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and other eateries there.
had a great meal in “chiang mai” on dunhua n rd bit north of haagen dasz, next to cosi o cosi in fact. been open for long time, far better than loads of “$100” joints in neighborhood at similar prices. sweet & sour fish rocked. som tam ON MONEY and came with stack of raw cabbage on side (!!!). pineapple fried rice coconutty and very tasty etc etc. had singha. will be back.
Tempo Gain wrote:
I have eyed that place up for quite a while but never tried them. Mainly because each time I walk by there is nothing in English on thier display menu outside. Did they have English menus inside Tempo Gain? Glad to hear you liked it, I have always wanted to try it.
[quote=“Interlocutor”]
I have eyed that place up for quite a while but never tried them. Mainly because each time I walk by there is nothing in English on thier display menu outside. Did they have English menus inside Tempo Gain? Glad to hear you liked it, I have always wanted to try it.[/quote]
i wasn’t given one inter, but i didn’t ask. just had a check box type paper list. there were some pictures of dishes under glass on table. fairly standard selection.
I’d have to recommend Very Thai at 319 Fuxing N. Rd. Just a few doors north of My Other Place bar. 02-2546-6745. The curry chicken was pretty darn good – close to the real deal – which is what aced it for me.
My GF is Thai, I eat at home and man is it good. The very best of Thai food involves a mortar and pestle.
HG
Most Thai food I’ve had here is pretty good. Here are two cleaner ones, average price for two just under $2000.
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Patara: Dun Hua South Road Sec. 1 Lane 247 #12 02.2731.5288
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Mei Kung: Yanji Street #157-3 02.2752.3051. Near Zhong Shiao East Road Sec. 4 (They do take out really fast and really good)