Today in Taipei I tried some delicious Taipei eateries. First was a small outside restaurant with tables spilling into the street that has flat wontons and seaweed in soup. SO delicious!! Across the small street is a kiosk that sells chicken bites- fried finger food with addictive seasonings that makes you pop the chicken morsels into your mouth even though it is too hot! You can order spicy or just yummy.
For a more serious meal we go to Chili House Restaurant where they have delicious but not too spicy fare. Famous for stuffed pepper, ground beef and peppers, and ma po tofu. It is all delicious, especially the water! (for some reason I was REALLY into the water at this place! Taiwan was made from volcanic activity so there is a lot of mineral water and natural springs here.)
Later, walking around the small alleys we find a man making you tiao- oil stick (basically fried dough). He rolls out the dough in a flat crescent and then, with a huge cleaver, cuts even 1” strips down the whole expanse of the 4’ crescent. He presses a crease into the top of each strip with a skewer, then puts them into a wok full of boiling oil, where they puff up to the donut like baton that we know. He is open 24 hours.
Coffee and tea places abound. It is amazing how many coffee shops there are in the small alleys that are hiding behind the main thoroughfares. We pass one tea shop dressed like an old fashioned English tea shop, all frilly with quaint porcelain and girls in pink checked frocks. The place sells only French tea! I didn't even know the French liked tea!
We also stumbled upon a small arts and crafts night fair that also had unlicensed sellers selling clothing, jewelry, etc. out of suitcases and on blankets. Just as we walked up, the lights of a cop car turned the corner. Those guys had their stuff wrapped up and off the sidewalk in second flat. There was a sudden rush and everything disappeared. It all reappeared just as rapidly when the cops passed on by.
Tomorrow we will go to Din Tai Fung, the famous Taipei eatery that has the best Shanghai dumplings xiao long bao. It is right around the corner from the chili place.
For a more serious meal we go to Chili House Restaurant where they have delicious but not too spicy fare. Famous for stuffed pepper, ground beef and peppers, and ma po tofu. It is all delicious, especially the water! (for some reason I was REALLY into the water at this place! Taiwan was made from volcanic activity so there is a lot of mineral water and natural springs here.)
Later, walking around the small alleys we find a man making you tiao- oil stick (basically fried dough). He rolls out the dough in a flat crescent and then, with a huge cleaver, cuts even 1” strips down the whole expanse of the 4’ crescent. He presses a crease into the top of each strip with a skewer, then puts them into a wok full of boiling oil, where they puff up to the donut like baton that we know. He is open 24 hours.
Coffee and tea places abound. It is amazing how many coffee shops there are in the small alleys that are hiding behind the main thoroughfares. We pass one tea shop dressed like an old fashioned English tea shop, all frilly with quaint porcelain and girls in pink checked frocks. The place sells only French tea! I didn't even know the French liked tea!
We also stumbled upon a small arts and crafts night fair that also had unlicensed sellers selling clothing, jewelry, etc. out of suitcases and on blankets. Just as we walked up, the lights of a cop car turned the corner. Those guys had their stuff wrapped up and off the sidewalk in second flat. There was a sudden rush and everything disappeared. It all reappeared just as rapidly when the cops passed on by.
Tomorrow we will go to Din Tai Fung, the famous Taipei eatery that has the best Shanghai dumplings xiao long bao. It is right around the corner from the chili place.
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