12 Hour Eating Frenzy - Taipei, Taiwan

We had about a weeks worth of time in Taiwan, and 3 of those days were spent in the Southern part of Taiwan in Kenting. Between all the train/bus rides to and from Kenting and catching the plane out to Singapore, we really only had close to 2 half days to explore Taipei and eat everything.

We both had our own list of places we wanted to visit or foods we wanted to gorge on, so I tried my best to organize everything by location to fit everything into the short time we had. The only way I could make it work is to cram together a lot of eating in a short period of time. While we ate A LOT on any given day, we remember this day to be the most epic of all food days. It is always referred to as,

"That Food Day."

Yonghe

We started off with a Taiwanese breakfast around brunch time. We each got a 飯糰 (fan tuan) and soy milk. The Taiwanese fan tuan is what I like to call an Asian burrito, with a glutinous rice outer and filled with chinese donut, 肉鬆 (pork floss) and 榨菜 (pickled vegetables). We shared a 蛋餅 (onion pancake with egg). This was already a pretty heavy start to a day of eating.

Total: 80NT for each of us.

Mmm, it reminded me of childhood.

Formosa Chang's 鬍鬚張

Right after Yonghe we made our way to Formosa Chang's, a food chain that's known for their 魯肉飯 (braised pork rice). I first tried Formosa Chang's a few years ago whilst on Christmas break from college. Although delicious, my favorite place for 魯肉飯 is still this hole-in-the-wall place near my parent's old apartment, but sadly it was too far for us to visit.

We really do eat with our eyes, because we each ordered a medium size bowl of 魯肉飯 and shared the pork chops and tofu .

Total: 160NT for both of us.

Ice Monster

Not even an hour after we finished Formosa Chang's, we arrived at Ice Monster. I've been to Smoothie House previously, and was looking for something to compare it to. I had heard a lot of good things about both.

Since it was winter, there wasn't a lot of people indulging in shaved snow. Ice Monster wasn't full, and we were seated in between a pair of of Korean tourists and another pair of Japanese tourists.

I really liked in decor and design of Ice Monster. What I didn't like though, was their rule that every customer had to order something in order to dine-in. I'm not sure if this is a new rule, but my friend also had to adhere to it the last time she ate there. Although we were already preeeetty full from our carb overload, we went for it anyway.

The Fresh Mango Sensation and Bubble Milk Tea Sensation. Bubble milk tea sensation comes with a side of tapioca, yum! The former was chosen simply because it came in a smaller size, haha.

We sat in there for a bit, eating slowly to pass time so that we could digest. We gave it our best try, but couldn't finish the side of tapioca in the end.

Total: of 350NT for the 2.

In comparison to Smoothie House (pictured above), I'd say they're around the same in terms of taste, presentation, and consistency. The cute decor at Ice Monster wins me over in the end though.

We wandered over to Ximending for a little bit as the sun started to set, looking around for souvenirs.

Watami

We had our fill of Taiwanese food for the day, so we had dinner at Watami, a Japanese chain restaurant. It's a pretty ok restaurant with decent prices and a TON of different things to try depending on what mood you're in. The menus also have pictures, so that was helpful for sure.

My stomach wasn't quite ready to eat that much more, so I ordered a baked potato with cod roe. I don't remember what drink I got, but I'm going to guess it was mango or... something.

Amy ordered the tempura udon and salmon nigiri, which I'm sure I helped her eat a bit of.

Food To-Go

After WATAMI, we started to make our way back to the hostel. We wandered around a bit more to help digest, and then I spotted 阿宗麵線 (Ay-Chung Vermicelli).

I had to get it, as these noodles were my favorite thing to eat when I was younger. My family used to buy these noodles from a local stall at the market down the street from our apartment, so I actually didn't try Ay-Chung until I was in college. At Ay-Chung, there's only one thing on the menu and the only variation you get is the portion size. While other places may serve oysters with their noodles, Ay-Chung only has pork intestines in theirs. Personally I'm a bigger fan of the intestines, haha.

Time and time again I've tried to find a good vermicelli place near my place in California, but they've all been mediocre compared to the real deal I had in Taiwan. I finally gave up on searching in the states when I ended up with a mouthful of uncleaned pork intestine. Eww.

We also dropped by 50 Lan, one of the biggest boba franchises in Taiwan, and also my favorite. It's usually pretty easy to spot, with it's bright blue and yellow storefront. We both got milk tea, sans boba.

To end the night, we went to a 7-11 near our hostel to grab some more desserts. I bought Xiao-Mei ice cream, something I also frequently ate as a kid. Amy bought pudding.

I don't know how we managed to finish everything... I recall that both of us were extremely fatigued and ate on our beds like fatasses, while I planned the next days eating schedule which involved beef noodle soup, Din Tai Fung, red bean/custard cakes, Taiwan's 1st Popcorn Chicken, and many other things in-between that I can't recall. Our time in Taipei was filled with so much eating that the days has blended into a smoothie of all things delicious.

Over the 2 and a half days, I can safely say we managed to tick off about 75% of this list, and a handful of things outside of it. I wish I had taken better pictures, but as usual I was more focused on the eating and less on the photography! ha.

Featured photo: Desserts at Ice Monster

Address: No. 297號, Section 4, Zhongxiao E Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

Transportation: 3 minute walk from Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall MRT Station

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12 Hour Eating Frenzy - Taipei, Taiwan