Taipei Food Round-Up

This afternoon, there was a rerun of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods show set in Taiwan. Taiwan in general, and Taipei in particular, are shamefully underrated as culinary destinations. If you are there for an afternoon layover on your way to Southeast Asia, or you are on a short business trip, you may find the following information useful.

There are no bad restaurants in Taipei. Your options all depend on your level of adventure/squeamishness and your comfort level with the language.

The easiest (for Westerners) option is the basement food court in Taipei 101, the can't-miss super skyscraper. There are dozens of options and they are all cheap, delicious, and clean. It looks like any American mall food court, except with more exotic variety. It is very popular with the office lunch crowd and shoppers. The environment is sterile and safe.

Din Tai Fung may be a little overrated. It specializes in steamed dumplings. In the 1990s, the New York Times rated it as one of the top ten restaurants in the world. It has branches now in SoCal, China, Indonesia, South Korea,.... You get the idea. The gimmick includes waiting in a long line in tropical heat, an Arctic like air conditioned environment once inside, a glass enclosed kitchen for all to see, and a restaurant so clean it would make an anal retentive Nazi yelp in glee. The dumplings are really good, but they were not all that. Too much hype, I guess.

Shilin Night Market. The more adventure-some must go there. The sounds, the smells, the heat, the energy-- sensory overload is a common ailment. It is the complete opposite of the Taipei 101 food court. Try the stinky tofu and the oyster omelets (oh-ah-jien).

The random eatery. The best part of eating in Taipei is going to random and anonymous places. On my last trip, there were a couple within a 500 feet of my hotel. One of these eateries' specialty was little bits and pieces of fatty pork. It only served two items, bits of pork on rice and bits of pork on leafy greens. That's it. Two items. And they were better than crack.

The second restaurant was just as odd, and just as good. To get there, you step out of the Leofoo Hotel's doors, turn right, turn right at the first alley, walk one block, cross the street, go to the building on your left, and walk up the stairs to the second floor. There are no signs. There will be no customers (due to location and lack of signage). You will be "greeted" by a middle aged lady yelling at a TV screen showing falling stock prices. Point to any five items on the menu, wait, and get ready for the best meal of your life.

And don't forget the Taiwan Beer.

CKY