Quick Hits - Heping E Rd. (和平東路) Xian Bing (餡餅)

Address: 台北市大安區和平東路2段313號 No.313, Section 2, Heping East Rd, Daan District.

Hours: 11AM-730PM daily

I essentially walk by this little food stand a good 2 or 3 times a day.  If you extrapolate that to include the nearly two months I've been back in Taiwan, that's probably 120-180 glances I've shot towards this Xian Bing (餡餅) provider without making the sensible decision and getting myself a tasty snack.  What makes it worse is that I've been told to remedy this unfortunate circumstance over and over again since the xian bing here is supposedly top notch.  

At long last I finally slowed my footsteps enough to ask the proprietor what was available and ordered a beef, turnip and chinese chives (jiu cai) xian bing.

A xian bing is what I would essentially call Chinese meat pies.  They are disc shaped and roughly the size of a hamburger patty.  The filling of choice is wrapped in unrisen dough that is pan fried and steamed.  Ideally, a perfect xian bing would be a skin that is simultaneously crispy yet somehow retains some chewiness.  This is the state that this xian bing (餡餅) provider has achieved and the skin is a perfect balance of the two textures.

As you can see, the inside of the beef xian bing is packed full of juice so be careful when devouring.  I went months without bringing this into my life, I'm sure I won't go months in between visit again.  The store is located on the corner of that street, and there is typically a line but the wait is rarely long as people order quickly and they wrap them up even quicker.  For 25NT/30NT, this is definitely worth grabbing if you are in the neighborhood.

- Til next time -

Top Pot Bakery

Address Visited: No. 140, Section 2, Dūnhuà South Rd, 大安區台北市 Taiwan 106

Telephone: 02-2325-6979

Hours: Bread starts to be sold at 10AM everyday.

There is a ton of food in Taipei that makes their American counterparts look like the proverbial chopped liver.  Near or at the top of the list is how amazingly fantastic the bakeries in Taiwan are.  First off, they are everywhere, and secondly, they are essentially all on varying degrees of 'oh my god that is good'.  We as people aren't anything if we are not fickle and I would have to say Taiwanese people can tend to be even more so than others.
Things ebb and flow rather quickly here, and currently on the upswing is Top Pot Bakery and the mouth watering breads that they have to offer.  Unlike many of the bakeries you can find in Taipei, Top Pot Bakery's selection of goods tend to be a bit larger in size and in loaf form.  They don't offer as many of the sweet type of small breads, but instead stick to using great quality of ingredients to produce some incredibly interesting flavors in their products.

 I came at around 4PM... as you can see, if you don't come a bit earlier, the bread is gone rather quickly.

mmmm~ chocolate bread~~

Outside of every Top Pot Bakery establishment is posted a schedule of what time each type of bread will be made.  If you come at the correct time you'll be able to snatch up a warm loaf of your favorite bread, but be warned, the current popularity of these stores has not started to ebb, and the bread goes quick.

The bread making schedule. Live and die by it

 For those of you too busy to be kept to a bread makers schedule.  Call ahead and place an order... I don't know why I haven't done this yet.

I really like how for almost every selection of bread on display, they will have a basket of free samples for you to gorge yourself with.  It goes without saying that everyone wants to get their grubby paws on the free samples.. so you might as well join in the fray.

Freshly sliced up.

One of the breads I bought this time was the fermented mango.  It was something I had yet to try.  The mango flavor is clearly evident, and like all of their breads, it was incredibly moist and nicely dense without being overly so.
Overall, I wouldn't classify the fermented mango as one of my favorites.  I would like to recommend the Carl Bell (natural yeast, cranberries, cheese), the Walnut Cheese Bread (natural yeast, walnut, cheese), the Chinese Wolfberry Bread (natural yeast, raisin, Chinese wolfberry, nuts), or just simple get some of their cut up wheat bread which is quite possibly the best wheat bread I've had anywhere.

I love this place, and it is only through sheer force of will that I don't eat something so carb-licious every single day.  Top Pot Bakery lets the natural flavors of the breads and ingredients speak for themselves without having to artificially prop up their products.  There is a reason why they are on such a wave of public approval at the moment and its because of the quality of goods that they provide.  The bread itself isn't cheap, but they are good portioned and you pay for what you get.  If Top Pot Bakery retains their current level of bread for the long haul, even the fickleness of my Taiwanese brethren might not be able to kick this bakery to the curb for a long long time.

Overall Top Pot Bakery receives:

Til next time- some more treats for your eyeballs.

-Edit- I will be adding pictures of breads I pick up on future visits below!

 Very interesting.  Seaweed, cheese and cream.

Blueberry and walnuts.

Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe

Address : No. 90, Da An Road, Sec. 1, Taipei.  台北市大安路一段90號

Telephone: 02-2711-1132

I struggled with what the opening for this particular post should be.  Do I play up the angle of how every guy worth his salt must have been dragged/drugged here? Just play it off like I only came to take in the novelty? In the end, I thought it best to just treat it as any other cafe (I already know that that will be impossible because of said novelty) or at least attempt to do so to the best of my ability.  

First off, the place will at the very least cause a reaction out of you.  I don't really care what gender/age/ethnicity you are, you'll either shake your head with a wry smile on your face, yelp in high pitched delight or something in between.  The place looks like someone took a bunch of massive pastel crayons.. melted it over a building, then stamped Hello Kitty's face all over the place.  
Obviously Hello Kitty and the Sanrio Company are trying to appeal to a certain demographic, and a building with a decor such as this hits that demo squarely on the head.  It's a pretty large space.. with ample seating both upstairs and downstairs. 

Each group comes equipped with at least one female companion/upstairs portion.

We came at roughly 2PM on a weekday, and they were only serving desserts.  I apologize about not exactly knowing when their proper meal times are (call for more info), but this is probably because I wasn't particularly interested in the food being served in shapes of Hello Kitty and was only interested in taking in the feel of the cafe and seeing if the desserts were up to snuff.  There is a 300NT minimum per person to dine in... seems a tad much to me considering only desserts were available. 

Alright.. that's pretty cute.  

What i ordered.  The pastry was a little too dry and thick for my taste.  I think i also would've preferred it to be heated up just a smidge.

The Cult of Hello Kitty worshipper that we went with was at first beyond the moon excited about the cafe, but I think her spirits were deflated somewhat when not every detail that could have been Hello Kitty-fied wasn't (things like silverware, cups and things of that ilk).  The waitstaff was very helpful in our attempt to navigate the Chinese only menu and their pink-hued uniforms were appropriate to say the least.

 Cute enough that you don't want to wreck it.  And maybe you shouldn't, the cake wasn't all that appetizing.

 This one was very good.. red bean and green tea cake.

My favorite part of the desserts.. milk shake.  Fatty milky goodness.

The late twenties male who thinks hes entirely too cool for school isn't the type of clientele they are going for, so it's understandable that I have the tone that I do.  But with that said, I can be unbiased and see why anyone professing to be a fan of the Hello Kitty phenomenon would almost feel a supernatural pull from this place.  I would be lying if I didn't say I was at least a bit curious to see what it was like when you stepped in all the way, and now that I have found out, the chances are high that I won't be back.  I'm not disappointed that I came to the Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe, and it really was more or less what I expected it to be.  So please, if you are a fan... search this place out and be dazzled by that cute cat face.. you will not be sad in the money you spend.  For the rest of us? Maybe stop to pose for a picture... then just move along.

Overall Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe Receives: 

For anyone owning ANY Hello Kitty paraphernalia &

    For the rest of us.

Til next time - some more treats for your eyeballs.

Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市

Location : Most convenient way to get to the Shilin Night Market is to take the MRT to the Jiantan Station on the Tamsui (red) line.  

Hours: Basically whatever they feel like.

The grandpooba of all Taiwan Night Markets.  The Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市 is easily the largest of the night markets of Taiwan, and probably enjoys the distinction as the most famous and popular.  It is a behemoth of a night market encompassing thousands upon thousands of vendors and stores across a number  of avenues, alleyways, streets and structures.  Its best to bring your appetite and walking shoes if this is your first time here, but don't worry if you don't manage to get to everything... no human being can ever be that hungry to experience it all in one outing

.  One of my favorites.  Sausage wrapped inside of a dense rice log. 

The food court you see above is the newest addition to the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市.  I find that this is a good place to start your food adventure since as you can see, much of the best food that the night market has to offer is nicely located here in one easy to navigate spot.  The room is thankfully air conditioned for the nights where not having to take a breath of dense humid air is all the reward a man could hope for.  

 Stinky Tofu with minced garlic in the center

 Oyster Pancake.

Tempura

 Traditional minced pork rice.  A taiwanese staple if there ever was one.

Even on a somewhat chilly Tuesday night that was evincing signs of rain, the night market and the food court was a bee hive of activity.  This vendor was our first stop, and we made our decision based on the fact that a group of people were waiting for a seat to open up.  When in doubt, follow the masses, at least when food is concerned.  It always seemed sad to me that these eateries are in such close proximity to each other and while some may be thriving, right next door there might be a vendor that has nothing to do but twiddle his/her thumbs.  Regardless, I thought the oyster pancake here was very very good.  It was easy to bite through and wasn't overly chewy like how some oyster pancakes can be.  

 Get crackin.

What you see above is a must have at the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市.  It is 大餅包小餅, or if translated verbatim, literally means small bun wrapped in a large bun.  The outside is a tortilla like disc of dough that has a very good texture when combined with the crispyness of the fried bun that is crumpled together underneath.  The inside bun will come in a variety of flavors and it is left to your discretion to try which ever one you like.  Like much of the food at the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市, there are numerous food stands that serve this dish, and many of them are fantastic, so just walk around and see which creation seems most appetizing to you and go hog wild.

 Part of the new shopping area directly above the food court.

 A grilled food stand in front of the temple.

More than any other night market that inhabits Taiwan, the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市has more choices of the same food over and over again.  If you aren't careful you won't sample the really famous stands and instead just try a dish from a less renowned vendor (although to be honest with you, its hard to error in the quality of the food).  Let's cover two very popular dishes offered here and the two must try vendors.

This is after multiple multiple bites by my buddy there.  You're gonna get your monies worth.

First up.. the Fried Chicken Steak.  It is easy to locate, as it's directly in front of the movie theater, if you need help to find it, just ask any person and they will direct you.  Invariably, when asked about what to eat at the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市, this particular item comes up over and over again.  It is a MASSIVE piece of meat that is fried perfection.  The skin is packed full of flavor and is a little bit sweet while the meat itself is very very juicy.  This is something I typically get when I return to Shilin, but it's probably best that you have a rotating crew of people to hand this chicken steak off to like a baton or else it'll fill you up quickly.  

feeling silly i only ordered three.

This dish here is called 生煎包 (fried bun) and lucky you! It's located very close to where the chicken fried steak stand was.  Facing directly the movie theater, you'll want to go to your left until you enter the first alley you see, but be sure to bypass the first few fried bun stands that you (tricky tricky) see.  This particular stand will be on your left and chances are.. the line of people will tip you off that you have arrived.  This is honestly the best fried bun that I've had the pleasure of having and you'll be doing yourself a favor to try both the meat and vegetable variety.  

 Mother may I... Tapioca and red bean milk ice's.

It'd be silly to not give you one more.. things come better in threes.  Facing directly the theater again, this time you'll want to go the right and again enter the first alley you see.  It is a short walk from there and this milk ice shop will gloriously appear before your eyes.  On a warm night.. this store might really be your best friend.  They have a wide range of selections, but a really famous option of theirs is the green tea ice.  Its probably best to just order up a few choices based on the number in your group.  It is a tremendous capper to a night of heavy foods, and a great lasting memory to a night of shopping, sight seeing and eating.

The Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市 will forever hold significant meaning to me as it was where I spent much of my summers and winters as a child, but even if I were to judge it entirely on its own merits, there is ample reason to see why it has become what it is, and that is the number one night market in a city full of them.  It's not just the food (but thank god for the food right?), there are more games than anywhere else, more quality goods on sale, more diversity, just... more and often times just simply better as well.  Any tourist will invariably find themselves treading through the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市's thoroughfares at some point along their journey, as well they should, because nothing is as quintessentially Taiwan as night markets, and no one does a night market like Shilin.

Til Next Time - Some more treats for your eyeballs.