Good food

In my first week, my friend K and I ate our way through several night markets (Shilin, Tonghua, Shida, the stalls outside Long Shan Temple...). When you first get to Taipei, you just have to get your fix of certain taiwanese snacks like stinky tofu, fried oysters, dan bing (egg fried in a doughy pancake), jiu cai hezi (fried pocket filled with a Chinese veggie that's not available in the U.S.). This time, I acquired a new favorite - gua bao (taiwanese-style pork bun with pickled cabbages, similar to Momofuku except it cost 10 cents and is just as good). We'd meander slowly through the market, following the crowds like cattle, and literally walk and eat and sweat along the way. Meals eaten this way cost less than $3. I also OD-ed on fresh lee chee, bought from night markets and oozing with milky sweet meat.

After a week of this, the heat, grease and carbs started getting to me. Because of the sweltering heat that doesn't dissipate at all in the evening, we started seeking almost-as-cheap meals where we could sit down in A/C. And in Taipei, this pretty much means eating in the basement level (B1) of a multi-story mall. These meals usually cost between $4 and $6, and included the entire global culinary spectrum on this side of the world (Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Singaporean, and even Indian). The Breeze Center at the Taipei Train Station even has a food court that's 'curry' themed, including cuisine from all over South-east Asia, India and the Middle East.

One night we had Chinese-style bi bim bop at The Mall (there's Korean food everywhere in Taipei, and though it's not necessarily authentic by Korean standards, it's still very good nonetheless). After a long day where we went to Long Shan temple to bai bai (pray to the gods), visited the Museum of Contemporary Art, and shopped at the underground mall in Taipei Train Station (where my friend had to take the bus home), we decided to eat at one of the food courts in the beautiful, shiny, remodeled Breeze Center in the Taipei Train Station (I love this place, and yes it's in train station). I had a standard Chinese set dinner of soup noodles and veggies.

My family friends took me to Ding Tai Feng (famous for the same soup baozi as Joe's Shanghai, except this is the real deal) at the Sogo #4 in Tianmu (a neighborhood that's equivalent to the Upper West side of Taipei), the sister of another one in Sogo #2 in Dong Qu (. On another weekend, K and I trekked it to Tianmu to say hello to her grandmother, then go to the Takashimaya (which is totally low-key and normal compared to the one in New York) for Teppanyaki, which was really yummy.

One of my best mall meals so far was okonomiyaki and mujamiyaki (with mochi, yuuum) at Sogo #2. Japanese food has been popular for awhile in Taipei, and again, even though it's likely not authentic, it's still damn good here, just with a slight Chinese twist. They make the -yaki's right at your table, on the grill, and then season it to your liking.

Last but not least, one of the best accidental discoveries yet, is my favorite lunch of vietnamese chicken strips and flat rice noodles at Dunhua Shopping Center. It has crumbled peanuts, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, (and some more veggies that I can't remember), parsley and is flavored with a sweet, hot sauce and lime. They give you a flavorful chicken soup and cold melon tea as well. (And sometimes a mini milky pearl tea). I was on my way from the yoga studio to the bus stop (to visit grandmother), when there was a sudden downpour, so I ducked into this shopping center and hence the discovery. It's great because it's light, there are veggies, nothing is fried, and there's no grease. Unabashed eating these past three weeks has left me with an undeniable pouch. Thus, this week is the week of veggie bian dang's (to-go box).