Taipei

It’s funny how, when asked for the most memorable drink I had in Taipei, my answer’s not only not the expected bubble tea, but instead really ordinary-sounding flavoured milks at this pretty little milk bar. As its name suggests, Milk Bar by BKA focuses on flavoured milks with a couple of desserts and bites to complement these sweet drinks. I have to say though their flavoured milks are seriously good. We tried the Matcha and the Mixed Berries (they use fresh berries for this!!) ones, and both were fantastic. The flavours were intense and well-balanced, not too sweet as well, and so easy to drink. Wouldn’t be a stretch to say I barely put the straw down lol.

福州世祖胡椒饼 at Raohe Night Market’s one of many street food stalls in Taipei to be listed on the Michelin guide, and has always been a must-eat every time I’m there. You can’t miss the store: it’s at the entrance/exit (depending on where you enter from) to the market right next to the temple, marked by a snaking queue every night. These lovely buns are made fresh right in front of our eyes, then cooked in a charcoal-fired brick oven to order, so you can be assured that each bun’s piping hot when they get to you. And when you bite into them, mmmm heaven. A crisp base, thin and fluffy skin, and a chock full of juicy, peppery pork filling. Ain’t much I can say ‘cept you gotta eat this damn bun; you won’t regret it.

Not gonna budge on this in the foreseeable future. I’ve not been this impressed with hotpot, even when HDL first came to Singapore and was all in the rage (mind you I was hella in love back then). There’re a couple of reasons why, but let’s start with the soup bases. 2 types: layered tofu, and spicy fragrant. The former strikes a good balance in staying both light yet extremely rich in flavour, never once getting too thick or salty even as the soup cooks down. The latter uses the same master stock as the layered tofu soup, topped off with chilli oil and a blend of spices that the staff explains as being “more fragrant and spiced than it is actually spicy”. Exceedingly true, considering that I’ve never liked mala as a soup base but loved the complexity the Chinese spices added to this soup. And then we move on to the super fresh and top-notch meats priced lower than hotpot places here, as well as mega sweet seafood pastes (the scallops one is the bombdiggity). And and and then there’s their house made meatballs. I’ve never had a chicken meatball so good I swear I’d just order that for the whole meal if I could lolol.

It’s probably the best thing for bubble tea + soufflé pancake fans. After having the best soufflé pancakes at #椿tsubakisalon, my benchmark was way ⬆️ so it’s not their bad for falling a bit short. It ain’t bad tbh, airy and light enough without any strong eggy flavour. Would be perfect if it were a wee moister. What made this a win in my books though was the cream cheese sauce. It’s like a 奶盖 (that bubble tea milk foam topping) fountain just smothering the pancakes with malty goodness. I love it. LOVE it.

For NT90 we get a basket of 10 freshly steamed, piping hot, juicy af dumplings. If not for the slightly thicker skins it honestly wouldn’t be a stretch to call these xlbs — they were THAT juicy. I’d strongly advise downing these quickly cause the skins will get thicker as they cool, but that’s assuming there’s something wrong with you and you haven’t wolfed them immediately as we did.

A well-known Taiwanese croissanterie using folding techniques and flour from Japan, Hazukido has multiple branches over the country (a couple overseas as well) and boasts a wide range of savoury and sweet flavours. Their Taipei Main Station branch was running buy 5 get 1 free promo, so of course I was gonna stuff my face silly. Texture-wise the croissants were crazy crispy on the outside, soft and bouncy on the inside, and still extremely buttery. Nothing like the mega-laminated ones (think TBB) we have back home, but yummy nonetheless. Of those I tried I loved the Garlic croissant and the Aomori Sun Fuji Apple one; the former was so good I could eat a box full of them.

I love my dough fritters and they’re an absolute must-have whenever there’s soy milk around; but I gotta say for all the goodies Singapore has, it cannot, imho, beat the dough fritters from Taipei — specifically that of 复航豆漿. A little oily yes, but so so crispy, light, paradoxically ethereal I’d even say. I was enjoying mine in their popular 薄饼, a thin flatbread stuffed with an omelette and said dough fritter. What I adore about Taipei’s flatbreads is they aren’t doughy and bready like those Middle Eastern/European ones, instead extremely flaky and even a little buttery, like a cross between prata and bread. Super shiok to eat, an absolute carb indulgence, and perfect when dunked into a bowl of thick, sweetened soy milk. It is immensely filling though and if, like me, you’ve got makan places lined up back-to-back, ordering a dough fritter alone would still bring 110% satisfaction.

Doesn’t look as tall nor pretty as a lot of other soufflé pancakes, but damn I gotta say these are the best I’ve tasted till date. For one, they were really warm when served. This point sounds like a duh but really isn’t, cause lots of places let these fluffy cakes rest a little before plating so everything stays on (I tried to take a couple more photos but the fresh cream slid right off after this shot). It’s also exceedingly — like insanely — moist, the sides completely sticking to my finger when I stupidly poked it. And all the condiments really served to highlight and complement the hotcakes. Salted butter, freshly whipped cream, some hokkaido cheese sticks, and warm maple syrup 🤤 Honestly though for how moist, fluffy and light these were, I’ll pay the hefty NTD380 even without the extras on the side.

We were weirded out by the idea of having savoury tau huay. After trying 阜行's salty soy bean, I now find it better than the usual sweet version. 阜行's take is the best I've had, with the soy curdling into a larger, solid lump. Topped with chopped pickles, chives, and bits of fried dough fritters, it tastes shockingly similar to chawanmushi/a simple steamed egg custard.

It's actually 永和豆浆大王 along 复兴南路, but I can't seem to get the geotag right! The McDonalds of 豆浆 spots in Taipei, I found this to offer decent - though not nearly the best - breakfast fare. Dough fritters were a tad too hard and oily; 烧饼夹蛋油条 was decent though oily; and the sweet soy milk though a little weak a fairly good. The infamous 咸豆浆 didn't taste too bad, but the messy curdled appearance was quite turn off-ish.

Unquestionably deserving of the title imho. Specked with decadent slivers of fatty braised pork fat, the minced pork belly topping boasted a melt-in-your-mouth texture and an amazing depth of flavour. It's gobsmackingly delicious. The rice was moist and sticky, soaking up the oily yummy pork gravy. Enjoyed with the few but stellar side dishes, it made for an excellent and affordable breakfast.

Taxi uncle told us this 营养三文治 is one of the best items their and a definite must-try. Stuffed with fresh tomatoes, braised eggs, cucumbers, diced turkey, and a generous squeeze of mayo, this fried sandwich is anything but nutritious. While it's not as madly delicious as described, this sinful snack is undoubtedly quite a tasty one. Tell them to put lesser mayo it'll be better!

Note that there are quite a few of this 营养三文治 stalls. You're looking for the one that's part of the metal hawker-esque stalls, operated by 4 ladies.