Diao Si Spicy Hot Pot in Gongguan is located on Tingzhou Road, Section 3, about a five-minute walk from Gongguan MRT Station.
This time, I took out Chengdu Stewed Vegetables, priced at 168 NT dollars.
Chengdu Stewed Vegetables:
The restaurant offers a total of seven set meal options, with the spiciness and numbness of the Chengdu stew rated at three stars. The ordering process for the meal sets starts with choosing the broth, then selecting the meat, and finally picking the main dish. I chose chicken and handmade pulled noodles.
The broth has a spicy and fragrant aroma that is spicy but not overwhelming, accompanied by a hint of numbness that is very appetizing. The chicken is tender, and the portion is average, while the ingredients like cabbage and tofu skin are cooked just right, giving a rich overall flavor. What’s particularly surprising is that there is a whole fried egg in it. Although stewed dishes claim to have any ingredients, seeing a fried egg still took me by surprise.
The handmade pulled noodles have a very chewy texture, with a good bite and moderate thickness. Overall, they lean more towards knife-cut noodles but are much more uniform.
In general, it is a fairly standard Sichuan spicy hot pot. If you don't order a set meal, you can also pick ingredients on the spot and weigh them. The dining area of the restaurant is spacious, with a wide variety of ingredients, and I might want to dine in and try it out next time.
I recommend it to everyone.
I happened to come across this restaurant while searching online. Usually, I like to open the map 🗺️ and search for restaurants like I'm on an adventure. I didn’t expect that after living in this area for so long, an omakase restaurant could escape my notice! The dining experience is reservation-only, so I directly booked the lunch menu for my meal!
As soon as I entered the restaurant, I saw two Japanese 🇯🇵 chefs standing at the counter. Unlike most restaurants of this kind that limit dining times to one or two slots so that everyone can start dining at the same time, here you can book different time slots and be served individually by the chefs right in front of you! Although this is a bit different, it allows for personalized care and the ability to adjust according to our dining habits, which is a nice human touch!
The food was also exceptional…
What left a particularly strong impression on me were:
❤️ Salmon Nigiri
At first, I thought it was just ordinary nigiri sushi 🍣, but the professional Japanese chef not only got the taste of the vinegared rice just right but also shaped the sushi with perfect firmness! Especially the taste of the salmon; I’m not exaggerating when I say… it practically melted in my mouth! The chef applied just a very thin layer of light soy sauce on the surface of the salmon, which enhanced its natural sweetness and left a deep impression on me!
❤️ Yuzu Sauce with Fish Belly
When I heard yuzu sauce, I initially thought it would have a tart flavor, but I was surprised to find it completely held the fragrance of yuzu, which completely neutralized the greasiness of the fish belly, revealing the sweetness of the fish with a refreshing aroma. This created a deliciously sweet scent that I really enjoyed!
❤️ Tamagoyaki
Some might think that tamagoyaki is just simple egg 🥚, but I was amazed because when I took my first bite, I thought I was eating cake 🍰. It really had that sweet and smooth cake-like texture, making me realize I was having egg as a dessert! You can imagine how silky smooth and delicious their tamagoyaki was!
Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant! Personally, I’m thinking of going back to experience the new menu. I feel that the portion sizes are just right; you can leave feeling full and satisfied, and there’s dessert at the end to perfectly wrap up the meal! I hope anyone coming to this area can come and give it a try!
Siyema Spicy Hot Pot is located in the Xindian area of New Taipei City, with the nearest MRT station being Dapinglin Station, exit 3, about a 1-minute walk away. The restaurant features a lot of wooden decorations with solid wood tables and chairs, and the ceiling is painted in bright red and black, creating a strong Sichuan spicy hot pot atmosphere.
You need to find a seat yourself, fill out the menu, and hand it to the counter. Payment is required before dining, and only cash is accepted. The receipt has no carrier options, and there is no service charge.
Today, we ordered:
🔸 Xinjiang Spicy Beef $230
We chose mild spiciness and added Prince Noodles. Besides the slices of lamb, there are many other ingredients, mostly hot pot items. It was quite hot when served, with a fragrant and mildly spicy broth; the mild spiciness was still quite spicy, and the overall flavor leaned towards salty.
🔸 Rich Cheese Fresh Fish Milk Pot $250
Not spicy, with an added side of braised pork rice for an extra charge. The soup was not very hot when served, and the cheese slices did not melt well. The ingredients were similar to the fatty beef pot, just with fish slices instead of meat. The fish slices were from a white fish, not very firm, with a mild flavor and not salty. The broth was rather bland with little taste of milk, just average.
🔸 Family Recipe Braised Pork Rice (Side +$25)
The meat portion was quite small and not fully covering the rice. The meat had a good balance of fat and lean parts, which was decent, but the extra charge made it seem a bit not worth it.
Overall, I felt the meals were average, not to the level that would make me consider returning.
Recently, a chain Taiwanese ramen shop has become increasingly popular. The interior space is spacious and well-lit, and I think the dining environment is excellent, so I give it five stars!
As for their ramen varieties, while there aren't many, they do offer different additions based on personal appetite, so whether you have a small appetite or are a big eater, everyone is welcome.
This time, I ordered their most expensive and daily limited beef and clam ramen, and I have to say the texture is quite unique; it was my first time experiencing something like this.
The broth itself has a natural sweetness from the clams, but also carries the aroma of beef. The broth is very rich and oily, and I recommend pairing it with the filtered water provided by the shop!
The portion of beef is also quite generous, making it a satisfying meal. There is also a large amount of seafood, and the clams are not the super tiny variety. I think the shop displays a lot of sincerity in this regard.
Additionally, spending over 250 NT dollars allows you to receive a 20 NT dollar discount on the spot, which serves as a sort of indirect promotional activity, and you can also accumulate points with the shop, making it very cost-effective. I highly recommend that anyone passing by Gongguan should give it a try!
The Chiayi Black Tea Taipei Guangci Store is located on Zhongpo South Road Lane in the Xinyi District, near the Guangci Boai Park and the Xinyi District Administration Center. It is a bit far from the nearby MRT station, making it somewhat secluded.
Today, I enjoyed the grass jelly Four Seasons Spring tea and Forget Worries tea, totaling 80 NT dollars.
Grass Jelly Four Seasons Spring:
The tea soup is clear with a fresh and refreshing tea aroma. To savor the combined experience brought by the grass jelly, I opted for the unsweetened version of the Four Seasons Spring. The handmade grass jelly has a smooth texture and a chewy bite, blending beautifully with the tea aroma to create a balanced and delicious experience.
Forget Worries Tea:
Forget Worries Tea is a blend of Four Seasons Spring and black tea in an appropriate ratio, combining the rich flavor of black tea with the refreshing aroma of Four Seasons Spring. Since the Chiayi Black Tea only offers the sweetened version, while there are two types of Four Seasons Spring to choose from. After I chose to mix it with the unsweetened Four Seasons Spring, the sweetness became more subtle.
Overall, it is a fairly standard hand-shaken beverage chain. It differs from the usual hand-shaken drinks in that the small cup is comparable to the large cup of other shops, and the large cup is already at a "fat cup" level.
I recommend it to everyone.
The old shop Wanli Meatballs is a bustling place, with the market in the morning and a night market in the evening. The location is very lively, and the shop is bright, clean, and overall feels comfortable. They only serve two dishes: meatballs and meatball soup, and there are frozen options available for takeaway. I didn't get to try the meatball soup this time, but the meatballs are the typical fried kind, with a chewy and delicious exterior and a generous filling that pairs perfectly with the essential sauce. Having two meatballs and a bowl of meatball soup would make for a pretty good lunch.
Reviewer Comments: There is a wash station on the first floor.
This is the McDonald's in Naha, near the accommodation. I specifically woke up early to eat the pancake burger I've been thinking about, only to find that the restaurant was mostly filled with elderly Japanese people in the morning; the atmosphere was very interesting. There's also a self-service ordering machine, which saves the trouble of gesturing.
We ordered:
McGriddles Sausage & Egg × 2
Side Salad × 1
Hash Potato × 2
Beef Stew Pie × 1
Chicken McNuggets (5 pieces) × 1
Thoughts:
The pancake burger still has that sweet and savory taste, it's nice to have it once in a while.
The hash browns were a bit oily, felt a little heavy.
The salad portion was surprisingly good, not bad at all.
The beef pie tasted a bit like sauce, pretty ordinary.
I actually found the chicken nuggets from Taiwan to be tastier.
Overall, it was an interesting experience, especially seeing different dining cultures in a foreign place!
Amazing self-roasted coffee facing the trails of Yatsugatake in Yamanashi!
When I was eating, I noticed a cafe on the map near the restaurant. The photos looked beautiful, and it was hard to imagine such an Instagram-worthy place in this rural area.
It turns out this cafe was created by a couple who used to sell their homemade roasted coffee from a food cart at various locations. They raised funds on a Japanese crowdfunding website to transform an old house into a comfortable local café for the community.
Inside the café, there are many decorations made from locally sourced dried flowers, and the charcoal stove creates a warm atmosphere!
They offer a variety of coffees from light to dark roast. The light roast coffee I ordered had a clean, balanced acidity and was truly excellent! What's even more noteworthy is their dessert. I tried the ginger chocolate pound cake, which had a strong ginger flavor that surprisingly complemented the chocolate! It was served with homemade apple jam from a nearby farm, giving it a refreshing, natural taste.
With such décor and the quality of the food and drink, in the city this would likely cost 20% more. The value for money is incredibly high, and the air around here is super fresh. You can also enjoy views of the Yatsugatake mountains outside. I highly recommend experiencing this in nature!
My boyfriend's company issued Wang Pin gift cards. It was a cold day, so we decided to eat at Qinghuajiao this time, specifically at the Banciao location. Last time we had roasted duck at the nearby restaurant, but this time we chose Qinghuajiao. Previously, we had picked the cabbage and pickled vegetable hot pot along with fat beef with green peppers.
This time I chose the fragrant truffle mushroom, and my boyfriend chose the fat beef with green peppers. I really like the spacious Banciao store. Since my boyfriend wanted to wait for all the dishes to be served before eating, and I eat slowly, I only had the fat beef with green pepper hot pot, while the other pot was packed up for my colleague who was still at work. The white rice was very delicious; I had two bowls.
Can I teach the cafeteria aunties at the company? I brought a portion for my colleagues, hoping they like it.
First, the conclusion: #ZhongyuanNightMarketRecommendation 👍🏼
#JapaneseCrepesAreTheBest 🔥 Absolutely love it! Will definitely visit again.
Ordering time: Monday at 19:30
Waiting time: 0! (50% full)
Waiting time for food: 13 minutes
Here are the items ordered this time and their prices 🔻
🔺 Banana Chocolate Crepe $130
Since it was my first time here and I had no ideas, I chose what the owner recommended 👑
Bananas and chocolate are both my favorites,
and combined, you can't go wrong 😤
When it was served, it was actually smaller than I expected,
but in terms of taste, it really deserves a thumbs up!
Topped with lots of whipped cream and chocolate-hazelnut spread,
there are banana slices and a cold cake inside.
Every last bite is filled with good stuff.
Although it's a dessert, it’s not too sweet at all.
For those who aren’t used to the crepe batter, they might think it's undercooked,
but this softness is exactly what I love the most 🩷
Because I watched #NightMarketKing Episode 9 last night and was inspired,
there was a crepe shop that made me want to eat it so badly 🤤
If I hadn't been specifically guided, I would never have known
there's a dessert shop hidden in the alley community.
Although this shop doesn’t have many flavors to choose from,
the owner works very quickly and is friendly.
The decor inside, with warm lighting, creates a very cozy and comfortable atmosphere.
