Foodholic Niko @ Taipei
Have you ever eaten oden inside a century-old historic building?
"Maruyama Station" is a new Japanese oden restaurant that opened in July this year, located near Maruyama Station (Isn't it a nice match with the restaurant's name!). When you exit from Exit 2, it's right across the street, and the exterior has a very Japanese style, making it easy to recognize.
You are required to remove your shoes before entering, and the interior is very Japanese, reminiscent of tatami. There are seating areas where you sit on the floor, as well as tables. As soon as you step inside, you feel a refreshing atmosphere that makes you feel like you've arrived in Japan in an instant.
The oden is sweet and tasty, with each item being quite flavorful. Honestly, everything is delicious! If I had to choose, my favorites are: daikon $40, cabbage roll $65, fish roe pouch $40, egg fry (similar to thick egg omelet) $35, and baby bok choy $40.
I added yuzu sauce $10. It was quite good, and alternating it with the free oden sauce was not bad, but honestly, if you don't want to pay extra, the original oden sauce is already amazing.
P.S. There's also Dongquan sauce.
For fried items, we ordered New Taiwan Fried (similar to sweet potato tempura) $35 and Golden Sand Squid Tempura $45. Personally, I feel the cost-performance ratio isn't very high. The taste is okay, but the portion is really small (I was a bit shocked when it arrived), so relatively speaking, it's a bit expensive. I'd rather use the same amount of money to order more oden.
Noodle soup $40 consists of noodles and a few slices of vegetables. It tastes standard, but the fact that the noodles don’t have a strange oily taste is commendable, and the soup is very delicious. If you don’t want to order noodle soup, there's also free broth available for self-service.
The "Sake Machine" is really novel! It's a machine I haven't seen elsewhere; for $100, you can exchange it for 3 tokens. Each token can be exchanged for a type of alcohol, which is 20ml. We tried matcha plum wine and passion fruit wine, both were very delicious, along with another sake, which was a bit too strong for my taste. It seems I’m still better off with sweeter drinks 😂.
Overall, with such an environment and atmosphere, the food is also above average, and it’s filling. Splitting the cost for two people came to less than $200 each. Highly recommended!
🌟 The highly popular student favorite spicy oden, drinks recommended.
🌟 Dine-in (seating will be arranged) and takeout both require queuing, and there are really a lot of people.
"The Spicy Oden on Xiaodong Road" is a roadside stall located on Xiaodong Road. It’s not an exaggeration, you can see the crowd from a distance during business hours, making it clear if they are closed for the day; friends living in Tainan surely know about it, with hot pot ingredients starting as low as 5 NT dollars!!
Xiaodong Road Spicy Oden is operated from a small food truck. Honestly, I think it’s really popular because it’s roadside with no air conditioning, dining in summer can be hot, but it's really comfortable in winter. You need to queue first to order, and the staff will arrange seating for you once you order.
The menu includes hot pot ingredients, vegetables, meats, noodles, and sauces such as peanut sauce, special soy sauce, and sesame spicy sauce. Unlimited soup is provided, with hot pot ingredients priced as low as 5 NT dollars, and vegetable packs at 20 NT dollars, with prices ranging from 5 to 70 NT dollars; meats and seasonal vegetables are a bit higher, but honestly, you can get very cheap meals if you don’t go crazy with the meat!!
Oden is divided into spicy and non-spicy. If there are a lot of people, the spicy pot might take longer to queue for (even at the same time), and their spicy flavor is really fragrant, but it’s quite spicy (I can handle a bit of spice).
Time to eat:
Steamed Noodles 💰20
The noodles from Xiaodong Road are topped with their special mushroom minced pork.
Savory but not overly salty; if you find the flavor too light, you can add more seasonings.
Corn 💰15
Radish 💰10
Rice Blood Cake 💰15
Baby Cabbage (half pack) 💰35
Liver Meatball 💰40
Cabbage Roll 💰35
Spicy Duck Blood 💰25
Veggies eat non-spicy, everything else is spicy.
No words can describe it; the vegetables are very fresh and sweet.
Eating spicy food is truly satisfying, but I always go next door to buy drinks (their special drinks are relatively safe, otherwise it’s really spicy). It’s recommended to bring drinks for eating spicy food 😂
Thoughts: Eating here since my student days till now, it really is cheap and delicious!!
If you prioritize meals: cheap and delicious.
If you prioritize the environment: roadside setting.
If you prioritize parking: Motorbikes can park by the lakeside; cars park on the roadside (depends on luck).
If you prioritize restrooms: None.
If you prioritize queuing: Almost always a queue.
In summer, it’s recommended to take out and enjoy at home with air conditioning, super great.
If you prioritize service: Average.
If you value cost-performance ratio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
(Simple discussion on food and price.)
❤️ The top-grade sweet potato noodles always remind me of Ding Te, but this "top-grade" is just an adjective. The first time I came to Taipei to eat sweet potato noodles, it was at this place. Back then, I didn't understand why they added soup, but later I learned that it's a special characteristic of northern sweet potato noodles.
Overall rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
🚗 This is the Wanhua Mengjia Night Market, and you can park at the Longshan Temple underground parking lot. There are plenty of spots, but you still need to wait for a space. There's also parking around the perimeter of the night market for scooters, and I saw people riding right into the market. If you're worried about parking, you can take the MRT to Longshan Temple Station and walk over.
💬 Although it's called sweet potato noodles, it should actually be a shorthand for kanto-style stew. The contents include not only sweet potato noodles, but also radish, rice blood cake, small meatballs, fried tofu, and crystal dumplings. Previously, we would sit inside the shop, but after the pandemic, we could only sit outside or on the scattered chairs on the road, and you might get bumped into by pedestrians (there are really a lot of people on weekends). Sometimes, there's no place to sit, so you have to eat while standing, which makes the dining environment a bit awkward. However, having sweet potato noodles and adding hot soup (free unlimited refills) in winter is truly a great enjoyment (in summer... it's hard to say).
Food quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Service quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Restaurant atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Value for money: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
For detailed reviews of the dishes, please continue reading below ❤️
Sanuki udon set meal 120$ (exclusive to adult students)
The set meal is a bowl of oden + udon noodles and hot spring egg
Drizzle udon noodles with sesame sauce and put a hot spring egg on it
Overall it tastes moist and smooth.
Sesame paste has a sesame and sweet aroma
There are a lot of ingredients for oden cooking!
The soup is also a bit sweet, very delicious and quite unique.
I want to try mentaiko udon next time!
It’s Kanazawa’s famous oden
Just inside Souvenir Street
This is also a shop where you have to draw number plates and wait for your number to be called.
You can draw number plates before the official opening
While waiting, you can go shopping at the souvenir street next to it.
Come back a few minutes before the official opening and wait for your number to be called.
There will be a number plate after you take your seat.
After checking out, just take the number plate and go to the checkout.
But the waiter probably saw that I didn’t respond to the menu.
Ask if you need menus in other languages
Then he took out the tablet and asked me to order food.
The menu is available in Chinese, English and Korean
But there is only English on the tablet
Maybe we need to check again.
The pictures are all numbered, which is very considerate.
Oden
I mainly ordered some things that I usually eat.
What’s more special is their fish plate
Although it tastes like fish paste
But it tastes less soft and rotten
The radish and tofu are very tender
Especially the tofu is grilled
There is an extra aroma of beans
When you bite into a radish, a little juice will squirt out.
It's pretty big if you order one portion.
Egg tempura is similar to Taiwanese egg balls
Just a bigger version 😂
Braised Beef Tendon
This is what the Japanese uncle next to me looks like.
So I ordered it. It has two flavors.
I just ordered some mixed sauce to try.
The beef tendon is also very tender and won’t bite you too hard.
The taste of miso is less prominent
It tastes better with honey mustard
Later, I used this sauce to cook oden.
If you don’t particularly want to eat, you might order a set menu.
Otherwise, it will feel a little expensive if you mix it yourself.
/ environment /
The store is small with no signboard and not many seats.
Business hours may not necessarily open on time at 10 o'clock
If you want to eat, you have to wait patiently (ΦωΦ)
I've heard people say that the environment is very dirty, but I personally think it's okay.
If you really mind, I suggest you take it out😇
/ food /
There is no price list, so you have to ask "How much does this cost" before ordering!
○ Cabbage+Jigura 2 pieces $45
○ Raw intestines $40/piece
○Three layers of pork $50/portion
This is my second time here and it’s still delicious😋
Jigula is really a must-order for me, it tastes salty when eaten alone
It tastes even better with hot sauce! The hot sauce doesn’t look like much, but it tastes really spicy! 🌶️👍🏻
The raw intestines are cleaned very clean and there is no terrible smell~
And there is no pig blood for sale today, I hope you can get some next time🥲
📢The soup is free and you can drink it by yourself
📢Loss of $50/person for domestic use
I haven’t eaten in a while, and the price seems to have gone up~
Cooking Sweet and Spicy is a restaurant I used to love near Nanyang Street. It’s simple, convenient and delicious. You can also add vegetables if you want. The important thing is that I like to drink its soup, so I miss it if I don’t eat it for a while. .
I feel that even with a boy’s appetite, unless he is really hungry, he will be quite full if he eats the version with more ingredients or noodles. For this meal, I ordered a portion with more ingredients (95) + a portion of oyster and cabbage (20)
There are many kinds of staple food to choose from, and there are also dry/soup versions. Basically, I have tried every combination for everyone. I personally recommend the soup version. The soup base is undoubtedly radish soup, plus the unique bean paste. It tastes like a richer and sweeter vegetable soup. Compared with the dry version, there is no problem that the sauce tastes too strong.
There is nothing special about the ingredients. It is almost the same as the regular sweet and spicy ones. It is full of fish paste products. I think it is a pity that there is only one pork blood cake each even if you order more ingredients.
The amount of green vegetables at 20 yuan is not a lot, but it is barely worth the price.
Thinking about it carefully, most fooday people would probably rate it three stars, but I really love it, so I’ll keep it four.
【Foodholic Naiko@Taipei】
Sweet or not, it doesn't really seem to have any nutritional value, but I still want to eat it from time to time. The key point is that it must be paired with noodles, and it can be regarded as a simple meal.
This sweet and spicy specialty store "Taipei Cooking Sweet and Spicy" is located near Taipei Main Station, about a 4-minute walk from Exit Z8. On weekdays at noon, the customer base is mainly office workers nearby.
Just order directly with the boss, no need to place an order; if you are dining in, you order and pay first, then go to the seating area next door; if you are taking out, you finish ordering and then pay when you pick up your meal.
You can choose whether it is sweet or spicy, soup or dry, the dry taste will be stronger; you can also add noodles, there are 5 types to choose from, including udon noodles, glass noodles, hot pot pasta, lath noodles, and prince noodles.
The portion size can also be adjusted. There are small bowls (small sweet and spicy + 1 serving of noodles), large bowls (small sweet and spicy + 2 servings of noodles), large bowls (large sweet and spicy + 1 serving of noodles), and large bowls (big sweet and spicy). Not spicy + 2 servings), can satisfy people of all appetites
PS In addition to sweet and spicy, they also sell rice cakes in tubes; you can also add extra vegetables or boiled eggs!
I ordered a portion with a lot of ingredients (big sweet and spicy + 1 noodle) $85
There are 8 types of sweet and spicy items, including sweet and spicy slices, sweet and spicy strips, bamboo rings, radish, fried tofu, tribute balls, kelp, and pig blood cake. Except for the last three items, which are 1 each, the other items There are probably 2-3 items
There is something very similar to chickpeas inside, which is quite special.
I chose dry. The sauce tasted boring and salty. I recommend adding chili oil.
Because there are quite a few repetitive items, although it is filling, it tastes boring.
For the noodles, I chose Prince noodles. I thought it was a bit too soft and the texture needs to be improved.
Tips:
You can order a small bowl and add vegetables, which will be richer and more nutritious (I saw the customer next door adding it, so the portion size seems okay. Today’s vegetables are cabbage and oyster cabbage~)
If you want to drink soup, you can just bring the bowl to the boss. The soup tastes sweet, nothing special.
Overall, the price is quite cute. Even if you order the "More Fabrics" and add a side of vegetables, it only costs $130. It won't hurt your wallet as a lunch. The sweet and not spicy taste is average, and there are no amazing items. If it's sweet, As for the non-spicy (Oden) itself, I highly recommend the Jitian non-spicy~
【Foodholic Naiko@Taipei】
I often see this sweet and spicy shop in department store food courts. Today I discovered that a new one has opened in the food court on B1 of Taipei Station. The sign is quite eye-catching and cute, so I decided to have it for dinner!
The internal seating is two rows of counter seats, which can seat 10 people in total. It is very suitable for dining alone. You can dine quietly without talking to anyone. I feel happy as an I person~
(What is an I person, you ask? Please refer to MBTI Type 16 Personality😂)
In addition to cash, you can also use Easy Card and Taiwan Pay here, which is very convenient!
After the clerk makes it, he will put it on the counter for customers to pick up. The same goes for the tableware~
There are two main items sold here: sweet and spicy, and Jisi noodles (actually just shredded chicken noodles).
Want to eat both? Then you can choose the "Geely Exclusive" like me for $149, which includes Xiaoji sweet and spicy (original price $80) + Xiaoliji silk noodles (original price $80). The price will be more favorable if you order the exclusive meal!
PS The name is very weird, but it’s actually a small portion of sweet and spicy and a small portion of shredded chicken noodles
Is Xiaoji sweet or spicy?
I was worried that the small portion would not be enough, but there are actually 10 kinds of items. I personally think it is quite rich. I don’t remember eating the same items, including radish, tofu, tribute balls, fish balls, bamboo balls, Black wheel, etc., and there are some that I can’t name, but they are all quite delicious, there is no strange frozen taste, and there is enough sauce!
(If you want spicy food, you can also order the spicy series, but I guess it just comes with extra hot sauce)
Little Liji noodles
The contents are only shredded chicken noodles, cabbage, and eggs, that’s it~
I added a little bit of sand tea sauce, so the taste is not too strong, and the soup tastes pretty good. I accidentally drank the whole bowl (paying attention to health, I recommend you not to follow this example); the shredded chicken noodles have the right hardness, and the texture is still there, not too soft
The clerk will ask if you want "half-boiled" or "egg blossoms". Half-boiled is similar to a hot spring egg. I personally wish it could be cooked a little more. There isn't much baby bok choy, and the stem part is a little bitter.
Overall, it's quite delicious, whether it's sweet or not. The shredded chicken noodles are a bit empty, but the taste is passable. It also makes people feel nostalgic for some reason, reminding me of eating dim sum after school when I was a kid~
Although the price of such a small exclusive meal is not very cheap, I feel very full after eating it. Moreover, this is the route I must take when I get home from get off work. I will continue to visit in the future.
An oden restaurant located in Market Lane, Section 5, Nanjing East Road.
What we enjoyed today were pepper and sesame dry noodles, lamb horn peppers with meat, special Korean spicy dishes, and mixed sweet and spicy (large), totaling 205 yuan.
I didn't plan to eat so much, but this place is really delicious.
Chili and Sesame Dry Noodles: The most simple, simple dry noodles, as long as the noodles are cooked well and the sauce is delicious enough, it will be very delicious.
The store's pepper and sesame seasoning is just right, not the heavy seasoning of Sichuan restaurants, but the refreshing Japanese style. When I came back to my senses, I had already eaten all the noodles.
Lamb's horn pepper stuffed with meat: a rare Kung Fu dish in which minced meat is stuffed into a hollowed-out lamb's horn pepper. The Oden-style bitter melon seal is also a meal with the same concept. Not only does it look eye-catching, but it also tastes great.
Enjoy the gravy and the spiciness of the chili pepper in your mouth. It's not very spicy, so you can eat it without worry if you are afraid of spicy food.
Korean spicy dishes: I think most of the Korean spicy dishes in the market have an excessive iron taste, but this spicy dish has no such smell at all. It is quite delicious, with both texture and taste.
Although it looks like a small portion, the container is very full.
The spicier level is much spicier than the lamb's horn pepper with meat, so please be careful when enjoying it.
Mixed sweet and spicy: I finished eating the dried pepper and sesame noodles but less than half of the Korean spicy vegetables, so I added some mixed sweet and spicy.
Frankly, it blew me away.
The sweet and spicy slices are extremely tender and tasty, the rice blood flavor is rich and not hard, the sweet and spicy strips, meatballs, black wheels, fried tofu, etc. are all above the standard. They are delicious in their original flavor and delicious after being dipped in oden sauce. Take it to the next level.
The store also provides self-service Kurowa clear soup. After enjoying the delicious meal, drink two bowls of refreshing clear soup to cleanse your taste buds.
I think I will definitely come to this store again.
Recommended to everyone!