There are many restaurants near Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, making it a great place to have a meal and then check out some exhibitions.
The night before, I was thinking about having curry rice, so I randomly searched for options and found three places that serve curry rice (one of them is Silver Rabbit). I chose this one because they have an omelet rice option. 😆
On the day of the visit, I went to wait for a table right at 11:30 when the restaurant opened. There weren't many reservations, so we were seated smoothly. The environment is clean, and the tables aren’t too close together. Each chair has a storage basket underneath! Very considerate~
✨ Personal recommendation
◽ Cheese Hamburger Patty (Omelet Curry Rice) ✨ $385
◽ Creamy Tomato Sea Bass Fettuccine $320
◽ +Set C Combo $220
I would be willing to go back for the curry rice to try other dishes and desserts. Just sharing for everyone’s reference!
🏡 In the Yatsugatake area, on the Kiyosato Plateau, there's a popular beer restaurant in the complex settlement "Mogura no Mura"!
When it first opened in 1971, it was just a tea shop called ROCK. After numerous renovations and expansions, it has now transformed into a bustling restaurant with a craft brewery, and the entire area has become a multi-purpose tourism park known as "Mogura no Mura."
A must-try here is their signature curry! They claim to sell 150,000 servings a year, made with whole Koshū barley beef that's simmered for over 10 hours, along with various local fresh and sweet vegetables. The experience is completely different from any other curry and is definitely worth trying!
The five-piece beer tasting set is also an irresistible combination that makes you want to come back every time. The locally crafted "Yatsugatake Beer Touchdown" series has won countless awards and received rave reviews both domestically and internationally. It's great for sharing with friends, as you can enjoy a variety of flavors from light to deep.
During a previous winter visit, they also prepared cotton candy by the central hearth, allowing guests to try roasting marshmallows indoors by a campfire. You can also buy local craft beer as a gift nearby!
Taipei Nanjing Fuxing Station - A high-end bistro with an open-style modern kitchen, featuring stunning signature dishes. The name "Fei Ping" comes from the option to order red and white wines by the glass.
📍 Fried Steak Sandwich (5.5oz) NT$980
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
This dish features American sous-vide beef short rib fried to perfection, encased in a crispy pastry. The toast is made from milk bread and grilled to a crispy finish on a wire rack, paired with a rich Thousand Island dressing.
Biting into it, you’ll be amazed by the crispy beef exterior, followed by the tender sweetness of the meat, balanced beautifully by the rich and sweet Thousand Island dressing. It’s the perfect match!
There are four portions, great for sharing. This dish is an absolute must-try, though the price is on the higher side.
📍 Potato Mille-Feuille NT$280
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖
Featuring a potato mille-feuille as the main component, combined with a chive cream white sauce and Argentinian green sauce, topped with feta cheese and enhanced with duck fat.
The sauce overall is slightly tart, bringing out a hint of herbal freshness. The texture of the potato mille-feuille blends well with the rich aroma of the sauce and cheese. I really liked this dish!
I highly recommend ordering this; the price is reasonable, and it’s quite unique!
📍 Seafood Rice NT$640
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Packed with rich seafood, including scallops, peeled shrimp, soft salmon, and tarragon.
This dish lacks distinctiveness, and the overall flavor leans towards salty, possibly due to the salmon roe being saltier. It might be a bit greasy for two people but is great for sharing among several.
If you enjoy bold flavors and ample ingredients, give this dish a try!
📍 Red Wine Pinot Noir NT$320/150ml glass
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
I’m not a red wine expert, so I’ll refrain from further comments XD
However, the glass is a stemless wine glass, and I'm not sure why; it makes clinking glasses impossible!
📍 Fortune Cookie (Complimentary post-meal surprise)
At the end of the meal, the staff presents a fortune cookie with two slips of paper inside. As for what’s written, I won’t spoil it! I encourage everyone to visit for the experience, haha! The cookie is on the sweeter side but quite delicious!
▶️ Environment
🔹 The interior has ample seating space, including an open kitchen area and dining chair sections.
🔹 The style is chic, with warm, slightly dim lighting, perfect for chatting and gatherings.
🔹 Cutlery is self-service.
▶️ Friendly Reminders
🔹 It is recommended to make a reservation via Inline.
🔹 The menu can be accessed by scanning a QR code to open a webpage.
🔹 All dishes are ordered à la carte; there are no set meals and no minimum spending requirements.
🔹 You can pay by card at the table, and mobile payment options are available.
🔹 A 10% service charge will be added.
🔹 Dining time is limited to two hours.
▶️ Overall Evaluation
🔹 This restaurant has good quality, and the atmosphere is suitable for gatherings and dates. It is conveniently located near the MRT station. The staff is professional and friendly—they even guide you to the restroom and see you off when you leave. The service is exceptional. The signature dishes are memorable and unique, making it highly recommended for dining!
Taipei Shilin - A family-friendly restaurant offering choices such as curry, pasta, risotto, and desserts. The ambiance is warm and filled with cute sloth decorations!
📍Golden Pork Cutlet Curry Rice NT$220
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
You can choose the sauce to be rich or mild; I opted for rich (it has a stronger spice flavor).
You can also choose whether to add chili oil; I chose to add it, and it is really super spicy, so be careful!
The curry is quite rich, falling between Japanese and Indian styles. The broccoli is overcooked, making it soft and not very pleasant to eat.
The pork cutlet skin is very crispy, but the meat doesn't taste like real pork (it lacks the fibrous texture characteristic of pork).
Overall, eating too much fried pork cutlet can feel heavy and greasy, and I find the curry somewhat ordinary with nothing particularly special about it.
🔹 The soup served is preserved vegetable and shredded meat soup, which is quite good. The broth is flavorful, and the ingredients are substantial; I like it a lot!
📍Baked White Sauce Smoked Chicken Pasta NT$240
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
The pasta is penne, the white sauce is on the wetter side, and the smoked chicken has a decent flavor. The baking is rich.
Overall, this dish is better than the curry; it doesn't feel as heavy, and it also comes with a soup.
📍Crispy French Fries NT$80
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
The fries are average, crispy when fried, and are decent. They come with ketchup for dipping.
▶️ Environment
🔹 There are quite a few seats for dining, and there's a private room with a projector available for advance reservation.
🔹 The decor is clean and bright, filled with sloth dolls and figurines, which is very cute.
🔹 Drinking water is available for self-service.
🔹 Cutlery is self-service.
🔹 The restroom has a child-friendly toilet (with a smaller toilet for kids), which is very thoughtful!
▶️ Helpful Reminders
🔹 The restaurant is located on the inner side of the MRT line; Google Maps may direct you to the outer side, so be cautious of the location.
🔹 It's advisable to call ahead for a reservation.
🔹 They support various mobile payments and also accept credit cards.
🔹 First-time visitors can scan a QR Code to join the official LINE account for a 10% discount coupon.
▶️ Overall Rating
🔹 The restaurant environment is clean and comfortable, making it a great place for gatherings and chats; however, the quality of the food is somewhat average. The 10% discount for first-time dining with the coupon is a nice touch!
Taipei Zhongshan Junior High School Station - Exquisite meals beside the park, with a bright, clean, and comfortable environment. It is also a food-sharing restaurant.
📍 Curry Leaf Garlic Grilled Southern Ao Premium Mackerel NT$320
🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑
The set includes: soup, main dish, staple, side dish, seasonal fresh fruit.
Sweet Potato Oatmeal Soup: Rich and slightly salty, the fusion of sweet potato and milky flavor with a hint of rosemary.
Brown Rice: Healthy and tasty, but a bit drier, with a chewy texture.
Mackerel: This is the white-bellied mackerel from Southern Ao, a large piece, with firm and slightly tough meat, and the saltiness is a bit strong. The oil content is not as rich as Norwegian mackerel. The curry leaf garlic sauce is loud in name but lacks flavor; I couldn't taste anything particular (this sauce is on the salty side).
The side dish of sweet potato leaves is ordinary, and the winter melon tastes a bit cold and salty, which is okay.
Fruit: Includes banana, dragon fruit, kiwi, pineapple, and watermelon – quite balanced and nice!
▶️ Environment
🔹 The dining space is medium-sized, with 6 four-person tables and 1 two-person table.
🔹 Clean decor, large wooden tables, a clean and comfortable environment, and relaxing music playing.
🔹 Provides self-service drinking water (pick up a whole bottle at the counter).
🔹 Tableware is provided with the meal.
🔹 Free Wi-Fi is available.
▶️ Helpful reminders
🔹 After entering, find a seat; there is a menu on the table. After filling it out, go to the counter to order and pay.
🔹 Taiwan Pay is available but requires linking a card.
▶️ Overall evaluation
🔹 Upon entering, the counter staff were not very friendly and somewhat indifferent. The meal quality is decent, but the side dishes are less tasty. The mackerel has a large piece, but it tastes firmer and drier. With this price point, the set includes fruit, which is reasonably good value! I dined around noon, and I could stay inside until 5 PM without being rushed to leave, which is nice!
🌟Home-cooked Dishes and Coin-operated Karaoke Venues
"Zhu Wu Tu Ji Cheng" is a tin-roofed restaurant located on Chongshan Road in the East District. You may wonder how I know about it. It's a popular gathering place for the elders where they can enjoy meals and sing together. I think this is a sacred spot for them!!
Zhu Wu Tu Ji Cheng is indeed a tin-roofed house, and the dining space is quite small, about the size of three tables. There’s an elderly woman cooking, giving it a nostalgic feel of having meals in the countryside when I was a child.
The menu is diverse, featuring signature chicken dishes and various stir-fried options. However, apart from the chicken dishes, it seems that most items are priced according to market price. Since the elders ordered, I'm not too sure about the prices.
Three Cup Chicken 💰 400
Soy Milk Chicken 💰 400
Edamame
Fried Rice
Thoughts: I find the food quite ordinary. If you have elders at home who want to eat and sing a little but don’t want to dine too late, this place is a good choice.
If you care about the meal quality: It's quite ordinary.
If you care about the environment: The tin-roofed building is old and not very spacious.
If you care about parking: Motorcycles can park at the entrance, but it's not easy to park cars.
If you care about the restroom: There is one shared restroom.
If you care about waiting time: The service is very quick, almost no waiting.
If you care about service: It's average.
If you care about value for money: 🌟🌟🌟
(Just discussing food and prices)
Hey, no way... this place is really over the top 😾❗️
This is honestly the craziest thing I've had in Changhua in eighteen years.
I've tried it for everyone; you don't need to come.
The lighting and atmosphere are great; the space on the first floor is suitable for dates or small group meals (or studying, doing homework, etc.) I haven't been to the second floor yet (you can book the venue for more than 25 people).
You can take utensils and plain water by yourself.
Their large drinks are really large 😻 (I've heard from a friend that this kind of drink can be sold for $150 in Taipei) but here it’s sold for $120 so you must drink a lot 🤤. And the added agar is really generous.
By the way, I stayed here for three hours today (the air conditioning is very nice 💗).
🌟 Afternoon tea: Recommended 👍🏻
🌟 Drinks: Recommended 👍🏻 (you must order the large one to drink a lot, and remember to add extras)
🌟 Frequency of visits: "Come once in a while"
🌟 There are children's dining tables and chairs.
🌟 The restroom is bright and spacious.
Located in Gukeng, Yunlin, "Huashan Restaurant" is an establishment that combines stunning scenery with delicious meals, making it especially suitable for those who want to enjoy gourmet food in a natural environment.
It is worth mentioning that I hadn't seen this restaurant open for several years, until recently when I returned to my hometown. My mom suddenly told me that there was a place on Huashan that had been closed for a long time but had recently reopened, and she had eaten there and thought it was good, recommending that I try it. After dining there, I found that it truly is one of the few small hot pot places in the mountains with both quality flavors and reasonable prices.
First of all, the "Peeled Chili Chicken Hot Pot" is a major highlight here. The broth blends the aroma of peeled chili peppers, offering a mild spiciness paired with sweetness, making it perfect for diners who enjoy refreshing yet flavorful dishes. On the other hand, the "Kimchi Hot Pot" has a sour and spicy flavor, where the fermented tang of the kimchi perfectly combines with the broth, making it especially ideal for warming the stomach on cold days. The "Spicy Mongolian Hot Pot" caters more to customers with a preference for bold flavors—it's aromatic and has spice, but it's not overwhelmingly hot.
On sunny days, enjoying a meal in the outdoor area allows one to savor both the beautiful scenery and exquisite food simultaneously. However, it has been a bit too hot lately, and there are quite a few mosquitoes on Huashan, so I opted to sit indoors with the air conditioning instead. 😆
In conclusion, this restaurant is highly recommended for family gatherings or casual get-togethers with friends.
My friend said the braised pork is amazing, so I came here!!
🌟 Dining on the first floor porch, air conditioning on the second floor
"Harvest Dining Table" is located on Ximen Road in the west-central district. The first floor has porch dining, while the second floor has indoor space with air conditioning. A few young people started this business, insisting on traditional old-fashioned flavors. The dishes are served super quickly, and it's a newly opened restaurant that rivals skilled chefs in stir-frying. Especially the braised pork, it's tender and flavorful, perfect with rice!!
Parking near Harvest Dining Table is not very convenient. The first-floor seating area has no air conditioning and is on the porch, while the second floor features bright and spacious four-person tables with air conditioning—two different experiences in one restaurant!!
Braised Pork 💰 190
The braised pork has a shiny, oily appearance. Besides being tender and easy to eat, the sauce perfectly clings to the meat, which is quite impressive. It’s practically a must-have with rice—ordering one dish can easily translate to two bowls of rice!!
Stir-fried Clams 💰 140
A familiar combination of seasonings from the south, another dish that goes well with rice.
Shrimp Egg Fried Rice 💰 90
The fried rice has a moist texture.
Stir-fried Pork with Scallions 💰 150
Scrambled Eggs with Shrimp 💰 140
This scrambled eggs with shrimp dish is soft and tender as well, quite nice.
Stir-fried Cabbage 💰 60
This dish is very affordable!!
Kung Pao Chicken 💰 160
As someone who can't handle spicy food but still wants to enjoy, I was glad to have a friend who likes it flavorful.
Pan-fried Milkfish Belly 💰 140
The skin of the fish belly is crisp and firm without being greasy, though I personally prefer it to be a bit more moist.
Experience: It's a fine place to eat solo, and the dishes come out so fast I wanted to yell for them to pause! Chef, do your hands ever get sore? 🥹
If you value the dishes: The braised pork is fantastic, and everything else is great too.
If you value the environment: It's clean and bright.
If you value parking: Motorcycles can park at the entrance; parking for cars is not very convenient.
If you value the restroom: There's one shared toilet for men and women.
If you value waiting in line: The speed is very quick, you hardly have to wait.
If you value service: It's not bad, but the speed of serving the dishes is a bit too fast 😂😂 I’m sure we had nine dishes within 15 minutes!
If you value cost-performance ratio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
(Simply discussing food and prices)
🌟It is recommended to make a reservation in advance, as the space is spacious and suitable for gatherings.
Having passed by many times with fewer people this time, I came directly to taste the dumplings at Han Lai, which seem to be the most commonly eaten in Tainan, perhaps inspired by Shanghai’s good flavors 😂
Introduction:
“Han Lai Shanghai Soup Dumplings” is located on the first basement level of the Nanfang Shopping Center. It’s quite crowded during meal times, so making a reservation is advisable. The interior is very spacious and bright, featuring round tables for two, four, and larger groups, making it an ideal spot for dining and gatherings. The restaurant also provides high chairs for children, and upon being seated, you'll be served a pot of tea without any additional charge. They even allow for tea to be refilled, which I appreciate.
The menu includes thin-skinned, juicy dumplings with 18 pleats, soup dishes, cold appetizers, rice/noodles, desserts, and several signature chef's dishes.
Let’s eat:
Signature Soup Dumplings (6 pieces) 💰135
The Shanghai soup dumplings are made with a golden ratio of Taiwan's pork hind leg meat, rolled out by a chef. Each dumpling has 18 pleats, and the skin is thin and bursting with juice, making it really piping hot when served. It’s excellent👍 I completely forgot to count if there were indeed 18 pleats!!
Shrimp and Shredded Pork Fried Rice 💰220
The fried rice has a great texture with distinct grains, but this was the mildest fried rice I’ve ever had; the seasoning was quite light to the point of almost being nonexistent 😂 My friend and I had to add soy sauce ourselves for flavor.
Cabbage 💰170
Thoughts: The soup dumplings are delicious, the fried rice depends on personal preference, and the hot tea is fantastic!! However, the queue can be a hassle 😂 Remember to make a reservation!
If you prioritize the meal: The soup dumplings have thin skins and are juicy, the hot tea is great.
If you prioritize the environment: It is clean and bright.
If you prioritize parking: There is parking for scooters/cars.
If you prioritize restrooms: Department store restrooms.
If you prioritize queuing: Reservation is recommended.
If you prioritize service: Average.
If you prioritize value for money: 🌟🌟🌟
(Just discussing food and prices)