🔅Actual visit date: 2024/12/01
*Photos may not be reproduced or used for commercial purposes without permission
Golden Three Wheat has always been a good choice for dining with friends or even continuing to the next place. I heard that they give a whole 6-inch cake on your birthday, so I came with friends to enjoy a meal (not my birthday, haha).
This was my first time dining at the Banqiao Mega City store. The decor felt similar to previous branches. I really like the style of the restaurant, and that day we simply ordered two dishes.
▪️ Golden Three Wheat Classic Platter $1380
Includes crispy pepper chicken, German pork knuckle, American fries, and three types of sausages (black pepper, smoked, and green peppercorn). This classic platter was too much for just the two of us, but it was so satisfying when served 😂. My absolute favorite was the pepper chicken, perfectly fried and great with the dipping sauce! The rest were tasty, but it’s definitely better to share with more people.
▪️ Spanish Seafood Paella $480/2 people
We ordered this dish after we were almost finished with our platter. I don't know if it was because we were too full, but we didn't feel much about it. It had a lot of ingredients, and the rice texture was good, but the flavor wasn’t particularly impressive. Like before, it’s more suitable to share with more people.
▪️ Complimentary 6-inch cake for the birthday celebrant
I was initially expecting the classic chocolate series from BAC, but due to seasonal reasons, we got a strawberry cream cake. It was average, but it had a nice sense of ceremony, which was pretty good.
Overall, I really liked this place. Friends who love beer also enjoy their selection; the flavors are really good, and the food is just right for gatherings and the environment.
Review from a brace user: The restroom is outside the shop, and there are quite a few sinks.
This time, we dined as two on my birthday at Golden Three Wheat, Banqiao Dayuan Shopping Mall, and it was quite crowded on a holiday afternoon.
The restaurant offered a 6-inch strawberry birthday cake (BAC), but unfortunately, it wasn't chocolate-flavored, and tasted just average.
For the main courses, we ordered the classic platter (NT$1380) and the Spanish seafood paella (NT$480).
What I couldn't forget was the pepper chicken from the platter, which was still very tasty, though a bit oily, but acceptable. The German pork knuckle looked very tough, but it was not only tender but also had a crispy skin. There were three flavors of sausage (green peppercorn, black pepper, and smoked), but they were a bit salty.
The Spanish seafood paella was quite rich in ingredients, but the serving speed was a bit slow.
The portions were really large; we couldn't finish the platter and paella, so we packed the leftovers to take home.
This time, since I downloaded the app, we received three NT$100 discount coupons, totaling NT$300 off. After adding a 10% service charge of NT$186, the final amount was NT$1871.
Since I was driving, I didn't drink alcohol, but before leaving, I bought a bottle of the restaurant's popular honey beer (NT$125) to take home.
Overall, the food and atmosphere were good, and the portions were generous, making it very suitable for celebrating special occasions.
During dinner time, even though it was close to closing time at 7 PM, the owner still warmly welcomed us. There were also people coming in for takeout during our visit, so the actual closing time was probably a little later than the stated hours.
The environment was ordinary since it was a food truck, but the shop provided alcohol for disinfection, a handwashing station, and gloves for customers to use, which was a nice touch in this regard.
As for the food, the truffle pumpkin soup was seasoned just right. Both burgers were beef patties, and the lemon peel chili sauce had a noticeable sourness that helped cut through the richness. The truffle cream sauce didn't have a particularly strong truffle flavor. The meat patty itself was juicy and delicious.
Interestingly, each sauce had its own code, but the owner seemed to forget them, so when ordering, you can just mention the flavor instead of the code!
☆ The vegetarian sides are cooked in a mixed environment with meat and vegetables, and all sauces contain egg and dairy, with some containing garlic.
#Vegetarian
During weekdays, the lunch crowd is almost at full capacity. The environment is comfortable and clean, and the staff is enthusiastic, creating a great atmosphere. There are three types of bread to choose from; the ciabatta is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, pairing deliciously with the beef short ribs and side dishes. Additionally, there is a plate of beef short ribs that is half tendon and half meat, with a rich meaty flavor. The tendon is very soft and chewy, complemented by Mexican chili and raw red onion, which helps cut through the greasiness. There is also something that seems to be cassava? The passion fruit marinated dish is very enjoyable, delicious, and the portion is sufficient.
【New Taipei Zhonghe】Guilty. Hamburger
It's really a hidden burger joint in an alley.
I found it through Google and was drawn in by the "cheese waterfall," so I decided to visit.
Although the burger buns are a bit oily, they're quite fragrant.
The beef patties are made with wagyu beef, and it's recommended to have them cooked medium rare to medium.
The pickles aren’t overly salty, which helps balance the richness.
The price isn’t low, but they do come with side dishes, and considering the taste, it's okay.
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🍔 Classic Pure Beef Burger✨$350 + $70 for Cheese Waterfall
＞ Sides: Salad, French Fries
＞ Basic toppings include lettuce, cheese, pickles, and more; the beef patty includes wagyu, and the doneness really elevates it! It’s tender with a delicious beef aroma.
＞ The cheese waterfall comes with a small bowl and should be eaten hot to avoid drying out. It’s actually tasty on its own, but adding this just enhances the experience—high in sodium and calories, so I recommend sharing.
🍔 Peanut Butter Bacon Beef Burger $380
＞ Sides: Salad, French Fries
＞ I couldn’t accept the peanut butter here ❌ it tasted like nuts that got damp and spoiled! I ended up scraping it off. The parts that were contaminated were still 🤮, but everything else was great, and the bacon was cooked well. As long as there's no peanut butter, it would be fine.
Aged Vinegar Pork Matsusaka Thin Crust Pizza✨$280
＞ Sides: Salad, French Fries
＞ Made with a 10-inch crust, the portion is quite large. It contains cheese, grilled vegetables, and Matsusaka pork, resembling a pizza with slightly limited toppings, but it's quite tasty. 👍🏻 The aged vinegar has a pronounced sourness that helps cut through the richness.
The following is my personal preference rating, for reference only:
◽ Burger Aroma: None ● ● ● ● ○ Aroma
◽ Meat Texture: Soft ● ● ◐ ○ ○ Hard
◽ Juiciness: Dry ● ● ● ● ◐ Wet
◽ Sauce Flavor: Average ● ● ● ● ○ Good (beef)
Average ● ● ● ○ ○ Good (peanut)
◽ Variety of Toppings: Few ● ● ● ● ○ Many
◽ Overall Value for Money: Low ● ● ● ◐ ○ High
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■ No. 5, Lane 44, Taihe St., Zhonghe Dist., New Taipei City
■ 02 2243 0069
■ 11:30-15:30, 17:30-21:30 (Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays)
■ Service fee applies
■ Zhonghe MRT Station
■ Parking Info: Zhonghe Elementary School Underground Parking Lot
The boss is kind and enthusiastic, and we happened to encounter a 10% discount celebrating the Chinese baseball team's championship. The meals are delicious:
Burger: A basic just burger, and since the boss heard we like spicy food, he specially added his favorite peppers. The burger has a rich and layered flavor, and is very juicy.
Chicken taco: Refreshing and has a zesty lemon fragrance.
French fries: Standard.
Crispy biscuits (on the house from the boss): Quite tasty with a special tomato garlic sauce.
📍Japan, Osaka Namba
An American street burger restaurant from New York 🍔🍟
Shake Shack is a must-try fast-food chain whenever I travel abroad; I've had great experiences at Shake Shacks in Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Osaka, and it's truly one of my favorite burgers.
I didn’t expect to have a bad experience in Osaka, and it was even my first meal in Japan this time 🥹. Plus, I visited this Shake Shack on the first floor of the Daimaru department store last June and had an amazing experience then. I can’t believe that a year later, the quality of this place has significantly declined.
The indoor space is relatively spacious, and if it’s full, you’ll have to wait a little while for a seat. This time, I used the self-service ordering machine, and even though there were plenty of seats available, I waited over 10 minutes for my burger to be made.
🥘
Ordered items:
🍔 Smoke Shake Double (¥1,639):
Smoked bacon with double burger patties.
I don’t know what happened with the seasoning this time, but the burger patties were extremely salty! They didn’t have the usual level of juicy tenderness that the whole burger normally has. Plus, with the cheese and bacon, it turned into an incredibly salty burger with high oiliness 😮.
🥑 Avocado Bacon Chicken (¥1,430):
A burger with avocado and fried chicken thigh.
The chicken thigh I used to have was fresh and juicy, and the crispiness of the bacon would enhance the burger's layers; the avocado flavor also blended well.
However, the chicken thigh I had this time was somewhat dry, and the fried coating was too thick and heavy, making every bite feel like just the fried coating, and it was very salty. I struggled to finish the entire burger.
🥤 Classic Shakes - Black Sesame Small (¥649):
A Japan-exclusive flavor of milkshake.
The milkshake's texture resembled just-melted ice cream, and the sesame flavor gave it a smoothness that made it less sweet (though it was still quite sweet), making it very satisfying to drink!
🍄
Would I revisit? Maybe 🤔
This experience was quite disappointing; it probably won't be a place I’d want to eat at when traveling abroad in the future.
✏️
Note:
🔸 Supports various payment methods
[Taipei Xinyi] Retro House - Vintage American Diner
This burger shop has a large screen to watch matches. It's packed during meal times! It clearly is a popular spot. This time I tried the top three popular dishes, and the most recommended is actually the fried chicken wings – super tasty! The bread looks like it's been buttered and toasted, and it tastes even better than it smells.
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🍔 Traditional Peanut Nut Burger (Beef/Pork/Chicken, choose one) $210
＞ I chose the pork patty; it's small and thick, marinated beforehand. There's only a little lettuce, and it doesn't have the peanut butter flavor you might expect; it seems to be made with a sauce mixed with other nuts, tasting somewhat like satay.
🍔 RETRO HOUSE Classic Burger (Beef/Pork/Chicken, choose one) $180
＞ +$150: Includes fries and a vanilla milkshake✨
The fries are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside; the red cheese powder sprinkled on top is really delicious✨ The milkshake is very sweet, like melted vanilla ice cream, very rich, topped with strawberry crispy rolls, small marshmallows, and cookie crumbles.
＞ For the Classic Burger, I chose beef; it has cheese but no sauce, pure marinated meat flavor, still a bit beefy – also small and thick, slightly dry.
🍗 Fried Chicken Wings✨ $160
＞ Today's top recommendation: fried chicken wings! The marinade is very flavorful, fried to a thin, crispy skin, and seasoned with pepper; inside, they are tender and not dry 👍🏻
The following are my personal preferences and ratings, for reference only:
◽ Burger aroma: None ● ● ● ◐ ○ Fragrant
◽ Meat texture: Soft ● ● ● ◐ ○ Hard (Beef)
Soft ● ● ● ◐ ○ Hard (Pork)
◽ Juiciness: Dry ● ● ◐ ○ ○ Wet (Beef)
Dry ● ● ◐ ○ ○ Wet (Pork)
◽ Sauce flavor: Okay ● ○ ○ ○ ○ Good (Beef) no sauce
Okay ● ◐ ○ ○ ○ Good (Pork)
◽ Ingredient variety: Few ● ● ○ ○ ○ Many (multiple types but given in small amounts)
◽ Overall value assessment: Low ● ● ○ ○ ○ High
■ Address: No. 551, Songshan Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei City
■ Phone: 02 2727 0330
■ Hours: 11:30-15:00, 17:00-21:00
■ Service charge applies
■ MRT Yongchun Station
■ Parking information: Xinyi Administrative Center parking lot
HUGE BURGER is located in Shilin Night Market and is a long-established, affordable American-style hamburger restaurant that I've known about since my student days. They specialize in giant American burgers, but the overall dining experience is not quite as expected.
✲ Mega Burger (Super Rich Peanut Pork + Grilled Chicken Leg)
I ordered the so-called "bigger than the face" Mega Burger, which allows you to choose two types of meat. I selected Super Rich Peanut Pork + Grilled Chicken Leg. The burger is cut into four equal parts, with the meat evenly distributed among two halves of the burger.
The staff suggested it could serve 2-4 people, but some people do finish a whole burger by themselves... I chose to take on the challenge alone (only to find out afterwards that it was a bit much for me, haha).
In summary: The meat is not bad, but the burger is very ordinary.
The bread itself lacks any special flavor and is bland. In comparison, the extra cheese sauce I chose for 40 NTD was more impressive. A small bowl of cheese sauce to dip the burger into added a bit of complexity to the overall flavor.
The Super Rich Peanut Pork is a handmade burger patty infused with peanut butter, which is actually quite tasty, and the patty is juicy. The grilled chicken leg is also noteworthy, somewhat reminiscent of the texture of New Orleans chicken legs.
The fillings of the burger only consist of lettuce and two types of meat (Super Rich Peanut Pork and grilled chicken leg), with no tomatoes, onions, pickles, or special sauces that could add more layers to the burger, which is a bit disappointing.
Simply having meat and lettuce can become somewhat monotonous. It feels like a burger costing over 400 NTD should have a more diverse filling to enrich its flavor.
The dining environment at HUGE BURGER is a bit worn but carries a retro vibe. The staff's attitude is acceptable, but it’s clear they are students working part-time. A glance at the dining crowd shows that mostly students frequent the place.
If they could improve the quality of the environment and the burgers, HUGE BURGER might attract a more diverse clientele.