江牛樓
📍Datong District, Taipei City (near Dadaocheng shopping district/Yongle Market)
A beef noodle shop run by Japanese people 🐮🇯🇵
This beef noodle shop is very unique and incredibly delicious! They have "converted beef noodles into ramen 🍜," taking beef noodles to a whole new level. I can hardly give it less than five stars 🌟.
You should register for a seating time at 11 AM. The Japanese chef will come with the reservation slip to ask your desired dining time (this time I arrived just after 11, and only the odd slots of 3 PM to 5 PM were left 😆).
🥘 Braised Beef Noodle Soup ($290):
They only serve one main dish.
When you are seated, the Japanese staff will show pictures to ask whether you want knife-cut noodles or thin noodles. This time, I ordered one bowl of each. In the end, the chef asked if I wanted extra noodles, and you can choose different types to try.
🥣 Broth – My favorite part!
It has great depth and isn’t just the salty broth typical of Taiwanese braised beef noodles. This was my first experience tasting a broth like this in a beef noodle soup, and it was super impressive!
You can even sense different flavors from the first, middle, to the aftertaste. It starts with a somewhat light chicken soup taste, gradually deepening with a bit of braised flavor, and finishes with a spicy and peppery sensation.
🍜 Noodles – I prefer knife-cut!
The knife-cut noodles provide a varied texture with different thicknesses. The thin noodles are slightly softer, allowing you to appreciate the chewiness of the noodles.
🥩 Beef – Highlights melt-in-your-mouth beef that can be picked up with chopsticks
The portion of beef was incredibly generous! Two large pieces served with great sincerity. It was truly cooked to the point of melting in your mouth, with almost no chewiness. For me, it was a tad too soft.
You also receive a small box of side dishes.
Before serving, the chef theatrically adds a bit of gas, and the emerging smoke creates a perfect moment for filming (a very clever shop, creating an opportunity for people to share 😃).
✏️
Notes:
🔸 Cash only 💰
🔸 Limited dining seating
🔎 Lastly, a small record: during this visit, the customers were all quietly enjoying their noodles while the Japanese chef and staff chatted loudly in Japanese for a long time. While it somewhat captured the feel of being in Japan, it did slightly distract from the overall experience (but I loved the broth too much to not give it five stars 🤤).