苗栗大湖福菜園客家菜餐廳

[Foodholic Naoko @ Miaoli]

"Fucaiyuan Hakka Cuisine Restaurant" is located in Dahu, Miaoli, near Wenshui Old Street. The "Shibi Hot Spring Resort," "Shifeng Hot Spring Castle," and "Shitang Bathhouse" are all operated by the same owner. When we settled our bill today, the staff also gifted us 4 hot spring coupons.

There are many Hakka cuisine restaurants in this area. After checking online, I found that some users recommended this restaurant for its affordability. The dining environment also looks quite quiet and comfortable, so we chose to gather here for a meal.

The dishes here can be ordered individually or selected as a multi-person set. If dining on weekends or choosing a multi-person set, it is suggested to place an order in advance.

Today, we had 10 adults dining together, and we ordered 14 dishes, 1 soup, a pot of white rice, and three drinks, with a total cost of $4840, which is truly quite affordable.

P.S. Since the portion sizes vary, we slightly overestimated, so it is recommended to order 10 dishes and 1 soup. We ended up taking home a lot of leftovers for dinner.

Seasonal vegetables: $100
We ordered a plate of cabbage and a plate of water spinach. I recommend the water spinach, which is thick-stemmed and not too salty; the cabbage has a distinctive taste that I’m not fond of.

Crispy Tofu: $180
This is completely different from the fried tofu I imagined. The tofu is chopped and mixed with some scallions before being fried, and it’s in large chunks, but the bean flavor is quite strong, which I personally don't prefer.

Kung Pao Chicken: $260
The numbness outweighs the spiciness, and the flavor of the Sichuan peppercorns is rich, with tender chicken; this was my favorite dish today.

Ginger Shredded Intestines: $220
This dish is super sour and very refreshing; my family polished it off completely.

Preserved Plum Pork Belly: $220
It’s quite salty and definitely needs to be eaten with rice or accompanied by a cut bun; one bite is pretty overwhelming.

Hakka Salted Pork: $220
All I can say is it’s really quite salty…

Pineapple Shrimp Balls: $240
The batter is quite thick; I love pineapple shrimp balls, but I thought this dish was just average.

Plum Spare Ribs: $420
The plum flavor isn't very prominent, so it's a bit disappointing; but this dish is quite large.

Hakka Oil Chicken: $300
The chicken is quite oily, but the meat is tender enough; this dish is worth ordering.

Salted Egg Squid: $320
Again, I felt the batter was too thick and the seasoning was a bit salty, making it somewhat heavy to eat.

Steamed Grouper: $550
The fish was quite large. It had no fishy taste and a slightly sweet flavor, which justifies the price.

Now, talking about the areas I was less satisfied with:

1. There were flies buzzing around during our meal, which was quite annoying.
2. Although we placed our order in advance when making our reservation over the phone, the serving speed was still very slow. They served three dishes and then stopped. It wasn’t until we prompted them that they started bringing out more dishes again.