開飯川食堂 南紡店

Located on the basement level 1 of the NanFang Shopping Center, Kaifan Sichuan Restaurant is a chain that specializes in Sichuan cuisine. I have visited different branches in Tainan and Kaohsiung, and the quality has been consistently good, making it hard to have a disappointing experience. Because it's delicious, this restaurant frequently makes it onto our dinner lists.

Recommended dishes:
Chili Pepper Century Egg Tofu: It looks greasy and has a lot of chili, but it tastes very refreshing with a hint of numbness. Importantly, this is one of the relatively inexpensive dishes on the menu and is very appetizing.

Mapo Tofu: The numbing and spicy flavor is delightful, making it a killer dish for white rice. It's very hot, so be careful not to burn yourself while eating. The seasoning is much better than the "Taiwanese-style" mapo tofu found in other restaurants.

Tear-Jerker Egg: We didn’t order this dish this time, but it’s incredibly tasty. It features a fried egg stir-fried with Sichuan peppercorns. It looks simple but tastes amazing, so I still recommend it.

Stir-fried Lotus Root with Matsusaka Pork: Delicious! The lotus root is bright green and has great texture, paired with the also very textured Matsusaka pork. Stir-fried and served fresh, it is rich in sweetness and aroma. The only downside is that I’m not sure if it’s because the air conditioning is too cold, but the outer layer of the lotus root felt warm when served, which doesn’t quite give the impression of being freshly stir-fried.

Crispy Pork Belly: I hadn’t seen this dish before, perhaps it’s a recent addition. The pork belly is battered, deep-fried, and then stir-fried. The calories are off the charts, and the dish contains a lot of dried chili and some crispy rice crusts, making it both fragrant and crispy with a hint of sesame oil and spiciness. The downside is that it’s a bit too spicy, and the portion of meat is somewhat small, giving it a low value for money in comparison.