方櫃仔滷味 仁愛路分店

A Bite of Long-Disappointing Cold Braised Snacks 😞

Originally, I wanted to have a late-night snack. I wandered around and found this place offering cold braised snacks. The prices looked okay, and many people were in line, so I decided to give it a try.

The prices were indeed not bad, but they weren't exactly cheap. The "okay" part was that you could order in smaller units.

👉 For example:
Normally, you might pay $15-$20 for a portion of tofu, but here you could choose a $10 portion, which is about half of what other vendors would offer.

If you wanted to make a serious comparison, it wasn't particularly cost-effective, but the benefit of smaller units is that you can try a little bit of everything you want.

Thus, I picked 5-6 types, and the total was only $70. The staff skillfully upsell by offering to increase the portion or suggesting you add more items to make it $100 or $150. However, a genuine suggestion: just get what you need; more is not better.

The low rating deserves some explanation 💁
1️⃣ Environmental Hygiene Issues
The place is just off the main road, and the snacks are displayed openly without enclosed glass or a menu to order from. Customers just point or tell the staff what they want.

The shop operates at night in a dimly lit corner, surrounded by dark plastic sheets and dim kitchen counters, an environment where it wouldn’t be surprising to see a rat or cockroach scuttle by. However, I can only say that the nearby stalls are almost the same; this place was chosen because it’s relatively brighter.

2️⃣ Lack of Flavor
I consider myself not to have a heavy palate, but I was shocked by how bland the cold braised snacks were 😨. Some ingredients can naturally bring a sweet taste when cooked well, like the cabbage I ordered; or some, like tofu skin or rice blood, should have acquired some flavor with just a bit of sauce. I was so skeptical that I wondered if the seasoning I saw the staff adding was fake and if the ingredients were just boiled in plain water.

Of course, it might just be the local palate favoring milder flavors. I saw many positive reviews, but I couldn't handle this flavor. Even the taste of preserved vegetables puzzled me, and the cabbage tasted uncooked, like raw vegetables.

3️⃣ Mixed Items
In my experience, cold braised snacks are usually arranged neatly and orderly. Even when placed close together, they rarely mix with other ingredients, or at most, only small bits get mixed in.

I genuinely do not know how the staff plan their ingredient layout 🤷‍♀️.

I didn’t order any meat-related ingredients this time, but I found organ meats in my bag. Being not fond of organ meats, for me, the dislike of surprise ingredient＞ joy of surprise 😠.

Holding onto the principle of "it's already in the bag, cherish food and finish it," I still ate it, but I felt like vomiting 🤮 because it was flavorless... felt like boiled organ meat, no sauce, no seasoning, eaten directly, and more than one got mixed in 😅.

In conclusion: Sorry, I won't be returning 😅. The taste and experience just aren't for me ✋🏼.