老家米食堂

🔅 Actual visit date: 2025/04/19
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Located on the old street of Nanzhuang in Miaoli, near the Kangji Suspension Bridge, I saw someone introduce this place on YouTube and it seemed pretty good. Since I was also planning to eat other things, I simply ordered two dishes I was interested in to try. On that day, being a holiday, we needed to pick up a number at the counter to wait for our turn.

▪️ Combination (Radish Cake + Taro Cake) $70
I wanted to have a light snack, so I ordered this. The radish cake has a nice peppery flavor, but it’s not the kind where you can actually taste the radish; I’m not a fan of savory taro but still tried the taro cake… it’s just fried taro itself… I found it too taro-flavored (I only like sweet taro 😂). My friend thought it was better than the radish cake and almost considered taking it back to Taipei. Their chili sauce is very spicy, and the shop even has a reminder not to add too much; it has a fragrant peppercorn aroma.

▪️ Fried Glutinous Rice Balls (Sweet) $90
The glutinous rice balls here are quite large (called "shao tang ni"). I really love this kind of glutinous rice dish. The fried rice balls are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside—super delicious!!! They come with a brown sugar ginger sauce, and even have brown sugar ginger slices inside. The important thing is that the peanut powder they provide has chunks in it, and they give a lot, which pairs very well with the rice balls.

Overall, I found the fried glutinous rice balls very tasty!! The flavor is quite unique compared to what you find in Taipei. Additionally, they also have braised pork rice and savory rice balls that I've heard are good (although I don’t eat savory). Overall, I give it 3 stars, plus an extra 0.5 for the extra fried rice balls. 😋