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七十二牛肉麵 (72 Beef Noodle Soup) Yes, this is it! This is part 5, and the final chapter of my mini beef noodle soup tour of Taiwan. Although some of you guys might be sick of reading about beef noodle soup that's all the way in Taiwan, it was enjoyable for me to write about the cuisine from my home country. There's no way that I was going to end my tour without writing about my favorite beef noodle stop in Taipei. 七十二牛肉麵 (72 Beef Noodle Soup) I was brought to 七十二牛肉麵 (I'll refer to it as 72 NRM (aka niu rou mian ) on this post) by my friends on my second night in Taiwan. Already stuffed from an all you can eat hot pot lunch with my aunt and cousin and then snacks at KTV (Chinese karaoke), I was seriously questioning the idea of getting more food to eat. Yet, since I am on vacation, that doubt quickly dissipated, especially when I saw all the cow bones hanging outside. Oh ya, I thought to myself, this shit is going to be good. 七十二牛肉麵 (72 Beef Noodle Soup) The interior was clean a...

永康牛肉麵 (Yong Kang Beef Noodle) As I start on the fourth installment of my beef noodle tour of Taipei, no trip is complete without dining at the famous Yong Kang Beef Noodle. While Din Tai Fung lay claim to the soup dumplings, around the corner, Yong Kang Beef Noodle has been serving patrons since 1963. I've eaten at Yong Kang Beef Noodle on my previous trips to Taiwan, and while I left unimpressed, I'm hoping this trip would change my tune about this tourist institution. 永康牛肉麵 (Yong Kang Beef Noodle) Like with Din Tai Fung,the menu posted outside are also in English and Japanese. Taiwan generally attracts a good number of Japanese tourists, thus it's not surprising to have the menu in all three languages. 皮蛋豆腐 (Thousand Year Old Egg Tofu - Pi Dan Dofu ) Again, I had to order the Thousand year old egg tofu (皮蛋豆腐). Since it's something I make for myself here in the States, it's pretty hard to mess this one up. Let's move on to the main attraction, the beef noodle s...

鼎記 (Ding Ji) Although I was born and raised in Taipei city, the area I've become quite familiar with has been 永和 (YongHe District), which is located outside the city limited in an area known as Taipei County. Since most of my family lives in this area (which means it's the area I tend stay at when I'm back in Taiwan), I've had opportunity to explore YongHe. For some that area familiar with YongHe, this is the area that's popular for its soymilk (永和豆漿) and the famous breakfast joint (永和豆漿王). This post however will visit two of the local Beef Noodle Soup shops I frequently visited during my trips back home to Taiwan. Ding Ji (鼎記) as the sign on the door states on the first picture, are known for their 刀削麵 (knife cut noodles, dao xiao mian ). I used to eat here quite frequently since my great-grandmother's care home was a few buildings down, which was the main reason I even noticed this shop in the first place. This time I made a special trip back to eat at Ding Ji...

Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodles (老山東牛肉家常麵店) Lao Shan Dong, as the picture above shows, was established back in 1949. Located in the basement of Wan Nian Shopping Center (萬年大樓), in heart of the XiMenDing (西門盯), a popular area of Taipei, it's been under the same ownership since the very beginning. While the restaurant has been handed down through the generations, the quality of the food remained consistent. I've eaten at Lao Shan Dong as a kid growing up in Taiwan, and have continued to patron here during my yearly trips back to Taiwan. This past visit was no exception, as Lao Shan Dong is one of my family's favorite place to eat beef noodle soup in Taipei. The Owner and Her Crew Making Dumplings Why do we go back so often? Well, as you can see here, everything from the noodles to the dumplings are handmade. Also, the owners were originally from the ShanDong Province (山東省) much like my mom's side of the family, thus it's definitely flavors they're used to. Above, t...