One of the places that friends recommended I check out in Taiwan was Mala Hot Pot (新馬辣經典鴛鴦鍋 / xin ma la jing dian yuan yang guo). I didn’t have a chance to check it out on my first trip, so when family friends took me to Mala recently, I was pleasantly surprised and happy to check this off of my…
While Hualien has Dongdamen Night Market, there’s a bunch of great places to eat a short walk away northwest of the night market. Reading the dumplings were a big deal in the area, we decided to check out one of the top rated dumpling places called Gongzheng Baozi (花蓮公正包子店 / hua lian gong zheng bao zi dian). If you weren’t…
Wanting to try another “supposedly” famous frog egg store, we found ourselves back near Chen San in Gongguan (公館 / gong guan). Gongguan is a hotspot for food thanks to the nearby National Taiwan University (臺灣大學 / tai wan da xue). Since we were in the area, we decided to knock out a nearby guabao place off our list at…
In Taiwan, it’s not hard to find evidence of Japan’s. From food to service, little influences mark Taiwanese culture. What is a little harder to come by are dedicated Japanese structures. Coincidentally, I found Hinoki Village (檜意森活村 / gui yi sen huo cun) in the eastern part of Chiayi to be so peculiar. Hinoki Village is a cultural center that…
If you’ve followed my other posts about cultural creative parks, you probably know that I love to check them out. When I found out that there was such a park in downtown Tainan, I knew I had to see what Tainan’s creative spirit looked like. On a rainy evening, we stopped by the Blueprint Cultural and Creative Park (藍晒圖文創園區 / lan…
Another cultural fusion food in Taiwan is the beloved Castella cake (古早味蛋糕 / gu zao wei dan gao). Castella cake is a very fluffy, egg-based sponge cake that almost resembles bread. It is typically cooked on huge trays and cut into large loaf-like pieces to go. The Castella found its way to Taiwan during the Japanese occupation of the island…
If there’s a type of food out there that someone says is better, I’m probably going to want to try it. From having some of the best seafood in Taiwan to the best mochi donuts, after hearing that some of the best mangos came from Tainan, I knew I had to make it out there. Summer time, of course, is…
In my quest to experience more of the night markets across Taiwan, I recently found myself at Donghai Night Market (東海夜市 / dong hai ye shi) in the western part of Taichung City (台中市 / tai zhong shi). Unlike the larger Fengchia Night Market, this night market felt more manageable and yet spread out. We entered the market off of Taiwan…
Sharing stories about how good Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產 / shang yin shui chan) was, I discovered yet again, that there was better seafood out there. To discover even better seafood, we headed to Budai Harbor Fish Market (布袋港觀光漁市 / bu dai gang guan guang yu shi) in Budai Township, Chiayi County. From the outside, the building looked like an abandoned…
If you don’t know already, I love produce markets. When I was taken to my first traditional market in Taiwan, I was smitten with love. It should come as no surprise then I think Huarong Street Stall Center (華榮街攤販集中區 / hua rong jie tan fan ji zhong ou) is amazing. For starters… It sits within Taipei City. There are a variety…
