Custard apples (a.k.a. Budda-head fruit) 釋迦

This is a custard apple, also known as the Budda-head fruit (釋迦 shì jiā). It's a soft fruit (much like custard) that is grown a lot on the east coast (near Taitung in the southeast). They typically cost 50NT per fruit or less and there's a couple of varieties, including "original" and the pineapple custard apple, which is a sturdier version of the fruit. Look for them in the wintertime at the markets (and perhaps other times of the year, too, if you're closer to the east coast). To eat it, I cut it in half and dig out the white fruit with a spoon, spitting out the seeds. Try it!

Taiwan "Snacks" 台灣小吃

If you're looking for a great way to try a variety of Taiwanese foods in smaller, more economical portions, try out 台灣小吃 tái wān xiǎo chī. This is a chain that offers a delicious variety of simple foods. (Note: many of the foods have a pretty high amount of garlic flavor, so prepare yourself for bad breath.) It's a good price, too, with the above-pictured meal just 140 NT. In the photo above are the following foods: Rice with meat, meat floss, cucumbers (upper left, "A" on the menu below), meatball soup (lower left, "L" on the menu below), a large bowl of "dry" noodles (bottom right, D2 on the menu), wooden noodles soup (upper right and also pictured below, G2 on the menu), and fried tofu ("S" on the menu, 5NT per piece).

Here is a menu translation (Thanks, Ellen!):
B. Rice with minced soy sauce pork gravy (light, not thick like American gravy)
C. Rice with slices of soy sauce pork
F. Crispy pork with Noodles (usually soup, but can ask for dry)
G. Wide rice noodles with minced pork sauce (like B.) (2 options: dry (top) or with soup(bottom))
H. Vermicelli noodles with minced pork sauce (like B.) (2 options: dry (top) or with soup(bottom))
I. Short pork rib soup
J. Bitter melon short pork rib soup
M. Spinach / Green (usually a favorite)/Bean sprouts
N. Bamboo shoots
O. "lu" Cabbage ("lu" usually means they cook it for a long time, maybe in a slow cooker in soy sauce and spices)
P. Fish (Tilapia)
U. Sliced pork (like C, with no rice.)


Recommended items on the menu include D or E, G, and M2 (green veggies). Try a little of each and find a new favorite!

Directions from MAK: Go into Dashe on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd. 中山路). At the first major intersection (where there is a Hi-Life Convenience Store), go straight. Keep going past the second light, too (with Watsons, 7-11, Family Mart). The shop will be on your left, before you reach the next intersection (with Donutes). Look for a maroon sign and wooden decor. You can pay on your way out, after eating.

Parking: Challenging, because it's on the main road.

Costs: Economical.

Tea & Magic Hand 茶の魔手

Tea & Magic Hand is a chain tea shop with some of the BEST milk tea I've ever tasted. It's a bit more expensive than other tea shops, but well worth it for a special treat.

 

They have many drinks from which to choose, but here are a few recommendations:

• milk tea 奶茶 nǎi chá
• red bean milk tea 紅豆奶茶 hóng dòu nǎi chá
• bubble tea 珍珠奶茶 zhēn zhū nǎi chá
• almond milk tea (warm) 杏仁奶茶（熱）xìng rén nǎi chá（rè）
• lavender milk tea 薰衣草奶茶 xūn yī cǎo nǎi chá

The tea is pretty sweet, so you might consider half sugar or less for a still-great taste.

For directions to this place, read here: http://taiwaneatsandtreats.blogspot.com/2010/01/fujiwara-ramen.html

藤原拉麵 Fujiwara Ramen

Fujiwara Ramen is a clean, economical restaurant with delicious handmade noodles and dumplings. This place has a particular advantage at dinner time because of it's extensive parking lot and proximity to the fantastic tea shop Tea & Magic Hand:

Here is a picture of their menu:

Dish "A" is a miso soup broth with pork, noodles, and an egg. Here is what it looks like:

Items B, C, D, and F are nearly the same, all being dumplings and noodles with veggies. B, C, and D are all soups, with the first being a red soup, the second a miso soup, and the third a clear Japanese-style broth. Item C is pictured here:

Item F (wonton noodles 餛飩 幹麵 hún tún gàn miàn) is made with the red sauce (slightly spicy, but not too bad), but is served "dry", which means they serve the broth on the side, as pictured below. For only 50 NT, this is one deal that's hard to beat!

If you're still hungry, try out a side dish of green veggies (Item "G--青菜):

Directions from MAK: Go into Dashe on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd. 中山路). At the first major intersection (where there is a Hi-Life Convenience Store), turn left. You'll now be on the morning market road (Jin Long Rd. 金龍路). Follow this road until you see the Tea and Magic Hand tea shop on your right (with a maroon sign). Immediately after the tea shop, there is an alley that leads to a huge parking lot. You can park back there. [If you pass the park or fire station, you've gone too far.] The restaurant is on the other side of the alley from Tea & Magic Hand (look for the red sign above). There's a kitchen in the front with yellow tables inside for eating. You can pay on your way out, after eating.

Free sweetened black tea is provided, as are reusable spoons and chopsticks.

Parking: Easy. You can park their parking lot behind the restaurant.

Costs: Economical. Most dishes are 70NT or less.

Dumplings and potstickers

For some decent dumplings and potstickers, check out this restaurant in Dashe. It's on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd.), next to the "Presotea" tea shop. Look for this sign:

Their menu is basic, so once you learn one section, you'll know nearly half of the menu! The most important parts are pictured below. Basically, #1-4 are potstickers and #5-9 are boiled/steamed dumplings, and 10-12 are soups. All prices are per dumpling/potsticker.

Here's a translation of the menu, thanks to Ellen in Systems Services in Taichung:

1. Potstickers (regular ones, what the store is famous for, just regular pork.)
2. Veggie Potstickers
3. Curry Potstickers
4. Korean spicy potstickers
5. Dumplings(regular ones, what the store is famous for, just regular pork.)
6. Veggie dumplings
7. Curry dumplings
8. Korean spicy dumplings
9. shrimp and pork dumplings
10. hot and sour soup
11. Octopus ball and fish soup
12. Taiwanese cream of corn soup

Back left: vegetable potstickers (#2). Back right: veggie dumplings (#6). Front: pork dumplings (#5). Also recommended are the curry potstickers and dumplings (#4 and 7)

This is the fish ball soup (#11 on the menu):

Directions from MAK: Go into Dashe on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd. 中山路). At the first major intersection, go straight. It is located on the right-hand side (across the street from the Tea Elf and before getting to the Watston's/7-11 intersection). Walk past the kitchen to sit down and use the ordering form. You can pay on your way out, after eating.


Parking: Challenging because it's on the main road.

Costs: Economical.

Fried rice near the temple

This little fried rice/fried noodles restaurant provides a moderately-sized portion for a bargain price of about 50 NT! It's located near the temple on Jhong Hwa Rd. Look for this building:

The inside is rather simple (see below), but you get tea with your meal for free (self-serve in the container on the left).

This is their basic menu. It pretty much works as follows: decide if you want fried rice (炒飯 chǎo fàn), fried noodles (炒麵 chǎo miàn), or a gravy sauce over rice. Then, choose your meat (shrimp, beef, lamb/mutton, pork, seafood). Nearly all dishes are 50 NT. They also have veggies as sides.

This is the beef fried rice:

This is the lamb/mutton with gravy sauce:

Directions from MAK: Go into Dashe on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd. 中山路). At the first major intersection (where there is a Hi-Life Convenience Store), turn left. You'll now be on the morning market road (Jin Long Rd. 金龍路). Follow this road until the next major intersection (again, with a convenience store on your right). Turn right onto Jhong Hwa Rd. (中華路). When you see the temple on your right, go just past it to the building pictured above. You can pay on your way out, after eating.

Parking: Easy. You can park right next to the restaurant. If the temple isn't busy, you can also park in front of it.

Costs: Economical. Most dishes are 50NT or less. Dishes "to go" are good for lunches the next day.

Fried bread at the Dashe morning market

Among the multitude of delicious foods at Dashe's morning market is one little stand selling fried bread with a variety of toppings, such as an egg, ham, cheese, etc., with each topping being an extra 5-10 NT or so on top of the initial 15 NT. Everything tastes best fresh.

Look for the little stand that looks like this:

You'll see someone cooking up the fried bread like this:

And here's their menu:

Directions from MAK: Go into Dashe on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd. 中山路). At the first major intersection (where there is a Hi-Life Convenience Store), turn left. You'll now be on the morning market road (Jin Long Rd. 金龍路). Follow this road for a bit through the morning market. This stand is located on the left-hand side of the road as you head away from Jhong Shan Rd. It's near a store that sells bedding and is not far after an alley that leads to the left into the morning market. Sometimes, there's someone selling colorful rice/bean milk and sandwhiches next door.


Parking: Moderate. Park as you would for the morning market.

Costs: Economical.

Turkey Rice

One of Taiwan's "famous" foods in the city of the ChiaYi is turkey rice. It's incredibly simple (usually just consisting of white rice with pieces of shredded turkey on it), but makes for a simple, yet filling snack or meal. Dashe opened a turkey rice restaurant on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd.) in 2009, along with a partnering tea shop. Here is what the sign looks like (in red, reading "Fire Chicken Meat" a.k.a. turkey). The tea shop has the black sign.

And here's the entrance:

Most items on the menu are 60 NT or less. Clearly, the turkey rice item is what you'll want to try at some point. It is the first item on the paper menu. If you want the side dishes (which you may or may not be able to choose on your own, depending on what's available), mark the 1a option. For a large turkey rice (火雞飯 huǒ jī fàn), 1b, and for a small turkey rice, 1c. The 1a option looks like this (note the rice with turkey and a few pickles on the lower left):

The second menu item is a combination of fatty meat and sausage, coupled with some side dishes for 50 NT, and looks like this:

Directions from MAK: Go into Dashe on the main road (Jhong Shan Rd. 中山路). Go just past the first major intersection (where there is a Hi-Life Convenience Store), and just past Jack-Boy drink stand on your right.  The restaurant and tea shop are soon after that (just look for the black and red signs). You can pay on your way out, after eating.


Parking: Challenging. Any time you have to park on Jhong Shan Rd, it can be hit or miss.
Costs: Economical. Turkey rice also makes for good leftovers for lunches.