Nightmarket Treats – Part 1 of many

The following snacks are available in the Ruei Feng (瑞豐) Nightmarket.

Famous Duck Wrap – soft outside shell (sort of like a bread-y tortilla) filled with succulent duck meat, cucumber strips, pickled vegetables, onions, and a sweet savoury sauce.

 

This is the sign for the Duck Wrap, including the choices of flavours. Most of them are self-explanatory. “Numb” apparently, is another word for VERY SPICY :)!

 

 

Parking: Easy. There are two parking lots. The one that is usually open is on Nanping Rd. (南屏路), which is off of Yucheng Rd. (裕誠路). The other lot is open when the first one is full, and it’s just past the nightmarket on Yucheng Rd.

Price: Cheap! 40 NT per wrap

Directions: From MAK, take Hwy 10, exit Zihyou/BoAi Rd. Go south on Bo Ai until you reach Yucheng Rd. Turn right onto Yucheng, go one block, and you’ll see the nightmarket on the right. For parking, take another right at your first light after you turn onto Yucheng. That road is Nanping Rd. There is one parking lot that is very visible on your left. THAT IS NOT THE LOT! Go about half a block until you see a “P” on your left – it’s basically a little alley that goes into the lot. Look for a little restaurant that looks really elegant, and starts with the letter “M”. It’s just past that restaurant. If that lot is full, then you’ll need to circle around, and go back onto Yucheng. Go past the nightmarket, and right where it ends (before the next lights), turn right. They’re both difficult to spot, so look out!

Hours of Operation: Tuesday, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting at about 6pm. (Food vendors tend to open earlier than clothing/games vendors)

Biggest Chicken Steak (雞排) in Dashe

For the biggest chicken steaks or cutlets, then look no further than this chain. They claim that their Chicken Steaks or Cutlets that are bigger than your head. I especially love that the name of the stand is 奶妹 (which means “Milk Sister”).
 
The stand opens around 5pm, which is the best time to go since it’s extremely popular. The lady seems to get less impatient as the night goes on, probably because she’s taking phone orders, live orders, and filling all the orders at the same time. If you go later than 5:30pm, then be prepared to wait anywhere between 15-30 minutes, depending on how large your order is.

They sell 5 different kinds of chicken steaks, starting from the top left (at 45 NT), going down then to the second column:

(For each steak, you need to specify what topping you want on it WHEN you order. The choices are: white pepper, plum powder, seaweed, curry, garlic, Mexican, Black pepper, Wasabi, Spicy)

BBQ chicken steak (like the kind we normally get) – 45 NT
Teriyaki Chicken Steak – 50 NT
Very Crispy chicken steak – 45 NT
Crispy Chicken steak – 45 NT
Lemon chicken bites – 35 NT
Chicken thighs – 30 NT
Chicken nuggets – 30 NT
Boneless chicken steak – 35 NT

(Column 2):
Three Corner Bone (some sort of chicken piece) – 60 for large, 40 for small
Salted Chicken pieces – 50 (L), 30 (S)
Cuttlefish – 50 (L), 30 (S)
Calamari rings – 50 (L), 30 (S)
Sweet Potato Fries – 40NT
French Fries – 20 NT (choice of cheese or salted)
Yams – 20 NT (choice of plum powder or pepper)
Tien Bu La (fish paste snacks) – 20 NT
Tempura – 20 NT
Chicken Wing – 15 NT
Hot Dog – 10 NT (for 3)
Blood rice cake – 10 NT


Directions from MAK: This stand is right across from the Thai Restaurant. When coming from MAK, do not take the shortcut back road, but go all the way to Dashe Main Road. It is located beside another chicken stand and beside the red and black teashop “Da Pai.”
There are also other chains located around the city, including one in Nanzih by the Choi's church.

Parking: Easy (you can pull up anywhere and put your hazards on if necessary!)

Costs: Economical

The "small" and "Greek" restaurant in Dashe

The design of this restaurant is quite curious and fun. The food is moderately good and the atmosphere is fun (such as in the "small" room shown below). However, the food is, strangely enough, not Greek. They have coffees, hot pots, pasta, and fancy drinks. 

The pasta dishes come with a yummy soup and salad on the side (plus a sweet tea, too). The other two dishes below are a hot pot and pesto-sauce spaghetti with shrimp. The partial menu posted at the bottom has these two items marked in red (with the pork hotpot at the top and the spaghetti at the bottom).

 

Directions from MAK: This restaurant is right next to the 814 grocery store in Dashe. Go down the main road (JhongShan) until you see the 814 grocery store (nearly all the way down the road in Dashe). There's parking right outside of the restaurant (and potentially at 814). 

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.

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.

Red Bestial Superfine Beef Noodles

One of the most wide-spread dishes you can find in Taiwan is called "Beef noodles" (牛肉麵 niú ròu miàn). For a delicious, economical and local variety of beef noodles from a very hospitable owner, try the Red Bestial Superfine Beef Noodles shop in Dashe. Here's what you need to know:

Location: In Dashe, across the street from the temple on Jhong Hwa Rd. (中華路). It is located next door to the large tree where elderly people like to gather to chess and other games. 


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, look across the street for the Red Bestial Superfine Beef Noodles shop (sign is in English & Chinese). The kitchen is in the front and the seating is in the back. Walk past the kitchen to sit down and use the ordering form. 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. Dishes range from 35 NT for a basic bowl of sesame noodles to 80 NT for rice and beef. 


Recommended dishes: The first five dishes on the menu are some form of beef noodles and all of them are delicious. Try the 4th one from the top for something special--it's shaved/handmade noodles with meat and vegetables (70NT).  (See picture below)

Their "economical" beef noodles (the first one listed on the menu for 55NT) is a reasonable portion and delicious, too:

If you like spicy foods, try the handmade dumplings in red sauce (18th on the menu and 40 NT for a plate, as pictured below). Yum! This works well as a side dish.

They also have lots of drinks for sale and side dishes, too, as is pictured at the top. 


Happy eating!