Yongkang Beef Noodles, Formosa Chang in Taipei, Taiwan 永康牛肉面， 胡须张

After a few days in Tainan, Southern Taiwan, indulging in many rounds of milkfish porridge, trying eel noodles, trying the famous Danzai noodles, shrimp rolls, we headed to Taipei, northern Taiwan for a day before heading back to California.

I am not quite a fan of beef noodles per se. However, I do like to try food or dishes especially those that have been recommended or deemed good through words-of-mouth. Yongkang 永康 Beef Noodles was recommended by the locals in Taiwan, being rumored as Jackie Chan's favorite beef noodle in Taipei. I am not quite sure how Jackie Chan's "endorsement" works here ...BUT...WELL...

Stewed Beef Noodles in Light Broth 清炖牛肉面

Anyway, upon verifying the facts only till now, only after we visited Yongkang, it seems Jackie Chan's favorite beef noodle stall is rumored to be Laozhang 老张 Beef Noodles and not Yongkang (apparently, Laozhang closest competitor). No wonder the mix-up.

Braised Beef Tendons Noodles 红烧牛肉 (半筋半肉）面

I usually like beef noodles in clear broth 清炖 as this is how I can taste real beefy broth, a broth that is not overpowered by the spices typical of the braised version 红烧. I am also usually more of a fan of beef tendons to other parts of beef, however, a combination of tendons and meat is only offered in  the braised version. Okay, so I am not getting the best of both worlds in a single bowl but that's alright. The server did mention that they can combine the tendons and meat in the clear broth version if we really wanted it; however the tendons would have been braised anyway, so it is going to be added into the original clear broth. Finally, we just went with all-meat for the clear broth stewed beef noodles, and tendon-and-meat combination for the braised beef noodles.

I first read about Formosa Chang from Noobcook's review sometime back, and never fail to register that in my food memory..."would love to try it someday if I get a chance".
So when we just had one day in Taipei during our recent Taiwan trip, a chance I had before heading back to Californian and here I am.

Signature braised meat rice 卤肉饭

There was no NT$10 promotion going on in October, but we had a coupon cut-out from a coupon booklet lining the shelves of our hotel's travel brochure corner. Incidentally, the coupon was also offering NT$10 per bowl (that is just less than US$0.50!!) of their signature braised meat rice (usually NT$30). We also tried other dishes such as blanched vegetables (local lettuce that has been grown via hydroponics) in a garlic-oil-sauce 水耕A菜 and bitter melon and pork ribs soup 苦瓜排骨汤. Both dishes were delicious or should I say, suited our taste buds?


Tag: beef noodles, braised meat rice

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