巴人川味 (Barenchuanwei – Sichuan Cuisine)
Posted: March 31, 2011 Filed under: Chinese, Dining, dinner, District, High, North, Price, Sichuan, spicy | Tags: Barenchuanwei, Food, foodie, north district, Restaurant, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan, Szechwan, Tainan, Taiwan, 台南, 四川, 巴人川味 Leave a comment »That’s Some Spicy Chicken!
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Style: Sichuan
Dishes:
100~550NTD / Dish Hours: 11:00am~2:00pm
5:30~10pm Closed: Tuesdays English Menu: None Pros: Real deal Sichuan food |
Kim invited us for a little Sunday night dinner and wast it a delight to find out we were in for a spicy treat. It was time for Sichuan (also pronounced Szechwan or Szechuan) food. Tina and I found this restaurant on Xiaodong Rd. (next to the park close to Linsen Rd.) a while back and went in wondering if this food was the “real deal” or not. The boss does, in fact, hail from the Sichuan region, and came to Tainan for his wife, who is Tainan-ese. The previous two times I had gone to this place, it was just too damn spicy. The culprit - huajiao bettern known as sichuan peppercorn. You’ll find it in other spicy dishes around town, usually in the “Kung Pao” (ie. Gongbao Chicken) – it’s the thing that makes your mouth go numb. This time around we went “小－xiao-La” (small-spice).
I was delighted to find that I could stomach the food and, boy, was it delicious. On our menu: mouth watering chicken (口水雞 - co-shuay ji), cold spicy eggplant, sichuan thousand year egg, stir-fried potatoes, sichuan beef stew and sichuan fish. Although we ordered xiao-la, the food was still spicy, but bearable. There was a lot of Taiwan beer and white rice to wash the spice down. The chicken was the main attraction and very popular amongst Sichuan cusine. The tender pieces of chicken really does make your mouth water and bursts with flavour. The other dish that stood out was the eggplant (茄子), which was served cold in a soy-based sauce topped with sliced red chillies. Another good dish, that I did have the first time but not this time was toothpick beef (牙籤牛肉 – ya-ching-niu-ro), where the beef was literally skewered with toothpics, then stir-fried.
The food here is perfectly cooked and everything goes downs quite well. This night was no exception. We all finished the meal quite full and satisfied. Such a great night.
For a quite unique experience, that is spicy and every bit authentic sichuan – try Barenchuanwei. Warning: it is not for the weak stomach. I would recommend going with a few people to get the best bang for your buck and as well getting to try as many things possible. You will have to bring someone who speaks Chinese, but well worth the effort of finding a piece of China in Tainan.
Storefront for this restaurant
The cold spicy eggplant – cold and spicy make a good combo
Beef stew
Stir fried potatoes – very different, but good
Thousand year egg with a spicy twist
06-2081218
Other reviews/listings:
Clara Casa (Blog – Chinese)
iPeen (Chinese review site)
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Yellow Bee手創漢堡
Posted: March 11, 2011 Filed under: dinner, District, East, hamburger, lunch, Mid, Western | Tags: burger, DIY, east district, Food, foodie, hamburger, Restaurant, Steak, Tainan, Taiwan, Western Food, yellow bee, 台南 Leave a comment »The Do-It-Yourself Hamburger
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Style: Hamburger
Hamburger: 138~158NTD
Steak: 388NTD
Sides: 50~80NTD
Hours: 11am~10pm Everyday
English Menu: Full, no descriptions Pros: Lots of toppings, DIY fun |
Recommended by our friends, Candy and Vincent, Tina and I decided to head out to the University area to find another hamburger joint – Yellow Bee. Located in the back alleys behind Mcdonald’s on DaShui Road is where you’ll find Yellow Bee. With a few tables outside, customers can enjoy the day in the sun or inside the air-conditioned interior. We chose to sit inside. We were seated by a waitress who explained the menu (in Chinese) which contains both English and Chinese.
There were a fair amount of choices at Yellow Bee. They offereed a cheese hamburger, chicken leg burger, japanese pork cutlet burger, two mini burgers and a 10 oz. and 20 oz. steak. The smaller of the two steaks could be made into a burger if wanted. Tina ordered the cheeseburger and although I really wanted to eat a hamburger, I ordered a chicken burger just to get something different. Tina customized her order by adding mushrooms and green jalapeno peppers (stated just as “chili” on the menu). We also ordered the large platter of snacks which includes wings, onion rings, popcorn chicken and chicken nuggets as well as a small order of fries. Okay, we ordered an insane amount of food, but we didn’t know what we were in for.
What sets Yellow Bee apart from other hamburger places is the do-it-yourself aspect. I was confused when I went to pay my bill after ordering and the waitress was offering me plastic gloves. I had only previously been offered gloves from ordering a whole roast chicken that was meant to be pulled by hand, but a hamburger? REALLY?
We sat and waited for the food. Our small snacks came first and because they are standard sides you could get at any fast food place, I was pleasantly surprised – all were nice and crispy. Kudos to the fry guy. When the burgers arrived, I finally understood. The bread, burger and topping all came separately and you had to assemble your meal with a set of tongs provided and your hands. We still refused the use of gloves and began to construct our masterpieces. By the time it was finished we were sitting infront of two massive burgers. I think Tina’s burger was almost bigger than her head.
I dug into my chicken leg burger and while having it’s own sauce on it, it was still necessary to add mustard and ketchup. Another thing I noticed was that although my burger had no bones in it, the cartilage remained. I’m not a big fan of cartilage. Otherwise the experience of yellow bee was fun and messy. I think I used at least 15 tissues while eating. I snuck a bite or two of Tina’s cheeseburger – a great meaty burger.
We were stuffed after this meal, but satisfied. We had an enjoyable time while having probably the sloppiest meal post-childhood. Next time, I’ll consider either getting the two mini burgers OR take a huge jump and order the steak. Yellow bee is a great time for those who want to have fun with their food. Experience it and put together your own burger soon!
Located off of the main university street, the first alley behind McDonalds
The drinks fountain. The old school coke bottle machine is an ice dispenser
Fries come with two onion rings
The sides platter – I needed more onion rings
The assembled chicken burger
The ginormous assembled cheeseburger
Tainan City, Taiwan 701
06-236-5252
Other reviews/listings:
iTainan (Listing by Hanjie)
Of Arms and a Man (Blog)
Boy London (Blog – Chinese)
Black Snow Fairy (Blog – Chinese)
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金鳳陽春麵 (Golden Phoenix YangChun Noodles)
Posted: March 8, 2011 Filed under: An-Ping, Dining, dinner, Low, lunch, Noodles, Price, Taiwanese | Tags: anping, foodie, gan mian, Golden Phoenix, majang mien, majiang, mian, noodles, Restaurant, sesame noodles, Tainan, Taiwan, YangChun, 台南 Leave a comment »Delicious Sesame “Dry” Noodles in Anping
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Style: Taiwanese Noodles
Noodles: 35~50NTD
Soup: 15~20NTD
Hours: Monday~Friday 11am~11pm
Saturday 11am~9pm Closed Sunday
English Menu: None Pros: The sesame noodles, the homemade hot sauce |
Whenever I walk into a noodle shop, I always ask for “dry” noodles (gān miàn - 乾麵) as opposed to having soup noodles (Tāng miàn - 湯麵). If the person taking my order asks “You ja majiang ma?” (Do you want to add sesame sauce?) , the answer is always and utterly “YES!” – I love sesame noodles and I think it has to do with eating those cold sesame noodles in 7-11 when I first arrived in Taiwan.
Finding this restaurant was a bit of serendipity and the reason why I’m using so much Chinese in this post is that there is absolutely no English in the restaurant. I used to live close to this simple restaurant that can be found on YiPing Rd, just west of the Tainan City Hall. Open at 11am Monday to Sunday, it’s hard to get a seat during the weekday lunch rush hour.
The thing to order here: sesame noodles (Majiàng miàn – 麻醬麵 – pronounced: maa-jang-me-en). I have no clue what the noodle master puts in them, but I swear, it’s magic. The sesame sauce has perfect consistency paired with fresh noodles cooked perfectly. The one word I would use to summarize these noodles is “balance”. There are two sizes of noodles to choose from – a thin and a thick. My preference is with the thick whereas Tina prefers the thin. Word of caution: Only eat here if the “master” is cooking (That would be the guy in the baseball cap). I’ve had the noodles when he’s not there and they really aren’t that good without him.
The other big plus with this restaurant is their home made hot sauce. It’s really got a kick, having big chunks of chilli inside of it. When I first started eating here, I could only handle a drop this sauce. I’ve now upgraded to a 1/2 teaspoon. If you’re a hot sauce person, this takes it to the next level of spicy.
Other things on the menu are noodles (yangchung noodles, satay noodles) as well as a variety of soups and boiled dumplings. Taiwanese stewed goodies (Lu-wei) are also available.
I’d have to say the service is really friendly here. If you don’t order soup, they’ll give you some free broth. Which leads me to my trick of the day: If your noodles get too dry in the middle of your meal, just add a little soup into your noodles and they’re as good as new!
If you’ve been on the search for great sesame noodles, this is one of my top picks in Tainan. I’ve even driven out of my way just to eat here. Once you’ve tried these noodles, you may find yourself doing the same.
Golden Phoenix YangChun Noodles on Yi-Ping Rd. Keep an eye out.
It’s always hard to find the first time.
It’s always busy in here. During the rush hour the second floor opens up.
Only order if the “master” is there.
“Dry” Majiang Noodles – Sesame noodle. Yum!
Taiwanese stewed goodies (Lu-Wei)
Other reviews/listings:
~~Always Open~~ (Blog – Chinese)
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卓家汕頭魚麵 (Zhuo Shantou Fish Noodles)
Posted: March 4, 2011 Filed under: "It's Famous", Dining, Low, lunch, Noodles, Taiwanese, West-Central | Tags: fish ball, fish Noodles, Food, foodie, Restaurant, Shantou, soup, Tainan, Tainan famous, taiwanese, west-central district, Zhuo, 卓家汕頭魚麵, 台南 Leave a comment »Something’s Fishy about these Noodles
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Style: Taiwanese
Fish Noodles: 35~50NTD
Soup: 15~20NTD
Rice: 20~40NTD
Hours: 10:00am~8:30pm everyday
English Menu: None Pros: Traditional Taiwanese food, it’s “famous” |
Searching GoogleTaiwan, this restaurant has to be one of the most blogged about spots in Tainan. It’s incredible to see how much people love talking about these noodles. I’ve driven by this spot maybe a thousand times and have always had to swerve my motorcycle around to avoid cars suddenly stopping. I never knew what the commotion was about until I finally found out first hand.
Last Sunday Tina and I decided to try something that we’ve never eaten before. After almost getting sideswiped by a car near the corner of Minsheng Rd and Ximen Rd., we saw the restaurant from across the street and it looked busy. We decided that this would be a good place to try. Now Tina, being a Kaohsiung-ian, did the ordering as there was no English available at all.
On the menu: Fish – Fish noodles, Fish dumplings soup, fish dumplings wrapped in fish skin soup, Rice with fatty pork and fish floss, stewed tofu, fish-ball and egg (We tried to order almost everything on the menu).
The fish noodles were quite different. The consistency of the fish was springy like regular noodles. Tina told me it’s because they add flour to the raw fish paste. Now some of my friends love this place. I’m not so sure if the flavour of the noodles is a taste that you have to get used to (ie. stinky tofu), but I felt like the celery in the noodles was a little too overpowering. The celery that’s put in this dish is Taiwanese celery – think of a thinner, smaller, more pungent celery with more bite then sliced thin like green onions would be.
Now, I have to say that the dumplings in both soups were really good – the texture and flavour were very unique. The accompanying soup was less tasty – but again, I think the celery killed it.
The rice was great as well as the stewed tofu and tea egg. The stewed fish-ball was a big miss for me – too chewy. I believe the Taiwanese have a word for that – “Q”. I would translate “Q” to be chewy and rubbery while I think my Taiwanese friends would think springy and bouncy. The best example of “Q” would be the “bubbles” inside of a bubble tea. One of my Taiwanese friends always discusses with me about how she loves when things are very “Q” and I tell her soft and succulent is the way to go. We usually end up agreeing to disagree.
If you want to get into traditional Tainan food, this is as good as it gets. It is jammed packed with people for being “famous”. The fish noodles, for me anyways, might take some time to get used to. I would go back again, but next time I’ll hold the celery.
Located next to a temple entrance on Mingsheng Rd. (opposite Chinatrust bank)
It’s “famous”, so lineups are a standard
The workers and the tiny shop.
The main attraction: fish noodles
A fish dumpling wrapped in fish skin – delicious.
06-2215997
Other reviews/listings:
Food Makes Me Happy (Blog)
Dream About Yui (Blog – Chinese)
Falling for Someone’s Smile (Blog – Chinese)
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Catiya Coffee (卡堤雅咖啡)
Posted: March 1, 2011 Filed under: Dining, dinner, District, East, lunch, Mid, pasta, salads, Sandwich | Tags: cafe, foodie, outdoor, pasta, patio, Restaurant, salad, sandwich, Tainan, Taiwan, 卡堤雅咖啡, 台南 Leave a comment »It’s Where to get a Salad in Tainan
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Style: Cafe
Salad: 120NTD
Subs: 80NTD
Drinks: 25~70NTD
Hours: 11am-10pm everyday English Menu: Full Pros: A great salad, outdoor seating |
I never realized the value of a good salad until I arrived to Taiwan. For most restaurants in Tainan, a salad is nothing more than a few pieces of lettuce with some corn and a dollop of thousand island dressing, sweet mayonaise or a soy sauce based “Japanese dressing”. I went on a great salad search which led me to Catiya Coffee on Linsen Rd, near DongNing Rd.
Catiya is an outdoor cafe with most of its seating outdoors, although there is limited seating indoors. It’s menu is very basic. It’s most popular dish, the salad.
There aren’t any side salads here – this salad is huge. It comes with your choice of tuna, bacon or cold cuts that include smoked chicken, beef, or ham as well as tomatoes, olives, onions, purple cabbage and alfalfa sprouts. The dressing for this salad is the owner’s special. It’s basically an oil and vinegar dressing with other aromatics.
The one thing is about Catiya is that the toppings on the salad or sandwich are standard. In order to know which toppings you want, you need to eat it at least once before you can customize the way you like it. This lunchtime I ordered a beef salad my way – with mustard and without onions. Delicious!
Other things to eat are the sub sandwiches, pasta or cheese toast. Being a cafe, there are also many choices for drinks from standard green/black tea and coffee to great tasting flavoured ice drinks.
Catiya is a place to sit and talk with your friends to enjoy any day outdoors. It has good drinks and eats which makes the outdoors that much better. If you’re looking for a great salad, Catiya is the cafe patio to be.
The store on Linsen, with lots of outdoor seating.
My way – beef salad, no onions plus mustard
Ohio Jon’s way – double meat plus cheese
The submarine sandwich, with the same options as the salad plus green jalapenos
Catiya Coffee (卡堤雅咖啡)
Tainan City, Taiwan 701
Other Reviews:
delicatezza e felicità (blog – Chinese)
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