Soup Inside your Dumplings

Summary Style: Taiwan/Shanghai Dishes: 60~150NTD Noodles: 60~150NTD Beverages: 30NTD Hours: 9:30am-12:30am Mon-Sun English Menu: Full Pros: Open all day, Good tasting soup dumplings Cons: Regular dumplings not so great, relatively expensive

When I arrived in Tainan, Haoweidao (literally: good flavour) or “The yellow soup dumpling restaurant” on DongAn Rd. was the first restaurant I ever went to. It was this tiny little place where the workers would make dumplings outside. This place was busy – it had wooden tables that sit 6 people and if you only had 2, you were sharing your table with another couple or family.   After renovating 4 years ago in the same location, Haoweidao has become a spacious restaurant, triple the size of its former self.

It’s main attraction is xiaolongbao (Literally: little dragon dumplings) – a dumpling with soup and pork filling within originally hailing from the Shanghai region. These dumplings are usually diped is sauce that contain soy sauce, vinegar and fresh ginger slivers although the sauce is up to your personal preference. I’ve been taught there are a number of different ways to eat the dumplings as well. I have friends that suck the soup out first, then dip the rest in their sauce. Others prefer putting the ginger slivers on top, then dipping before popping the whole dumpling in their mouths. Whichever way you prefer, there’s no denying that these are tasty.

My other favorite dish is the “dry” noodles or noodles without soup that come in both a regular and spicy version. I’d recommend the regular noodles – for flavour and taste. Quite honestly, I haven’t found another restaurant with this type of noodles yet and are definitely worth trying. Another option is the soup noodles with pork if you feel like getting  your “meat” on. As well, various kinds of dumplings are also available which are okay, but not as good as their signature soup duplings.

Although Haiweidao’s prices are higher than the other restaurants with similar food, it’s still relatively cheap and the taste makes up for the difference. Get to “The yellow soup dumpling restaurant” for some delicious xiaolongbao. It will be an experience that you’ll remember your whole time in Tainan.

The storefront of DongAn Rd.

Closeup of the sign

Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)

“Dry” noodles

Spicy “dry” noodles

Seaweed soup

Pork soup noodles

Pork cutlet

Chinese water spinach

Other Reviews:
Tainan City Guide
iPeen (Chinese)