Taipei street food
This is not the only shop offering the Taiwan favorite. In a nearby lane, there is also Old Zhang Beef Noodles, a 2006 Taipei Beef Noodle Challenge winner. This is an annual event, which shows how seriously the locals take their beef noodles.
Yongkang Street is a must-visit for more than just beef noodles.
There are many restaurants, cafes, teashops, and even the esteemed Din Tai Fung dumplings has its original store here, where its famous xiaolongbao were first sold. Yongkang Street is full of venerable culinary establishments like these.
The Dongmen Jiaozi restaurant opened in 1961, just down the street from Yongkang Beef Noodles. This is where you can satisfy your dumpling and potsticker cravings.
Located in a spacious, elegantly decorated two-story building, the restaurant's food features a Northern Chinese flavor, thanks to the founder's Shandong origin.
We tried the steamed dumplings which were thick and juicy, and the cong you bing (green onion pancake), whose crunchy texture is different from the pancakes offered elsewhere.
The name Dongmen reflects the fact that this area was the eastern part of old-time Taipei and was where Taipei's East Gate was located when its city walls were intact. The nearest subway station is aptly named Dongmen as well.
Meanwhile, a very traditional Taiwanese food, lurou fan (braised pork rice) can also be enjoyed in restaurants in the vicinity specializing in Taiwanese Minnan food.
If you would like a light snack, try the cong zhuabing, a layered type of onion pancake in which eggs, cheese or other ingredients can be added.
You can have this at the Tianjin Cong Zhuabing, which is conveniently located right at a corner.
When you place your order, your pancake is fried right in front of you. It is a sensational snack, with a crisp, crunchy skin and a soft chewy inside.
Finish up your culinary journey along Yongkang Street with a Taiwanese dessert that has also been successfully exported to many parts of China.
At Smoothie King, there is a variety of mango shaved ice dishes, delicious concoctions that go beyond the regular mango shaved ice.
Here, there are different fruits, and toppings, especially the snowflake ice, a special kind of local layered ice cream which has a smooth. The servings are huge but very much worth the effort.
The whole street is just a few minutes' walk from the Dongmen MRT station in the middle of Taipei, so it's very convenient to visit, especially if you want to return for a repeat visit.
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