The downside is Beiping You Yi Tsuen maintains the interior of your typical dime-a-dozen food stall. Before it was renovated a few months ago, it was one of the grimiest dining rooms in town. Now completely redone and respectably clean, it provides an adequate lunch room. Expect to sit at a long table with people you don't know, most of whom will be watching TV.
Man Lai (滿來)
181 Nanjing E. Rd. Sec. 5 (南景東路五段181號) tel: 2747-9660. Open: 11:30am to 9:00pm. Average meal: NT$200. Picture menu. No credit cards accepted.
Ramen noodle shops have been springing up all around Taipei lately. Many of them are franchised out and tend to serve up standardized dishes in oversized bowls from limited menus. Though Man Lai is in the same price range as other quickie ramen outlets, it is far superior in nearly every respect, especially when it comes to the food.
First of all, Man Lai's menu puts most other ramen shops to shame. While not deviating from its central theme of ramen and small plates of Japanese side dishes, it offers a variety that surpasses nearly all other noodle shops. In terms of ramen dishes, which come with a choice of either soy or miso soup base, Man Lai has several fish and vegetarian combinations that aren't available elsewhere, providing a refreshing break from Taiwan's omnipresent pork. Of course, they have that too.
The Mountain Vegetable Ramen provides an unusual and very tasty vegetarian combination of day lily, mu'er (
To round out the meal, side dishes include flame-roasted cuttlefish and herring, tofu cold or fried, Japanese style strips of raw beef, skewers of shrimp, beef and chicken and a variety of others. The decor is spare, but since the basic color scheme is black, the atmosphere is a little bit cold. All said and done, however, this hardly detracts from the food.
RSS