Restaurants at Top 10

Mama Ho's Shanghainese Restaurant 侯媽媽美食之家

Address: 155 Chinshan S. Rd., Sec. 1, Taipei (北市金山南路一段155號).

Telephone: (02) 2392-2123, or 2392-1797.

Open: 11:30am - 2pm; 5pm - 9pm.

Average meal: NT$300.

Details: Credit cards accepted. No English menu.

Mama Ho's Shanghainese Restaurant's homely atmosphere and simple decor distinguish it from fancy banquet-style-restaurants. This is in keeping with the food served here, which owner Jessie Lee (李嘉茜) describes as Shanghainese home-style cooking. Mama Ho's is regarded by some as a bastion of this style of cuisine, where good ingredients, attention to detail and the absence of gimmicks make this a great choice for family meals and dinner parties.

Yuyang Hsiao Ji 魚羊小集

Address: 41 Hsinchung St., Taipei (北市新中街41號).

Telephone: (02) 2747-1655.

Open: 11:30am to 2pm; 5:30pm to 9pm.

Average meal: NT$400 and up.

Details: No English menu but the owner speaks English. Credit cards not accepted.

If you enjoy well prepared meat, it really doesn't get any better than Yuyang Hsiao Ji, a little establishment off Mingsheng East Road, Sec. 5 that specializes in fish and lamb dishes. The most audacious move of owner Wang Kuang-huai (王光淮) is combining the two in many of his dishes. The restaurant is associated with one of the largest sheep farms in Taiwan (with operations in Australia), which allows Wang to ensure that he gets the very best meat for his kitchen. Innovative dishes prepared with quality ingredients in a informal environment.

Kunming 昆明園

Address: 26, Ln., 81 Fuhsing N. Rd., Taipei (北市復興北路81巷26號).

Telephone: 02) 2751-6776.

Open: 11:30am to 2pm, 5:30pm to 9:30pm on weekdays; 5:30pm to 9:30pm on Saturdays, Sunday and public holidays.

Average meal: NT$150 (business lunch), NT$300 to NT$350 (dinner).

Details: Menu in English, Chinese and Arabic. Reservations accepted. Credit cards not accepted. No alcohol served, though patrons are permitted to bring their own.

For a delicious, moderately-priced Indian restaurant where you can fill the table with a bumper crop of masalas, chick peas, curries and nan, Kunming is one of the best in Taipei. The restaurant is run by the genial Yacoob Mah (馬雲昌), a Chinese Muslim from a family that's run restaurants from Burma to Yunnan. The restaurant's menu combines dishes from India, the Middle East and parts of Southeast Asia, and more than matches Taipei's other Indian restaurants in flavor while also beating them in price. A must-try dish is the musakka, a Turkish recipe consisting of finely-ground beef that is seasoned and cooked with eggplant. The platter is then topped with green peppers, tomatoes and a trace of yogurt sauce. The only thing lacking at Kunming is the decor, but none of the restaurant's many regulars seem to mind.

O Rou Hsiung 鵝肉熊

Address: 423 Kuangfu S. Rd. (北市光復南路423號).

Telephone: (02) 2722-6722.

Open: 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 1am.

Average meal: NT$150 (business lunch), NT$300 to NT$350 (dinner).

Details: NT$150 to NT$200. No English menu.

Ask anyone in south Taipei where to go for smoked goose, they'll probably point you to O Rou Hsiung, a down-home Taiwanese restaurant with round tables, fake wooden floors and a refrigerator full of big brown bottles of Taiwan beer. The menu is built around goose, which almost everyone orders, and filled out with an extensive selection of noodles, vegetables, tofu dishes and various delectable hsiao chih (小吃), or small dishes. Prices are as reasonable as the food is good, with the average meal costing only around NT$200.