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[RESTAURANT REVIEW] Lao Yo Chi Noodles and Congee (老友記粥麵館)

Won ton noodles in oyster sauce, chang fen with shrimp, and chicken steamed with mushroom are some of Lao Yo Chi's signature dishes. PHOTO: HO YI, TAIPEI TIMES

Restaurants come and go in the trend-setting neighborhood centered around Taipei's Zhongxiao East (忠孝東) and Dunhua South (敦化南) roads, but Lao Yo Chi has remained a fixture, serving inexpensive Cantonese snacks for the last 13 years.

Cleanliness is one of the reasons behind its staying power. This is a thoroughly modern diner, not the stereotypical Cantonese-style restaurant with grungy dining areas and greasy glass displays where cooked birds and sides of meat hang.

At Lao Yo Chi, a glass window provides patrons with a view of the Cantonese-speaking staff, dressed in white chef's garb and going about their business in the orderly kitchen.

The color scheme is a calming ivory white, brown and gold, and the interior is basked throughout in warm lamplight. Reproductions of Salvador Dali paintings hang on the walls and are juxtaposed with a mosaic of magazine cutouts.

Like the decor, the food itself reflects contemporary tastes. Lots of oil and salt is out. The popular barbecued pork and duck rice plate (燒肉燒鴨飯, NT$85), for example, uses more lean meat than traditional versions of the dish.

Lao Yo Chi Noodles and Congee (老友記粥麵館) Address: 16, Ln 232, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段232巷16號) Telephone: (02) 2731-2269 Open: Daily from 11:30am to 9:30pm Average meal: NT$180 Details: Chinese menu; credit cards not accepted.

Lao Yo Chi's menu offers a wide selection of Cantonese street food staples, from congee and lao mian (撈麵), or pre-fried noodles, to appetizers such as chang fen (腸粉), or shrimp, beef or pork wrapped in sticky rice.

Won ton noodles in oyster sauce (蠔油雲吞撈麵, NT$110) - always a good barometer of how authentic a Cantonese restaurant is - are here served in a familiar style, with a juicy stuffing of minced pork and shrimp, along with Chinese broccoli, which is more for garnish than anything else as it is too thick to chew.

The star that makes this diner shine is the congee stewed with dried scallops, which lend the bowl a sweet taste. One favorite choice is the rice noodle with beef scallop bowl (干貝米粉碎牛肉粥, NT$80), which adds crunchy fried noodles to the steaming rice porridge. Another is the congee deluxe. The abalone version is a more expensive treat at NT$290.

Nearly all items on the menu are available for takeout. Prospective diners are advised to steer clear of the lunchbox takeout service, however, since it has received a resounding "thumbs down" grade from reviewers in the blogosphere.

Despite its modernity, Lao Yo Chi is a family-style place, with loud but efficient wait staff. This reviewer deems it a satisfying spot to quench sudden cravings for quick-serve Cantonese food in the heart of the city.
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