Mention xiaolongbao (小龍包), or steamed dumplings, and the name Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) is bound to enter the conversation. But any dumpling aficionado is just as likely to tout a cheaper and even better alternative.
One such place is Mingyue Tangbao (明月湯包, Mingyue Steamed Dumplings), which enjoys a loyal following. During busy times it’s not uncommon to find a line of people waiting outside this modest shop near the Tonghua Street (通化街) night market. The interior feels more like the typical Taiwanese noodle joint, sparsely decorated and with room for about 20 people. Wooden blocks on the wall list each menu item, and medals won by the chef hang proudly at the back of the room.
Both connoisseurs and newcomers should try the house specialty, mingyue tangbao (明月湯包, NT$120 per basket of eight), the shop’s name for its xiaolongbao. The marks of a good dumpling were all there: the outer flour wrap was delicate and thin but didn’t break when picked up with chopsticks; each dumpling had a good proportion of soup, meat and dough; and the minced pork was lean and tasted fresh.
There are different ways to enjoy xiaolongbao, which is part of the fun. Some like to eat a whole dumpling in one bite and let the broth trapped inside explode in the mouth (let the dumplings cool for a few minutes so you won’t burn yourself). A slower method is to savor the flavors separately. Dip a dumpling in soy sauce and vinegar, place it in your spoon, nibble a hole in the wrap and sip the soup that spills out. Finish the rest after adding a few slithers of ginger, which the waiter brings to your table on a tiny sauce plate.
Mingyue’s unique pot stickers (鍋貼, NT$120), also a house specialty, could rekindle affection for this old standby. Each serving of 10 dumplings arrives connected together at the bottom by a thin golden sheet of crispy flour and oil. The waiter sets the plate down and quickly separates the dumplings with a fork. The crispy bottom packed a satisfying crunch while a hint of sweetness in the dough was well-balanced by the minced pork’s savoriness.
The steamed vegetable dumplings (淨素蒸餃, NT$130 per basket of eight) also deserve mention for their tasty filling of vegetable greens and bits of tofu. Some heartier choices for winter include the steamed chicken soup (圓盅燉雞湯, NT$140) and the stewed beef soup (清燉牛肉湯, NT$120), both of which come with a side of noodles for an extra NT$20. Pass on the scallion pancakes (蔥油餅, NT$50), which were too greasy.
Mingyue also runs a more spacious sit-down restaurant around the corner at 40, Ln 171, Tonghua St (通化街171巷40號), with a wider range of options, but its faux trendy decor falls short. The plain-Jane shop on Keelung Road has more character, if you can do without the Shanghai grandeur. Both restaurants are a five-minute walk from Liuzhangli (六張犁) MRT Station. — DAVID CHEN
The canonical shot of an East Asian city is a night skyline studded with towering apartment and office buildings, bright with neon and plastic signage, a landscape of energy and modernity. Another classic image is the same city seen from above, in which identical apartment towers march across the city, spilling out over nearby geography, like stylized soldiers colonizing new territory in a board game. Densely populated dynamic conurbations of money, technological innovation and convenience, it is hard to see the cities of East Asia as what they truly are: necropolises. Why is this? The East Asian development model, with
June 16 to June 22 The following flyer appeared on the streets of Hsinchu on June 12, 1895: “Taipei has already fallen to the Japanese barbarians, who have brought great misery to our land and people. We heard that the Japanese occupiers will tax our gardens, our houses, our bodies, and even our chickens, dogs, cows and pigs. They wear their hair wild, carve their teeth, tattoo their foreheads, wear strange clothes and speak a strange language. How can we be ruled by such people?” Posted by civilian militia leader Wu Tang-hsing (吳湯興), it was a call to arms to retake
This is a deeply unsettling period in Taiwan. Uncertainties are everywhere while everyone waits for a small army of other shoes to drop on nearly every front. During challenging times, interesting political changes can happen, yet all three major political parties are beset with scandals, strife and self-inflicted wounds. As the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is held accountable for not only the challenges to the party, but also the nation. Taiwan is geopolitically and economically under threat. Domestically, the administration is under siege by the opposition-controlled legislature and growing discontent with what opponents characterize as arrogant, autocratic
When Lisa, 20, laces into her ultra-high heels for her shift at a strip club in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, she knows that aside from dancing, she will have to comfort traumatized soldiers. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, exhausted troops are the main clientele of the Flash Dancers club in the center of the northeastern city, just 20 kilometers from Russian forces. For some customers, it provides an “escape” from the war, said Valerya Zavatska — a 25-year-old law graduate who runs the club with her mother, an ex-dancer. But many are not there just for the show. They “want to talk about what hurts,” she
RSS