Service areas along national freeways used to be criticized for offering poor quality and expensive food, but no longer.
They now provide delicious and attractive meals that do not cost too much, such as the Guanxi lunchbox, which has been rated the most popular meal by travelers.
The lunchboxes served at the Guanxi Service Area on the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3) in Hsinchu County offers five Hakka-style main dishes — salted pork, steamed pork with pickled vegetables, deep-fried pork chops with orange sauce, double main dishes and chicken leg with plum juice — with prices ranging from NT$55 to NT$85 (US$1.70 and US$2.62)
Last year, the service area sold an average 17,000 Guanxi lunchboxes per month for a total of NT$1.1 million, making it the best-selling meal among those offered by all of the service areas along Taiwan’s freeways, according to the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau.
Some specialty foods have also become popular, such as bell-shaped cake with custard filling offered by the Cingshuei Service Area in Taichung. The cake was the No. 1 gift item last year, selling 27,000 boxes per month for a total of NT$3 million. A cheesecake from the same service area followed, selling 9,000 per month for a revenue of NT$2 million.
At Guanmiao Service Area in Tainan, also on the Formosa Freeway, a restaurant provides curry rice arranged in the shape of a horse that has become popular with travelers.
However, since this is a meal that has to be made to order, the store owner said that he cannot supply it in large volumes.
He said he is delighted that many customers are prepared to wait for the cooks to prepare the dish.
At Gukeng Service Area in Yunlin County, a widely lauded specialty drink — traditional almond tea made from powdered almonds — sells an average of 1,100 cups per month, which is somewhat less than other items, but the business owner said all the customers enjoyed the drink.
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