The fact that the Dengji Dan-Dan Noodles restaurant is located on a lane opposite Taipei's restaurant-loaded Yangkang Street
Until recently the famous small eats restaurant had all the hallmarks of a spit and sawdust eatery. A change of address and a facelift, however, have now transformed it into something other than an Oriental fast-food joint.
PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES
Now located on the opposite side of the street, the restaurant's once-sparse interior now boasts old Chinese-style wooden furniture and other such old-world-style Oriental trimmings.
The decor and address may have changed, but the quality of the food certainly hasn't. For almost 40 years successive Lao Deng managers have not only managed to keep the recipe for the chili and peanut based sauce that covers the joint's specialty dish of dan-dan mien NT$50
One of the most mouth-watering of their creations is the oily chili sauce that covers the joint's bite-sized dumplings. The freshly made dumplings
The thin soft pastry wrapping melts in the mouth and the meaty filling remains in one piece and doesn't spill out and fall listlessly onto the table top or diners' laps. The dumplings are also available for the same price without the chili sauce, which is instead replaced by clear oil
It is the joint's various flavors and styles of noodles, however, that remain the crux of any meal at the Dengji.
Along with dan dan noodles, other noodle dishes worth chowing down on include hot and sour noodles NT$60
While noodles remain the restaurant's big draw, there are still plenty of equally tasty rice-based dishes on the menu. Dishes such as pig trotter rice NT$100
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