For Taipei's office workers, a new place for a quick after-work drink and some tasty late-night snacks is always welcome. The drinks are too expensive in a lounge bar. But if you go to the night market, the food may be good but the environment is not upmarket.
Located on the corner of Renai Road and Guangfu South Road, Jiang-tzi BBQ House is a small cozy stand that is ideal for eating and drinking, as it's cheap and tasty. There are also open-air tables for people-watching.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OWNER
A plate of Xinjiang-style lamb kebab with a bottle of Heineken beer appears to be a strong attraction for Taipei's middle class in the area. Every day, after 4pm, the fragrance of cumin seeds and other spices, as well as the charcoal fire, scent the air.
The place is always full, which is not surprising, given that it has only four tables and a tiny bar area. But the owner, Jack Cheng (鄭
QQ lamb kebab (NT$40), QQ beef (NT$50) and grilled chicken hearts (NT$40) are the three most popular dishes. Jack Cheng is proud of the taste of his BBQ dishes. He said his kebab cooking skills come from two years spent working in China. Originally a trade executive for a computer company, Cheng was fascinated with Xinjiang barbecue and became an apprentice of a BBQ house in Shanghai.
Cheng chooses lamb rib to make the QQ Lamb Kebab while using fillet for another lamb dish -- the House Kebab. "The rib tastes chewy and contains more juice in the meat, while fillet tastes softer and tender but is less juicy," Cheng said.
The 10 kinds of spices and sauces in the marinating process is a secret weapon in Cheng's tasty kebabs. The only thing he is willing to reveal is that "no soy sauce is used in the recipe." After placing the ribs on the BBQ rack, cumin seed powder and chili powder is added.
There are other choices such as lamb chops, beef ribs, grilled chicken wings and shrimp. To cut through the grease in the meats, try the Korean kimchi or Hakka-style onion pickles.
Apart from Heineken beer, there are choices of Smirnoff Ice, small bottles of JP Chenet Cabernet red wine and Macallan 12-year-old whisky, all at reasonable prices.
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
On April 17, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) launched a bold campaign to revive and revitalize the KMT base by calling for an impromptu rally at the Taipei prosecutor’s offices to protest recent arrests of KMT recall campaigners over allegations of forgery and fraud involving signatures of dead voters. The protest had no time to apply for permits and was illegal, but that played into the sense of opposition grievance at alleged weaponization of the judiciary by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to “annihilate” the opposition parties. Blamed for faltering recall campaigns and faced with a KMT chair
When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime. Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the US. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia.
RSS