Telephone: (02) 2778 3075 or 8771 5358
Open: Seven days a week from 11:30 am to 9pm
Average meal: NT$500
Details: No English menu provided. No credit cards accepted
If it were not for the Taipei Beef Noodle Festival 2005, currently being held by the Taipei City Government, which runs until Sept. 24, many diners may never have heard of a fascinating restaurant called 688 Beef Bowl, as it is hidden down a quiet street in the busy eastern district of Taipei.
The festival, taking the popular local delicacy beef noodle soup as its main theme, has seen Tony Wang (王聰源), owner of the restaurant, appear on several TV talk shows in recent weeks commenting on the success of 688 Beef Bowl.
Tony's daring pricing strategy, charging customers as much as NT$3,000 for a bowl of beef noodle soup when the average noodle restaurant charges around NT$120, has aroused much curiosity.
PHOTO: CHIA MING-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Tony's restaurant is plain-looking both inside and outside, and makes one wonder whether Tony's deeds are worthy of his words, or rather his prices. However, he has been running the noodle shop at the same location for the past 16 years, whereas some 30 similar restaurants within a 1km radius of his neighborhood have all closed down.
His business received a lot of publicity in 1999 when he and his wife Jan decided to offer the shockingly expensive NT$3,000 beef noodle soup. Since then, as Tony proudly points out, he has served nearly 4,000 bowls to patrons.
There is a good reason why the soup prepared by Tony tastes superb and costs the earth. He uses 7.8kg of beef tendons to make three servings of beef essence.
The extract is then deposited in a small stainless steel container and frozen. Tony then removes the top two layers of frozen beef extract to make the soup. Then the stir-fried beef is cooked in the extract before being served with noodles. Each finely chopped piece of meat is extremely tender and is marvelously rich in taste. No artificial additives are used in Tony's soup.
Tasting is believing and it is no wonder that most of Tony's clientele return to his restaurant for more beef noodle soup.
In addition to beef noodle soup, Tony's restaurant offers other choices for diners on a budget. A lighter version of the NT$3,000 noodle soup costs NT$200, or a serving of delicious pig trotter noodles can be had for the same price.
To end a meal at Tony's restaurant, Italian cream cheese or Canadian almond jelly would be an excellent choice for dessert. Overall, the food is very appetizing and delightful in this clean, quiet and lovable restaurant.
Cheng Ching-hsiang (鄭青祥) turned a small triangle of concrete jammed between two old shops into a cool little bar called 9dimension. In front of the shop, a steampunk-like structure was welded by himself to serve as a booth where he prepares cocktails. “Yancheng used to be just old people,” he says, “but now young people are coming and creating the New Yancheng.” Around the corner, Yu Hsiu-jao (饒毓琇), opened Tiny Cafe. True to its name, it is the size of a cupboard and serves cold-brewed coffee. “Small shops are so special and have personality,” she says, “people come to Yancheng to find such treasures.” She
Late last month Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro told the Philippine Senate that the nation has sufficient funds to evacuate the nearly 170,000 Filipino residents in Taiwan, 84 percent of whom are migrant workers, in the event of war. Agencies have been exploring evacuation scenarios since early this year, she said. She also observed that since the Philippines has only limited ships, the government is consulting security agencies for alternatives. Filipinos are a distant third in overall migrant worker population. Indonesia has over 248,000 workers, followed by roughly 240,000 Vietnamese. It should be noted that there are another 170,000
Hannah Liao (廖宸萱) recalls the harassment she experienced on dating apps, an experience that left her frightened and disgusted. “I’ve tried some voice-based dating apps,” the 30-year-old says. “Right away, some guys would say things like, ‘Wanna talk dirty?’ or ‘Wanna suck my d**k?’” she says. Liao’s story is not unique. Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics show a more than 50 percent rise in sexual assault cases related to online encounters over the past five years. In 2023 alone, women comprised 7,698 of the 9,413 reported victims. Faced with a dating landscape that can feel more predatory than promising, many in
“This is one of those rare bits of TikTok fitness advice with a lot of truth behind it,” says Bethan Crouse, performance nutritionist at Loughborough University. “Sometimes it’s taken a bit too literally, though! You see people chugging protein drinks as they’re scanning out of their gym.” Crouse recommends the athletes she works with consume 20-30g of protein within 30-60 minutes of finishing a resistance training session. “The act of exercising our muscles increases the breakdown of muscle proteins,” she says. “In order to restore, or hopefully improve them — and get gains such as increased muscle mass or strength —
RSS