China 2019 (4/10) – Yummy Taipei

We took a trip to Taiwan and China in June 2019. Like most of our trips, I began writing about it shortly after. However, I got distracted somehow and never gotten around to finish it. Over a year later, picking this project back up is providing me with a nice boost of vacation memories while home-bound under COVID.

Taiwan offers a wide range of yummy foods. For Hong and I, traditional breakfast sits at the very top of that list. Similar to the last trip, we made a point to eat as much of it as possible. You can say that we also learned our lesson and chose not to stay at a hotel with a fancy breakfast buffet (which would’ve gone to waste). The bummer is that traditional breakfast vendors had been gradually vanishing, as people migrated to more “modern” options such as Starbucks. To get to our most important meal of the day, we had to take a bus and hike for ten minutes. We did this three out of the four mornings. We did it in intensely humid heat, and we did it in pouring rain.

One of the two Yonghe Soy Milk King 永和豆漿大王 locations that we ate at. It was pure joy to watch the team make all sorts of dough and work the griddle, while transacting nonstop with dine-in and take-out customers

At these breakfast joints, we always ordered more than we could eat…

The one day we skipped fan tuan and you tiao, we got burgers and sandwiches for breakfast. Known for serving “Western” style food, vendors with big griddles are also a uniquely Taiwanese option for morning eats. These places use some of the fluffiest toasts and sesame buns in the world. If you aren’t asking for a grilled egg in your sandwich, you are doing it wrong. Hong was a skeptic with my breakfast burger obsession, but became an instant convert after the first bite.

Mei Er Mei 美而美, one of those breakfast places throughout Taiwan

The rest of what we ate were mostly from stalls that I grew up with, serving nostalgic purposes. Due to rain and jet lag, we didn’t get a chance to venture far from home to try what we had recently learned about. It was still amazing, though, as Taiwanese cuisine is one of those that just don’t taste right outside its home island.