Food Intelligence

I must blog about this place. Master Hong’s Beef Noodle Soup. Mr. Huang brought me here my first night in Taipei in 2009, and it was an instant hit. First of all, come on, the signs all over the store saying which soups they have won awards for during the Beef Noodle Soup Festivals?! That makes it easy for a first-timer in deciding what to order. And if you didn’t see it all over the walls, they put it on the ordering checklist next to the item in parenthesis. Of course you’ll need to read Chinese. If you don’t, just look for the parenthesis or just point to what’s on the wall.

I can’t seem to recall for the life of me what makes these dumplings green…spinach? Nah, too obvious. I’ll have to ask next time I’m over there. But they were pretty good. The noodles are their specialty here, of course. If you’re into dao-xiao noodles, which are thick noodles, this place will not disappoint. They have thin noodles here as well, but I’m a big noodle fan myself.

Yeah there’s beef tripe in there too. You can get it with just brisket only. I grew up on tripe so it was cool to see it in BNS…usually only see it in Pho. The soup isn’t too oily, and it wasn’t overly crowded. The one we were at had a main level and a basement. Can’t remember which one it was (maybe Zhonghsiao? It was close to my hotel I think!). They have four locations, three in Taipei, one in Keelung.

But wait, there’s more! This place also has the BEST beef jerky known to man. My HAFE buddy Adrian can attest to this as we had some at the top of Mt. Fuji.

American beef jerky is dry and salty. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. Chinese beef jerky is moist. Plenty of flavor. I’m going to have to grab a piece after I’m done with this post. Good thing my mother picked up a few bags for me when she came to visit! Pictured is the Mexico flavor. Ever wonder what Mexico tasted like? Much more amazing than you think…especially if you think Tijuana or Nogales

Look – they even have a website here complete with directions, products, and an order form!!  Order today!  Send one my way as well please.

Mr. H, who is the expert on all things Taipei, knew that I was a beef noodle soup (BNS) fan…what probably tipped him off was the fact that every time I visit, when he asks me what I am in the mood for, I always respond, mm, I don’t know, BNS?  Usually we would go to typical restaurants or hole-in-the-grounds for this stuff, but this time around, Mr. H brought me over to the Sheraton Taipei.  I am usually apprehensive of hotel restaurants, but trusted that Mr. H knew what he was doing.  The Lounge was the area just to the left of the check-in counter, and doesn’t really look like a restaurant.  There is a long list of items to choose from on the menu…I think…I don’t remember seeing the menu since we went specifically for BNS.  Mr. H said that the chef hand-picks very fresh beef — that is, slaughtered on cooking day.  The beef seemed to just melt in the mouth, it was quite tender.  Noodles were just the right thickness and texture.  The boomerang plate consisted of some pickled radishes, cucumbers, and eggs with yolks that had a cheese texture–odd at first, but really grew on me by the second one.  By the time I was finished with the BNS, I wished I had booked a room at the Sheraton this time, because it was definitely time for a nap.  

As with hotel restaurants, the charge for BNS was steep – about $15 USD equivalent.  Would I recommend this, you ask?  Only if you have tried at least four to five other BNS shops around Taipei (I’ll make some recommendations in upcoming posts), so you can taste the difference, because you definitely would not know if your first bowl of BNS was eaten at the Lounge.  But if you have done so, you would know that this is what BNS should taste like.

Last taste: 7 December 2008

Location: The Lounge, Sheraton Taipei, 12 Zhongxiao East Road Section 1, Taipei.  Five minute walk west of Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT on the Muzha (Brown) Line.