I am generally not a big fan of conducted tours. But, as far as food themed ones go, it’s always a pleasure to hang out with fellow foodies. Food tastes better in good company and, with Taipei Eats, we truly had all the ingredients for a delicious morning that went on beyond schedule.
Like many food tours do, and understandably so, our morning started with a visit to a local market, which our guide Mike took us around. Before you try the highlight dishes of a given cuisine, it makes sense to look into what type of ingredients are involved and where they come from too. Only then, you can start to understand what the local food traditions are all about.
Mike talking about seasonal fruits
Sampling freshly made Mochi, a sweet of Japanese origin made with glutinous rice
At the wet market we tasted seasonal fruits, sweet and savory snacks (mega thumbs up for the green onion pancakes!) and, probably the best part, we interacted with the vendors. Making justice to how incredibly nice people in Taiwan can be, they were open to having us browse their merchandise while proudly showcasing their products. We even got to try some items that were not part of the tour… simply because people are genuinely welcoming around here!
Friendly vendor at the Yong Chun Market
Taiwanese bakery items
This Taipei Eats tour featured a smart mix of street food, items that we got to eat sitting down at small family eateries, fancy treats and several desserts too. Hands down, the most complete food tour itinerary I have ever experienced!
Taiwanese culture mixes local food traditions with a large Chinese and Japanese influence (egg drop and miso soup, anyone?!). As such, the range of flavors you’ll encounter is quite distinct and nuanced. Sweet after-tastes in main dishes, nutty flavors (derived from sesame and peanuts) and pork meat cooked until really tender and juicy are common place in Taiwan.
Lunch crowd at a small Taiwanese restaurant
During the course of this tour, we tried noodle dishes, preparations with rice, the popular Gua Bao (aka Taiwanese burger), several types of dim sum including Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) and desserts such as pineapple cakes and sorbet made with local fruits (plum, pineapple, peanut and taro).
Cold sesame noodles
Tainan Migao: sticky rice, fish floss, peanuts and vegetable pickles. A very representative dish from the Tainan, the city known as the culinary capital of Taiwan.
Eating soup dumplings at the wonderful Kao Chi Restaurant: take a little bite to let the soup overflow into your spoon, add a little soy, vinegar and ginger, slurp, bite and repeat.
Kao Chi's pan fried pork buns
Overall, we sampled around 15 dishes, including the (in)famous stinky tofu which indeed smelt foul, but was tastier than I expected:
Even though betel nut is very popular in India, it seems like we had to come to Taiwan to finally give it a go. Pan (as it is known in India), unlike a lot of the items we sampled during this tour, is not something I’d consume everyday. Chewing this nut is supposed to make you mildly high (perhaps more if you are on an empty stomach, which was clearly not the case here…). I didn’t feel light headed but, still, I convinced myself that it gave me the munchies, so that I could keep on making the most of this foodie walk around Taipei.
Yummy Taiwanese sorbet in great company
If spending several hours stuffing ourselves with some of the best treats in town and talking about the local food culture wasn’t enough, Taipei Eats followed up with an email full of food recommendations: where to find the best beef noodles in Taipei, street food and night market highlights, must-try Taiwanese breakfast places… they made sure we’d keep ourselves busy and full for the remaining days of our stay in the city.
Taipei is an incredible city to eat around. And this tour sure does justice to that!
More info:
taipeieats.com
info@taipeieats.com
Cost: US$70 (NTD2,200) per person (includes all food and beverages)
Wow looks fabulous! I love doing a food tour when I visit a city, we did a great one in Hoi An, Vietnam recently. I will definitely look to do this when I visit Taipei (hopefully soon). Din Tai Fung is one of my favourite restaurants ever, so I am also looking forward to making the pilgrimage to the oriental outlet (if I’m honest that’s my main drive to visit Taipei lol)
Din Tai Fung is indeed amazing.. but the restaurant they take you on this tour to eat soup dumplings and other specialties similar to Din Tai Fung has nothing to envy, believe me. Taipei is full of good food, way beyond Din Tai Fung. A must-visit city for foodies! :)
As a current resident of Taipei, I agree with Zara; there are many restaurants at least as good as DinTaiFung here in Taiwan, but without the insane waiting time. Also, DinTaiFung have branches overseas, you don’t need to come to Taiwan for that. Marianne, if you plan to visit Taipei, I can tell you a lot about where to stay & eat, you don’t need a lot of money to have a good time in Taipei.
For food lovers, these 3 websites would give you an idea of how infatuated Taiwanese are with foods (sorry they are all in Chinese):
1) http://www.elta.tv/food
2) http://ustv.bobitag.com
3) http://www.ipeen.com.tw/rank (this is the largest customer experience sharing website for foods)
If you prefer watching videos:
1) https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E5%91%B7%E9%80%8F%E9%80%8F
2) https://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=%E9%9D%9E%E5%87%A1%E5%A4%A7%E6%8E%A2%E7%B4%A2&search_sort=relevance&search_category=0&page=
Looks so delicious, I like taipei eats very much, thanks for your sharing!