Shilin District, Taipei City｜來旺小吃店

Good for a quick and satisfying lunch/ street food before the palace museum. Had rice with slow cooked bbq-y chicken thigh and then you could choose 3 vegetable sides with it. All delicious, for 120 TWD. They don‘t speak English but have a few pictures of popular menu items that you can point to.

Fried rice noodles are delicious

This store is right opposite the Forbidden City. It is a very old and shabby little store. The front of the store says "Old Old Store in the Forbidden City", which shows that it is old. What’s interesting is that there is only one small shop like this around the Forbidden City. I’m quite curious. With such a large flow of visitors from the Forbidden City, there is only one small shop nearby. Are they all mainland tourists coming on tour buses? This is a small shop similar to the lunch boxes for migrant workers in Shanghai. Along the door are several short stainless steel cabinets, with large stainless steel plates on them. Inside are tomato scrambled eggs, braised pig's feet, boiled pork belly cut into large pieces, and braised duck legs. Waiting for a dozen dishes that have been prepared. I was tired from looking at the museum and couldn't find a good restaurant, so I wandered into this old shabby shop called "Laiwang Snack Bar". I asked the owner and he said that a box lunch with one large dish, four side dishes and rice costs 68 yuan; if you order side dishes a la carte, you can choose from three-layer pork, tomato scrambled eggs, braised leg rings, braised pork, etc., and each portion costs 40 yuan. However, the lunch box only only has small meat dishes. If you order large meat dishes, you will have to pay extra. Fortunately, the price is clearly marked on the wall. The most expensive one is chicken drumstick rice, which costs 90 yuan; three-layer pork rice and braised pork rice cost 75 yuan. So I ordered a box lunch, and I chose three layers of meat, plus four side dishes of tomato scrambled eggs, sauerkraut, pickled bamboo shoots, and zucchini. In addition, I ordered a braised pig's trotters, a mixed dish, and went to the 711 next door to buy a bottle of beer. Unexpectedly, it was surprisingly delicious. I originally thought that if a small shop like this with no competition could be opened no matter how it was opened, how could it be so delicious? Unexpectedly, the taste of this small shop is remarkable. The lunch box is placed in a paper box. There is rice in one corner and vegetables on three sides. The three layers of meat are pork belly. The large pieces that you saw originally have been cut into small pieces and are topped with a light and bright sauce. The bottom is I put tomatoes and scrambled eggs on top, and then piled on a few side dishes one after another. There was also a cluster of bright yellow ginger shreds on top, which was pleasing to the eye. I have to say that Taiwan is really the land of rice. The white rice is round and crystal-clear, with clear grains, which is really beautiful. The pork belly is soft, glutinous and sweet, not greasy or sticky, just right. The tomato scrambled eggs have always been the benchmark for measuring the quality of a store. You can tell whether the store has it as soon as you eat it. Although the tomato scrambled eggs here are cold, they are sweet and sour and quite good. Sour bamboo shoots and sauerkraut are also energetic, unlike many restaurants where the pickles that have been soaked for a long time are lifeless when eaten. The braised leg rings are so cute. If I didn’t explain it, they could pass for oxtail. Can I write “soft and glutinous” again? It seems that in Taiwan, many things can be described as "soft and glutinous". The leg rings are very sweet and have been stewed until they fall off the bones. They have a thick fat texture and are very delicious. The mixed dumpling contains meat dumplings, squid, and bean sprouts, which makes the dumplings more smooth. The meat dumplings are fresh and tender, and the squid is soft and crispy, which is very good. The owner understands aesthetics. From cooking to presentation, everything he makes looks good. It's a pity that I couldn't eat any more, otherwise I would have tried the pig's blood and noodles that had been simmered over low heat. It wouldn't be a bad idea. There is no need to go out of your way to eat there, but if you go to the Palace Museum, I strongly recommend you to try it. There are only a few restaurants that I "strongly recommend", and this is one of them.