Friday, January 30, 2009

Danzai Noodle House


1/19/09 After the massage, good food was in order. I was taken to a traditional Taiwanese noodle house to have "danzai" noodle.

Danzai noodle is a soupy bowl of noodle with braised pork topping, usually only sold on noodle stands on the streets. The word "danzai" literally means the noodle cart on the street. It originated from the city of Tainan, in southwestern Taiwan. However this restaurant where we had dinner has modified the taste of Tanan danzai noodle to suit the northern Taiwanese palette. The Haoji (pronounced "How Gee") danzai noodle house is located in one of the more historic districts in Taipei. It has been around for only 10 years but it looks like a store with a lot more history.

The store is decorated in a nostalgic old Taiwanese style from the 1940s and 50s. There are indoor seating or seats straight on the streets. One can also choose from dozens of sample dishes displayed right outside the store. This was an excellent experience in sampling some of the down home Taiwanese local flavors. It seems the composition of their client base is mostly locals or Japanese tourists. Well, I certainly felt somewhat of a tourist at this unique restaurant.

We had noodles, veggies, soy sauce and garlic-marinated clams, and this excellent steamed guord dish. Everything was delicious and it certainly was a great ending to a great day...

4 comments:

Anna said...

Now that is a good looking bowl of soup.

suewun said...

Anna Anna Banana, come to Taiwan and I take you to the noodle place...

Unknown said...

I want some Danzai Noodle too!!!!!

suewun said...

next time you're in town I'll take you!