Niu Rou Mian 牛肉麵

The 2007 Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival is going on right now and culminates in a big taste off in one month (Nov 3-4, 2007 Huashan Culture Park, 1, Sec 1, Pa Teh Rd). In preparation for the finale, I have been tasting different niu-rou mian's around the city. My first one was a bad one from a restaurant that doesn't specialize in it. The noodles were nothing special, the soup was plain, and the meat was not particularly tasty or tender. You can probably find this type of dish at many places around the city.

[Note: The official website doesn't have much info. You can read about the 2006 festivities here. ]

The next place I tried may well be the best place in Taipei, according to Dan. Shan1 Xi1 Dao1 Xiao1 Mian4 (山西刀削麵). It's just off of Heping E Rd (No. 2, Lane 118, Sec. 2, Heping E. Rd), near the Technology Building MRT stop. They specialize in a tomato version of the noodle soup, which is just $10 NT more than the regular version. We also enjoyed a plate of their cong you bing (scallion pancake) that the chef was busy frying outside. I really enjoyed my noodle bowl - the hand cut noodles are nice and thick and little QQ, the meat was tender and flavorful, the soup was not too salty and the tomatoes tasted divine (not soggy). Dan was actually disappointed saying the meat is usually better. You can read more about this place on a Taipei Food blog here.

On Sunday, I went to the good noodle shop in the YongKang area that I've been trying to find for a long time. 永康牛肉麵館 Yong Kong Beef Noodle Soup Restaurant (17, Lane 31, Jinshan S Rd, Sec 2). It's further from the main drag where Ice Monster is. When I arrived around 12:45 pm, there was a long line out the door. However, once I was seated and had ordered, they had cleared most of the line. So just after 1 pm is a good time to go to avoid standing in line. They have several versions of the dish and they are all pictured on the outside with Chinese and English. You can get a small or large bowl. They also have dumplings and steaming baskets of pig intestines that nearly everyone in the restaurant ordered. At the table, you have your own dish of veggies that you can dump in, as well as white vinegar. Their soup comes spicy, Sichuan-style. The beef was tasty, but the noodles were plain (I think I like hand shaven noodles better). I found the soup to be too salty, but I couldn't tell if it came that way or b/c I added so many of the salted veggies. Perhaps the vinegar would have made it better.

[Note: Ice Monster is no longer serving Jumbo Mango Ice - since mangoes are going out of season. I sadly don't have them for breakfast anymore either since the price has jumped at the local fruit market.]

Today I went back to the Shan Xi restaurant for dinner. The dish was again, very good, though slightly too salty this time around. They gave me a heaping bowl of noodles and beef, and I was too full to try anything else. The guy next to me had gotten a plate of dumplings that I will be tempted by next time.

I came home today to study the rest of the menu - I am going to increase my food character knowledge.

牛 niu2 - cow, ox
肉 rou4 - meat
麵 mian4 - noodles
蔥 cong1 - green onion
油 you2 - oil
餅 bing3 - biscuit
餃 jiao3 - dumpling (food on the left; 交 jiao1 = leg = phonetic, on the right)
湯 tang1 - hot water soup
糖 tang2 - sugar
燴 hui4 - braise, stew

The other places I plan on trying include:

• Beef Restaurant
  牛店
  91, Kunming St
  closed Mondays
  
• Laodong Beef Noodle Restaurant
  老董牛肉細粉麵店
  146 Kunming St
• Little Shanghai
  68 Ming Sheng E Rd, Sec 4
• Lao Zhang Beef Noodles
  111, JinHua St
• (Ai-Jia) Qingzhen Beef Noodle Place
  (艾家)清真黃牛肉麵館
  41, Lane 223, Sec 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd
• Any other place recommended to me! Leave a comment or write an email.
  

Better yet, if you want to join me, let me know! The more the merrier.