A Taipei Morning

Soya Bean King & Mr. Brown Coffee, Taipei, Taiwan

We walked around that morning and found "Soya Bean King”, so soya bean (or soy bean as it is known in the US) milk it was for breakfast, accompanied by vegetarian bun, glutinous rice and peanut paste soup and yau char kuey / yu tiao, which literally translates to “oil stick” and there couldn’t be a more accurate name for it. I’m guessing it to be about $1.50 per person, keyword is guess.

Soy bean was nice and smooth, not too sweet. Pretty good. But then we have that here in Malaysia so it’s nothing to write home about.

Amazingly enough the vegetarian bun was also oily as all hell.  So in Taiwan it’s deep fried everything including breakfast. It think they first stir fry the vegetables in a few cups of oil before they wrap it in dough and make it, yet the skin is so oily it feels like they dunked the bun in a bowl of oil before baking. Maybe that IS what they do…. /shrug.

The glutinous rice and peanut soup thingy is actually a dessert and the version we have in Malaysia is without glutinous rice. It’s normally very buttery, so making it taste almost like peanut butter, but warm and thick like cream based soup. The glutinous rice in this version made it much less sweeter, which would work for some other people but I kinda prefer the stronger tasting no-rice version.

Around lunchtime we were gonna take a train to Hualien and with a 20kg bag each we had limited choices as to where to walk to, so the first (and only) place we could eat along the way to the train station was Mr. Brown, a coffee chain in Taiwan, so Taiwanese Starbucks. I’ll firstly get this out of the way, the Americano was only average. As for the food…

It was average too. I don’t remember the price but I do remember it was not cheap by any standards. Coming in sets, I had cheese baked fried rice and my friends had a mini pizza and roast chicken with rice. It all came with tomato soup each, which was probably canned. My cheese baked fried rice was not the greatest, I think I’ve had better in Malaysia. It’s apparently a Hongkee invention, baking fried rice topped with cheese and tomato or cream pasta sauce, sometimes with a piece of chicken, beef or fish fillet in between. My friend said the mini pizza was rubbish, and considering that it looks like oven baked vomit topped with egg, I’ll say he’s being kind. The roast chicken guy had nothing to say about his meal so that’s that. Then it was off to Hualien for better food, more about that in the next post.

New England Clam Chowder from Harry's Savoy Grill - $6.25

2020 Naamans Road, Wilmington, DE - (302)475-3000

I realize soup doesn't make for the best pictures, but I feel this image still captures this soups creaminess. MMMmmm... It was tasty soup, but not sure if it was worth the money. A glutton like me needs more than this plateful.

Ewedu Soup from Bolat African Cuisine - $8.99

3346 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL - (773)665-1100

I decided to try a completely new dish and came across this African restaurant while out for a stroll so I stepped in for a bite. I had dinner plans in an hour's time, so I only ordered a soup (yes, I went out to eat right before I went out to eat).

I haven't the faintest idea about African food, so I asked the waiter to pick out a soup and he recommended the Ewedu soup which is "whipped Jute leaves cooked with spices" and chose the goat meat and pounded yam to go with it. After ordering, a woman came out of the kitchen and asked if I was sure I wanted that because it's a slimey soup, and I told her I would be fine because I wanted to try something new.

I guess she wasn't convinced I could stomach "something new," because she came back with the soup separated in parts. In addition, she generously threw in another plate of something spicy for me to try. Unsure of how to go about eating it, she told me they eat with their hands.


First, she took a spoonful of the lumpy orange concoction, which appears to be a tomato based soup with chunks of goat meat mixed into it.


Then she dumped it over the slimey green stuff, which from what I can gather, is the whipped Jute leaves and also the "slimey" part she warned me about.


Then she told me to take my right hand and tear a bit of the white pounded yam, which has a texture similar to mashed potatoes, but firmer. And then I was to take that bit and scoop up the mixture with it and that's how it's eaten.


This last picture is the bonus plate she let me taste, and honestly, I have no idea what it was, except that it reminded me of spinach, and it was very spicy.

Unfortunately, a few pictures turned out blurry and I'm going to blame it on a) being in a hurry to go to dinner and b) my camera being on the verge of breaking (it broke on the very next picture).

All in all, the meal had a very Indian feel to it, except instead of dipping nan into everything, it was dipping pounded yam instead. It was nothing that really knocked my socks off, but I'm definitely interested in trying some more dishes now.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza from Olive Garden - $10.75

1279 New Churchman's Road, Christiana, DE - (302)731-5430

As you can see, this isn't your traditional pizza. It's topped with grilled chicken, Italian cheeses, alfredo sauce (instead of marinara), and scallions.

I'm disappointed that they skimped out on the chicken purely for looks, but the pizza itself was still okay. Personally, I enjoy a lot of red sauce, so a pizza without marinara already at a disadvantage.

The pizza also comes with your choice of soup or salad. I went with the mediocre pasta e fagioli. The best thing I can say about this soup is that it's hearty.

Steak Phở Tái from Phở Như Vũ - $7.95

1146 Pulaski Highway, Bear, DE - (302)595-2530

First off, I spent FOREVER trying to look for the correct characters for the restaurant name, so I hope you appreciate it.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, phở tái is basically the signature dish of Vietnamese cuisine. I think it's pronounced fuh. I took my order to go, as usual, and was surprised to see that assembly was required.


The first picture is the beef broth. Simple enough.


This next picture is a baggy of Thai basil, a lime wedge, bean sprouts, and fresh jalapeños. On the side of that same picture, you have a mixture of hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and the Thai hot sauce Sriracha.


In this third picture, you get a box full of rice noodles, raw thinly sliced strips of steak, green onions, white onions, coriander leaves (cilantro), and perhaps a couple things I'm overlooking.


Finally, the fourth and fifth picture are after everything was put together. Being the great chef that I am, I spilled a lot of the broth because I tried dumping everything into the original plastic bucket of broth, but there wasn't enough room for it. Then I tried to transfer it all to my bowl, but there STILL wasn't enough room for it.

Despite all the spillage, the meal was very satisfying considering it was only $7.95 for the large. Also, this is one of the few places that actually served a dish that I considered spicy, so that's another bonus. The restaurant is very new (open about two months now) so I will have to revisit this place again to check out some of their other dishes.

Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto from Olive Garden - $14.75

1279 New Churchman's Road, Christiana, DE - (302)731-5430

The Oliver Garden site's description of this dish is "Large sautéed shrimp served over creamy parmesan risotto with asparagus." That pretty much sums it up.

Personally, I think this is too pricey for what it is. It tasted okay, but I'd rather pay a lot less and make Uncle Ben's Rice instead. The shrimp and asparagus are both good, but not good enough to pay that much for cheesy rice.

The dish also comes with a soup or salad (I chose the minestrone soup) and breadsticks. The minestrone soup had too much bean for my tastes. The breadsticks are awesome, but you only get two when you get the order to go, whereas it's unlimited when you dine in.