食在台湾 ｜Taiwanese eats

While quite a number of our meal choices were dictated by AB's favourites on his past trips here, this unadventurous man was actually pretty open to a number of suggestions based on my friends' recommendations. Kudos to him for that given how he is one who most often prefers to pass up the chance to try something new, in favour of what he knows for sure he will enjoy. This man must have aced his economics back in the day. Heh.

I digressed - but that was how we ended up sampling quite a number of pretty awesome meals. :)

Toasteria

This is a rather unassuming chain of eateries, and one of the outlets just happened to be in the same cluster as AB's favourite cafe. It was therefore of little wonder that we wounded up there for quite a number of brunches during our trip, post mandatory morning coffee. Not that I'm complaining of course, the menu was right up my alley - breakfast-type food, which I can literally have all day as breakfast, lunch or dinner. The main specialty was their grilled cheese sandwiches which came in a variety of flavours. I gamely tried out the jalepeno version on our first visit there, which was awesomely cheesy (um, duh) and spicy, exactly what I expected. However, the egg fiend that I was meant that I just couldn't help reverting to my usual choice of the standard egg, potatoes and bacon set the next few times we were there, heehee. Yumm.

Love the poster

Grilled cheese! That cute little piece was what was cut out to add in the egg. 💖

My weakness 😍

Wu Lao Hotpot 無老鍋

The beloved colleague who is based in Hong Kong had just returned from her vacation in Taipei when I mentioned that I was going there, and she gushed on and on about this so many times I decided it had to be worth a try. Boy was she right. Not to mention that AB's parents had been meaning to try steamboat for their trip to Asia this time, and I have to say it probably was the best choice. Just as well that it was raining cats and dogs the entire evening that we decided to try it. 

Frankly though, there isn't really much to say about this famous hotpot, other than that it was really good: soup was flavourful while not chock-full of MSG, nor too overwhelming nor salty/oily, ingredients were awesome with plenty of greens and fresh food which was much more welcome than the processed cheese tofu or sausages, so it made for a really happy me. AB decided to go crazy and ordered a big bottle of Chinese rice wine to share, and thankfully it's not as scary as I'd feared, and the table did manage to finish the bottle amongst the four of us - we all managed to walk out sober and in a straight line, hurhurhur. 

Bubble bubble

My tiny Hello Kitty (also my MRT pass!) wasn't amused at being challenged to drink 🙈

Go Sang Grilled Meats 吳桑烤肉

Said colleague who recommended Wu Lao also sang praises of the grilled meat in Taipei, and while we didn't end up trying any of those that she mentioned, this one came on the recommendations of one of AB's friends, and just as well was conveniently located just a 20 minute stroll away from where we stayed. 

I have to say that the chilly weather made the most conducive accompaniment for huddling round a warm grill of smokeless charcoal, and having the servers grill your orders to the perfect doneness it was meant to be devoured was pretty fantastic. Can you tell by now that I am lazy maximus most of the time when I can help it? Heehee. 

Tender meat. Mmm.

Our very hardworking friendly server

All in all, a most lovely handful of eateries sampled. Probably even more adventurous than I was during my first trip here. :D