New Camper's Sacha Beef 新營人沙茶牛肉

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In the Yan San Nightmarket, there's a stand that stands out among the others in this ghetto and old school westside nightmarket. If you drove by you probably would not give it a second glance, but this stand certainly provides a quality bowl of clear broth beef noodle soup and offers all you can drink soup. All of this for only 90 NT.
Address: 台北市大同區延平北路三段74號
                No. 74, Section 3, Yánpíng North Rd, Datong District
Phone #: N/A

Business Hours: 17:30-24:00
Website: N/A

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Price Range: $

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: no
Outdoor seating: yes
Alcohol: yes

Rating
Food Quality: 3 out of 5
Decor:  2 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Side Note: Cheap Clear Broth Beef Noodle Soup in Taipei
Review

Garage Lamb Hot Pot 車庫羊肉爐

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Garage Lamb Hot Pot is a mom and pop restaurant literally run out of their own garage. It is located in a small alley in the Jhongshan District. For 1600 NT, a party of 4 can enjoy a filling meal consisting of pork and kimchi lettuce wraps and a simmering pot of Lamb Hot Pot. They claim that they use year old lamb and do not add large amounts of herbal spices. The reason for this is that they want to present the natural flavor of their lamb, which proves the fresh quality of their meat. However, if you want to dine at this place you must register with your name or cell phone during peak hours (18:00-21:00). What you get is worth the price.

Address: 台北市合江街93巷10號

                 No. 10, Lane 93, Héjiāng St, Jhongshan District

Phone #: 02-2503-9503

Business Hours: 18:00-23:00
Website: Restaurant Facebook Page

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Price Range: $$$

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating: yes
Alcohol: yes

Rating
Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  2 out of 5
Service: 4 out of 5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5

Final Thought: Quality hot pot although not really worth the trek

Review

Cow Daddy 牛爸爸

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Cow Daddy is the pimpest Beef Noodle restaurant on this block. Depending on your tastes, they can give you their cheapest most bare bones Beef Noodle soup for 150 NT or they can present you with their most baller bowl of beef noodle ever. They have a bowl of beef noodle with 4 cuts of beef (including wagyu) consisting of the most Q noodles and a rich and savory beef stock. Such an extravagant bowl of beef noodles can not be enjoyed without dropping 10 stacks. If you feel like making it rain for some scrumptious beef noodle soup, then you gotta round up the crew and hit up Cow Daddy.

Address: 台北市忠孝東路四段216巷27弄16號
                 No. 16, Alley 27, Lane 216, Section 4, Zhōngxiào East Rd, Daan District

Phone #: 02-2778-3075
Business Hours: 11:00-21:30
Website: http://www.688beefbowl.com/

Accepts Credit Cards: yes
Price Range:   $$$$

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Decor:  4 out of 5
Service: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4.16 out of 5
Recommendation: Baller Beef Noodles

Review

Luck Starting Pavilion 幸發亭

( picture taken from http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/cherry-cream543 )

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Luck Starting Pavilion is an old shaved ice cream parlor nestled in the Shi Lin Nightmarket in an alleyway close to the Giant Fried Chicken and the Theatre. Shaved ice cream is an ingenious blend of the deliciousness of both creamy sweet icecream and crunchy yummy shaved ice. They take their own blended block of ice cream and shred it up into pillowy layers of shaved ice cream. It has the flavor of ice cream with the texture like layers of shaved ice, but much softer. Everything on the menu is under 100 NT. You must give this unique dessert a try when you visit the Shi Ling Nightmarket.

Address:  台北市安平街1號
                  No. 1, Ānpíng St, Shihlin District

Phone #: 02-2883-1123
Business Hours: N/A

Website: N/A

Accepts Credit Cards: no
Price Range:   $

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  2.5 out of 5
Service: 2.5 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
Recommendation: A "must visit" store in Shi Ling Nightmarket

Review

Big Pillar 大柱子

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Big Pillar is a small Taiwanese bistro located in the NTU rear entrance area. Their dining space is really small and packs up really fast during peak hours, but their food is worth the wait. They serve great bowls of southern style dry noodles and have an assortment of soups to pair with it. The prices are really cheap, and you can fill urself up for less that 100 NT. The decor here like the many other eateries around the NTU rear entrance area is very minimalistic and seems to be chosen to cope with the clientele. Come here for a cheap and fulfilling Yi-Mein fix (意麵, Will Noodles?).

Address:  台灣台北市大安區和平東路二段118巷54弄19號
                 No. 19, Alley 54, Lane 118, Section 2, Hépíng East Road, Daan District

Phone #: N/A
Business Hours: 10:30-9:00

Website: N/A

Accepts Credit Cards: no
Price Range: $

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: no
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Decor:  3 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3.17 out of 5
Recommendation: Cheap Dry Noodles, Great for Lunch


Review

Taurus Steaks 金牛座平價牛排

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Address: 台北市羅斯福路三段316巷8弄8號
                 No. 8, Alley 8, Lane 316, Section 3, LuóSīFú Rd, Jhongjheng District
Phone #: 02-2368-0873
Business Hours: 11:30-15:00, 5:00-22:00
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $$

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 3 out of 5
Decor:  3 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
Recommendation: Mystery Steak Set for 5 Dollars US

Review

"Bargain Steaks" are a unique part of the Taiwanese food scene. From "My Home Steak" to the dirty nightmarket stalls that offer it, teppan steaks are popular in the lower end food category. Taurus Steaks offers the similar 150 NT "steak" set meal that comes in either black pepper or mushroom sauce. You get unlimited red tea and a bowl of soup with each set meal you get. This is a locally loved dish and part of the collective memory of all Taiwanese childhoods. I recommend that you give these one of thse Taiwanese particle steak places a try, and if you are in the area, try Taurus Steaks.

Tokyo Sakaba 東京酒場

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Address: 高雄市五福三路152號
                No. 152, WǔFú 3rd Rd, Kaohsiung City
Phone #: 07-282-0818
Business Hours: 17:00-05:00
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $$

Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  yes
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 2.5 out of 5
Decor:  3 out of 5
Service: 2.5 out of 5
Overall: 2.7 out of 5
Recommendation: Cheap late night eat, but not good.

Review

The Love River in Kaohsiung City is a very scenic and leisurely spot enjoy an evening stroll. Among the many dining options around this area, there is this 3 story building that radiates itself over its competitors on the riverside. Tokyo Sakaba is a 100 NT taiwanese stir fry restaurant that has a pretty stocked alcohol list, sake in particular. Most of the famaliar items from those "beer station", "hot stir fry" restaurants are offered here, but they are not very good renditions in comparison to the better establishments that exist in Taipei. Try some other restaurant if you are in the area because this place is more like a last resort.

Red Forest Teppanyaki 紅林鐵板燒

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Address: 台灣臺大安區臨江街5號
                 No. 5, LínJiāng St, Daan District
Phone #: 02-2704-4166
Business Hours: 11:00-02:00 (conjecture)
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $$

Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Decor:  2 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 2.83 out of 5
Recommendation: Clean Cheap Teppanyaki Fix

Review

In the Tong Hua nightmarket, there is a plethora of street food to choose from. In the midst of all the stinky tofu and skewered items there are a couple of hole in the wall teppanyaki restaurants to dine in. They are pretty much the same: similar seasonings, similar no frills service, and similar subpar ingredients. However Red Forest seemed like a more popular joint, so I gave it a try. The place is relatively clean, the food is prepared fast, and it offers that famaliar tasty Taiwanese teppanyaki vegetable and meat sauces.Red forest is a good place to get a quick and cheap Taiwanese style teppanyaki meal and is open late.

Shin Yeh 欣葉

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Address: 台灣台北大安忠孝東路四段112號2F
                 No. 112 2F, Section 4, ZhōngXiào East Rd, Daan District
Phone #: 02-2752-9299
Business Hours: 11:00-15:00, 17:00-22:30
Website: http://www.shinyeh.com.tw/taiwan.asp.asp

Price Range:   $$$

Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  3.5 out of 5
Service: 3.5 out of 5
Overall: 3.67 out of 5
Recommendation: Upscale Traditional Taiwanese Restaurant

Review

Shin Yeh is a popular upscale Taiwanese Restaurant offering premium traditional Taiwanese fare in a comfortable surrounding with speedy service. Most of the dishes are around 400 NT, so you can probably get by with 600 NT per person. There are three other locations with the best one supposedly being the original location. The location in the East District is really packed and if you go without a reservation you will probably need to wait about 40 minutes until you can get a table, so call ahead to shorten your wait. If you want to try out this highly rated, high quality Taiwanese fare at a more traditional Taiwanese setting, pay Shin Yeh a visit.

Onion Flower 蔥花- OUT OF BUSINESS

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Address: 台灣台北大安忠孝東路四段201號2F
                 No. 201 2F, Section 4, ZhōngXiào East Rd, Daan District
Phone #: 02-2778-8712
Business Hours: 11:30-15:00, 17:00-23:00
Website: http://www.shinyeh.com.tw/taiwan_f.asp
                https://www.facebook.com/shinyeh.table#!/shinyeh.table

Price Range:   $$$

Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Decor:  4 out of 5
Service: 4.5 out of 5
Overall: 4.3 out of 5
Recommendation: Youthful Taiwanese Cuisine with Excellent Service
Review

Shin Yeh is a very well known restaurant that started out as an 11 table restaurant in northern Taipei, which then branched out into several locations and opened other types of restaurants such as Curry Champ and a Japanese Buffet. Onion Flower is a restaurant opened under the Shin Yeh brand that brings Taiwanese Cuisine to the public in a very vibrant and youthful way. Their food owns the well known quality and taste Shin Yeh has to offer, but also is given a more modern twist and eccentric naming. What impressed me the most about this place is that their service staff was very attentive to us and detail oriented. The price is around 500 a person for a extremely filling meal. Great Taiwanese food combined with modern Chinese dining space and excellent service is a recipe for a satisfying and enjoyable meal.

11th Street 十一街麵食館

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Address: 竹北市光明一路275號
                 No. 275, GuāngMíng 1st Rd, Jhubei City
Phone #: 03-553-9368
Business Hours: 11:00-21:30

Website: http://www.11st.com.tw/

Price Range:   $$
Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: no
Outdoor seating:  yes
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  4 out of 5
Service: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Recommendation: Delicious Affordable Flour-based Eats

Review

Chu-bei has an area where there is a concentration of many good restaurants that attract residents of Hsin-Chu to make the drive over just for a meal. Although most restaurants there may be chains like Chamonix, there are some local businesses that have emerged through offering delicious food with cheap price tags. 11st Street is just this kind of restaurant. They started in the busy traditional markets, onto a small hole in the wall restaurant, and then built its way up into being an impressive two-story operation selling dumpings. Now they offer all sorts of flour based dishes like dumplings, noodles, and beef wraps. Most of their menu items are under 120, making this a popular place for people craving quality traditional Chinese fare at reasonable prices. This is a local spot that is good enough to bring visitors for a taste of local food in a nice environment.

Old Wang's Beef Noodle Soup 老王記牛肉麵大王

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Address: 台北市桃源街十五號
                No. 15, TáoYuán Street, Jhongjheng District
Phone #: 0937-860-050
Business Hours: N/A

Website: N/A

Price Range:   $$
Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: no
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  3 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3.3 out of 5
Recommendation: Famous beef noodle soup in Ximen

Review

Old Wang's Beef Noodle Soup is a reputable restaurant widely acclaimed by many locals. It is located on Tao Yuan Street, which is famous for Beef Noodle Soup. They are located about a block away from the Ximen MRT station. Old Wang's is known for their light broth Beef Noodle Soup, but they also make a good bowl of braised Beef Noodle Soup as well. They have various side dishes that you can order along with the Beef Noodle soup. Visit this place to get a taste of old Taipei Beef Noodle soup. You get a high quality bowl at a reasonable price.

Blue Family's Traditional Taiwanese Snacks 藍家

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Address: 台北市羅斯福路三段316巷8弄3號
　　　　No. 3, Alley 8, Lane 316, Section 3, LuóSīFú Road, Jhongjheng District
Phone #: 02-2368-2060
Business Hours: 11:00am~12:00am

Website: N/A

Price Range:   $
Accepts Credit Cards: no

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  3 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3.3 out of 5
Recommendation: Yummy pork buns

Review
In the back alleys of Gong guan across the street from the NTU front entrance lies a area filled with restaurants. Amongst these restaurants is a simple little crack in the wall joint called Blue Family's Traditional Taiwanese Snacks. They offer a simple menu with all items priced around 50 NT. You can get braised pork buns割包, chinese tamales粽子, and four-god soup 四神湯　here. This place is special because you can actually customize the braised pork bun lean meat to fat ratio of the buns. This is a pretty popular place for takeouts, and not too bad for eating in as well. I recommend this place for a quick, cheap, yet succulent bite.

Slack Season 度小月

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Address: 台北市忠孝東路四段216巷8弄12號
　　　　No. 12, Alley 8, Lane 216, Section 4, ZhōngXiào East Rd, Da-an District
Phone #:  02-2773-1244
Business Hours: 11:30am~23:00pm

Website: http://www.iddi.com.tw/

Price Range:   $$$
Accepts Credit Cards: idk

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5
Decor:  4 out of 5
Service: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Recommendation: Posh Southern Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant

Review

Tainan is a city located in southern Taiwan that is known for a dish called Danzi Noodles. It is a minced pork based soup noodle that has that strong braised soy sauce/pork oil flavor mixed with cilantro. Slack Season is the most famous and supposed originator of the dish, which was created over a century ago. This restaurant is a testament of the success and popularity surrounding this dish  because the creator started from a small stand in front of a temple to this two story posh location in one of Taipei's most expensive areas. Slack season offers Danzi noodles and other traditional Taiwanese sides and dishes like braised raw clams and braised pig intestine. This is the perfect location to introduce foreigners to southern Taiwanese food, while staying in Taipei because they have a very modern and sleek restaurant space and plate the dishes beautifully for only about a 25% increase in price. I recommend each trying a bowl of Danzi noodles and pairing it with a few side dishes depending on the size of the dining party.

New Zealand Steak 紐西蘭紐排館

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Address:  高雄市新興區六合二路26號
                  No. 26, LiùHé 2nd Rd, Sinsing District Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 800

Phone #:  07-2860096
Website: N/A
Price Range:   $$
Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Decor:  3 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3.16 out of 5
Recommendation: Old School Southern Taiwan Steak

Review
When I was little and visiting Kaohsiung, one of the frequent steak houses we would go to is the New Zealand Steak House located in the Lio He Nightmarket. This place has been in business since 1976, and is among the most representative Taiwan-style steak houses in Kaohsiung. They serve a variety of cuts and different types of meat, but really the house steak set that goes for 170 NT is what it's all about. The main entree is a skirt steak drizzled in its marinade with noodles and vegetables on top of a searing hot metal plate. The set comes with red tea, cream stuffed rolls, and corn soup. The meal tastes just like it did 20 years ago. If you have a long stay in the south and you have a hankering for some cheap steak, go to New Zealand.

Ten-Thousand Three 萬三

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Address:   高雄市旗津區中洲二路179之11號
                   No. 179-11, ZhōngZhōu 2nd Rd, Kaohsiung City

Phone #:  N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $$

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Take out: yes

Waiter Service: no

Outdoor seating:  yes

Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 3 out of 5

Decor:  2 out of 5

Service: 2 out of 5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5

Recommendation: Very Cheap Seafood

Review

Southern Taiwan is filled with many delicious local delicacies and traditional Taiwanese snacks. Also, in the harbor city of Kaohsiung, seafood is a very popular fare. In the island of Ci Jin, there is a popular seafood restaurant called Ten-Thousand Three. It is usually very packed because of their extremely low prices. Each dish is around 100 NT, with the exception of some more expensive items maybe costing 50 NT more. The food is not gourmet, nor are the ingredients the freshest and cleanest. I would not recommend this place if it is your first and possibly only trip to the island, but it is noteworthy that it pleases the crowd that is on a budget.

Tainan Danzi Noodles 台南担仔麵

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Address:   高雄市六合二路40號         

                  No. 40, LiùHé 2nd Road, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Phone #:  N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Take out: yes

Waiter Service: no

Outdoor seating:  no

Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 5 out of 5

Decor:  3 out of 5

Service: 4 out of 5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Recommendation: Cheap and tasty rice noodle snack

Review
In the Liu He Tourist Nightmarket in Kaohsiung City lies a Danzi Noodle stall that i've been frequenting for 20 years everytime i go down there. There are a couple other stalls in the nightmarket, but I put my money on the one next to the BBQ stand (烤肉之家) any day. It has the deepest flavors and the best noodles. I recommend getting the small bowl of danzi rice noodles because the flavor is more concentrated in the small bowl, and the rice noodles do a better job soaking up all the flavor. A small bowl only costs you 40 NT to try. If you are ever in the area, give this stall a shot.

Li Jin Traditional Tofu Jello 立晉傳統豆花

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Address:   新竹市建功一路6號    

                  No. 6, JiànGōng 1st Rd, Hsinchu City

Phone #:  N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Take out: yes

Waiter Service: no

Outdoor seating:  no

Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5

Decor:  3 out of 5

Service: 3.5 out of 5

Overall: 3.2 out of 5

Recommendation: Traditional Tofu Jello with modern twists too.

Review
Another spot that still stands after 18 years is the Li Jin Traditional Tofu Jello shop. This might be the place where I had my first conscious bite of Tofu Jello. It is a taiwanese snack where they add soft tofu into a sweet soup served with other sweet ingredients of your choice. A modern twist that is good in the summer is their slushee tofu jello. Instead of serving tofu jelly in that hot syrup, they turn the syrup into slushee form and serve it on top of the tofu jello and ingredients. I do not know if any other places serve tofu jello in this way, but their ice is very fluffy and uniformly sweet. This place is a great last stop to end a night of snacking.

Pork Pocket Buns 割包

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Address:   新竹市建功一路1-17號             

                  No. 1, JiànGōng 1st Rd, Hsinchu City

Phone #:  N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Take out: yes

Waiter Service: no

Outdoor seating:  no

Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5

Decor:  3 out of 5

Service: 3.5 out of 5

Overall: 3.2 out of 5

Recommendation: Wide Variety of Folding Buns.

Review

Also nearby the NTHU street market area, a standalone pork bun stand that not only sells their tradition pork pocket buns, but an assortment of other pocket bun items like egg pocket buns and fish pocket buns. Never tried any of the other items though, because I really like the pork pocket buns. Everything is under 50 NT, a very cheap quick bite.

Little Cave 小洞天

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Address:   新竹市建功一路13號              

                  No. 13, JiànGōng 1st Rd, Hsinchu City

Phone #:  N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $

Accepts Credit Cards: no

Take out: yes

Waiter Service: no

Outdoor seating:  no

Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4 out of 5

Decor:  3 out of 5

Service: 3.5 out of 5

Overall: 3.2 out of 5

Recommendation: Cheap rice and pork sausage combo tray.

Review

In the bustling National Tsing Hua University entrance street market, there is a popular storefront that offers rice sausage and taiwanese sausage trays for 100 NT. This is a very longstanding and popular place, and many students and locals visit this place for a cheap quick snack.