DOZO

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Address:    台北市大安區光復南路102號1樓
                   No. 102, GuāngFù South Rd, Da-an District

       
Phone #:    02-2778-1135
Website: http://www.dozoizakaya.com/

Price Range:   $$$$

Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: no

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: Good place for drinks, pricey array of Japanese Cuisine.

Review

Near the Sun Yat Sen Memorial MRT station, there is a trendy Izakaya called Dozo. They serve an assortment of Japanese cuisine from sushi to yakiniku. A lot of their items do not seem very traditional, but a modernized twist of Japanese fare. It will also take a couple dollars to fill yourself up, since their menu items are quite pricey as the quantity of each dish is quite small. Three pieces of nigiri will run you around 300 NT. And six skewers of meat will run you 340. Yet, if you can afford the cost, Dozo offers a sleek modern space to enjoy intriguing cocktails over some snack-type foods. They also offer a small selection of original desserts that are delicious and well-presented.

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.

Temple Entrace 廟口牛肉麵

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Address:    新竹縣竹東鎮朝陽路18號      
                   No. 18, CháoYáng Rd, Jhudong Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan 310
Phone #:  N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $

Accepts Credit Cards: idk

Take out: yes

Waiter Service: no

Outdoor seating:  no

Alcohol: no

Rating

Food Quality: 4.7 out of 5

Decor:  3.5 out of 5

Service: 4 out of 5

Overall: 4.1 out of 5

Recommendation: Unique Hakka-Style Beef Noodle Soup.

Review
The oldest and most frequent place I been eating Beef Noodle Soup, and what has defined beef noodle soup for me is the bowl you get at Temple Entrace in Ju Dong. They started literally as a small beef noodle restaurant at the entrance of a temple in Ju Dong. Through the continual support from the locals, they managed to move to a bigger space separate from the temple entrance, but kept the name. They have been in business for over 20 years now, and it still seems to be filled with local Hakka clients, who love the heavy flavored broth, with a mixture of spices, and the flat-stlye noodles, that may not be as Q, but soak up the soup very well. If you ever venture south to Ju Dong, you should try this local favorite.

Chef Liu's Pigs' Legs 劉師傅霸王豬腳

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Address:    台灣台北大安區和平東路二段118巷35號

                   No. 35, Lane 118, Section 2, HéPíng East Rd, Da-an District
Phone #:   N/A
Website: N/A

Price Range:   $

Accepts Credit Cards: no

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:  4 out of 5
Service: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Recommendation: Pork leg rice combos at fair price.

Review
 In the restaurant alley near the rear entrance of NTU, Chef Liu's Pigs' Legs offers rice combo meals with a variety of pig leg and non pig leg related entrees for under 100 NT. The portions are not very big, but enough to stay within a 2000 calorie diet. The items are oilier and saltier, but not unlike any other rice box/rice combo meal restaurants. Their braised pork legs are simmering in the gravy until you order it. They scoop up whatever you like and chop it up and ask you to pick 3 more items from their narrow assortment of side items. This is a very good choice for a rice combo meal in the rear entrance of NTU, considering price and quality of food.

Closed for Business

Fat Angelo's

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Address:    台北市信義區松仁路28號

                   No. 28, SōngRén Rd, Sinyi District
Phone #:   02-8729-2741
Website: http://www.bellavita.com.tw/store.php?d=4

Price Range:   $$$

Accepts Credit Cards: no

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: 3.5 out of 5
Overall: 3.83 out of 5
Recommendation: Thin crust pizza in swanky food court.

Review

My newest area of interest is the Bella Vita food court. It is probably the best food court i've seen in Taiwan, and it made me delay the exploration of the Taipei 101 food court, which is very much like all the other food courts around the island. The variety the Bella Vita food court has to offer is wide, and the quality is set at a high bar. I appreciate the different designs put into each restaurant of the food court, so that each space has its own theme.  The first restaurant I tried is Fat Angelo's. It is a Italian restaurant that has a brick oven for their selection of thin crust pizzas (~600 NT for 12"), pasta's (~400NT), or sandwiches (~250NT). The seating is not so comfortable, the decor is quaint, and the service is sort of slow. The seating at this food court is improved if you choose to sit down at "We Share Everything" which is like a posh general dining area, where the servers will order your food at an restaurant at the food court, and bring it to you. But to fully show the theme and surroundings of each restaurant I will insist on being seated at the restaurant space.