Canyon Creek

Canyon Creek is a very popular family style restaurant located across the street from Scarborough Town Centre that offers great seafood and meaty dishes during the lunch and dinner hours.  The prices are reasonable, the staff is often quite courteous and the food is remarkably pretty good.  If one is looking for a great dining experience and an area where they can host a huge party, then Canyon Creek could be a good choice for you.  In the summer time, they also open up the patio so that one can enjoy a fantastic meal outdoors.

Being here many times in the past, I truly enjoy their full rack Baby Back Ribs ($29.95).  This very juicy full rack of ribs where the meat literally falls of the bone and is backed by their sensational barbeque sauce is one of the best dishes here at this restaurant.  Come to think of it, I think every time I come into this restaurant, it's practically the only thing I ever order from here.  The baby back ribs also comes with 2 sides of your choice which includes salads, french fries or mashed potatoes.  The meat was very tender and very well seasoned and what I liked the most was that it was uniformed from start to finish.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

The Prime Rib ($27.95) was huge to say the least.  I think we ordered a smaller prime rib and somehow got the biggest one in the kitchen.  The prime rib was asked to be made to medium rare however the edges of the prime rib were a tad well done.  Still the prime rib too was juicy and the combination of the gravy and black pepper sauce really enlightened the meat.  The potato was also something that was nothing to sneeze at.  It was fully loaded with cheese and bacon bits and again was gigantic.  The dish also came with a horseradish sour cream for one's potato or meat.  This meal was truly built for someone who has a huge appetite because once one was finished with this meal, one would not want to move another inch.

12 Ounce Prime Rib

For dessert, the Molten Chocolate Cake came highly recommended ($7.95).  This is supposedly a beautiful chocolate ganache filled cake with a scoop of ice cream on the outside.  Unfortunately somewhere along the way, the dessert although ordered later in the evening was somehow forgotten in the back.  It never arrived but luckily after we brought it to the attention of the waiter, the manager appeared and gave us two very hot Molten Chocolate Cakes for the price of one.  He apologized for the oversight and made everyone happy at the table.  The cake itself was very sweet and very rich in chocolate.  It was steaming hot when one sliced it open and it was quite delicious.  The vanilla ice cream on the side was actually not even as sweet as the chocolate cake.  The chocolate was quite creamy and thick on the inside but flowed very well when cut into two.  The chefs did not disappoint, that was for sure.

Molten Chocolate Cake

Overall, it was a good experience nonetheless.  I hadn't been back for quite some time and the food was still exceptionally well done.  The ribs were a treat and the atmosphere was pleasant.  The manager certainly got bonus points for delivering an extra dessert to us for lost dessert.  That is what one would call good customer service and that was something that everyone at the table will not forget.  Despite having so much competition all around them, they still deliver on good quality food.  Overall I give them a 4 out of 5.

Canyon Creek
430 Progress Avenue
Scarborough, Ontario

416-296-1400

Koi Gourmet - Toronto Food Trucks

The other day at the Stouffville Food Truck Frenzy Festival, I had the opportunity to try out some of the the food at my friend's brand new soft opening of their food truck.  Koi Gourmet Food Truck just opened very recently this past summer and garnered a lot of attention through creative and heavy marketing.  They serve a mixture of poutines, soft tacos and fish and chips at their truck and judging by their line-ups, their initial launch has so far been a complete success.  Now blogging about a good friend's food could be somewhat of a tricky proposition as one says however I told them I am going to be very honest and that was exactly what they wanted.

There were two items that I really wanted to try as I was standing and waiting in line.  The first thing I order was their Chuck Beef Poutine and the other was their signature Nee Nee Pork Belly Taco.  By the time I got there, their fish and chips were already sold out as many of the customers in front of me were buying them up in bulk.  Nevertheless, I was still very content with the purchases that I made that evening.

When it came out of the kitchen food truck, the Nee Nee Pork Belly Taco looked good and I could tell you it tasted very good.  I could see there were some mango slices and large amounts of hot steamy pork belly meat inside their taco.  There were also some green onions, parsley, tea leaves and carrot slices that gave the taco some color also a good vegetarian compliment to the rest of the meaty taco.  Draped with a special sauce, this taco was mouthwatering and tasted absolutely amazing.  Each bite had a bit of a tangy to it due to the presence of the sauce and mango slices inside the taco.  Each bite was full of flavor where one could taste all the sweetness, sourness and saltiness of the taco all at once.  What a particularly liked about it was that each bite had plenty of juices to it as well.  It was not a dry taco by any stretch which made the taco extra special.  The proportions were just perfect, not too many pieces of meat and not too many pieces of vegetable in it.  At $8.00 a taco, one may think it was expensive however I think it was a real steal.  Other food trucks had their sandwiches going for as high as $12 and I can guarantee you it did not have as much substance as this one.

The Chcuk Beef Poutine came out almost near sizzling on our paper bowl.  The one thing that separates these guys from the rest of the competition was that rather than use simple gravy on top of their fries as many of the other stalls that I could see would do, they actually had large chucks of beef and potatoes on top of their fries.  The fact that the plate was super hot allowed the cheese to slowly melt into the fries which made it extra tasty.  No extra salt and peppers were needed and to add a bit of extra color and healthy flavor to it, they added some parsley, carrot slices, green onions and a piece of seaweed to it as well.  This was very filling and at $8.00 per dish, it certainly was well worth the price.

In the end, the food was very, very good. We also tried out a couple of the other food trucks however this one, out of the twenty or so trucks there that evening, was the only one that had that bit of Asian fusion mixed in with their tacos and sandwiches.  Many of the other trucks offered meat sandwiches and poutine that were pretty common and looked pretty common to me. Koi Gourmet's unique brand really showed from the evidence of the long lineup at their food truck.  These guys wanted something different and they certainly put a lot of heart and soul into their food.  If you follow their website and/or their twitter feed you can go and try their food out and their next pit stop.  Friends or no friends, this was a no-doubter.  It was a definite 5 out of 5.

Koi Gourmet
http://torontofoodtrucks.ca/koi-food-truck-toronto

Steam House

Sometimes when a location has had many changes throughout the many years, it's very easy for people to just forget about the area and place no matter what newer restaurants go in and take over it.  The problem is the newer restaurant doesn't get a fair shake or people just associate it with the past too much and won't even bother walking in because of the past history.  This would possibly be the case for this newer restaurant named Steam House which is located in the heart of Scarborough in the north east corner of Finch Avenue and Kennedy Road.  Previously, a Daybreak restaurant, a Swiss Chalet and some other karaoke bar had occupied the space and now it has become the Steam House.  I drive by that area often but have never bothered to step in simply because it was a place I went frequently in the past but because of the multitude of changes in the restaurant owners and such, I had pretty much neglected the place.

This past weekend, a relative of mine who visited this restaurant often, invited us over for lunch.  We were able to get seats right away however as the lunch hour progressed, the place actually filled up to capacity. The first thing we ordered was the Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Beef and Bean Sprouts.  This was actually pretty good.  It wasn't very greasy and the beef was equally proportioned to the amount of noodles.  There were plenty of green onions and Brussels sprouts as well in the noodles.  I had no issues with it and a little hot sauce to go with the noodles certainly helps to enlightened the noodles.

Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Beef and Bean Sprouts

Next to arrive was Bei Fong Tong Chow Mei Fun.  We asked the waitress to ease up on the hot peppers in this dish as it could get quite spicy.  When it arrived one could see the many hot red peppers in the dish. However it smelled pretty good and the spicy aroma surely made one's nose tingle a bit.  There were also a bit of green and white onions in it as well.  The noodles were actually quite thin and well seasoned with the rest of the ingredients.  The dish was not overly greasy and despite the easing back of the hot peppers, this dish still delivered a pretty punch in the level of spiciness to it.  For someone who can't really eat super spicy foods anymore, the dish was just spiciness to one a good tingle but not bad enough that one had to constant reach for the water.

Bei Fong Tong Chow Mei Fun

A huge bowl of Zucchini and Shrimp Fried Rice was placed on our table.  The proportions were pretty massive and even the waitress was lamenting as to how big the dish was.  It seemed like the chef either really liked us or just accidentally gave us a super sized dish.  One could see many of the diced up zucchinis in the fried rice and the many small shrimps on the side of the fried rice.  Although the rice was pretty good, it actually didn't have a lot of taste to it.  For some, that might not have been a bad thing simply because for those who are watching their salt and other intakes, this dish was probably as healthy as it could get.  The dish was a little bland but one could simply add some soya sauce to it if they really want to have some added flavor to it.

Zucchini and Shrimp Fried Rice

Last to arrive was the Chinese Green Onion Pancakes.  They were all cut up into moderate triangle slices and despite being in the oven for as long as they were, it seemed they actually lacked that crispiness that is found with this type of food.  I prefer my Green Onion Pancakes to be more crispy and if there was one dish that I don't mind being a little greasy, it would be this one.  There was evidence of green onions in this dish however the dough was soft and it almost felt like one was eating roti instead of green onion pancakes. Again there wasn't a whole lot of taste to it and the lack of crispiness in it made it a little bit disappointing.

Chinese Green Onion Pancakes

It was a reasonable first visit for me at this restaurant.  The decor was pretty nice and the staff seemed to be knowledgeable in the foods that they served.  A nice milk tea was also a welcome addition to the rest of the meal.  It wasn't bad but the lack of season and blandness to some of their dishes made up for some of the disappointment and took away some of the wow factor in their dishes.  However, having said that the dishes were reasonably price.  Overall, I give it a 3 out of 5.

Steam House
4020 Finch Avenue East
Scarborough, Ontario

416-291-7977

Xiao Long Bao - Shanghai Dim Sum

Xiao Long Bao Shanghai Dim Sum has been opened for almost a couple of years now and it's one of the most frequented places I tend to go to for lunch and dinner.  Long known for its famous Xiao Long Bao, this restaurant is one of the newer ones that have opened up in Scarborough.  When one walks through the door, one gets a sense of cleanliness and grandness within the restaurant.  We went to this place a few months ago and our outing was a pretty decent one.  We usually do end up ordering the same stuff oddly because the food we order is the stuff we like and the foods we trust.

The 5 of us decided to order about 7 dishes from this restaurant.  Some of them were the restaurant's signature dishes while others were just something that we like to have every time we go.  First to start had to be their signature Xiao Long Baos.  6 rather large size Pork Dumplings were brought to our table.  Upon first impression, we could tell that the dumplings were a little greasy as the grease had soaked right through the paper already.  The skin was rather large as there was extra "skin" surrounding the meat dumplings.  As one took a bite inside, the pork meat was however quite juicy and tasty.  A tad greasy, plenty of juice but at the same time quite delightful.  For those who want the ultimate taste, some vinegar added to it will also help  enlighten the taste.

Pork Dumplings

Next to arrive was the Hot and Sour Noodle Soup and even though my stomach can't really stomach any spicy foods anymore as well as I would like, I still gave this soup a try to see if it was any different than some of the other places I had ever been to.  The soup was definitely pretty sour but despite this and there were plenty of ingredients inside this massive bowl of soup.  There were lots of tofu, bamboo shoots, shrimp and noodles inside of it and on a scale of 1 to 10 on the spicy scale, I probably would have given it a 8.

Hot and Sour Noodle Soup

One really can't walk into a Shanghai restaurant without ordering some Shanghai Noodles.  A small amount of onions mixed with a few pieces of shiitake mushroom blended with large amounts of shrimp made this Shanghai Noodles quite tasty and delicious.  The only thing I personally didn't like about it was once again the amount of oil within the dish itself.  It was tad bit greasy and one could feel more of that oily taste of it than anything else.  The noodles were perfectly cooked and each strand was pretty thick. It wasn't as colorful as I would have liked.  It didn't look like there was a whole lot of soya sauce added to the noodles which probably why the color was lacking as well.

Shanghai Noodles

We wanted some vegetables to complement some of the dishes we had so far that evening.  We went with a couple of them including the Stir Fry Pea Shoots Mixed with Shiitake Mushrooms.  Often we have the pea shoots mixed with garlic but tonight we decided to try something slightly different and I have to admit, having this alternative was no disappointment.  The dish was well seasoned and most of the tastes came directly  from the mushroom juices.  It was quite a pure dish and a nice alternative to many of the greasier dishes that we had to endure that evening. 

Stir Fried Pea Shoots mixed with Shiitake Mushrooms

Lion's Head Meatball  Soup is a combination of napa cabbage, large meatballs and mushrooms served in a beautiful broth and brought out and set on a portable hot stove.  This dish was absolutely perfect as once again the broth was rich with taste from the mushrooms and the meatballs.  The cabbage was nice and tender and the soup was not overly salty.  I had a few bowls of this dish that evening as the hot soup washed away the oil that was still in my mouth.  It was by far one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Lion's Head Meatball  Soup

Overall, it was a standard evening to say the least.  As mentioned, I have eaten at this restaurant many times before and each time the amount of greasiness in its food is somewhat above average.  If they could reduce it by even 10%, I think the food would taste better.  Despite it, I still enjoy this place every time I go. The place is always packed and dinner time line ups are quite frequent at this restaurant.  If one is interested in tasting what Shanghai foods taste like, stop by and give them a try.  Also with plenty of parking outside, it certainly makes it easier for one to come by.  Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


Xiao Long Bao -Shanghai Dim Sum
175 Commander Blvd Unit 1
Toronto, Ontario

416-291-0123

Smith Brothers Steakhouse Tavern

Smith Brothers is a fairly new restaurant that opened in the Scarborough area of Toronto that boasts having some of the steaks and prime ribs in town.  We were very interested as finding an amazing steakhouse in town can be pretty tough.  We have a pretty big crowd that evening so we decided to make reservations just in case it was busy and sure enough it was pretty busy.  Even with reservations we were made to wait for 20 minutes at the front.

Once we finally got our seats, we were led to a separate room where there were were two tables of 20 people each surrounding us.  We could see that one side had already their prime ribs while the other side was still getting comfortable into their seats.  When the waiter came by, we were told that the prime ribs were all sold out.  As disappointed as that sounded, we were a little stunned by the announcement since this was a steakhouse after all.  After our table completed our orders, thirty minutes later, we could see that the table beside us who ordered after us, had prime ribs rolling out left, right and centre. 

Prime Rib Sliders

We didn't know exactly what happened as to why they got prime ribs after we were told that they were sold out.  We all ended up ordering something for the evening however.  Since we could order any Prime Ribs themselves we went with the Prime Rib Sliders ($12.00).  With  horseradish on the side, the prime rib sliders were decent however it was certainly no Prime Rib platter meal.  The meat was sliced thinly and each slider contained about 5-6 pieces of meat.  It was almost the equivalent of eating a meat sandwich from Montreal minus the mustard. 

Mushroom Soup

My Mushroom Soup actually arrived after the sliders were already all eaten.  The mushroom soup although as tasty as it was, was pretty salty the further down one went.  One could definitely taste the mushrooms finely pureed into the soup but by the time one got to the bottom of the bowl, one was reaching for the water.  We were not sure if we were suppose to mix the whole soup prior to eating but it was quite a difference of tastes from start to finish. 

Double Chocolate Orange Mousse

I finished the meal with a Double Chocolate Orange Mousse.  It was decent but really didn't captivate me through with any wow factor to it.  If anything, it was probably a tad too sweet for me.  For the real chocolate lovers, this could be your cup of tea but for me it was probably fitting going from a real salty soup to a really sweet dessert.

Overall, it was a pretty disappointing evening. We asked the waitress afterwards as to why there was no Prime Rib Platters offered to us and were told that these items had to be ordered ahead of time.  It was too bad no one really made mention of that when we were making our reservations.  The problem with it was like a fellow retail store that went under, when a customer is there and they don't carry the stuff that one wants, then it's highly probable that the customer will never return to that place.  It certainly didn't leave a good taste in our mouths.  Like the saying goes, not too sure if we will ever make a return visit. One can't give high points if the food isn't there.  Overall I give it a 2.5 out of 5. 


Smith Brothers Steakhouse Tavern
880 Warden Avenue
Toronto Ontario

416-751-3100

Sassafraz

Sassafraz is one of the most well known restaurants in Toronto and not even a devastating fire back in 2006 could shut this place down.  The restaurant has been home to some of the most lavish parties and is a huge hangout place for many celebrities when they come to visit Toronto from out of town.  Their top of line menu and first class chefs make sure that all of their guests are well fed and that only amazing quality food is served at all times.

Prior to eating, the usual complimentary finger foods were being served by the waiters and waitresses.  There were so many of them that it was actually difficult to keep track of them all.  Needless to say, the food was exceptionally good and it sure did not disappoint.  In retrospect, it was actually good that they had served us a good handful of appetizers because the dinner meals, albeit good, took a while to arrive.  It was almost over an hour after the first soup had arrived before the entrees had begun rolling out.

Once we sat down, the first appetizer I decided to go with was their Ontario Asparagus and Potato Soup ($9.00).  I apologize again for the not so great looking pictures.  The room was very dimly lit and so taking pictures was extra hard that evening.  The soup was made to perfection where it was not too watery and not too thick.  Sometimes potato soups can come out extra thick and can be difficult to make and consume as a result.  However, the chef was spot on for this soup.  There were also some pancettas and cheddar added in the middle of the soup which added that extra bit of flavor that made this soup stand out.

Ontario Asparagus and Potato Soup

After a long while, the entrees began to roll out.  The first of two was the Soy Glazed Digby Scallops ($21.00).  Two rather large pieces of scallops, which were perfectly seared were added with some mini cauliflowers and immersed into a bowl of forbidden rice and dashi broth.  Personally,  I found the rice part to be just a tad bit salty.  I'm not too sure why that was.  The presentation however was very good with the dark rice contrasting very well with the scallops and the cauliflower.  There were also a couple pieces of samphire which were added to give some extra color as well.  The scallops were perfect in taste and in texture as it had that perfect bounce to them.

Soy Glazed Digby Scallops

My other main course that I had chosen that evening was the Ontario Beef Artisan Tenderloin ($37.00). Two pieces of 6 ounce striploin beef were carefully placed and surrounded with potatoes, asparagus and spicy collards.  Truthfully one could not taste the spiciness at all of the collards.  The beef was nicely marinated and had a nice flavor to it.  The only thing I found disappointing was that the meat was just a little bit overdone. My colleague sitting next to me had a perfect medium rare piece of meat while mine was actually closer to being well done.  Unfortunately that made the meat a little bit more chewier than I would have really liked. Otherwise the tenderloin was not bad at all.  

Ontario Beef Artisan Tenderloin

Last to arrive was the Milk Chocolate Mousse with some roasted candied almonds.  This was a perfect way to end off the evening.  The milk chocolate was actually not overly sweet.  It was soft, light, creamy and delicious and mixed with the almonds it really tasted pretty good.  There was also a touch of olive oil ganache added on the bottom of the plate but overall it was not a very thick or heavy dessert despite the amount of mousse that was presented on the plate.

Milk Chocolate Mousse

Overall, it was a good evening spent with great people at Sassafraz.  I understand that when there are about 50 people at this dinner, that making the food all at once would take time so hence the one hour wait from the soup to the entrees.  If the beef tenderloin was just made to my liking, it probably would have scored a pretty close to perfect score.  Oddly, none of the waiters despite being there all evening, ever asked whether my tenderloin was good or not.  Oh well, what can one do.  If one is in the downtown area, do visit one of Toronto's best.   The atmosphere is great and who knows, you might run into a celebrity or two.  Overall I give it a 4 out of 5.

Sassafraz
100 Cumberland Street
Toronto, Ontario

416 964 2222

Ding Tai Fung, Tamsui FIshballs, Ah Yeung Flour Rice Noodle House

Writing about my experiences in Taiwan was probably about as hard as it could ever get because there were so many amazing great traditional restaurants that it was impossible to go to them all.  While many of the restaurants had opened at the turn of the century, the ones we wanted to target were the ones that had been up and running for almost 50 years.  Some of these places I admit could have used a bit of cleaning, some of them were very cramped and some probably needed some renovations.  However, despite these blemishes all of these restaurants that we went to service amazing and delicious food. I won't dwell too long on each place. Some restaurants probably deserved more attention than others but truthfully one could never go wrong with any of these places. 

Din Tai Fung is probably the most well known place of them all.  The place is well known for its secret recipe dumplings that has people lined up almost by the hundreds when it's not even 10 o'clock in the morning yet.  We ourselves got there around 8:30 in the morning and there was already a dozen people in line.  Even though the restaurant doesn't officially open till nine, they actually flung the doors opened at 8:45 to allow the patrons to go in early.  The pork dumplings and crab dumplings were their signatures dishes and they sure did not disappoint.  Each dumpling was perfectly weighed so that all of them were equal in weight and size.  The dumplings were not oily and its light weight in one's mouth made one salivating for more after each one.  The waitress also educated us and showed us how to make the proper vinegar sauce so that one could get the ultimate experience with their dumplings.  The pork dumplings were my favorite with the crab dumplings a close second.  One could taste the crab however because it was so small, the crab taste was somewhat overwhelmed by the surrounding pork meat.  Still it was quite delicious but my favorite was still their original pork dumplings. One of the other items we had ordered that morning was a chicken broth soup and this was equally as good.  The broth might have been a tad more saltier to one's liking but it was absolutely delicious.  The tea believe it or not was also one very good.  Serving an oolong tea that had cooled, it was perfect fir for the dumplings on a hot sweaty morning.  It was one of the best breakfasts I have had in quite some time.  There are presently three different Din Tai Fung restaurants in Taipei however the original restaurant was where we had gone to. 

Pork Dumplings

Another place we went to was Tamsui which is located somewhere on the west side of New Taipei.  This place is well known for its famous fish balls.  Many celebrities had gone into this restaurant and have eaten fish ball after fish ball from this place.  It was rather inexpensive and they had thousands of fish balls ready to be consumed.  What made it very special was that each fish ball was stuffed with a small piece of pork which gave it that extra bit of juiciness to the fish ball.  The large pots can be seen from the street and each fish ball was freshly cooked before your eyes. I have never tasted fish balls like this before and to me it was what separated these guys from the rest of the field.  One thing to note, there is also a sponge cake restaurant (more like a stand) just a few hundred meters east of this place which had a couple dozen of people lined up for.  Unfortunately we were so full, we actually passed up on it however the locals said the sponge cakes are amazing because they are all freshly made so if you happen to be at this fish ball place, do go down the street afterwards and give that place a try and let me know how it is.

Tamsui Fish Ball House

Tamsui Fish Ball House

Another popular and famous restaurant that both the locals and tourists love to go to while in Taipei was the famous Ay Chung Flour Rice Noodle Restaurant.  Located in Ximen Ding, this restaurant serves fast, cheap and amazing tasting noodles.  The noodles are no ordinary noodles as the restaurant uses oyster vermicelli as their noodles.  It was the first time I had ever seen it being used this way. The noodles were thicker than the customary egg noodles and a very slippery texture to them.  The chef would then add a good quantity of pig intestines to the noodles which gave it the meat portion of it.  Sprinkling it with a touch of parsley leaves, adding a thick and tasty soup and voila their signature noodle was complete.  It was also very affordable, roughly about $3 Canadian per bowl and people were coming in droves.  The only bad part was that there were only about five chairs altogether.  The majority of the people were standing and walking with these delicious noodles but truthfully I didn't see one person complain about it the 50 or so odd people were all happily consuiming their noodles while standing in front of this place.  This restaurant only serves one item and one item only and has perfected it to last the last 50 years.

Oyster Vermicelli Large Pig Intestine Noodles

Ah Yeung Flour Rice Noodle House

Last but not least was the Duck and Traditional Goose Restaurant.  Don't let the name fool you as one will not find a single duck in this restaurant. Goose meat mimics duck meat in almost every way in that the skin and meat are almost very similar in texture however one with great taste buds and feel for food will find the goose meat to me a little bit more tougher while the duck meat would more absorbent and soft.  This Taipei restaurant is famous for serving for its goose meat and sliced goose kidneys.  The kidneys were okay although I found it to be a little dry and if you like drier meat, then goose meat is the way to go for you. There were also a couple of sauces that one could dip their meat in it to give the meat a more enhanced flavor. One could also order a brussels sprouts noodle soup for one to eat the meat with so that one is not just eating meat only.

Goose Meat

Brussels Sprout Noodle Soup

Goose kidney

There were so many great and wonderful restaurants in Taipei that had remained super popular after all these years and the great thing about them all, was that the prices were reasonable and affordable.  It was of course possible to stay in Taipei and eat some of the more fusion or modern day foods, however we wanted the ultimate cultural experience and head to those who have been around for quite some time.  They were not the most fanciest, some times not greatest of plating but it was the fact that they could create such an amazing meal with such simple ingredients. There were also a couple of beef noodle houses that one needs to go to which we had tried where once you've had these noodles, you will never find another better place for beef noodles. In Taipei, some of their beef noodle restaurants used a soup base that had been brewing for months on end from the juices of their beef and it was so rich and tasty that no MSG was ever needed to give it any flavor at all. Everything was natural and absolutely tasted out of this world. If you are in the Taipei area, do drop by some of these more older restaurants and really see why they have been up and running for the last 50 years with no signs of letting up. It was great experience and I can't wait to do it all over again.

Din Tai Fung
No 194 Second Section, Xinyi Road
Taipei 111-0021
+886 02-23218928

中正路232號 (Tamsui Fish Ball House)
Taipei, Taiwan 251
+886 02 2623 3579 

Ah Yeung Flour Rice Noodle House
No 8-1 Emei Street
Wanhua District, Taipei City
+886 02 2388 8808 

Duck and Traditional Goose Restaurant
No 2 Sec 2 Wuchang Street
Wanhua District, Taipei 108
+886 02 2371 3918