Completing dinner with a yummy dessert
Last week I went to a restaurant in Taipei that does typical Taiwanese cuisine, it is so local that it doesn’t actually have an English name, but it translates to “dinner canteen” . Here’s the outside of the restaurant. The restaurant in located in a side street off Yong Kang Street. Yong Kang Street is a busy street in Taipei famous for numerous restaurants of different cuisines, many night market stalls, as well as a very popular dessert shop (yes, my favourite, so make sure you stick to the end of the post!!!).
之前到台北去了以食肆林立而名的永康街晚餐。 餐廳名叫喫飯食堂，主打古早味傳統台式料理。 門口有一張很大的點菜畫，展示店內主打菜式，還附上日文應該有不少日本遊客到吧。 當天是星期五晚，我剛好早到。店內有一半的位置都未有人上座，但十分鐘後很快已全店爆滿。還好，若不是一定要等很久才有位子。 一邊牆上有一張很大的辦桌圖畫， 簡單來說辦桌就是宴客。
At the entrance was a big poster with photos of all their popular dishes, and the dish names are also written in Japanese. I think maybe they get a lot of Japanese customers as well.
The interior is quite casual, and very suitable for large groups of people. This is just one side of the restaurant, and there is the left hand side which was already full of people when I arrived. In fact, this area quickly filled up within 10 minutes of me getting here. Luckily I got here just slightly before the evening rush otherwise it would have been quite a wait for a table.
On one of the wall is a lovely drawing which shows how people traditionally used to cook dinner for large groups. Some are prepping the food, the chef is cooking using a big wok and on the left hand side a woman is doing the dishes. Do you see the chicken and the child playing outside as well?
Now, let me show you what the food is like. The first couple of dishes are the tasty but not so healthy ones. The first one is braised pork knuckle and peanuts, very tender with a nice bite. The second one is pan fried sliced liver. Pan frying liver is quite difficult as you have to make sure it is cooked thoroughly but not over cooked otherwise it get all chewy. This one was just done perfectly and the coated sauce didn’t over power the taste of the liver.
店內主打台菜，我點的炆豬腳，煎豬肝都非常惹味。 然後是邪惡的芋頭卷及炸蝦卷， 我覺得前者比較甜， 似乎是一般台灣人習慣的口味。 青菜當然少不了，這是台灣獨有的水連，我在其他地方好像沒見過。
The next two dishes are the fritters. The first one has a yam filling, and the second one has prawns inside. The yam fritter was supposed to be one of their most popular dish that’s why I ordered it, but I found the yam filling a bit too sweet for me. The prawn fritter was really nice though.
After all the tasty and fried food, it’s time for something healthier, the veggies. This is a particular type of local greens stir fried with mushrooms. Perfect to wash down the greasy food I just had.
The other thing looked really tempting are these home made preserved plums. Unfortunately I was going out afterwards, and didn’t want to carry them around with me otherwise I would have bought some.
For me, dinner is never complete until dessert is served, and this meant a visit to Smoothie House on Yong Kang Road. They are famous for shaved ice desserts, particularly mango flavour. Mangoes are currently in season in Taiwan so this is the best time of the year to have this dessert particularly since its so hot.
晚餐後當然是甜品時間。永康街有一家著名的刨冰店名叫思慕昔。 他們的芒果甜點很有名。現在是芒果當造季節， 炎熱的夏天來一客芒果刨冰最好不過了。
Here’s what we ordered. As much as I love desserts, I have to mention this was to share between the five of us, and we just about finished it. At the bottom of the bowl is shaved ice, then this is topped with fresh mango, and on the left is a mango panna cotta that came with the crucial wobbly, and mango ice cream on the right. Now that’s what I call a complete dinner.
