來了就吃 — Restaurant in Da'an District

Early evening on a Saturday night, our 2 year old was getting hungry while strolling the YongKongJie area. I just randomly google mapped all restaurants near the playground. This place popped up with ridiculously high review of 4.9. Decided to take a shot and see it for myself.

Showed up and was a little surprised it was small with probably 10 bar seats. Undeterred (and hungry), we decided to stay even though our son was starting to get fussy and wanted to go home.

All I need to say is fast forward 20-30 mins, our son finished EVERYTHING in front of him and his parents were begging the owner to accept our extra gratitude. Why? For starter, he didn’t want to charge our kid even though he gave our son a very generous portion! Who does that these days?!?!? His reasoning was because he has kids and he knows what it’s like and he knows exactly what kids love. He’s 100% right.

As for adults, forget his generosity for our son, our noodle dishes were delicious. The beef noodle soup was spot on but I really enjoyed the chicken one as well. I’m definitely coming back next week to try the spicy version of the chicken noodle dish.

By the way, the chef runs the entire place solo. Unbelievable. Yes the place isn’t that big but taking orders and cooking and taking calls and serving and setting up high chair on the other side of the bar top is no joke. Borderline superhuman on a busy day. Bravo to the chef for maintaining quality of the dishes without sacrificing top notch service with personal touch.

Final note, we were told he has a 40 bowl daily limit, when he’s out, he’s done for the day. We got lucky today but we won’t take a chance next time. Thank you so much again sir!!!!!!! By the way, he still didn’t accept our tip in the end. What a...

First thing you have to know: walk in through the sliding door, get the chef’s attention, tell him how many people you are, and watch in amazement as he generates and assigns you a random number that he will use to call you when it’s your party’s turn to sit down.

As someone new to Taiwan, I don’t know if I can honestly say that this was “the best” beef noodle soup. What I can promise is that if you don’t have to wait up to an hour to eat here, you won’t be able to find anything to dislike about this meal; that it might even be one of the more memorable beef noodle soups you’ll have; and perhaps it might even be a spot you’ll come back to until you find another beef noodle place you like better.

So far all of the above holds up for us, and we’re not expecting any of that to change easily. We waited around 30 mins after arriving just a few minutes after they opened. Counter seating — just the chef and the lady handling cash and such; super efficient. Only 4 mains to choose from as the other reviews pointed out, but in our case it seemed the chef automatically assumed we all wanted the beef noodle soup and only asked each of us whether we wanted hand-pulled noodles or ramen-style noodles. So if you want something else, you may have to be clear and explicit. But we tried the beef noodle soup AND the spicy chicken noodle, and while the latter was very tasty, if it’s your first time get the beef — unless your group is hungry enough like us and willing to split an order of the spicy chicken.

What makes the beef dish so good is the soulful broth where you can taste the love and care, with a just-right kick (if you don’t like any spiciness whatsoever, you better change your preferences for this case), and the bouncy yet...

We arrived around 7:30pm, about an hour before the official closing time. By then, Chef Li, the owner/chef/concierge/cashier (yes, it's a one-man show), had already sold out for the day.

However, since we had called earlier to inquire about the opening hours, and lingered forlornly outside the store, Chef Li came out of the store and offered to prepare noodles for us with whatever ingredients he had left.

And boy, are we glad he came out to make the kind offer to us. Chef Li prepared his signature beef noodle (soup), as well as the spicy chicken noodle (dry) for us, and they were simply the best noodle we have had in a very, very long time. The beef broth was thick and flavorful but not overbearing, and the beef was tender, and the hand-made noodle bouncy. The spicy chicken was well sauteed, and went well with the lightly-sauced noodle.

After the meal, we had a short chat with the chef, who showed us all the high quality ingredients he uses to prepare his noodle. More importantly, he continued to share his kind hospitality with us. When we offered to tip him, he refused our tip, and thanked us for visiting his restaurant. To be honest, the price he charges is way way way too cheap for such tasty bowls of noodle, prepared with healthy ingredients and hearty hospitality.

Do NOT miss out on this little gem of a restaurant in Taipei if you're...