麵屋和創 鷹流深夜拉麵 — Restaurant in Songshan District

Got there at 11:53 am hoping to edge out the lunch crowd. No dice. Sixteen peeps ahead of me in line, sweating profusely in the stifling Taipei heat despite the feeble water misters positioned overhead. Nearing the beginning of the line, I espy what seems at first sight, to be an old condom vending machine attached to the back of the front door. It only takes NT$100 bills, NT$50 and NT$10 coins. Apparently, you're expected to prepay for your meal after perusing the faded 11-item menu. No English menu in sight. Scant English instructions. I spend an eternity force-feeding the machine crumpled up notes before it chugs out the requisite order tickets. Thank the Maker I happened to have enough small bills on hand. Eighty minutes after first arriving, I clamber onto a stool at the six person counter. It's dimly lit inside and shabby, with plastic gallon jugs of soy stacked on the floor, hooks on the rear wall for coats and purses, and damp face towels at every place setting for wiping down your allotted space.

This is not looking good. I quietly curse myself for falling for the well worn ruse of queuing up wherever a line manifests itself in this city. I understand whatever romantic allure a shabby environs might hold, if at least, the food is sublime, but at this rate, short of nepenthe, manna, and ambrosia, nothing will supersede the tedium of an eighty minute queue. I have to get my own beer out of the corner locker. There are two guys working. They are friendly and repeatedly sing out that extra helpings of noodles or broth are free. They have to yell to make themselves heard over the loud Taiwanese rock playing on the stereo. But they are cheerful and ask you upfront if you dislike too much saltiness in your ramen (怕鹹). If so, they can adjust the broth to your preference.

My order of shoyu ramen appears within five minutes, the top of the bowl completely covered with pinkish slices of underdone roast pork. This is acceptable as the pork cooks rapidly after mixed in with the soup and is quite tender though not quite approaching melt-in-your-mouth perfection. The broth itself, is fairly salty, as I ordered the savory, "thick" version (濃湯), with noticeable flecks of garlic, chopped scallions, and black pepper chunks floating therein. No distinct soy notes as a previous reviewer had posted. As for the noodles, they appear machine-milled to 1.4mm thickness, cooked perfectly al dente, and of no other particular interest.

If you want, you can ask for extra broth, which I did, specifying a lighter version (清湯) to thin out the original soup. You can also ask for free extra noodles, which come in balls (球). A dish of ramen usually contains 2 balls; so, one ball constitutes a half order. Afterwards, I bussed my own dishes, swiped the counter clean a couple of times with the damp towel provided for that purpose, and got up to depart, while in swept a new customer ready to claim my seat before I had even closed the door behind me, pretty confident that I would never return. At least, not with the prospect of waiting in line for more...

全台北最好吃的拉麵。加燙加麵不加價！！！

Make sure you got plenty of battery on your smart phone before you get on line. If you do not want to read my monstrous review and experience, TL:DR every minute you wait is worth it.

I don't understand how there isn't more people here, but I guess the veeery long wait steers away lots of customers. My queue ended up being 120 minutes. Possibly the longest I've ever actually stood in line for a meal (this closely rivals my 3 hour wait in New York for Ippudo, but I was not physically standing in line the whole time, so it doesn't count!).

My girlfriend and I both ordered the roasted pork ramen, I got it in what can only be described as "authentic" Japanese soup, and my girlfriend got hers in Taiwanese style soup. Not sure what I'm talking about? It's pretty much the saltiness of the soup. Japanese style is salty and Taiwanese style is less salty. I told myself, if I waited two hours on line, I'm going to eat these noodles the way that the Japanese do! If you're not used to it, you will think you've died. The soup was suuuuper salty, but it was sooooo good. I kept eating and drinking the tea because you may never taste anything saltier. My girlfriend who ordered the less salty soup even thought hers was salty!

Do keep in mind that aside from only have 6 seats, it's unlimited free refills on noodles. Good when you're eating, bad if you're on line. According to the shop manager, a girl refilled 10 times. That's the record.

I've never been in an authentic ramen shop in Japan, seen pictures, and this place definitely feels like you've stepped into Japan when you walk through the sliding door. You'd think with so many customers everyday and working non-stop, their employees would be a little grumpy, but you'll get none of that! They're so nice and pretty funny too! They actually push the free noodle refill and ask you to eat more.

Lastly, if you do not understand what the little plastic container of money is doing there. It's for the hard boiled egg on the counter. I forgot the exact amount you can "donate" for an egg, but I think it's around 10-40NT. I remember the caption on the containers saying "Please do not be greedy and eat 1 egg and take 5 eggs to go for only 10NT!" I guess people have actually done that!

Bottom line: Being asian, I do not mind waiting in line for things, but two hours is pretty excessive. Like I mentioned above, it's well worth the wait. Word of advice, try coming here when they first open, shorter of a wait!

I do highly suggest you check the wait time table next to the sliding door! They actually estimate how long it takes with how many people are in front of you!

Also, don't be that guy/girl that stands in line for 4-5 of your other friends that haven't showed or went to go walk around. That's...

The ramen store is easily accessible around the area, but the store is quite small with sometimes a long queue, and if you come to fine with two or more you may need to sit separately. The taste is great and the price is ok, affordable. When you first see the ramen shop, it would have a open service area on one side and a ticket dispenser in another. The machine accepts 100, 50 and 10, and you can change money with the shop managers (usually there are two). Once you approach the machine you will see a menu on top of it, with numbers you can choose and insert into the machine. I would recommend number 3 and the fish soup sauce rice, and when you decide you can push your selected number button. Then, if there is no space of a queue, you wait outside until you have space. When you are inside, you give the ticket to the chefs (very kind) and they will prepare your dish. The only doubts are the space and usual queue, but except that, it is great to fine here, with free...