ED's Diner美式BBQ燒烤餐館 Est. 2011 — Restaurant in Zhongshan District

On a very rainy day after dropping Jeremy off at Jiden (My cousin’s house) I left on my full day of trekking (to lose weight). My mom was having a lunch gathering at my cousins as my 臺南姨媽and大舅 was visiting from 臺南and 白河。The plan was to walk a few stations and board the MRT back to city center when I happened to spot Marriott Taipei on my left. I wanted to know what my discounts my Bonvoy Platinum card is able to get so I went in and asked. It turned out that only the Lobby bar and the semi-buffet Garden Kitchen was able to offer 20% discount and points accumulation. Seeing what was available piqued my appetite but as I was still on OMAD I should really be eating dinner and not lunch.

So I left, feeling miserable and spotted this diner and through the window I could see people feasting on southern style bbq. Feeling my stomach groaning I decided that my one meal for the day would be lunch instead. Changing my regimen for something different was worth it, after all, life means indulgence and a little rule breaking (especially your own rules!). An American style BBQ in 大直I thought would be more authentic?

I was told that there were no places available inside upon arrival, just as well, a lazy lunch al fresco in 大直 wouldn’t bad except for the mosquitoes. I asked for 蚊香 and soon I spotted the stainless steel tray on the floor and knew I didn’t have to ask.

Looking through the menu I was faced with a choice of my favorites: ribs, pulled pork and brisket. I chose brisket 200 and upgraded to the set for 150 which also included a drink, a small bun that they call biscuit and a coleslaw.

Ice tea with bbq pairs great, but not as great as beer. Sadly on my keto OMAD diet I cant drink beer as the carb count is too high.

An authentic pit boss (the dude in charge of the roasting pit) should prepare all ingredients from its raw from so I was delighted to find out that they make their own sauce.

The brisket was a good 1/3 inch thick and I prefer this thickness. Sometimes briskets are offered in bacon thin slices. The meat was tender and juicy but slightly lacking in flavor (perhaps due to sub-par roasting techniques) so I asked for more bbq sauce. I was presented with a spicy and a non-spicy version. To be frank I would have asked for the sauces anyways just to be able to taste them some more.

It is the best brisket I had in Taipei and I would go back to try the ribs and pulled pork for a better overall evaluation of their meats. I would love to find more authentic American style BBQ in Taipei though. Perhaps I could...

Just had dinner here tonight with my wife and a friend of ours. We ordered the Pit Master Combo for 4. The meal came with 2/3 rack of ribs (6 ribs), double BBQ beef brisket (5 thick cut pieces), BBQ hot links (2 full links cut in half’s), BBQ chicken wings (BBQ flavored, can’t substitute for other flavors, 6 count), 5 biscuits, black eyed peas, coleslaw, and hand cut fries. We add an order of their Chipotle and Maple wings to try.

Overall the food was okay, nothing too special to write home about. Compared to their direct competitor, the competitor’s BBQ is much more superior in my opinion. The same goes with the sides. The coleslaw was really bland and the beens were a bit under cooked. The fries were okay, but the biscuits were a bit dry.

I wasn’t too satisfied with the service either. There were 3 servers tonight, 2 males and 1 female. One of the male servers provided very poor customer service. When taking our order he seemed impatient and walked away before I can finished ordering. Towards the end of their dinner service he just walk up to our table and said they are closing. Less than a minute later we started to hear them playing the famous “Good Night” song. The time was only 8:40pm and they close at 9pm…. This is the first time I’ve experienced getting kicked out of a restaurant before their official closing time.

If you are looking to get better BBQ in Taipei I highly recommend their competitor instead. Yes, they have a stricter seating rules and there is no free refills on drinks, however, you will receive much better BBQ...

Best bbq outside of Texas! I've eaten a lot of bbq and this place does it right! The brisket and ribs were juicy and full of flavor. I loved it and will be back. But I'll still give a critical review of the other aspects of this place.

I would give this place 5 stars, but what disappointed me was the coleslaw and the biscuit. The coleslaw just didn't taste good and should be avoided. The biscuit was unusually salty. It's not corn bread, it's a very salty biscuit. I ended up not being able to eat it.

I got the combo +150 NT with soup, salad, biscuit and drink. The soup was a mushroom soup and pretty good. The salad was very small but satisfying. For the drink I got a black tea (no sugar) but found my dates black tea with lemon much better.

They have 2 bbq sauces, regular and spicy. It's not on the table so you have to ask. The non spicy is tangy and sweet. The spicy sauce, isn't very spicy but is very satisfying.

I wasn't able to finish it since the portions we're pretty big. The staff packed it up for us and I asked for some of their spicy BBQ sauce to go, they said they would include it but they did not.

If you're planning on eating here, make a reservation! Otherwise you might have to eat outside and it's dark and hot Service was very fast...