Lao Wang Ji Beef Noodles — Restaurant in Zhongzheng District

After reading so many raving reviews online and hearing from friends how great this place was in Taipei, I had to make a stop here. After getting lost about 3 times on 3 different streets and totally missing it by walking right past. I found it. It was a tight packed smallish restaurant with a side entrance if you wanted to eat in and a stall set up in front of the entrance if you wanted to do a take away order. The menu is entirely in Chinese, but the staff speaks somewhat broken English, I guess they get enough tourists in so they would have picked some up more or less. I ordered 2 bowls, one spicy and one regular. I was actually kinda underwhelmed when it arrived, it wasn't that special and I didn't feel like floating after a first few bites (yes I have felt like that before-that euphoric feeling ya know?), albeit it wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazingly great. The spice in the spicy broth (紅燒) was there but the beefy-ness was average and only about 3 pieces of tender beef. The noodles didn't have that springy feeling as I liked, I believe they used Shan Dong LaMian (山東拉麵) which I have had but in other places I could taste the-for lack of a better term-al dente-ness of the noodle. The regular broth (青湯) was just as underwhelming. Same noodles, same meat but this time no beefy-ness in the broth whatsoever. I have tried many other places in Taipei and in my book, this place doesn't deserve as many 5 stars as it is getting. Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but I was really looking forward to noodles and broth that made me feel like I died and went to...

This was my third time visiting, first time during lunch. Owners were trying to get quick turnover, and it was really just a disappointing experience all-around, especially since it is priced at a premium compared to other places. Food wise: 1*. Soup was over-salty. Even though I ordered the "red-stewed" bowl, there was no spice/heat to it. Quite a bit of meat, but quality was inconsistent with some pieces very good, others too dry. Really small portion of noodles that were not drained before placing in the bowl, so there was actually a film of white foam from the boiling pot. Despite the fact that they are pricing this on par with the big bowls at other famous beef noodle soup places, it doesn't match up. Service: 1* Utter disappointment, even though the expectations were low already. As I said the owners seemed more intent on getting everyone in and out than in providing some good food/service. We were asked to split tables. Even after splitting us into two tables they put another stranger into our one table with odd numbers. No napkins at the table, servers just wiping down the table haphazardly since everyone was merged tables. I finished first amongst my colleagues, and was waiting for them, and the server basically just reached around me and took my bowl without warning. Finally when it was time to pay, the counter refused to let us pay separately, even though they did not provide uniform invoice, there was no one else in line, and they had just...

This is a biased review.

I grew up eating beef noodles at this place - so did my mom and my grandparents. To me, this is what Taiwanese beef noodles should taste like. It might not be a fancy place (for the longest time, it didn't even have a sign - apparently because it would also get blown away by typhoon anyway), or even the best tasting beef noodles, objectively - but this will always be my go to beef noodles...Rich broth with large slices of beef, topped with the Taiwanese sauerkraut...ahhh that perfect bite.

I find the beef to taste better here later in the day rather when it first opens at 11 (more cooking time?) You can adjust the cook time on the noodles to your liking - the restaurant is frequent by many old veterans well into their 80s and 90s, often asking for their noodles to be cooked extra soft. You can add broth to your bowl of noodles if you're dining in.

Taiwanese style kimchi is also popular here, though I've never been a huge fan. I miss the old pork ribs steamed with rice here - they've stopped making those a few years ago. I was told that the chef was "no longer around".

It's been recently renovated (it now has a sign board!), and the staff even wear matching uniform.

Their noodles are priced slightly higher than the average bowl of beef noodles in Taipei.

Don't forget to try the steamed veggie bun (or red bean paste bun for those with a sweet tooth) next door for the...