(lively jazz music)
- Welcome to Taipei, Taiwan,
the city that is bustling with food.
Today's video, I'm going to show you what to eat
for breakfast, lunch, midday snack,
dinner and late-night snack.
It's really hard to cover everything in one video.
To make sure you guys get the best food
when you're here in the city,
I am releasing my three-day Taipei foodie itinerary,
for free!
along with a map of all my favorite spots
in the city.
The map has everything from sites to see,
hole in the wall restaurants,
places to party,
even cafés to work from.
All you have to do is click the link in the description
and sign up into my Bublup folder.
Bublup is the perfect blend between Google Drive
and Pinterest.
It's a wonderful place to store everything you need
for your trip.
All you have to do is click the link in the description
and you get access to the foodie map
and to the foodie itinerary.
You welcome.
With that said,
it's time to start our
24-hour food tour in Taipei, Taiwan.
(speaks in foreign language)
♪ Oh ♪
♪ I'm slippin away ♪
♪ So don't let me go, na na na na ♪
I managed a few minutes during lunchtime
because I went to another breakfast spot,
so I could give you guys two breakfast spots to consider.
But first, let me talk about this one.
This breakfast place is called (speaks in foreign language),
and I love, love this place, because of this one item!
And that is the sticky rice roll.
Inside there's crispy doughnut,
there's radishes that adds a beautiful crunch;
savory, it's crunchy, but it's also soft.
It's absolutely fantastic.
I missed you so much.
(air whooshing)
(moaning happily)
The inside,
what they have is pork floss (speaks in foreign language)
It adds this beautiful savoriness along with these crunch
of the pickled radishes that you see tucked in there.
I mean the sticky rice is such a wonderful chew.
And, by the way, Taiwanese breakfast is 24 hours.
This restaurant is 24 hours.
You can eat it any time of the day,
and it will still taste delicious.
(moans in delight)
When you guys are here, you want to make sure you get
a couple more items.
You want to get the (speaks in foreign language).
The reason why I didn't get it here
is because I got it at the other breakfast spot.
The other breakfast spot is most highly-rated
breakfast spot here in the city.
The line is out the door,
but it does move really, really fast.
A lot of people say it's over-hyped,
and let me tell you this,
if you're looking for specifically,
(speaks in foreign language)
one that is really good, really crispy
and delicious, and having this amazing sesame aroma like.
You've gotta go there to get that item.
I think that is one of the best
(speaks in foreign language) I've tasted.
So it is hyped for a reason.
But if you're looking for other Taiwanese
breakfast items like
(speaks in foreign language) or (speaks in foreign language)
you can go to any Taiwanese breakfast spot
and they will have it,
and it'll still taste really good.
This particular breakfast shop is really exciting
cause they have (speaks in foreign language)
(moans in delight)
It's good. It's not bad.
The dough is a little bit thicker.
If you guys are looking for legit soup dumpling places,
I've put a couple on the map,
so be sure you guys sign up for the the Buplup folder
and get those goodies.
I'm going to finish my breakfast,
technically my second breakfast,
and then I'll see you guys for lunch.
♪ Oh ♪
♪ I'm slippin away ♪
- Okay everybody, we are at our lunch sprot.
Sprat.
- [Person] (laughing)
- How long have you been doing this for?
- I'm here with my friend Leslie.
- Where are we at, Leslie? - What's up, TJ?
- We are at Liu Shandong Beef Noodles right up there.
It's actually one of my favorites.
- This little noodle shop started in 1949
from a street cart;
went out of business,
and then the second generation reopened it up.
And now it's poppin.
- Pumpin. - Pumpin (chuckles)
- It's pumpin. - It's pumpin (chuckles)
- You can actually see the Michelin Vivi Awards
over there, right on the wall.
That's the only two years that Taipei
has never had Michelins.
- Right, oh when they got it.
- So they got it in both years.
And then there's like pictures of famous people up on there.
I think they have a picture with one of the old presidents.
All we have is what we call
(speaks in foreign language)
and that's the traditional braised beef noodle.
What they use here, when you use
(speaks a foreign language)
you use like this whole meat, whole muscle meat.
- [TJ] Yes
- [Leslie] Sometimes there are variations
on beef noodles that you can get.
You can get tendon.
You can get tripe.
- Okay, so let's dig in.
- Go for it. (exclaims in guidance)
before you do, - What, what, what?
- there's always (pauses)
you always have the beef noodle soup.
You have these, sour greens in Chinese,
but it's actually mustard and it's preserved.
So it really cuts through some of the savoriness
with a bit of kick.
Now one thing that they do really well here,
and it'd be a shame if we didn't talk about it,
is this black bean and red pepper chili flakes,
which is actually - I've only ever seen it here.
And it has a bit of tang from like the black beans.
- Really?
- And it gets a little bit of spiciness.
And what you will usually see in Taiwan
is this chili sauce right here.
Now that's a more traditional
(speaks in foreign language)
- [TJ] Right.
- And that's what's called the spicy sauce,
and they also have
fermented beans in there.
Quite spicy.
So this is at the nice,
middle ground that I like to have.
But you can try the beans on its own.
(bubbling)
- All right Salt Bae. - Bean babe (chuckles)
- Oh, it's super salty! (giggles)
- Yeah!
Once you get it through the broth,
it'll cut right through.
And when you have it in conjunction with like the
(speaks a foreign language)
with the pickled mustard, - Yeah
- Yeah.
- It'll really, kind of,
bring out a lot of.. - It all comes together.
- Yeah yeah yeah, it really comes together.
- All right, well I'm excited to try it.
- Here we go.
- Let's see, Leslie's favorite place.
- Nah, one of my favorites, not the favorite actually.
- Oh, not the favorite.
(laughing)
- Are you going to be doing this the entire video?
- (laughing) - Like.
- Look how much stuff he's putting in it.
You're just bathing in it.
- [Leslie] That's how you do it!
- [TJ] That's how you do it?
(engine roaring)
- [Person] Extra scene.
- There're like the chubbiest noodles I've ever slurped
(laughing)
Broth broccoli's really, really flavorful.
- [Leslie] Yeah.
- [TJ] And it's very light, too;
it's not that heavy or greasy.
- It's called (speaking in foreign language).
So, they probably take a lot of inspiration
from the Shandong Province
in China. - Yes, exactly.
- Yeah
- [Leslie] Let's try the beef.
(beeping)
- [TJ] It's really tender.
- [Leslie] It really is.
- Noodles are so thick, they're
kind of hard to pick up.
(boinking)
- You've just been away from Taiwan for too long TJ.
- No! My chopstick skills are strong!
- You forgot how to use chopsticks.
Give it a little beef, you get a little soup.
- [TJ] (humming complyingly)
- Okay, and then we give it some noodle.
Then you do some mustard green on there.
- Mustard green, okay.
- And then you go (slurping delightfully)
You get all the flavors at once.
(TJ moans in agreement)
And a lot of times in beef noodle soup,
like the pickled mustard will really
make or break the beef. - [TJ] I agree.
- Sour enough, it's not tang enough.
But this place does it really, really well.
And it's 50% beef noodle,
50% mustard green for me, at least.
- Facts! (giggles)
All right, here we go!
(moaning in delight)
The pork was like a lot to chew;
it was a little bit tough.
But, the flavor is definitely there.
- [Leslie] Especially, this is the best part,
is actually the end pieces.
Because you get all of the crispy parts
from all the deep-fried.
And you just chew on that all day.
- Just gnaw on it?
- Forget it, yeah just gnaw on it.
- So good.
We're going to finish these noodles,
and then we'll see you guys later.
- Where we going?
- You're not coming with me.
- Oh Okay - Okay.
- But, say "bye" to Leslie.
(TJ giggles) - Bye.
♪ Love the rush ♪
♪ It overflows ♪
♪ It's out of control ♪
♪ Out of control ♪
♪ I'm in love ♪
- Yes, I'm literally standing in some alleyway right now.
♪ Gotta do what what you gotta do to eat ♪
This place is really well-known with the locals.
It's actually really well-known
with Japanese tourists as well,
because it's printed in their guide books.
So this, right here, is fresh mochi.
(gasps)
(exclaiming excitedly)
♪ Looking thick, looking round, looking plump ♪
What I wanted was sesame and peanut flavor.
Oh, I wish you could feel it;
it feels so soft.
You ever had a stress ball?
Like it feels like a stress ball.
(giggles)
It's coated with peanut powder, and it looks so good.
Wow!
Look at that filling!
I think it's grounded sesame.
You can actually see like actual sesame seeds in here,
as well.
And added some sugar.
And, of course, this is fresh, fresh mochi.
(gasps)
It's so, so soft.
♪ I'm going to squish it forever. ♪
This is what the peanut one looks like.
Peanut one is a little bit like a mouthful;
it's really, really dry.
But, luckily the mochi outside is actually
quite like moisturized.
(exhales)
It's quite moist.
(moaning in delight)
So squishy and good.
(exclaims in delight)
(giggles)
(slow pop music)
It's time for dinner.
- Hi, guys, I'm Leslie.
I run a foodie account in Taipei.
It's called Taipei Foodie.
Today we're at Impromptu,
which is a Michelin one-star restaurant.
It's actually inside the Regent Hotel in the basement.
Their all set menu..
- All set menu, okay. - Yeah.
And then what's special about this place
is they actually have a cocktail perry.
- Oh, instead os a wine perry.
Are you ready to eat?
- I'm ready, so ready.
- Let's do this.
- Let's go (both giggling)
(smooth jazz music)
(cash register opening)
- You get a little bit of that like strawberry jam.
Really, really fresh.
Just a lot of interesting flavors going on,
but good!
Yeah, I've never eaten anything like this.
(smooth jazz music)
- This dish takes inspiration from abalone porridge.
So in the bowl, we have crispy rice,
enoki mushroom,
Taiwanese abalone
and a seaweed sauce
that we made in-house.
Taiwan is when you're a kid and when you eat porridge,
you would add seaweed sauce to it.
And, on the side we're going to pour in
soup that's made with rice in a sauce that has
Chinese dried scallops,
dried fish, honbu,
mushrooms and anchovy.
(moaning in delight)
- And the broth is kind of thick,
but it's not too overpowering.
Like the mushroom, it has a great balance.
Yeah, I like it.
(smooth jazz music)
(moaning in delight)
- Super, super tender.
And what he was saying, the mole coats it really well.
Gives it a nice, creamy texture.
This beet cocktail
really just pairs super well
with the gaminess of of the duck.
A lot of the items that we tried so far,
I've taken one bit and was like, (exclaims in excitement)
(exclaims in excitement)
(both giggling)
Really beautiful presentation.
(smooth jazz music)
- [TJ] For night-time munchies,
obviously you've gotta go to the night markets
in Taipei to try all kinds of Taiwanese street food.
I made so many videos touring these night markets,
so be sure to binge them after,
because I recommend what to get and where.
For now,
I want to recommend my favorite dessert place in the city.
You just can't get this stuff anywhere else.
♪ A new day begins ♪
♪ Where nothin barney is ♪
♪ I let go ♪
♪ Of all that's ever been ♪
- Here at my favorite dessert place.
I know everybody
when they come to Taiwan,
they want to get Boba.
You can get Boba everywhere,
okay, anywhere.
You can only get this in Taipei, right here.
It's (speaks in foreign language) on top of ice.
And I know you think that looks kind of weird,
but once you put it in your mouth,
it's a flavor explosion.
(blowing gently)
(heavily moaning in delight)
Look at its soft outer mochi layer,
and inside its delicious,
sesame and peanut filling.
I mean it's just a hot and cold explosion in your mouth;
it's so good!
So the great thing about this leftover ice,
you can put some of this osmanthus sauce over it.
And it turned into like a shave ice.
Wait, not shaved ice;
it turned into a snow cone!
Like a snowball.
(giggling)
(exclaiming delight)
(upbeat music)
That was 24 hours in Taipei Taiwan,
what to eat for breakfast, lunch, midday snake, dinner
and late night snack.
Of course,
we barely scratched the surface.
There's so much food in this city.
I love this city;
it's the ultimate foodie destination.
Again, to make things easier for your trip here in Taipei,
I've included in my Bublup folder,
which you can sign up to for free.
There is a map
of cafe's,
accommodations,
places to see,
hole in the wall restaurants,
all of my favorite places in Taipei.
That's like a three day itinerary
of things to do and things to eat here.
So be sure to click the link and join the folder.
Thank you guys so much for watching this video.
Please be sure to give it a big thumbs up,
and let me know in the comments below
what you're most excited about
for your trip in Taipei Taiwan.
(chuckles) Just love this place.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
See you guys next time.
Bye.
(lively jazz music)