LsF Taiwan Food Adventure Oct 2011 (Day 1)

DAY 1:

After 4 and a half hours flight, I finally touch down at TaoYuan International Airport at 7pm. After claiming my luggage, I headed straight for shuttle bus terminal. Bought a ticket to YuanShan (圆山) at NT$125. From YuanShan, i switched to a cab to Grandee (官邸) hotel in Shilin (cost NT$110). Airport transfer would have cost me NT$1400. Pretty decent saving. 

I was suprised by the external appearance of the hotel. It looked very different from the pictures on the internet. Shaddy feel.



Grandee Hotel entrance



Check-in was pretty fast. I guessed I was the last customer of the day to check in @ almost 9pm. I overhead a few tourists commenting that the rooms are tiny. When I reached my room, the first feel that came to my mind was disappointment. From the website, the room looked much bigger than the actual size.

  



My room



There is really a huge balcony!



Night view of Shilin Night Market from my room balcony

 

The bathroom was spectacular. It is one of the most spacious bathroom I have ever experience in a hotel room. 

I think it's about time to focus back on food. Dinner on flight was lousy which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Grandee hotel is situated just beside the famous Shilin Night market. Naturally, I headed straight there.

The place is still crowded despite it's a Monday night. I have my Shilin Food Adventure planned out before my trip. The first item I tried is 官芝霖大肠包小肠.

官芝霖大肠包小肠



Full of filling (taiwan sausage, cucumber, pickles, peanuts, ginger etc)



This snack comprises 2 of my favourite items - Taiwanese sausage and glutinous rice. Overall I enjoyed the snack. However, note that it is pretty filling snack. (Rating: 4/5)

香酥蔥油餅


Next item I tried is the Spring Onion pancake (香酥蔥油餅) with egg. I could not taste the fragrance of the spring onion. The egg was very nicely cooked. The whole pancake is infused with the soya-garlic sauce. Although I do not favour this snack, the queue could be pretty long. (Rating: 3/5)

I was very tired after trying these 2 items. Decided to enjoy the rest of food comfortably in my hotel room.

Ah Zong Mee Sua (阿宗麵仙線). Texture of the mee sua is good, not as mushy as those sold in Singapore. The braised pig intestine is also very flavourful. Gravy is tasty too. I can taste the bonito in the gravy. (Rating: 4/5)

Shanghainese pan fried buns (上海生煎包). Does not taste as spectacular as the review found on the internet. I find the 生煎包 sold in Tampines mall basement taste better. =P (Rating: 2.5/5)

Wang Ji "Frog lay eggs" (王記青蛙下蛋) - Ice jelly with pearl. (爱玉粉圆冰)

The jelly is soft and the pearls are Q. Refreshing and nice dessert to round up my first day in Taiwan. (Rating: 3.5/5)