Cliff(y) Goes Dining

In addition to pineapple pastry, how about its cranberry counterpart? Heralded as the bakery with the best pineapple pastry in the nation, Chia Te has been around since 1975. It has got only one store not far from Nanjing Sanmin Station in Taipei, Taiwan. Be prepared to queue outside as there's usually a staff member who controls the flow of people into the not-so-big shop.

Jumbo mushrooms for 'dim sum' lunch? Located on the 31st floor of the chic W Taipei (5*), YEN Chinese Restaurant offers delectable Cantonese dishes. It's helmed by Chef Wo Hoi Ming, a renowned chef who has previously worked in big restaurants, such as Lei Garden in HK and Crystal Jade Golden Palace in Singapore.

Is the cheese potato good enough for a prince? I'm pretty much the kind of person who prefers to have a proper meal for lunch and dinner, but I guess that's not the case in Taiwan. I wonder who wouldn't be tempted by the vast array of food stalls at the streets of Ximending, Taipei.

Aromtic, smooth and silky tofu pudding for 'yu' and me~ :P Fans of almond milk shouldn't skip this particular hole-in-the-wall shop near Ximen Station in the capital city of Taiwan. Established in 2004, Yu's Almond Tofu has been whipping up a variety of dessert items loved by many.

Going crazy over unlimited supply of  滷肉飯 ! As much as my BFF and I'd love to stay at Hotel Relax II again upon returning to the capital city of Taiwan, unfortunately there wasn't anymore rooms available when we tried to book online. As a result, we booked a room at Taipei M Hotel, which is a short distance away from Hotel Relax II.

I couldn't bear to eat the Rilakkuma-shaped rice ball~ Are you a fan of Rilakkuma? I'm not, but since my BFF and I happened to be near the café that's situated halfway between Zhongxiao Dunhua Station and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall Station in Taipei, we decided to check it out for fun. We were lucky as there wasn't a queue that rainy afternoon.

Why eat snacks when you can have a 'bento' onboard the train? Eating  bento , or boxed meal, is something that I always look forward to whenever I'm in Taiwan and Japan. For our journey from Taipei Main Station to Xincheng Station that's the gateway to Taroko Gorge, my BFF and I bought our packed lunch to eat along the way.

Such a colourful and yummy Western platter! Having heard good reviews on Hotel Relax group, my BFF and I decided to stay for a night at its No. 2 (3*). It's situated pretty close to Taipei Main Station for us to catch a train to Taroko the next morning. On top of a few free-flow items, each guest gets one plate of Western breakfast.

Torched wagyu beef cubes with rose salt, anyone? Ningxia Night Market stretches over 150 m along the road that gives its name. Despite the fact that it's of a smaller scale to the more prominent ones like Shilin Night Market , it's packed with mouth-watering stalls. I've learnt from my mistakes of not taking down the prices for the previous Taiwanese night market reviews, so I'm going to include the prices this time round.

My favourite item from the original branch is ... (hint: not 'xiao long bao') It's time for Taiwan! Internationally known for its xiao long bao  (Chinese steamed dumpling traditionally steamed in a small bamboo basket, giving birth to its name), Din Tai Fung was founded in 1958 as a cooking oil retailer. It was only in 1972 that the original place of business at Xinyi Road, Taipei became a full-fledged restaurant.

Huge, yummy beef meat and tendons! September is here, and that means two things. Firstly, I should start hunting for mooncakes, and secondly, my birthday is coming soon! Anyway, this shall be the last review of the series of eateries in Taipei for now. Heralded as the eatery serving the best beef noodle soup in Taipei, Yong Kang Beef Noodle has been thriving in business since 1963.

That huge crispy chicken with a video of me eating it! :P Shilin Night Market was actually the first out of the three night markets I visited during my 4D3N trip to Taipei. Often considered to be the most famous night market in the city, it's the place where you can get the crispy chicken everyone has been talking about. Enjoy this last entry of the month!

How good is the famed black pepper bun? Today's review is on one of the oldest night markets in Taipei, specifically located within the Songshan District and is just a stone's throw away from Wufenpu wholesale market. I must say that the food did look the most appetising there out of the three night markets I visited during my short stay in Taiwan.

Legendary mee sua with pork intestine! Ay-chung mee sua (Chinese thin noodle made of wheat flour) has been an icon in Ximending since 1975, serving but just one dish which has made most, if not all, people go crazy.

Big plate of braised stuff! Before I begin, frankly speaking, I've been cracking my head on how to write reviews of the food I tried at night markets. Well, I suppose I shall drop my trait of perfectionism as I know that there's no way I can be detailed enough in giving information about the stalls, etc. I also didn't take note of most of the prices. Anyway, without further ado, let's start with Shida Night Market which isn't far away from Taipower Building MRT station.

Almost midnight snack with rice and mee sua! At this rate, to be honest, I don't know how many reviews I'll be able to come up with every month. Life has been entirely hectic on my side, but pretty much enjoyable at work. Anyway, I met an Indonesian friend of mine in Taipei, together with his Taiwanese friend. Both of them brought me to this particular eatery after we had some nice food at Shida Night Market.

Recharge with Chinese snacks! :P Being one of the eight national parks in Taiwan, Yangmingshan National Park has Mt. Qixing as the highest point in Taipei at an elevation of 1,120 m. I covered a distance of approximately 9.5 km for the day together with my buddy, and of course, Pikachu and Melon.

Just a quick, okay breakfast! :P Since I didn't stay in a luxurious hotel in Taipei to save up for the back-to-back trip to Japan, I've got no buffet breakfast to write about this time round. Anyway, before I began my morning trek at Yangmingshan National Park, I headed for Taipei Milk King, a fast-food style eatery which is just a stone's throw away from the hotel I was staying in at Ximending, for a very quick breakfast.

Aromatic and chewy osmanthus jelly! I've just finished making a Chemistry worksheet for my students tomorrow, so I'll write a quick review before I go to bed. I've got to know about the shaved ice from Smoothie House (思慕昔) at Yong Kang street from Wikitravel when I planned for my trip.

Lusciously sweet chicken broth! I'm going to start writing on the Taiwan and Japan food trip that I went for before I was employed full-time. Whew, I don't know when I'll be going for a holiday the next time round. Anyway, I started my journey in Taiwan with Sam's Noodles which offers HK style noodle dishes. Yes, I'm missing HK so badly.