Eating In Translation

Tycoons Coffee

Rice burger with pork (NT90). Dry; fork required.

Tycoons Coffee
Chiang-kai Shek International Airport, Taipei

Nuts and Tubers Vendor

Another long walk from the MRT (at Luzhiang) to the corner of Linjiang and Tonghua streets for an uninspiring selection of food vendors scattered among the non-food touristy offerings. Electric-orange glazed sweet potatoes (NT30 for a bag) weren't half as sweet as they looked.

Nuts and Tubers Vendor
Linjiang-Tonghua Night Market, Taipei

Guava Vendor

Got my vitamin C from a guava (NT50) that was sliced, bagged, and tossed with a dark powder — not plum powder, I don't think, but language barriers prevented an I.D.

Update: It was liquorice powder, a reader tells me. (Thanks, Chung-chieh Shan!)

Guava Vendor
Wufenpu Fashion Center south of Raohe St., Taipei

Okonomiyaki stall

Crowd control, okonomiyaki style.

Deep-Fried-Wrap Stall

These folks seal leeks and an egg, plus oysters, shrimp, or a combo of the two, in a wrapper that takes a quick dip in the deep fryer (NT40).

Deep-Fried-Wrap Stall
Raohe St. Night Market, Taipei

Griddled Scramble Stall

Amid the many clothing vendors, Raohe St. features more Japanese food stalls than most night markets in Taipei; witness this eggy item with shrimp, perhaps pork, plus mayo and bonito flakes (NT40). (I might have called it an okonomiyaki, but the characters above the stall didn't label it such.)

Griddled Scramble Stall
Raohe St. Night Market, Taipei

Fries Vendor

A longish walk from the Houshanpi MRT station (even longer if you take the wrong turn that I did), the Raohe St. Night Market was fairly quiet on a Monday evening. These otherwise ordinary sweet potato fries (small order; NT30) struck a surprising note, however, after a dusting of plum powder.

Fries Vendor
Raohe St. Night Market, Taipei

Dumplings Stand

Shrimp and meatball dumplings (three for NT50) made for a fine combo, though once they're sliced open, wrangling a shrimp, some meatball, and some slippery wrapper into a single mouthful is very nearly impossible without a soup spoon.

Dumplings Stand
Keelung Night Market, Keelung

Potato Pancake Stand

Sweet potato pancake (NT20). Yup, it is.

Potato Pancake Stand
Keelung Night Market, Keelung

Orange Juice/Papaya Milk Stand

Also avocado shakes (NT40), sweeter than the New York variety; Jerry suggests that a dash of sugar makes the difference.

Orange Juice/Papaya Milk Stand
Keelung Night Market, Keelung