Culinary Taipei

One of the benefits of having local guides is that you get to try really interesting local food. Vivien and Dino really took us on an interesting culinary tour of Taipei on our first night. We tried the famous flour noodles in broth first. We joined the dozens of locals on the pavement outside and ate the noodle soup standing up (the thing to do). Next we tried BBQ chicken Taipei style, veggies, tofu, Chinese sausage and fishcake from a different street café. In case this wasn’t enough we got big mango juices from a street stand. I had noticed lots of trendy bars in the vicinity, but we soon discovered that they are actually tea shops. I tried a black tea this time with “pearls”. The pearls are tapioca balls and you suck them up through a straw. Interesting experience! I ordered a “small” one, but it was probably the biggest tea I had ever had – it came in a pint glass! We staggered home around 11 with full bellies. What a good start to the holiday!