★★★★ 福哥担仔麺 (Brother Fu's Dan Zai Noodle) - Taipei

Brother Fu's Dan Zai Noodle is a restaurant in Taipei that serves some of the best authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Brother Fu's restaurant has no menu, instead all the freshest seafood that he stocks for that day are displayed in the front of the store, you pick what looks good, tell him how you like it prepared, and Brother Fu will cook it fresh to order. Of course 担仔麺 (Dan-Zai noodles) are always available, which is really what I came here for.

The Soup - is a simple pork bone soup that is slowly simmered, giving it a clear golden color rather than the creamy pork bone soup you see in Japanese Hakata ramen. The seasoning is simply with salt, though the flavor of the pork sauce does overtake the soup.

The Noodles - are the standard yellow medium straight Taiwanese noodles cooked on the soft side.

The Toppings - are the a slice of cha-shu pork, a freshly cooked shrimp, some coriander and the very good 肉燥 (rou-zao) pork sauce . Brother Fu's pork sauce is especially rich because they only use the meat from the back of the pig around the neck area, which he claims to be the most tender and sweetest in flavor part of the pork. This just happens to be the same part of the pork that is used in pork fat cha-cha style ramen Japan. Brother Fu's (rou-zao) pork sauce was very delicious and the meat was so tender it practically melts in your mouth. The Dan-Zai noodle here is one of the best I have ever had.

Overall - I highly recommend Brother Fu's restaurant for both their Dan-Zai noodles and its Taiwanese cuisine. The food was great, the service was friendly, plus they are open until 4 in the morning! perfect for the jet lagged travelers like me. If you do visit I also recommend their 魯肉飯 (pork sauce rice), sashimi, and chilled bamboo shoots. Also the 鳥魚子 (wu-yu zi) some kind of dried fish egg that goes great with beer.

No 37 Alley 132 NanKing East Road section 1, Taipei; 台北市南京東路１段132巷37號
Japanese Site - http://www.taipeinavi.com/food/restaurant.php?id=284