★★★★ 好記担仔麺 (Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles) - Taipei

Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles is a well decorated restaurant that serves Taiwanese cuisine and authentic food stand dishes. Decorated in the style of Taiwan in the 30's and 40's, the store is filled with antique furniture, photos and posters from that period, it captures the atmosphere of the open food stands in an environment that is busy, interesting yet clean and comfortable. I ordered a variety of seafood with my friends but the main attraction for me was the 担仔麺 (dan-zai noodles).

The Soup - was by far the best dan-zai noodle soup that I have ever had. The soup is made from slowly simmered pork bone, dried bonita fish and fried shrimp. The soup is clear with very little oil in it, the seasoning simple yet the flavor is very strong.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, slightly curly yellow ramen noodles cooked on the soft side.

The Toppings - are a slice of lightly seasoned cha-shu pork, a flavorful boiled shrimp, and 肉燥 (rou-zao) special pork sauce. Each of them delicious.

Overall - if you want authentic Taiwanese food, come to Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles. The food, service, and decor are the best that I've seen in Taipei. Come here and start out with the Dan-Zai noodles, the servings are small so you can always order some seafood with beer or a variety of dishes with rice. They have food samples displayed right at the front of the store and menu's with pictures as well.

Hao-Ji is very popular and reservations are recommended, though you can always come here late at night. They are open until 2:30 am.

No 77 JiLing Road Taipei 台北市吉林路77-5號～83號
Japanese Site - http://www.tabitabi-taipei.com/html/data/10090.html
Chinese Site - http://huichih.idv.tw/work/ddn/p2.htm