Taiwan getaway: Shilin Night Market 士林夜市

Parents decided to jet off to Taiwan for short weekend trip which means another foodie adventure for me. Shilin night market is considered to be Taipei's largest and most famous night market and is one of Taipei's top tourist destinations. Apart from food stalls, there are also hundreds of stalls that sell clothes, jewelry, bags - anything your heart desires. There are also many game stalls where you can practice your aim or test your skill in scooping up little shrimpies. My parents and I skipped out on the game and shopping stalls and headed straight to the indoors food court. When we first arrived it was fortunately not too crowded and we had a great time looking at what each stall had to offer. To be honest none of the food was that amazing, perhaps we chose the wrong stalls or the food was just not our cup of tea. But I was not super impressed, it is definitely worth it to visit for the atmosphere because it is a very lively and unique area, but I was a little disappointed with the food. The night market is definitely a feast for the senses and when I return to Taipei again I would love to give the food another try.

Outdoor area 

Interesting...

Huge sausages! 

One of the night market's most popular dishes: oyster pancake

Meat and vegetable bun
The bun was piping hot and the filling was meaty and gingery. The bottom of the bun was also very crispy. Yummy but not something I would rave about. 

Big bun wrapped around small bun 大餅包小餅
Another well known dish at the market, did not try this as it looks too incredibly deep fried and mother is not a big fan of that.

White bitter melon milk shakes were surprisingly refreshing and strangely appetizing. 

A very interesting name for a dish. Translation: Spraying pee chicken cutlet haha!

Stinky tofu
I have always wanted to try stinky tofu! This was my first time and I was not impressed. I have heard that although it is as stinky as the name implies, the taste is actually quite delicious. The tofu was not appealing and we stopped eating this after a few bites.

Oyster pancake 
Little oysters mixed with a batter and fried with an egg was one of the most popular dishes we saw as we walked around the food stall. Unfortunately the stall we picked did not make this dish well at all. It was slimy and tasteless. The pancake was smothered with this ketchup sludge concoction with a few withered bits of lettuce. No thank you.

A little awkward english is always funny 

One of the game stalls where you try to hook little shrimps 

Shilin Night Market 士林夜市

Can either go by cab or closest MRT station is Jiantan Station on the Tamsui (Red) line

Takashimaya Tonkatsu

On our last day in Tokyo we decided to head to Takashimaya to look for a good tonkatsu place. We were in a bit of a rush so we just picked one that looked good. Sadly I forgot the name but it is in one of the top floors of the department store.

Sesame grinder
Always a good time 

Tonkatsu and crab croquette 
The panko crust was incredibly crunchy and not overly greasy. The meat was really tender and had great flavor, you could tell this was quality pork. It was a lovely thick cut of meat and when you bit into it first you hear the crunch of the crust before you savor the juicy meat. Super delicious.

Crab cream croquette 
I adoreee cream croquettes. The contrast of textures is just magical. The amount of crab meat inside the croquette was very generous and the cream was rich and luxurious. Roll that up with the crispy panko and the result is a amazing nugget of goodness. 

Mos Burger

After a series of fierce updating, I took a little time off because due to over intoxication one night I lost my bag/had it stolen and therefore lost my phone, wallet, and my camera which had a lot of new food photos that have not been saved to the computer yet. In my pit of unhappiness and bitterness I decided to not post for a few days. But all those things can be replaced and I have recovered and am back to blogging and partying :) I can't let some stupid greedy bag stealer ruin my spirits.

Mos Burger is a scrumptious burger company originating from Japan and is the second largest fast food chain in Japan after Mcdonalds. Mos Burger has outlets all over South East Asia in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The first Mos Burger I ever had was in Taipei and it was their unique rice burger where the bun is a slab of rice. It was super delicious and at that time I thought that was the only type of burger they offered. It wasn't until now that I found out they served normal burgers as well. There is Mos Burger in Hong Kong as well but I hear that it is not as yummy as the one in Japan.

Mos Hamburger with egg
There is nothing fancy about this burger, its just simple, fresh, and made with quality ingredients. You can also tell that the cook did not simply throw the ingredients together. Every element of the burger is neat and beautiful. The meat was flavored with a special sauce and tasted great, the lettuce and tomato was really fresh, crunchy, and sweet. The bread is slightly toasted, crispy on the outside and buttery soft on the inside. And eggs always make everything better. Oishhiii 

The fries were only ok. And I was a bit disgusted with C's radioactive green drink :P

Mos Burger (various locations)

2-29-8 Dogenzaka 

Shibuya-ku

Tokyo 

Tsukiji Market 築地市場

Tsukiji market is where the goods are. It is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and usually restaurants will boast that their sushi is sourced straight from Tsukiji as a guarantee of quality and freshness. I was determined to go witness the famous tuna auction which meant I had to wake up at 4 am and get there by 5ish am. Unfortunately we overslept a little and the train was also not running that early (for our station at least) and we just missed it. I was quite disappointed but kept telling myself that it was probably not that interesting anyways (delusional). Although we missed the tuna auction it was still really cool to see the bustling activity in the market before daybreak. Trolleys full of fish and seafood was shuttling left and right at top speed and people were opening up boxes and boxes full of delicious goods. We decided to walk around the market and take in the atmosphere before lining up for one of the most famous sushi stalls there, Sushi Dai 壽司大. I am pretty sure that all the stalls at Tsukiji serve delicious and fresh sushi but we read in C's travel book that this was one of the most famous so we decided to jump on the bandwagon and line up. After around 2 hours we were finally shuttled into the shop for our glorious sushi breakfast. The sushi chefs were incredibly friendly and humorous. And needless to say the sushi was out of this world. Each piece was a gift from the sushi gods.

Preparing for a new day 

Soon to be in my belly

Apart from fish and seafood, many stalls also sell utensils, bowls, and T-shirts 

Here comes the sun

Such a long line

How I wish I had this in my fridge

Pretty orb of salt

Amazing amazing miso soup. 

So fresh it was still wiggling, then I ate it. 

Sea eel
It was so incredibly soft and fluffy that it just melted in my mouth. The flavor was also amazing. SO GOOD.

Cod sperm sacs
I know it doesn't sound too appetizing. But it was actually really delicious and creamy. 

Sushi Dai 壽司大

5-2-1 #6

Tsukiji-Shijo

Chuo

Tokyo

Japan

こんにちわ! Hayashi Grill in Shinjuku

Bestie C and I jetted off to one of my favorite cities ever for the weekend: Tokyo! We got in pretty late and by the time we checked into our hotel room and ventured out for dinner it was already nearly 12 am. Our hotel was located conveniently in Shinjuku and was also right next to Kabukicho, Tokyo's red light district. We wandered around looking for a place for a quick dinner but kept finding chinese restaurants... NOT what we wanted! We started feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the hostess clubs and nightclubs flashing around us but finally found a charming traditional restaurant. We rushed in and felt as if we traveled back in time. We were greeted by a lovely old lady who had relatively good english although we still had to use a lot of hand motions throughout the meal to converse. What resulted was one of the most memorable and enjoyable meals I've had during my travels. It was one of those great travel moments that stays with you. An amazing way to start the trip!

Hand written menu
We had no idea what it said... but loved how it was hand written. We ordered a set meal for two which consisted of sashimi, vegetables, tofu, meat, and seafood. Everything was so fresh and of great quality. 

We traveled to another era

Potato and konnyaku skewers 
Konnyaku is a japanese weight loss/health food made from the corm of the konjac plant. It is basically 97% water and a huge block of it is only 10 calories but it is very filling. The konnyaku was roasted and sprinkled with salt before being served. The texture is quite unique and might not for everyone, but I loved it. It was very interesting, chewy, and springy. 

Super fresh and beautiful presentation. Everything was edible! 

Scallops and chicken gizzard and heart 

A nice cup of tea after a great meal!

The food wasn't the best I have ever had, but it was made and served with such care and was so simple and delicious. By only using basic seasoning such as salt and homemade miso paste, the true flavor and the sweetness of the ingredients was enjoyed to its full potential. The lovely old lady was the true star of the meal. She was incredibly welcoming and humorous, she brought each course out and personally grilled each bite to perfection. It was very touching and inspiring to see someone put so much effort and thought into every detail. She was also so sweet and although we had a language barrier we shared jokes and had light conversation. When we left she reminded us to be careful because it was late at night and made sure that we knew our way back to our hotel. Unfortunately I was unable to find the address for this shop but if I am ever in Tokyo again I would definitely return!