We googled “best beef noodles in Taipei” and Yong Kang Beef Noodles (永康牛肉麺) was one of the names that often appears. On TripAdvisor, they are rated #96 of 12,000 restaurants in Taipei. It was an easy decision to pay them a visit as they are centrally located in Taipei City, just a short walk from the Dongmen MRT station. There were no surprises at Yong Kang Beef Noodles Taipei, but we were pleasantly surprised by how interesting this area around Yong Kang Street is. It is an area filled with good food places. We will show you some pictures are the end of our story on Yong Kang Beef Noodles.
Yong Kang Beef Noodles Taipei
Fearful of crowds and long queues that often form at famous food places, we visited Yong Kang Beef Noodle Taipei at around 4.30 pm. The restaurant was busy but there was no queue, we were ushered to a corner table which had just been vacated. The exterior of the place looks old and run down, but the inside was not bad at all. It looks very retro but was clean and tidy.
Here is a picture of the Yong Kang Menu. Apart from the famous beef noodles, there were a few other items. Having the beef noodles was compulsory. We were asked if we preferred meat, tendons or both. To hedge our bets we placed an order for a mix of meat and tendons. For variety we also decided to try some dumplings.
Here are pictures of the famous Yong Kang Beef Noodles of Taipei. It costs NT$240 (about S$11) for this bowl of noodles. It was quite a large portion. We were glad to be sharing it.
There were large chunks of meat and tendons. The beef was well cooked. Tender but still having texture. The beef taste in the meat and the broth was good. By then, we had already tried a few other beef noodles in Taipei and the quality was consistently high. We cannot say that the beef at Yong Kang was streets ahead of their competitors. I think I may face difficulties in a blind test. But what was certain was that the tendons were amazing. They were cooked so soft yet with enough bounce to resist the bite. The tendons were the best part of the Yong Kang Beef Noodles.
Here are pictures of the dumplings that we ordered. This bowl (NT$120) contained around eight dumplings. They were nice but not extraordinary. But they did provide a break from the beef noodles.
Other Food Places at Yong Kang Street
As promised we now show you some scenes from Yong Kang Street Taipei. The street starts some metres away from of the Dongmen MRT station, exit 5. Yong Kang Street is the main thoroughfare. Branching out and perpendicular to it are small lanes (named Lane 1, 2 etc) where shops are located. The whole place is interesting to explore on foot.
Near the start of Yong Kang Street is the original Din Tai Fung restaurant. Like all its outlets, there was a long queue to get in. We understand from our Lilly that another famous Taiwan restaurant Kao Chi also has a branch nearby.
Queuing for food is a common sight in the area. We saw a long queue for pancakes, This is around the low number lanes (probably Lane 5 or 6). It is outside the Thanh Ky Pho Vietnamese restaurant.
We saw another queue. This would be deeper in around Yong Kang Lane 10+. The shop was not opened yet and there was no signboard. We wonder what they have to offer.
Finally, another place that seems to attract a lot of people is Smoothie House. We joined the queue and ordered the ice shavings with mango (NT$210). This was the dish that most people were eating. It was a huge dish. Although we were sharing it, it was too much. The ice was finely shaved into sheets. There was a generous topping of mango cubes. The amount of coldness in the bowl was too much. We ate slowly to avoid brain freeze but still our mouths were almost numb with the cold.
Ratings for Yong Kang Beef Noodles Taipei
Food: 5
Service: 3
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs
Yong Kang Beef Noodles Taipei
No.17, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan
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