Indian lamb curry stir-fry

So today I'd like to share with you one of my favorite dishes at the Taipei Main Train Station 2nd floor food court. I did a quick search on my past posts, and I didn't seem to have mentioned this. I've had it several times, but have failed to mention it until now. But I believe I have mentioned my favorite red meat...Lamb! Succulent fragrant Lamb! And in the curry section of the food court, all the way on the left, you see a fake food display of stir fried lamb rice in a skillet. Thats the dish. I think it goes for $140NT +$10 for a cup of soda. They used to have unlimited refills, but it seems to have changed to a larger cup and no refills. Anyways, back to the lamb. Although this dish may be a far fetch from any real indian food, I still love the execution. Some fusion of Chinese and Indian. They also give you some naan and extra juices from the pan when they cook the lamb. I love adding the juices, it adds more fatty savoriness to it. I don't know where to begin to describe it, It's cheap and quite savory with tender lamb pieces. So if you like lamb and happen to be in the Taipei Main train station, two thumbs up recommendation to try this place out or at least the whole curry food court section!

San Francisco trip

For my school break I went back to the San Francisco bay area to finish some business and show Yuki around the bay area. It's a welcomed relief from Taiwanese food, back to the fattening delicious food of the bay. I introduced her to some real Cali fresh-mex, american pancakes, burmese food, the wine train, Krispy Kreme, Sichuan/Taiwanese at Spices, Indian food, Italian seafood, In&Out, Dim Sum, and filipino food. Showing her the sights of SF and being away from SF for so long, made me really realize how beautiful and victorian San Francisco architecture really is. Also how perfect the weather is. Despite some rain, the sky was always blue and cloudy and dramatic. Taiwanese skies are rarely ever like that. But despite missing having my own car, perfect weather, a variety of ethnic food and a victorian city, living in the bay area is just too troublesome and expensive. Parking tickets, insurance, smog, and the ridiculously expensive SF parking fees really miss the convenient, cheap and traffic-free subway system of Taipei. SF is definitely beautiful and has a lot to offer in it's own right, but it makes me appreciate Taipei's simplicity and comfort. I wish I had more time, but I have to leave some for next time Yuki and I have a chance to visit. Farewell SF!

Thai Town and Cat Cafe

Lucy and Grace decided to stay over night in Taipei. So after a nice long morning (read slept-in), we hunted for lunch...something local in Tian Mu(天母). We ended up at Thai Town, just about 10 minutes walk from my home. Same great taste, same great decor and same price as the one in Kaohsiung. What'd you expect, it's a chain store. I do love their Thai pancakes and fried chicken. Papaya salad is very refreshing too. Some of my GoTo staples at Thai Town. After lunch, I introduced Lucy to Minimal Cafe aka Cat Cafe at ShiDa night market (師大夜市). We took it leisurely, petted some cats and took some pictures. Besides the one cat sleeping on the chair next to Lucy throwing a fit, I think Lucy enjoyed it. Afterwards, we headed over to my cousin, Yoh-Yi's place to cook indian food in appreciation for helping me so much here in Taiwan. It's my Appreciation dinner. It's really a challenge cooking in a foreign kitchen, on top of that, there are some ingredients that are difficult to find in Taiwan. Like hard yogurt instead of liquid yogurt. It made the butter chicken sauce a little too soupy. But it was definitely fun and spicy. I hope it wasn't too spicy for them, since the Taiwanese palette really isn't used to that level of spiciness. Next time I'll choose something lighter and less spicy. :)


Ceiling Cat spyz you!

Chair Cat haz tail

RaoHe night market

Tonight I visited the RaoHe night market. OMG, this night market is the bomb! Not only does it have a clothing warehouse next to it. But It also has a dramatic and beautiful temple next to the entrance/gate. First, the clothing warehouse is where a lot of the venders get their clothes from. Usually this would only be for business venders, like in the USA or Japan, because that would just ruin the sales for the venders if the customers knew their source. But in Taiwan, it's also open to the public. And this place is huge! I got lost in it. The clothes are pretty affordable, not cheap, but cheaper than what you'd find at the other night markets. There was a shirt at Shida that I was looking at for $800. I found the same one at this warehouse for $390 NT. The styles they have here is really great too.It's more of a Shida/Ximen style, which appeals to the 16-30 year olds. YongLe yesterday was pretty good, but due to the cheaper prices, the style suffered alittle. Not at this warehouse. This is a must must revisit. Moving on to RaoHe night market. The place isn't that big, one street length. But they have food that I haven't seen at other night markets. They have a Thai banana crepe thing. It's banana in crepe, then pan fried. Soo frigid' delicious! I had a Thai iced tea to go with it. Then I also found a Indian Pakistani restaurant. I ordered grilled masala chicken. It was extremely good. And they had Chai tea. Finally, I get my Chai tea in Taiwan! Third, we found a cart serving Beijing style Lamb kebab. We didn't try any because we wanted to save that for next visit. But since we saw several people eating this, I figure it's a must be good. When I'm just about getting bored with night market food, Taipei pulls another ace out of it's sleeves. Bravo Raohe night market! I'm coming back for you. Good night everyone!