Tainan is regarded as the culinary capital of Taiwan (or at least by its inhabitants as a friend of Taipei once remarked). I agree that food in Tainan is a big deal and they have a lot of local specialties that should not be missed. This restaurant does a good job in offering a selection of these specialties.
The visit
The restaurant in English is called Chikan Peddler’s Noodle and is located just next to a Tainan’s landmark, Chihkan Tower.
I initially went there for their Dan Zai noodles, but then I realized they had a set menu to sample some of the main local dishes and I went for it.
I was asked to sit on the upper floor. The building is an old traditional house and the stairs are quite steep…
The dining room upstairs was almost empty and I was quickly served.
The first dish was a bowl of their Dan Zai noodles, a type of noodle topped with minced pork ragu (and a shrimp). The pork meat goes through a long preparation process and the result is outstanding. The meat is full of herbal flavors and is extremely delicate. It is really a dish to try.
Then one by one I got the other dishes of this set menu. The second was boiled spearfish thick soup. Quite a good soup with some good pieces of white fish.
The oyster omelette was another typical dish included in the set.
I also had an opportunity to try the milk fish (boiled with a traditional bean paste).
Another dish was rice cake with deep-fried shrimp rolls.
Finally, I was served a kind of flan.
The check
Total was 420 NTD (13.65 USD), which included a large cup of iced tea (white gourd to be precise).
The restaurant clearly caters to tourist, but I think it did a decent job in presenting this selection of traditional dishes. My impression is that the noodle were really great, while the other dishes were quite bland. I do not have enough expertise to say if this was just the norm, or there was a difference between the quality of their noodles and the rest.
Where in Tainan:
No.118, Section 2 Minzu Road.
Address in Chinese: 老店 台南市中西區民族路二段 180 號
Website: https://www.chikan.com.tw
Tip: for the thick soup the Tainan’s King of Thick Soup has its store just across the street around the corner.