Tag: breakfast

Soba breakfast in Ningyocho

This visit was accidental, I was just waking by early in the morning and the place was open (in fact, one of the few places open… it starts business at 6.15am and I was in the area at around 9am on a weekend). It does not have an English name, in Japanese it is called 福そば 立ち食い.

The visit

I entered and selected a dish from the vending machine (like in ramen restaurants you pay and get a ticket to hand to the cook). Everything was in Japanese, so it was pretty much random.

It turned out it was pretty much the standard soba dish that entitled me to select a tempura piece from the counter. I selected the pinkish one… I think it was some kind of small shrimps, but I need to admit that am not sure…

This was the result. A bowl of thin soba noodles with a soft-boiled egg and a thick broth. It was delicious. I ate it along with the other customers standing in front of the counter. It was 5 minutes, but a very tasty start of the day.

The check

The dish cost me a mere 490 yen (around 4 USD). I am pretty sure the soba was handmade.

Where in Tokyo:
1 Chome-16-3 Nihonbashiningyocho, Chuo City.
In Japanese: 〒103-0013 東京都中央区日本橋人形町１丁目１６−3 (Google Map link).

Little: An all day brunch restaurant in Ningbo

All day brunch is a thing in China, or at least in Ningbo thanks to an eatery called Little. At time of posting there are two locations in Ningbo and a third one is planned. I spoke to the owner, a young local woman, who studied in the UK and brought home the passion for brunch food. She is part of this wave of young Chinese bringing Western food in Ningbo (see La Pizzeria Echo and the Meating Room for similar stories).

The visit(s)

The shop that I visited is located in Yinzhou, in the Southern part of Ningbo, near Wanda Plaza.

The venue is intimate and has a tasty decor. There are two levels in a peculiar zig-zag white building.

In one visit I had their breakfast platter that was quite nice with bread, scrambled eggs, two sausages, mushrooms, and cheery tomatoes. Some butter for the bread would have been nice.

I had also their fried chicken with waffles that was particularly good. The fried chicken retained a juicy texture inside. A very good execution of this hipster dish.

They also have an extensive drink menu. Pictured above a non-alcoholic sangria that I enjoyed.

On another occasion I had their salmon Benedict eggs that were not only nicely presented, but also delicious with some extra melted cheese on top.

Their seafood risotto is not too big and a good complement. The risotto is infused with squid ink and comes with some cubes of salmon, a meaty prawn, and a mussel.

I also tried their tiramisu French toast that was a bit below my expectations, maybe because of the choice of bread.

The check(s)

The first visit (two courses and the sangria) cost me 132 RMB (around 20 USD). The second visit (two courses and a dessert) cost me 175 RMB (26 USD). The dessert could have been shared between two people.

The dishes are reasonably priced (considering the premium at which Western food is sold in China) and the quality was excellent. It is a place where I am always eager to go back and try more dishes.

Where in Ningbo:
39 Linyu Road, Yinzhou (a few blocks north of Wanda Plaza) – This is the shop I visited.
52 Leigongxiang Road, Yinzhou (near the Sheraton hotel). For Chinese information see Dianping.

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Classic Taiwanese breakfast in Taipei

Breakfast in Taiwan is an unmissable food experience. Taiwanese cities are dotted by restaurants specializing in traditional breakfast dishes, sometimes opening as early as 3am in the morning (and a few even open 24h). I had my breakfast experience on a Sunday morning in a popular restaurant in Daan district near Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall.

The visit

I found a Taiwanese diner serving breakfast dishes near the exit of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial station (2 and 3). It is indicated in English as Jiang Yellow Beef Noodle Shop but the signs are in Chinese. It is correctly indicated on Google Maps.

As the name suggests, it is a noodle shop, but until 11am they have a breakfast menu. They have a menu with English translations, so ordering was pretty easy.

The kitchen was pretty busy as they were about to start to serve noodles.

My first dish was the warm soybean milk. It was better than I thought.

Then I had one of the shop’s specialties: a sesame cake rolled around fried bread and a scallion egg omelette. I am a big fan of the fried bread (someone calls it Chinese donuts). All together it was a monster dish, very filling as you can imagine.

At this point my breakfast could have already come to an end, but I also tried their rice roll. This was the version with pork floss and sweet sauce. They had on the menu also a vegetarian version that may be better.

As a side dish I had their radish cake, which was ok.

The check

I ended up paying 194 NTD (or 6.30 USD). By the way, by mistake I ordered two radish cakes (one was more than enough), so the total could have been even lower (one cake was 38 NTD).

I did not like all the food equally (the three-in-one was my favorite dish), but it was a super-filling breakfast. I could not have lunch later on (a pity, as there was a Saboten branch just around the corner).

I cannot judge whether this was a good or a just average Taiwanese breakfast, but I liked the fact that they had an English menu and the ordering process was painless.

Where in Taipei:
No. 1, Lane 240, Guangfu South Road, Da’an District.
In Chinese: 106台北市大安區光復南路240巷1號.