My third review on Halal food around Taiwan: beef noodle soup restaurant. Just like any other beef noodle soup restaurant in Taiwan, it also has peek into the dumpling wrapping open kitchen. It seems to have become characteristic for this kind of restaurant.

 Beef Noodles Restaurant

台北巿延平南路21號

No. 21, Yanping S. Rd., Taipei City

MRT: Taipei main station / Ximen

Visit reviewed: 09/2013

The halal sign of this restaurant is in front of the place. There's actually another halal restaurant right next to this one. Too bad that I haven't had time to get to that place, and now I've been back to Indonesia. In fact, a post for this restaurant has been sitting in my blog posts draft for several months, until I finally review it today.

So what to order? The good thing is they provide menu in english. But it presents without pictures. It wouldn't be easy for first-time-foreigner to identify what is what without the pictures. For us, we ordered niurou mian (beef noodle soup) which is the main dish here, and fried beef dumpling.

Fried beef dumpling (NT$ 00 each). A little bit too salty in my opinion, but still ok. I would still go to this restaurant for fried beef dumpling, only because I couldn't find it at qingzhen zhongguo niurou guan. 

Doraemon!! Who doesn't love this Japanese cartoon character, I guess he is every child's best friend. FYI he's having his birthday this year, 100 years early. In order to celebrate it, there's traveling exhibition around the countries, and it drops by in Taipei starting on Dec 29,2012. So I went there on Dec 31, right before the New Year's Eve. It wasn't a good idea actually, so crowded at that time =.= yet we still enjoy taking pictures like a child :P

For those who want to visit, here is the information...
It will open from Dec 29,2012 to April 7,2014
Venue: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei
Visiting hours: 9am - 6pm
Fee entrance: NT$ 220, student NT$ 200
How to get there by MRT:
Take the MRT blue line to Taipei City Hall Station, exit 1 or 2 and walk for about 400m or to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station, exit 5 and walk for about 500m. 

three child-wannabe

Check out the map below for clear direction:

View Larger Map

Taipei 101, it is known as a skyscraper building in Taiwan which comprises 101 floors and has served as an icon of modern Taiwan. Since I am now in Taiwan, I went to Taipei 101 many times.. without reaching the top floor of the building until one day my brother came and forced me to go up with him.

The fee entrance: NT$ 400. A little bit expensive, but my brother paid for me, so it's ok:D

anyway, the elevator speed is so fast, we can reach the top only in seconds! cool! and there is  a big damper steel ball in the top-central of the building. This steel ball keeps Taipei 101 safe from the earthquake and typhoon. yeah, Taipei's earthquake and typhoon are pretty shocking me, it happens a lot and quite strong.. but the amazing fact is they prepared for that!

Take a look at this Damper Baby comics!

  

 

 Damper babies~

 The view from the top

Brother & sister in action

How to get there - From Taipei Main Station (TMS):

By MRT: take blue line to Taipei City Hall station, exit 1 or 2 and take 15 mins walk.

Fee entrance to 101 floor: NT$ 400

New year's eve, every year fireworks launched from Taipei 101. I watched the fireworks twice there, in 2012 and 2013. I was quite impressed how these people manage a bunch of visitors who came to see the fireworks in Taipei 101, safe and secure. If I were in my country, I will just give up and prefer to stay at home, watching movies or do something else.

 New year's eve 2012

 New year's eve 2013

stay exist in a crowded night xD

Another Halal restaurant I just visited in Taiwan, located in Taipei. Direction: From Taipei Main Station take MRT to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall station (blue line), off to Exit 1, turn left n just go straight, u will find this restaurant at the right side of the street. Looks like a very old place, but the room inside is comfy and they have various menu with affordable price. See my other reviews on Halal food in Taiwan.

QINGZHEN ZHONGGUO NIUROU GUAN 清真中國牛肉館

Halal China Beef Restaurant
No. 1, Alley 7, Lane 137, Yanji St., Taipei City

台北市延吉街137巷7弄1號

MRT: Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

Review updated: 02/2014

The first time I visit here, I ordered the house specialty - niurou mian (NT$140) and dumpling (NT$140/portion of 8 pieces). Niurou means beef and mian means noodles in Chinese. There are spicy and savory flavor for beef noodles. I enjoyed the spicy one. I could taste the sensation of spicy beef noodles when I had my first sip. That is, come from the oil and pepper boiled in the soup. 

Spicy niurow mian (beef noodles)

Steemed beef dumpling

At the other days I visit this restaurant, I ordered the same things again and again: beef noodles and dumpling. Until one day I look around at the stranger's table next to us. And that's how I found Chinese pancakes and beef shredded on the menu. The Chinese normally paired Chinese pancakes with beef shredded and wrap them together. And yes, it's goood when you eat it that way. 

Chinese pancakes and beef shredded

Dough making open kitchen

small plates of cold dishes

Midterm* is over, happy me!

so we were going on trip to celebrate it... ILCC was arranging the trip for us and luckily they provide us, international students, with the english tour guide.

*) i only have one MIS quiz, one Chinese exam, and one E-marketing presentation. not that hard actually XD

After a short ride we arrived in Taipei... First place, Presidential Office Building....

The group in front of the Presidential Office Building

The army man! poor guy.. he had to stand there for 2-hrs doing nothing like statue

Presidential Office Building from far

The nation father, CMIIW please, coz i didn't really listening to what our tour guide said ><

The dancing show inside

With the dancers

Second place, Taipei Guest House.. It has two styles of garden; modern West n Japanese style.

Modern West style

Japanese style

Enjoy sitting and taking a pics with some friends in Japanese style garden

The black swans.. They are looking good together:")

Third place, lunch in a nice restaurant. We seat on the table as arranged. I like the idea with mixing up our seat table, so that we can meet and interact with some new friends.

We are the vegetarian people;) I'm not pure vegetarian though, just prefer to be since i'm here in Taiwan.

Fourth place, National Palace Museum...

This place was so crowded at that time, too many people. At first, I wasn’t really enjoyed here. Some of us were lost from our tour guide and decided to look around by ourselves. But then we found that the scenery outside of the museum was awesome and I started enjoying the atmosphere.

The gate of National Palace Museum

The five legendaries?? haha anyway I do like this photo! i think it's cool.. (pic taken by Wiliam)

Fifth place.. The closing of the trip was taking a dinner at Niu Chie BBQ restaurant in Taoyuan. We seat with the same people as in lunch, so we get closer with each other by then.

The trip was great. I had so much fun and I think NT 500 was all worth it for the trip (ticket, bus, and especially the food).