[苗栗縣] - 飛牛牧場 - Miaoli County - Nature's Farm aka "Flying Cow Ranch"

 In the USA, when you think of "farm", you certainly do not think too much in the way of entertainment, let alone a relaxing family getaway coupled with an educational experience. As progressive (or regressive) as the idea of picking your own fruit and berries from the source has become, certain American farms that do offer their resources for educational field trips, are by appointment only and limited to schools for the most part. So what is the public to do?

In Taiwan, the idea of a nature farm is pretty much like going to a theme park. In Miaoli county 苗栗縣, the most famous attraction is Nature's Farm 飛牛牧場 which translates to Flying Cow Ranch. It's a 2+ hour drive southwest of Taipei, past Hsinchu county and on the way you'll pass by Guansi rest stop.

A GPS coupled with printed directions certainly come in handy getting over here. Once you pass the sign, drive up the road. 

And you're almost near the entrance once you see the lovely flying cow logo statue to the right.

Park the car and get your bearings. Pick up a few maps as this place is quite big. Hungry? There's the Red Barn restaurant.

 Your admission ticket includes a coupon that you can redeem for a cup of fresh milk or yogurt drink, all made on the premise of course and all natural.

The milk is so tasty (ditto for the yogurt drink) it's not funny. If this stuff tastes amazing, I can only imagine what fresh Hokkaido milk tastes like...

Oh yes, the Red Barn restaurant. Miso hungry. Time to get some grub.
 

 A very relaxed yet modern decor. The menu is more western slanted, but they say the best dish to get here is the hotpot.

Yup, got your typical veggie fixin's here and some animal protein essentials. At least three to four kinds of leafy greens, corn on the cob, slices of pork belly, enoki mushrooms, shrimp. There was more but I can't remember now.

Oh yes the signature hot pot broth of MILK. As strange as it sounds, it's actually milk mixed in with some sort of base broth. Once you put the ingredients in there, the whole thing flows together. It's actually quite good and a lot healthier than some greasy numbing spice thing that will blow your o-ring out.

OK everyone got a dessert. Check this out, they say it's a Japanese invention. Hmmm it looks like a brown egg in shell. But what's that tube inside? What's that toothpick for?? Oh man, you prick a hole and this milk tea latte flavored pudding oozes out.

For most of us, it looks rather gross. One can only imagine the filthy thoughts going on in your mind if you are seeing and eating something like this for the first time. Is it an egg? Is it a balloon or a condom?? What's that twirly looking discharge?? But the taste and texture is quite unbelievable and delicious! At some point the pudding oozes out very very slow, so you can either take matters into your own hands by poking more holes, or just puncture the whole thing together (but the taste and texture will be different if you do that).

After lunch, a nice stroll down the hill to see the rest of the farm. Unfortunately it was raining during our visit.

Get up close and personal with the sheep and goats! No pellet food for sale here, just little packets of grass

Sure you can pay NT$10 for a small pack of grass, but look around on the ground, lots of grass near the fences (dropped by other visitors), so go cheap on this.

Check the schedule near the sheep petting section for demos on milking a cow

 as well as feeding times for calfs. Watch these little fellas finish drinking a whole bottle of mama's milk within mere seconds!

Then up the hill is where you can see the mountain goats (don't get too close, they'll get into fights and scare you), and at the top is the bunny hutch. A favorite for the kids.

They will be so happy to see you. Even more so if you pay NT$10 to feed them some yam leaves!

Keep your eyes out on the funny bunny. The one on the left looks like a puppy with long ears.

 Or this dude who looks like a Panda.

Back to the gift and snack shop, you'll find more milk based goods. Like their signature Flying Cow milk pudding.

 Or the less popular red bean matcha yogurt.

 Liked that funky egg shaped pudding that oozed out like bodily fluid or discharged? Take it home with ya!

The milk ice cream has got to be amazing...

And there's a non food gift shop nearby too.

 Highly recommend for those visiting Miaoli County.

Website: http://www.flyingcow.com.tw/

飛牛牧場 - Nature's Farm
苗栗縣通霄鎮166號 (Miaoli county, Tung Xiao Jun #166)

[永和] - 北平致美樓 - Beiping Zimei Restaurant, Yongho Township

The average person in Taiwan would normally wolf down some bowl of starch based goodness, with or without broth, for lunch. Maybe a side dish or two. Perhaps a drink to go to signal the return back to daily paid slavery. Others might get something that's portable and hand held, whether it be a sandwich, or some buntastic orgasmic explosive delish contraption.

So what is the definition of an OVERKILL yet delicious lunch? When relatives decide to get together, and just so happens it is one of those special occasions when you are visiting. And they go all out pimp on you and order a 2+ hour banquet meal consisting of courses in the teens, yet when you learn what the price tag is, it might even cost upwards of HALF of what you might pay in the Golden state also known as Cah-Lee-Fo'-Nee-Ah. Quite the bargain indeed.

Zimei 致美 or loosely translating to "heading towards beauty or perfection", is a Northern Chinese style restaurant (Beiping 北平) that offers a variety of fare, including Peking Duck, in house made dumplings, sour cabbage hotpot, amongst a myriad of other things I can't remember because I almost passed out from all the good food. It is located in Yongho 永和 city (yeah famous for ahem...soymilk and quite possibly nothing else for those on the outside looking in)

Anthony Bourdain was so proud when he was visiting Tokyo on No Reservations that in the last segment, it was as if he was boasting, yet complaining, that he ate a 15 course (nigiri) meal in 20 minutes at Sukiyabashi Jiro in Ginza.

Well unfortunately he has yet to go to Taiwan at a banquet like this, FOR LUNCH, and eat 18 courses, each plate serving at least 10 to 12 people (WITH EXTRA LEFTOVER TO SPARE), in 2 to 3 hours. Beat that mofo!

Zimei would be considered above average in Taiwan (and supremely excellent by NorCal standards), but just too expensive for the average collared worker to partake in.

Our table had (only based on the photos and a few things that I barely remember):

- Lao Beijing (Old Beijing) brand of sour plum drink. Insanely addictive and very appetizing...went well with the meal. Sooooo good. Can't find it in supermarkets :-9

- appetizer of drunken chicken (Shanghainese style steamed chicken at room temperature marinated in herbs and Chinese wine) with Taiwanese sausage (a very local touch)

-Broccoli with....I can't even remember! Sea cucumber?

- Peking duck (skin with a bit of meat), thick white tipped scallions with in house rolled roasty near perfect crepe skin (made and roasted in house, ditto with the tian mien jiang sauce). The duck is considered average by some local bloggers! Dang my standards must suck over there.

- a humongous Beijing style hotpot filled with sour cabbage, broth, shrimp on shell, pork belly, gong wan (Hakka Taiwanese pork meatball), tong ho (green leafy veg), mushrooms, and possibly 4 to 5 more things in there

- finely minced shrimp with slices of crispy fried dough stick (yoh tieo). You can eat this as is, or scoop it into a lettuce cup, eaten like a taco. Very tasty. Liou's House in Milpitas offers this (maybe as a pre-order item) but probably more expensive.

-beautiful Northern style pork and delicately sliced mixed veg steamed dumpling, almost like a siu mai but different.

-For dessert, everyone got fresh orange slices and a peanut mochi dumpling thingy that was quite good, but by the time you bite into it, you are already passing out from the food coma.

This is only like a third of what I had listed, there were MORE dishes I didn't mention or photograph!

If you're visiting and experiencing one of these banquets (or a more pimp and extravagant wedding banquet) for the first time, it's quite a novelty and an interesting experience. But if you were a local resident or staying there for over a month, and had to eat one of these banquet type meals two to three times a week (or even ONCE a week), you'd rather do some Kate Moss style binging and purging.

But Zimei was quite a pleasant experience. Unbelieveably affordable. If only we could have more skilled chefs like the ones at Zimei open up restaurants in Ca Lee Fo Nee Ah.

永和北平致美樓 (Yongho Beiping Zimei Restaurant)
台北縣永和市竹林路73-1號 (Taipei County, Yongho Township, Chulin Road 73-1)
02-8928-7971
Hours: 11 am to 3 pm, dinner 5 pm to 9 pm

北二高 關西休息站 (Guansi Freeway Rest Stop)

When you think "freeway rest stop" like in California on the interstates, "pit stop", "free willy", "shaking the weasel", "taking a slash", or even "taking a dump", as well as America's favorite corporate fast food and restaurant chains, all come to mind. Of course some pull off the freeway at such rest stops to sleep/nap, stretch out, before going back on the long haul.

So what do they do in Taiwan (and apparently in Japan?) They kick it up a notch. Some even make it a DESTINATION STOP. Yes... drive something like an hour or more outside of Taipei, just to come to a place like Guansi rest stop 關西休息站 near Hsin Chu. Not only is it a rest stop/pit stop, but it is also a pseudo one stop shop. In fact, savvy business types have decided to set up shop at places like these to offer interesting regional delicacies. Of course you can also get your latte's and supermarket snacks.

Some parts on the inside look like a shopping mall. Does your typical American rest stop or vista point have something like this?

Japanese style and influenced dessert cakes, kind of like a mix between a Cantonese egg puff and a Japanese sponge cake. This was the only photo I was able to take before the vendor kindly requested that I didn't (wow even in the middle of nowhere??)

Don't miss the pickled peanuts, snacks, and interesting delicacies (including spicy dried shrimp snack).

The supermarket offers hot bien dang/bentos, including stir fried rice noodles (mifen) and oden.

Don't miss regional delicacies like Danshui's fish puff chips (previously only available in Danshui), which you cannot buy at Welcome/Ding Hao or the bigger chains, insanely good (even with a lil' MSG). Good stuff this is.

Indian/Pakistani/Middle Eastern grilled meat wraps at night markets

One of the joys of Taiwanese night markets is that some will feature vendors that offer local versions of grilled Middle Eastern/Pakistani/Indian style skewered meats, and usually made into a pseudo burrito with a really fresh (kneaded, tossed, and grilled to order) wrap skin (roti) that's so delicious. Even a run of the mill typical and perhaps considered average stall like this, is way better than a lot of the crap served in the USA.

I can't for the life of me remember where this stall was located. And it was quite decent. Some skewered meat wrap and fresh grilled dough skin stalls are run by immigrants from their native countries, and a few are either owned or run by locals like this one. Either way, it's a fun side twist if you're bored of local street food. While some stalls don't serve pork (especially if Middle Eastern/Islamic in nature), there are some that do. But most of the time you will find beef, chicken, and lamb offered.

There's something enjoyable about seeing this stuff grilled, usually to order, right in front of you. Secret sauce, secret marinade, secret spice. So good.

No this dude is not making pizza, but he rolls the dough in front of you as you place your order, tosses it up in the air a few times, then lays the roti on top of the dome shaped grill to ensure an even roast. What a far cry from going to an Indian restaurant in the US, not seeing this type of action....who knows what goes on in those kitchens!

 Less than $4. My local so called hipster Indian taco/burrito truck can't even pull this one off.

[台北] - 奉茶 (Tea Serving) - 霜乳奶茶 (Cream Top Milk Tea)

Rao He Night Market location

Good bobba, tapioca milk tea, pearl milk tea, bubble tea (etc) can be found just about anywhere in Taipei. If you are a major cheapskate (or even a local), you would think NT$70 for a Ten Ren Tea Station drink from a trendy mall basement food court is a blatant rip-off, when you can get a perfectly decent tea drink for NT$30 to $40.

奉茶 or Tea Serving is a fairly new chain that started showing up around 2008 or so. One of their signature offerings is called 霜乳奶茶. It's a cup of rich and flavorful black tea with a thick creamy foamy layer put on top. The cream texture is out of this world, and is rich and sweet (so you probably don't want to have something super greasy before that, and your internal pipes will thank you for that). You can sip it separately with the tea, or mix it in together. The cream has a Hokkaido milk flavor to it, and is unlike anything else I've had.

As of now, I'm sure this drink is no longer interesting. But it's always fun to get. I hear that 85C in Irvine (California) offers a version of this.

霜乳奶茶

[台北] 一心日本料理 Ishin Nihon Ryori Taipei

Ishin 一心, or in kanji "one heart", is a fine example of a Japanese restaurant in Taipei where Japanese people would go eat, versus Taiwanese Japanese places that caters primarily to most of the locals and their tastebuds. This was a pretty popular place a few years ago, but with so many other places like it in the area, I'm not sure how they are faring these days.

But this is not to say that Ishin is enitrely hardcore, far from it, it is actually a mom and pop type operation, run by a chef husband who spends most of his time between the kitchen and the counter area where he does all the sashimi slicing, and the wife or okamisan who interacts with customers, assists them with ordering and anything else in between.

Ishin is also one of multiple restaurants in the immediate area that services local Japanese, expatriates, and those who are on business, travel, or working for the goverment/diplomats, in addition to those with like minded tastes, who need to relax, unwind after work, social with fellow employees or important clients, or even just hang out with friends. I suppose you can say it has an izakaya feel to it, but absolutely nothing like the trendy fusiony places in the Silicon Valley (Northern California)
Ishin like most other intimate small humble restaurants, require advanced reservations in order to be guaranteed spots at this 24 seater place. Similar to virtually all Japanese food businesses in Taipei (including food retail places), photography is prohibited of the food and generally of the premises, but the okamisan was gracious enough to allow me to photograph the exterior and interior as no other customers were present at the time. (I looked this place up in google.com.tw search....lots of bloggers took quick snapshots with their smaller cameras and smartphones! Guess it's not easy to stealth with a giant SLR)

Once you go past the sliding entrance door, you need to remove your shoes and place them on the shelf adjacent to the shelf that contains numerous bottles of sake (now isn't that a weird juxaposition of alcohol and smelly stinky feet!)

The menu in memory, breaks down into the following categories (in no particular order)

Appetizers

nabemono 鍋物 - hot pot

agemono 揚物 - deep fried items

yakimono 焼物 - grilled items

tempura (anago and kisu tempura I believe were available)

and one or two more categories I cannot remember.

Be sure to check the specials menu, which is a fine sheet of paper listing the items entirely in Chinese (kanji) which you read from top to bottom. Of note, but was not ordered, were grilled tuna chin (lower section) at NT$690, aji no nambanzuke 南蛮漬.

The Okamisan was one of the most friendliest, patient, and gracious
hosts I've ever encountered. She is very fluent in Mandarin (for obvious reasons) and her husband speaks a little bit. I'm told he drives frequently 30 to 60 minutes north into the port of Keelung (north coast of Taipei) to hand pick the freshest fish for cooking as well as sashimi (why raise costs by importing similar fish from Japan?)

We had:

1) Combination sashimi - local maguro, salmon, tako, hamachi with an additional order of scallops and uni, which 3 small lobes of it averaged US$8, not cheap. But it was all very great quality and fresh. Kudos to the chef using as much local seafood as possible, even if limited compared to other parts of the world.

2) Stewed potato with pork, carrots, and cabbage. The sauce/broth soaked into the potato, very nice. Could this be a version of niku jaga?

3) Hokkaido style nabe (hot pot) with salmon, cabbage, carrot, and bean thread vermicelli noodle in white and red miso base mix. Very hearty and warming in cold weather.

4) Julienne Japanese Mountain Yam (yamaimo) appetizer. This was supposed to be yamaimo and okura, but I only saw yamaimo. Served with wasabi on the side. Excellent.

5) Chicken karaage - mind blowingly good. Crispy sexy crunchy toasty flavorful skin, with really juicy chicken meat on the inside.

6) Charcoal grilled saba shio (saba shioyaki) - a little bit fishy, but was very nicely done.

7) Okinawa style Goya Champuru - arguably using Taiwanese local mountain bitter melon (not bitter at all compared to the stuff in the US). Stir fried with pork (belly?), tofu, eggs, soy sauce. Super homey and delicious dish, no surprise it appealed to Chinese tastebuds as well. Went well with rice, one of the highlights of the meal.

This was a very high quality, simple yet homey food, pretty low key, and definitely intimate, warming, and great vibe kind of place (as a result of the warmth of our okami-san). Service was a tad bit spotty when it got really busy, but that's understandable. Great use of local and imported ingredients to make something that I would guess is not that far off from Japan.

一心日本料理 (Ishin Nihon Ryori)
台北市中正區中山北路1段121巷36-1號 (Zhongzhen District, Zhongshan North Rd, 1st portion, 121 Alley #36-1).

Tel: (02)- 2560-5801
6 pm to 12 pm (Closed Sundays)

[中壢] - 劉媽媽客家菜包 - Liu Mama Hakka veggie buns from Zhongli

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