King 5 Noodle House

Continuing the Lunar New Year celebrations early one Saturday morning, I met up with a bunch of food bloggers to check out what a Taiwanese breakfast is all about.  I remember my parents taking me once when I was a kid, and we never went back… I specifically remember receiving a bowl of the above – sweet soy milk – along with a Chinese fried crueller to dip into it.  I don’t recall much else about the experience though.  And here, it was thin, milky, slightly sweet… not bad.  But with the crueller dipped in it, I actually really enjoyed that – the crisp crueller soaking up a little of the sweet milk, with a good crunch to it… very nice. 

Salty soy milk, with pork floss, mini dried shrimp, scallions scattered on top… this was interesting.  I’m not sure I could eat a whole bowl of this, but it was definitely tasty enough for a few bites, shared with the rest of the group.  Much more on the savory side than the sweet soy milk (obviously), the name might sound gross, but once you taste it, it really is nothing like the name. 

Sesame pastry pockets filled with scallions, I believe.  I didn’t try this. 

Stacks of the fried cruellers (in the back of the big plate), and some ‘bing’ or sandwich-like bread items. 

Scallion pancakes.  I didn’t try these as I’m not generally a big fan of those. 

Steamed veggie dumplings. 

Mini soup-like-dumplings.  I liked these – I wouldn’t say they were the best ever, but I liked them enough to eat more than one.  Juicy pork… perhaps a bit thinner skin would be better, but they were satisfying nonetheless. 

Fried dumplings which were open-ended, as they’re supposed to be (according to friends/people who have been to Taiwan).  I thought these were okay.  Same pork mixture in the mini-soup-dumplings, I think.  I like pork. 

Another flaky pastry item filled with something.  I don’t think I tried this one. 

Here’s a close-up shot of one of those bing-sandwich things.  This one was filled with meat and a bit of hoisin sauce… I liked this.  The exterior was chewy, the inside slightly meaty, slick with sauce and slightly sweet.  Not bad. 

And the aftermath: just the teensiest bit of food left… which we had boxed up and someone went to find a homeless person to feed. 

And while we sat there, two different sets of dragon dancers came in to extort – I mean, receive lucky money from the kitchen.  Interesting.  I didn’t think they’d visit every place. 

Yvo says: Definitely interesting, and very carb-heavy.  As one of my (Cantonese) friends quipped while one of our (Taiwanese) friends was explaining what to eat and how cheap it is, “Dim sum is better.”  Obviously this is opinion; the two breakfast styles are very different.  I can’t imagine eating dim sum on a regular basis, nor Taiwanese breakfast… but Taiwanese breakfast seems infinitely more suited to fewer people, and more frequent as you can get just a soy milk and a crueller and be just fine (and for super cheap).  I suggest everyone tries this, but it won’t be for everyone. 
recommended based on above; no idea if this is ‘good’ or ‘authentic’ but it tasted just fine