taiwanese food – Jellybeans in the City

Experience the rich and vibrant flavors of Taiwan at Fat Fook

If you’re tired of the same-old dishes that you normally have for your daily meals, why not give Taiwanese food a try?

Taiwanese cuisine is a delicious and unique blend of Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese flavors, with influences from Japan and Southeast Asia. One of the hallmarks of Taiwanese cuisine is its focus on fresh and locally-sourced ingredients, which are often prepared using simple cooking methods to let the natural flavors of the ingredients shine. Many dishes in Taiwanese cuisine also feature bold and complex flavor profiles, incorporating a variety of herbs, spices, and sauces.

Taiwanese cuisine also has a strong street food culture, with night markets and street vendors serving up a wide variety of snacks and small plates.

And lucky for you, getting your hands on Taiwanese dishes is quite easy: all you need to do is hie yourself over to Fat Fook in Robinsons Galleria.

This Fat Fook branch boasts a cozy and inviting atmosphere with its warm lighting and traditional Taiwanese decor. The restaurant is adorned with vintage posters, and traditional Taiwanese ceramics and art pieces, creating a nostalgic and charming ambiance. The wooden tables and steel chairs lend the space a rustic yet modern feel, making it a perfect place for a casual meal with family and friends.

The restaurant’s name, Fat Fook, loosely translates to “prosperous fortune” in Mandarin Chinese, which is a nod to its commitment to delivering delicious and authentic Taiwanese cuisine to its customers. The menu boasts a wide selection of dishes, including classic favorites such as noodles, dumplings, and rice bowls, as well as signature dishes that are unique to Fat Fook.

Check out this list of top menu choices at Fat Fook that you can sink your teeth into:

Taiwanese Sausage (Php368). This popular Taiwanese street food is definitely a must-try at Fat Fook. The sausages are made with a mixture of pork and spices, giving them a delicious and savory taste. They are then grilled to perfection and served with garlic slices inserted at slits on their sides.

Fried Crispy Oysters (Php208). These deep-fried seasonsed oysters are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside and pairs so well with Fat Fook’s noodles and rice bowls.

Xiao Long Bao (Php228/5pcs | Php288/8pcs). Fat Fook’s version of this classic pork soup dumpling is not to be missed. The steamed dumplings are filled with a savory pork and broth mixture and are served with a side of soy sauce and vinegar for dipping. The thin and delicate skin of the dumplings that give way to the delicate broth and savory meat filling is a testament to the chef’s expertise.

Beef Noodle Soup (Php488, regular or spicy). The soup is made with a rich and savory beef broth, tender beef chunks, and thick noodles. The dish is topped off with an assortment of vegetables and herbs, making it a comforting and hearty meal.

Beef Tendon Hotpot (Php598). A hearty and comforting dish that is perfect for colder days. The hotpot features tender beef sauteed in flavorful tendon sauce with onion leeks and sliced chilis.

Taiwan-Style Fried Rice (Php308). A staple in Taiwanese cuisine, it is made with rice which is stir-fried with a mixture of vegetables, egg, and meat, giving it a delicious and savory taste.

Classic Milk Tea (Php98 + Php20 for tapioca pearls). No Taiwanese meal at Fat Fook is complete without a cup of its rich and creamy milk tea made with fresh milk and black tea, making it a refreshing and indulgent treat.

So if you’re up for a change and game for a new foodie adventure, then check out the rich and unique flavors of Taiwanese cuisine at Fat Fook. From the savory and succulent Taiwanese sausage to the crispy and flavorful fried oysters, the dishes on offer are sure to leave your taste buds wanting more.

This Fat Fook branch is located at Phase Veranda Level 2, Robinsons Galleria, EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Ugong Norte 3, Quezon City. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 86375258.

Other branches are located at:

Upper Ground Floor, SM City Center North EDSA (Tel: +63 2 82838936)
Second Floor, Glorietta 1, Ayala Center, Makati (Tel: +63 2 88381549)
Second Floor, Ayala Malls Manila Bay, Bgy Tambo, Paranaque City (Tel: +63 2 79157999)
Second Floor, Ayala North Exchange, Ayala Avenue corner Salcedo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati (Tel: +63 2 79009139)
Ground Floor, Alabang Town Center, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City (Tel: +63 2 83648341)

Stay updated on its menu and offers by following Fat Fook on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out my previous posts on Fat Fook:

Family’s Intro to Fat Fook at Robinsons Galleria

Tasty Taiwanese dishes at FatFook Kitchen, UP Town Center

For a recent holiday get-together with my former office buddies, we settled on FatFook Kitchen at UP Town Center as our meet-up place.

For one thing, UP Town Center is easily accessible to all of us, scattered all over the metro as we are. Despite the Christmas rush, getting there was relatively easy, since most of the traffic are headed towards the opposite direction to the Makati and South areas.

Secondly, we know that we won’t be disappointed in the food. After all, Taiwanese cuisine is so close to what appeals to the Pinoy palate while offering a welcome break to flavors and textures we consider mundane.

The next challenge was ordering food for a group of five that will please everyone’s taste buds or sate their personal cravings. Fortunately, FatFook has a ready solution with its Feast for the Family offer which allows diners to order one appetizer, one noodle or rice dish, one vegetable dish and two main entrees for just Php1,1088.

Given our appetites and this amazingly affordable offer, we ordered two sets of Feast for the Family and indulged ourselves in a variety of Taiwanese dishes which included:

Appetizer.

Noodles and Rice.

Vegetable Dish.

Main Entrees.

Dimsum. Our meal wouldn’t be complete with some tasty potstickers so we ordered some of the frozen dumplings which the restaurant steamed and served to us.

We also couldn’t pass up the chance to have a taste of FatFook’s signature Taiwanese Sausages, plump and meaty links with a sweet, savory and garlicky flavor. Also, since FatFook does not offer service water, we washed down our meal with soda and TeaCo Black Tea.

Our enjoyable time together over good food was enhanced by the great service of FatFook’s staff.

I’m so looking forward to our next meet-up here.

This FatFook branch is located at 2nd Floor, Phase 1A, UP Town Center, Diliman, Quezon City, open daily for dine-in and takeout.

Other branches in the metro are located at:

SM North EDSA
Glorietta
Robinsons Galleria
Alabang Town Center
Ayala North Exchange
Ayala Malls Manila Bay

FatFook delivers frozen and ready-to-cook dishes via GrabFood and FoodPanda.

Shi Lin, Robinsons Galleria

Taiwanese cuisine’s claim to fame isn’t just it’s wildly popular milk tea.

It is also marked by the creative use of spices and the inclusion of fresh local produce.

The country’s food is heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine because of Taiwan’s proximity to the mainland’s south provinces and especially due to the Koumintang retreat, as well as by Japanese cuisine due to the time of its occupation.

Being in a crowded island, the Taiwanese had to look for sources of protein other than their farmlands which led to the prominence of seafood in their dishes.

These culinary influences came into play when my family and I had dinner at Shi Lin in Robinsons Galleria.

Our Taiwanese meal included:

Original Xiao Long Bao (Php170 for 6pcs).

Mushroom and Vegetable Dumpling (Php175).

Fried Rice with Shrimp, Pork and Egg (Php175).

Stirfry Brocolli (Php100).

Braised Beef Noodle Soup (Php310).

Spicy Spare Ribs (Php395).

Half Shi Lin Chicken (Php380).

Chinese Pepper Shrimp (Php475).

It was a filling and flavorful dinner which provided a welcome respite from our usual home-cooked meals.

We also got some dishes free when Hubby and I unlocked our Zomato Gold privilege!

Zomato Gold provides members with 1+1 (Buy 1 Get 1) deals on food or 2+2 (Buy 2 Get 2) deals on drinks. All you have to do is sign up for a Zomato Gold membership here. Use the code JELLYB to get 10% off the membership fee.

This Shi Lin branch is located at Level 3, Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Center, Quezon City, open Mondays to Thursdays from 9am to 9pm and Fridays to Sundays from 9am to 10pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 86377503 or +63 916 3040185.

Other branches are located at:

Pasig: Estancia Mall
Mandaluyong: The Podium Mall
Taguig: Serendra BGC
Makati: Powerplant Mall, Ayala Malls Circuit, Greenbelt 3
Quezon City: Trinoma Mall
Manila: Lucky Chinatown Mall
Paranaque: Ayala Malls Manila Bay
Muntinlupa: Alabang Town Center

Check out my reviews on other Taiwanese restaurants in the metro:

We wanted it quick and cheap at Ersao, Tomas Morato

Sometimes, our food choices are determined by the limitations to our time and funds. One such instance drove me and a friend to have lunch at the nearby branch of Ersao.

Ersao is a Taiwanese restaurant offering affordably priced snacks and side dishes, rice toppings and hot noodle dishes. As we have meetings before and after our lunch break, a friend and I opted to get a quick and affordable meal at Ersao at M Place which is within walking distance from our office building.

The store occupies a small space with seating good for up to twenty people. Even though it was lunchtime, the place was still quite deserted and we were able to order and get a seat with minimum fuss.

My friend opted for the Taiwan Style Rice Porridge (Php180), basically a rice congee with meat bits and aromatics. Served hot, it can be quite comforting to the soul while filling to the tummy. She supplemented her meal with an order of Gyoza (Php110) for some added protein.

Given the relatively low price of the offerings in this resto, I decided to splurge a bit and got myself a Pork Steak (Php170) and a Pearl Milk Tea (Php99).

The meal sated our hunger but left me wanting in terms of taste. The pork steak, in particular, was too liberally seasoned, giving a sense of umay such that I wasn’t able to finish my meal.

Well, we wanted our lunch quick and cheap, and that’s what we got. Too bad we didn’t include flavor in our criteria.

Check out my reviews of other Taiwanese food restos:

Affordable snacking at Oh My Chicken, Tondo

A new eatery just opened along Alvarado Extension in Manila, giving students of nearby Chiang Kai Shek College, workers of nearby business and residents of Tondo a quick and affordable taste of Taiwanese-style iced tea and fried chicken.

The newly opened first branch of Oh My Chicken is a cozy shop where people who are looking for quick and cheap eats can hie off to and get their fix of fried chicken together with their favorite tea drinks.

Its chicken offerings include:

Oh My Chicken Steak (Php78 for regular | Php128 for large)
Oh My Chicken Popcorn (Php88 for regular | Php118 for large)
Oh My Chicken Leg (Php78 for 1 pc | Php148 for 2 pcs)
Oh My Chicken Wing (Php78 for 1 pc | Php148 for 2 pcs)

The chicken steak and popcorn are available in Original, Ganmei, Chinese Barbecue, Szechuan Spicy and Honey Mayo flavors while the chicken legs and wings are available in Original, Spicy Honey, Szechuan Spicy and Honey Mayo flavors. The skins were crispy and tasty while the chicken meat was quite tender (I was able to cut the chicken steak using a flimsy plastic fork!)

Students also have a special treat: they just need to present their student ID and they can enjoy the Oh My Chicken Wing or the Oh My Chicken Leg plus a cup of rice for only Php98.

Diners can wash down the tasty fried chicken with their choice of tea-based beverages, the sugar content and ice levels of which may be customized by request.

Milk Teas:

Black Sugar Fresh Milk Tea (Php98 for regular | Php108 for large)
Black Sugar Milk Tea (Php88 for regular | Php98 for large)
Black Sugar Green Milk Tea (Php88 for regular | Php98 for large)

Fruit Teas:

Fresh Kiwi Green Tea (Php98)
Home-made Jasmine Tea (Php58)
Home-made Ceylon Tea (Php58)
Calamansi Green Tea (Php68)
Special-made Ice Tea (Php78)
Refreshing Lemonade (Php78)
Calamansi Lemonade (Php68)

The milk teas were brewed from actual tea leaves while the fruit drinks were blended from fresh fruit.

Oh My Chicken is located at Alvarado Extension Corner Padre Algue Street, Tondo, Manila.

Disclosure: Together with other food bloggers, I was invited to attend a foodie meet-up held here. All the food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Check out my reviews of other milk tea establishments:

Sumptuous Chinese Lunch at Lugang Cafe, Greenhills

Lugang Cafe is the offshoot of Bellagio, a Taiwanese restaurant chain which first opened in Shanghai in 2001, bringing with it a combination of authentic Taiwanese cuisine with a modern and vibrant restaurant design. Since then, it has grown its China operations to include outlets in key cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Najing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Galaxy Macau.

Outside China, it is known as Lugang Cafe, currently with 7 branches in the Philippines, and recognition as a recipient of Philippine Tatler’s 100 Best Restaurant Awards.

Walking in to Lugang Cafe’s O Square branch in Greenhills Shopping Center, I can’t help but be impressed by its sleek, contemporary yet decidedly Asian decor. It has floor-to-ceiling windows that let in lots of natural light (great for food photography!) and even allows passersby to peek at the chefs at work in the kitchen. It has distinctive wall art, fixtures and furnishings that give the place a luxurious and premium look and feel, quite a departure from the usual down-home (and sometimes shabby-looking) Chinese restaurants.

Even though the place was packed with the Sunday lunch crowd, we were lucky to find ourselves a table with the help of a very accommodating hostess. There was a frenetic kind of energy to the place, what with the servers rushing here and there and the din of clanging utensils from the diners.

For my Sunday lunch together with Hubby and my daughter #ExhibitA, we ordered an array of dishes that showcase Lugang’s penchant for carefully selected ingredients imported from China, cooked fresh (with no chemical additives), and developed by the 14 world-class chefs it employs.

Steamed Pork Xiao Long Bao (Php268 – 8 pieces). Did you know that in China, making Xiao Long Bao, also known as the soup dumpling for the flavorful pork skin broth that accompanies the pork leg meat inside the fine, delicate hand-rolled skin, is considered an art form? Lugang’s take on this challenging dish results in a very light and delicious dumpling that whets the appetite for more.

Steamed Vegetable and Pork Dumplings (Php268 – 8 pieces). A lighter take on the usual pork dumplings as the meat has to share the limelight with some greens.

Steamed Pan Fried Siopao (Php268). Another departure from the run-of-the-mill cuisine, this version of the steamed siopao has bottom which has been seared to a crisp texture, adding an interesting contrast in texture to the light fluffy bun that envelopes the meaty filling.

Spicy Beef and Tendon Noodles Soup (Php320). Tender choice cut beef sirloin slices and melt-in-your-mouth tendons are accompanied by a savory and spicy broth and firm handmade noodles (that I had trouble cutting with my soup spoon, hahaha!) and topped with aromatics. This is definitely something I would want to sip on during cold rainy days.

Pineapple Fried Rice (Php320). A twist on the regular fried rice, with cashew nuts adding texture and pineapple bits lending some sweetness to the dish. Although it went well with the viands we ordered, I think this rice is a bit too oily for my taste.

Beef Tenderloin with Crispy Garlic (Php680). A new dish offered by Lugang first introduced in this very branch last year, it features tender cuts of beef braised in a flavorful garlic sauce, quite a flavor grenade!

Fried Prawns with Oats (Php580). Humongous prawns covered in an oat-filled batter and deep-fried to a golden brown. While it has an interesting texture, I think that the oats do not do much to enhance the prawns’ taste.

All in all, our Sunday lunch at Lugang Cafe introduced us to a host of absorbing new tastes and textures, as well as wowed us with the luxurious restaurant interiors. We definitely wouldn’t mind returning and revisiting our favorites or trying out the other dishes being offered.

Which brings us to…

Lugang Cafe’s UlTEAmate Feast

From August 28 to September 28, weekdays at 2.30 to 5.30pm, diners can eat all the Steamed Pork Xiao Long Baos their hearts desire, together with other unlimited dumplings, for only Php298 per person at all Lugang Cafe branches. For more details, visit Lugang’s Facebook Page.

I might have some difficulty availing of this offer – what with work schedules and all – but take heart, I vow to find a way!

Lugang Cafe’s Lauriat Feast

Did you know Lugang can deliver platters and packed meals with your favorite Taiwanese dishes right at your doorstep? Check out the price list and delivery branches here.

This Lugang Cafe branch is located at Ground Floor, O’Square, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan City. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 906 2176217. Other branches are located at:

Level 1, Main Mall, South Arcade, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City (Tel: +63 906 2176216)
2/F The Block SM North Edsa, Pag-asa 1, Quezon City (Tel: +63 2 3328725 or +63 915 7469693)
Skypark, Level 5, SM Aura Premier, 26th Street corner Mckinley Parkway, Taguig City (Tel: +63 2 5195663 or +63 906 4555873)
Glorietta 2, G/F, The New Ayala Center, Makati City (Tel: +63 2 4033303 or +63 906 4555879)
F Fashion Hall, Bldg D, SM Megamall Edsa cor. J. Vargas, Brgy Wack Wack, Mandaluyong City (Tel: +63 2 6316436 or +63 915 1742243)
Level 1, Pedro Gil Wing, Robinsons Place Manila, Ermita, Manila (Tel: +63 995 7564734)

Another resto I’ve reviewed that offers Taiwanese cuisine is Fat Fook. Check out my reviews of its SM North EDSA and Robinsons Galleria branches.

This post contains affiliate links.

Want to try cooking Taiwanese dishes at home? Check out these books at Amazon.com!

The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island. Acclaimed author Cathy Erway offers an insider’s look at Taiwanese cooking—from home-style dishes to authentic street food.

Home-Style Taiwanese Cooking. This book by Taiwanese chef and food blogger, Tsung-Yun Wan, will inspire home cooks to make these authentic Taiwanese dishes part of their own cooking repertoire.

Taiwanese Cookbook: Food from The Streets of Taiwan. Author Carla Hale gives easy tips and recipes that will help readers prepare authentic Taiwanese dishes for their family and friends.

Want to try some recipes today? There’s no need to leave home to shop for ingredients. With Honestbee, just order your groceries online and you’ll get them delivered right at your doorstep at your preferred time. Use this referral link to sign up to Honestbee and get Php500 off for a minimum spend of Php2,500. You can download the Honestbee app on iTunes or Google Play.

If you’re in the US and an Amazon Prime member, sign up for a free trial of Amazon Fresh to get your groceries delivered to you.