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Eight Treasures Plaza

Address: Plaza Indonesia South Gate Level 4, Jl, M.H Thamrin No. 28-30, Jakarta Pusat (Beside Tasta Paradise)

Phone: +62 811-9698-688 (Book in advance)

Curious about this highly raved and super-hard-to-book-on-weekends restaurant, we finally tried Eight Treasures in Plaza Indonesia. I was smarter this time and booked our seats a couple days in advanced, given that when we called on the same day the last time, we were turned away. Dinner is available in two timings, 6pm and 8pm, and we chose the 6pm timing. Take note that if you choose the 6pm timing, they will only let you in at 6pm, so even if you come earlier, they will let you sit only at 6 sharp.

There was ala-carte and set/package menu (for 2 pax) available on the menu. However since the US Angus Prime Short Ribs was not available on the set menu, we opt for the ala-carte.

There were 4 soup bases to choose from: Cartilage soup, Szechuan Mala spicy soup, Herbal chicken soup and the coconut based chicken soup. Everyone was given an individual steamboat pot so you can choose your favourite soup base. Though if you come in a party of 6-8 pax, you can opt for the bigger steamboat pot and enjoy the fun from sharing and seeing who gets more food.

The Cartilage soup was their favourite and a recommended soup base. It is supposedly made from shark bone broth and other nourishing ingredients - I'll name some that I saw inside the soup: Red dates, goji berries, Beancurd skin, dried longan, and some traditional herbs.

Taste wise, we all liked the pork bone broth at Imperial Treasure in ION Orchard (loyal customers ftw) way better. The cartilage soup from eight treasures didn't taste much like shark bones. It tasted more like a cheaper, diluted version of shark bones soup (probably diluted with chicken stock to reduce cost). Don't get me wrong. I don't deny that it was made from shark bones. It still tastes very much like it was filled with all the good collagen from the bones, and is very decadent compared to the steamboats we have had in Indonesia (one of the best), but it was pretty diluted to us.

Cartilage soup (68k ++ per pax)

We ordered two portions of US Prime Short Ribs in 150 gr for four people (total of 300 gr). And the portion was just nice. The presentation of the meat gets a 100 points from me. It was creative, and definitely worth all the hype on instagram. Aside from it being "hanged", when served, there was a smoke effect from dry ice as well. The meat was tender - it had a good fat to meat ratio, and came with a good amount of slices ( I think i ate at least 8 pieces). The Short Ribs came in 100 gr portion as well.

US Prime Short Ribs 150 gr (168k ++)

*Dangles

Iberico Barriguera Pork 150 gr (138k ++)

Don't get me started on the pork. The pork was bomb. Not only did it looked absolutely beautiful, it was way better than the beef in my opinion. It was so fresh and so tender. It didn't reek of any unpleasant taste, and it dissolves with very little effort in the mouth. Definitely a must order if you eat pork. The pork is available in a smaller portion as well.

Assorted dumplings Medium (72k ++)

The dumplings were pretty good. It was filled with a good amount of filling (of shrimp, pork, etc.). There was a different filling for each type of dumpling. We got the dumpling in medium, it is also available in small (4 dumplings).

Assorted Ball Medium (88k ++)

The ingredients used in the restaurant were all very fresh. The Assorted ball included homemade fish ball, pork ball, shrimp ball and beef ball.

Deep Fried Unagi Skin (38k ++)

This one is the holy grail and saving grace in everything we ordered today. The skin was crispy, and a little bit fatty, unlike many deep fried skin I've tasted elsewhere. Perfect when dipped for a little while in the hot boiling broth. Way better than the one in Imperial Treasure Singapore, so I give this an A+ for creating such a perfect deep fried skin. I guess what we know is right, Indonesians take their fried food very seriously. (P.S: I hope the standard for their deep fried skin stays this way forever. Amen.) TOO GOOD.

Fried Beancurd Skin (26k ++)

Fried beancurd skin was mad love as well. Must order!

Vegetable Combination (158k++)

Chilled Beancurd (15k++)

Another one which I will definitely order when I come back. Very fresh chilled beancurd.

La Mian (18k++)

They should rename it to some other noodles since it's definitely not traditional chinese la mian to me.

Potato Vermicelli (25k ++)

The potato vermicelli was amazing - the texture was chewier than glass noodles/normal vermicelli made from green beans.

Peach Smoothie - FREE!!

This one is on the menu for I think 68k, but they gave it to us for free. It was very refreshing, and the amount was just nice for us (two shots per person). I think they used sugar syrup because it was pretty sweet, however the taste of the peach was very distinct - very much to my liking.

We spent 400k per person. Of course this amount will vary depending on what and how much you order but for us, the portion we ordered was just nice (we are a party of 4 and we ordered 1 plain rice for the only guy eating with us). Price wise, it was pretty reasonable (again, benchmarked against Imperial Treasure, we would spend around 1.5 - 2x per person there) - we were all filled and quality of the food was good.

Overall, I'll give this place a 7/10. Food was good but not extraordinary (I guess the bar has been set too high by Imperial Treasure). However, the taste was saved by how fresh their ingredients were. I would definitely recommend this to my friends, but would I come back again? I guess not so soon, but we'll see bout that :)

澳洲牛奶公司 Australia Dairy Company

Address (地址): 47 Parkes St, Jordan, Hong Kong

Phone (电话): +852 2730 1356
Opening Hours: 07:30 - 23:00 (Closed Thursdays)
Nearest Station: Jordan

Australia Dairy Company is one of the places you know you must go to because literally everyone you know in Hong Kong tells you to try this place out. Well of course being the person who loves food more than anything (yes future boyfriend, I'll give you up for food. lol jokes), I had to!! In fact, Australian Dairy Co. was the first place we headed to the first morning we arrived in Hong Kong.

Arrived at around 10:30 and look at the queue already.

If you can see the tiny heads at the end of the line, you'll be able to get a glimpse of how many people were queueing.

However, the queue really wasn't that bad - people eat, pay, and go. They won't linger for long. In fact, it only took us 20 minutes to get over the ridiculous queue before getting a seat (though we had to share tables with some strangers, and it's not an uncommon thing to do in Hong Kong).

Australian Dairy Company

Rows and rows of their must try steamed milk

Couldn't wait till it was our turn

Jam packed

It was squeezy near our dining area (7 people were squeezed to sit around a table normally seated 4). So ladies, be prepared to hold onto your hand bags on your laps throughout the meal.

Each table has at least a bowl of steamed milk

Thee biggest complaint of people who have visited is that the service was horrendous, a.k.a very rude and stuck up waiters. And I got to say that it's partially true given that the place was really packed, popular, and it was always so so busy. However, the waiters was really nice to us as we were already pre-warned of the "rude waiter" situation. We made sure that we knew what we were going to get before we got in, and ordered almost immediately when we sat down. The waiters even helped me guilt tripped my dad to finish my drink before we left because he didn't want to help me finish my Ice Yuan Yang. And all of us ended up laughing and having small talks with the waiters before leaving.

Almond Steamed Milk (HKD 26)

Not the cheapest steamed milk you will find, but I can guarantee you it's one of the best you'll ever try - and I have tried a couple of the popular ones in Hongkong.

Smooth Silky Steamed Milk (HKD 26)

The steamed milk/pudding was smooth, silky and extremely delicious! It was piping hot when first served and I enjoyed every bite of this dessert. In my opinion, the (white) steamed milk is a whole lot better than the almond steamed milk (yellow). The almond steamed milk was way too sweet to my liking and was pungent with "artificial" almond scent (may not be favored by many).

Ham with Macaroni 火腿通粉(HKD 25)

Cha chaan teng comfort food, their Macaroni in soup or so called 通心粉. This one was just alright, nothing with the "wow" factor in this one. They used chicken broth for the base of the soup.

Australia Dairy Company actually offers set meals. Eggs with toast, macaroni or spaghetti soup, and with milk coffee or tea. I suggest you take the set meal because you get to try everything, and of course with a cheaper price tag - we ended ordering individual because I only found out about it after seeing our "seat mates" ordering it. So make sure to ask the servers about their set menu!

Cold Yuan Yang 凍鴛鴦茶 (HKD 20)

Must do in every Hongkong's Cha Chaan Teng: Order their Milk Coffee, Milk Tea, or Yuan Yang (Half Coffee, Half Milk Tea)

Hot Milk Coffee

I think there is something about Hongkong-ers and their sweet tooth- their Yuan Yang was slightly too sweet (Also take note that I normally take 25%-30% of sugar in my bubble tea, so the Yuan Yang may be just right for some people). I had to wait till the ice melted to dilute the overpowering sweetness.

腿蛋文治 Scrambled egg and ham inside the toast (HKD 19)

Hands down the best scrambled eggs I have ever tried. The eggs were literally so easy on the mouth - so smooth, creamy, delicious, and rich in taste (Highly possible because of the milk they used?? After all, they are called Australian "Dairy" Company for a good reason). If you are ever here, please do give any menu with scrambled eggs a try, you won't regret it.

Cha Siu Spaghetti (Originally Macaroni, but I wanted to try something different) - HKD 25

The Chasiu was pretty good, slightly sweet and tender. However, I prefer Macaroni over Spaghetti, but the Spaghetti was more filling.

Verdict. Is the food THAT good? Well, not all on the menu is good, but I wouldn't deny that the scrambled eggs and steamed milk was actually one of the best ever. Is it to die for? Nah. But would I ever come back? Yes, definitely.

Always well known for it's cheap and delicious street food, Taiwan to me is food heaven.

Being half-born to this awesome food nation, I am very lucky to be able to visit Taiwan very often each year.

I would normally eat the usual "staple" food all Taiwanese would have in Taipei - braised pork rice, dumplings, beef noodle soup, night market food etc. However, I decided to jazz things up a little when I went back last month and tried some "in and happening" cafes in Taipei to add to this post. And of course, my taste buds weren't disappointed. As usual, no food adventure ends up with me being any slimmer, but for all the good food I had, it was of course worth it. :)

Without further adieu, here's my food guide on 19 Must Try Places to Eat in Taipei, Taiwan! Enjoy!

1) 玖伍牛肉麵 Jiu Wu Beef Noodles

My MUST-GO to Beef Noodles stall in Taipei! I'd usually go to the branch near Howard Hotel because it is near my place, but there are other branches in Taipei as well. The lady boss in the branch I go to is super friendly and would always chat with us whenever we visited :)

Side dishes

LOVE the braised white radish, seaweed and tofu

Beef tripe

Dumplings

We will normally pack frozen uncooked dumplings from this place and air fly them back to Indonesia. One of the best dumplings ever!

Main Star, Beef noodle soup!

Remember to order the one with 筋 (jing) , or tendon! Very tender and flavourful beef noodle soup with chewy handmade noodles. Don't forget to add the pickled vegetables provided on the table into the soup - I'd always add a whole chunk because I like the sourness and texture from the chopped vegetables!

2) RaoHe Street Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市

Despite being one of the "lesser known tourist night market" compared to Shilin, I still like RaoHe Night Market better for it's night market ambience and food. Don't get me wrong, Shilin is a good night market, but I prefer to shop there than to eat!

Stinky Tofu

I've tried Stinky Tofu from so many places in Taiwan (including Shilin) and I found the Stinky Tofu in RaoHe night market to be the best. It's crispy on the outside, soft and silky on the inside, together with the sweet and sour pickled cabbage <3 Visited this place over 50 times since I was young with my family and all of us loved it!!

This always-crowded stall is the first stall near the entrance of RaoHe Street Night Market! Give it a try! Pssst. It's really not that stinky! It actually tastes like normal tofu, just smells a little of ammonia.

Steamed Peanuts

Oyster with Rice noodles

Braised delicacies! Love the duck tongue and "tempura" (fish cake) best!

My most favorite Soya Beancurd with cooked peanuts

Grass jelly drink

All food and drinks in the night market is super cheap! You can easily be full and try many different kinds of food with only NT 200 on hand!

3) Pepper Bun 胡椒餅

Although also located in RaoHe Night Market, this popular Pepper bun deserves it's own place on this post! This pepper bun can be located at the other entrance/exit of the night market - the one near the Temple, and is well known for being one of the most popular food spot in Taipei!

Traditional pepper bun cooking process, stucked to the walls of the oven

Crazy queue

Filled with marinated pork and green onions

Won the CNN Awards as taiwan top 10 delicacies

Yum

Really good! Flakey and sweet dough filled with savoury pork! Recommend to give this a try if you can eat pork! Worth the long queue!

4) Mango Shaved Ice

Taiwan's Ai Wen Mangoes have always been well known for their sweet and juiciness, and summer time is the best time to try it! Especially when it's incorporated into shaved ice!

You can find it in many places in Taipei selling Mango shaved ice, including Night markets, or many popular shaved ice stores like "Ice Monster", "ís chopstix", etc.

小明冰果室 in RaoHe Night Market

The shaved ice in this stall is not the best I have tried in Taipei because there is too little mangoes served. You can try other stalls like I've mentioned above which serve the ice with a larger portion of mangoes!

Mango Shaved ice

5) 阿宗麵線 A Zong Mian Xian

This one is a must try if you can stand pig intestines! Not your usual mee sua (rice noodles), A Zong Mian Xian is a very popular mee sua store with many different branches in Taipei. Their mee sua is cooked in slightly thick sauce with pig intestines, a traditional food all Taiwanese have grown up eating!

Be prepared for the long queue! There are branches in different places like Xi Men Ding, Zhong Xiao Dong Lu, etc.

6) QQ Sweet Potato Balls

These cute little high calories packed Chewy goodness can be found in most night market or street sides. This one is my all time favourite thing to try in Taiwan! QQ means chewy in Chinese, which is also the origin of the name of this super amazeballs dessert! *pun intended*

NT 50 for the large packet, NT 30 for the small one

7) Ai Yu (Fig) Jelly Drink

The Ai Yu Jelly Drink is one of the must try when you reach Taiwan - you'd either like it very much, or don't. My mom LOVES this drink a lot, but I won't say that I like it the best. But either ways, this is a must try because you can't really find the traditional version anywhere else, and in Taiwan, you can find it almost everywhere!

The process of making this jelly is also very interesting. It involves rubbing the fig inside a food/cheese cloth. The fruits contained seeds which produced a sticky gel when rubbed and is then made into jelly. Normally, the jelly is made into a honey lemon drink. Very refreshing!

8) Bubble Tea

Bubble tea, or better known as pearl milk tea is a drink invented in Taichung, Taiwan in the 1980s. Even though you can now easily find this drink in almost all parts of the world, it's only right to have a try in it's birthplace! And as what Buzzfeed has mentioned in one of its article, bubble tea is not just a drink, it is also an attitude, a lifestyle! #preach

春水堂 (Chun Shui Tang)

Chun Shui Tang 春水堂 is the inventor of bubble tea in 1987. It's main store is in Taichung. However, you can still experience this founder bubble tea in Taipei!

Some other popular bubble tea stores in Taipei are "50嵐" (Wu Shi Lan), "Come Buy", "ShareTea", "Ten Ren", "Chatime", "Gongcha", etc.

50嵐

9) Kitchen Pucci 葡吉小廚

Address: No. 59之61號, Section 4, Zhongxiao E Rd, Da’an District, Taipei

Opening Hours: 11:30 - 22:00

Well okay. Kitchen Pucci isn't really authentic "Taiwan food" if you'd like to call it. In fact, they serve food from Shanghai! But the food here is really so good that I had to recommend it!

大餅捲牛肉 Fried scallion roll with beef

The fried scallion roll with beef is the must order in this restaurant!! The sauce is like the one you'd normally get in Peking duck but with a beefy twist. It got us hooked up on first bite that we finished the whole plate in matter of minutes!

Xiao Long Bao

Pan fried dumplings

The pan fried dumplings is not bad either! If you are ever near this area, don't forget to give the beef roll a try!! Must try!

10) Taiwanese style "Bento"

You know the drill, once in Taiwan, eat as the Taiwanese do. You can easily find bentos in Taipei everywhere, and if all else fails, go to the closest convenient store, they'll probably have a bento set waiting for you in the chilled section!

Minced braised pork rice

Normally, Taiwanese bentos come with Pai gu (pork ribs meat), Chicken thighs or fish - all are equally good but my personal favourite is the Pai gu one. One good and popular Pork ribs bento place you must try in Taipei is 君悅排骨. Tried it a couple of times since I was younger and liked it!

11) 南城泰雲緬式料理 South City Thai Food

Address: 台北市大安路一段84巷20號(近忠孝復興站)

This one is a gem and I hate how I only found out about this place during my last trip when my cousins brought us here. Don't expect this place to be a fancy looking clean restaurant. Even though this restaurant might not catch your eyes on first sight, the thai food here is legit good. It got me craving for Thai food even two months after I'm back in Indonesia - the papaya salad is bomb dot com.

Best papaya salad on earth

Fried Sugar cane with fish-prawn paste

Tom Yam

Everything is so good! Ordered more than 10 dishes

Best fish cake

Not only the food is good here, but also the price - it's so cheap for what you get! Free flow drinks (soft drinks, tea, water, coffee, etc.) and dessert (coconut dessert, glutinous rice, ice cream, etc.)! Good service is what I'd normally look at and the service here is really good, especially when the manager here is a sweet friendly lady from Kalimantan!

Also, this place is pretty close by to Kitchen Pucci, so if you ever plan to come down to this area, you can try both restaurants at one go!

12) 永和豆漿 Yong He Soybean Milk

There are many Yong He Dou Jiang branches in Taipei not for no reason. It has won over Taiwanese hearts and stomach for it's good and simple traditional breakfast/supper food.

Shao Bing with egg and pork floss

This is how a Taiwanese breakfast normally look like

I highly recommend the "fan tuan" or the sticky rice ball. In the picture above, we had one cut into two for sharing (Wrapped in plastic). The rice ball is filled with some salty pickled vegetables, sweet pork floss and fried cakwe, a great combination of sweet and savoury! Two thumbs up for this simple delicacy!

13) 馬辣頂級麻辣鴛鴦火鍋 Ma La Hotpot

This restaurant serves buffet and is great for gathering and those of you who likes to eat spicy (and non spicy) Steamboat!

Large variety to choose from

Häagen-Dazs and Movenpick

All kinds of condiments

Fruits, puddings, BIRD NEST, you name it

Free flow alcohol. Yes.

Soup base is really delicious (there is the non spicy side as well)

All sorts of good quality meat (beef, chicken, lamb)

Each table is limited to 2 hours of eating time.

Approx Rp. 270,000++ for dinner

14) 欣葉 Shin Yeh

Shin Yeh (欣葉) is a popular Taiwanese restaurant with a number of outlets in Taipei.

Love love the egg pancake with radish at the left.

The bamboo shoots with mayo is also a must try and is only available during some seasons! You won't normally find it outside of Taiwan or China!

Complimentary mochi

So good we went another round in a different outlet.

Wu Yu Zi (Some fish roe)

Wu Yu Zi is salty and savoury dried fish roe, slightly bitter to the taste as well. Not everyone will like it (I don't) but it's worth a try - consider this as something you won't find easily outside of Taiwan.

We like to order sweet potato porridge to go with our dishes.

Pork knuckle is delish

15) Dazzling Café

Address: No. 11, Alley 7, Lane 205, Section 4, Zhongxiao E Rd, Da’an District, Taipei

I'll be really honest here, honey toast in Dazzling Cafe is very average. However, one good thing about the dazzling cafe in Taipei compared to the Singapore branch is that you don't have to queue in the one in Taipei!

We got the centre bar seats

Min order of one drink

Strawberry lover honey toast

Sides covered in sugar

Not the best honey toast I've had in my life because most honey toast tastes the same to me, except for the different flavours of ice cream and toppings. But to give credit to this popular cafe, the toast is toasted well and crunchy, a good combination when drizzled over with the honey syrup!

16) Drip Café

Address: No. 26, Lane 553, Section 4, Zhongxiao E Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei

Best Strawberry cronuts I have tasted in my life!!! Really so good that I'd go back for a second time. I will recommend it to everyone I know to pop by this place when they visit Taipei!