Best Beef Noodles in Taipei

No name Beef Noodles

# 15 Tao Yuang st. if you take subway

the exit is next to train station , “West Gate’ exit 4-FarEast department store , Tao Yuang st is between Pao-Ching rd & Hung -Yuang rd.

Going going, back back, to Taipei Taipei . . .

Back in Taipei. Mom picked me up and took me straight to Din Tai Fung . . . best dumpling house ever (some pics if you want your mouth to water http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/eng/). Had some xie fen xiao long bao (crab meat dumplings) and some shrimp dumplings . . . mmm mmm. Gonna go shopping at the market for some materials and learn how to make lion’s head meatballs then maybe watch King Kong . . . man, this is the life, maybe there is a branch of medicine where I can do this all the time . . . :)

Leaving Taipei today

So much for relaxing. Three full days of being in the hospital watching surgeries and seeing patients, going to the National Palace museum, shopping for ceramics at the old town in Yingge, seeing friends, family dinners, clubbing, drinking and shopping. I also got to see some good Taiwanese friends who have moved back to Taipei recently, Charles and Kathy who have a new three year old and Steve who is finishing up a PhD in Chemistry at Qinghua. Unfortunately they all tell me that I am getting fat. I figure I’m just making some extra reserves for the cold weather at Dartmouth. Haha

Keigo left this morning for Japan. I think he had a good time which is great. I also leave Taipei today for San Francisco. Four days and then I’m off to Africa.

Great Eats in Taipei

OLDIES BUT GOODIES
1) Din Tai Fung (Yung Kang Jie) – Go on 9-10am on Saturdays and Sundays for their famous “Tang Bao” Soup Dumplings. Some of the best dumplings you’ve ever had wrapped in a very thin dumpling skin, each filled with soup. The tang bao are gently placed in a broth based soup where they osmotically soak up more goodness before you finally finish them off.

2) No Name Beef Noodles (Heng Yang Rd/Tao Yuan Jie) – This place has no sign, no name, no menu, only the best Taiwanese beef noodles you’ve ever had. Just go there and ask for “hong shao niu rou mien” and you get a steaming bowl of hand pulled noodles in a spicy hot beef soup with generous pieces of beef and tendon cooked tender.

3) Fei Qian Wu (Zhong Shan Bei Rd Sec 1 181 Alley No. 13-2, closed Mondays) – If you like Unagi rice, this place is as good as any in Japan. Traditional Japanese style restaurant with wooden benches, fast service and excellent unagi rice. Great place for a quick dinner with friends or family.

4) Sheng Ji Dan Dan Noodles (Chang Chun road near the intersection with Dun Hua, go up Chang Chun on the Hong Kuo building side) – My favorite lunch place in Taipei. Tender dan dan noodles with a creamy spicy peanut sauce, a bowl of hong yiu chao shou (wontons in spicy red oil) and an Apple Sidra soda really hit the spot!

THE NEW STUFF
1) SuHang (Jin Nan Rd Sec 1 No. 2-1 2nd Fl, phone 0223963186) – One of the best Shanghainese style places I’ve been to. Excellent roast pork in steamed buns, shanghainese dumplings, rice with greens. Ask for the dou shu dish (I hear its their best).

Pictures from home!

The lights of Taipei’s Xinyi district from Taipei 101 (the tallest building in Taipei – for now . . .)

One of my favorite pieces at the National Palace musum. Its a piece of Jade whose natural colors were shaped by the artist into a very convincing piece of pork . . . mmmmmm

Keigo, invading someone’s privacy in Yingge?

My family at my grandparents’ house. I hope to see them again soon.

Taiwanese Medicine – a manufacturing approach to health care

Its amazing how well run this place is. Computerized IT systems that allow the doctor to see a patient’s charts, previous diagnoses and office visit notes, imaging and meds all from a smart computer terminal that recognizes and authenticates (via a smart card reader) the user. This as well as the efficiency with which these HMO doctors see their patients results in an average consult time of 10-20 minutes per patient. In some cases, the patients we saw today were in and out in less than 5.

Contrast this with UCSF where the pain management doctor I shadowed sometimes took 30-50 minutes with each patient and you start to see how the bills can add up.

I would be interested to see how a third party public health group rates the care at Chang Gung Hospital in Taiwan. Without much experience to go by, I would say that from what I have seen so far, it is accessible (all Taiwanese are able to go to any hospital), efficient without sacrificing quality, and cost effective for the patient. Maybe the manufacturing mentality that has served Taiwan so well in making semiconductors CAN indeed be applied to health care?

I’m finally in Taipei!

Whew! No matter what I say about being a global citizen, not having a home, etc, there’s nothing better after a long trip than to be in familiar surroundings.

My parents picked me up at the airport yesterday after 24hrs of flying and layovers. A hot bowl of wonton soup, fresh Taiwan pineapples and a hot shower later, I felt completely relaxed.

Its good to be home . . .