Honestly, I think I am a terrible influence to Ares. I am constantly planning what we should have on cheat day. My aunt has moved to Hong Kong many decades ago and my mom also has Hong Kong citizenship, so we used to travel there all the time and my family loves eating Hong Kong food or dim sum. Plus, Ares often talks about the time he spent working in Hon Kong, so I decided to take him to Mi Dun Dao Hong Kong restaurant for some reminiscence.
The owner has 20 years of experience working as the executive chefs in prestigious hotels. 10 years ago, he moved to Taiwan and founded Mi Dun Dao. Recently, they moved to Nanjing Fushing and opened up their Minsheng branch, leaving their original location at SongJiang Nanjing, where they were open for 10 long years. I've always loved traditional flavors that have been passed down for years, so I took Ares here with much confidence. Mi Dun Dao actually has another branch in Banqiao that specializes in dim sum. But I decided to come to Minsheng first cause the weather wasn't really good that day and the Minsheng branch is much closer.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: Environment + Service
The walls in the store are decorated with photos of their dishes and wallpapers that resembled traditional Hong Kong interior designs and the streets of Hong Kong. As soon as we sat down, Ares pointed at the wallpaper across from us and exclaimed "The Spaghetti house! I used to go there all the time when I was in Hong Kong."
There are a lot of people here during lunch time on weekdays since a lot of office workers around here come for lunch. Which is why I chose to come here for dinner on a weekday. I chatted with the waiter and he also said that he suggest we come here on weekday evenings or weekends so that it wouldn't be too crowded.
We arrived as soon as they opened the gates, so there weren't a lot of people. However, around dinner time, I saw the waiters hurrying in and out all the time to prepare take-out orders. There's a sign at the door saying that you get 12% off if you place an order over the phone and come pick it up yourself, which is probably why I keep seeing people approaching the counter at the door for their take-out orders. They are also on UberEats and Food Panda, where they have periodic sales like free beverages etc. When I was taking photos at the door, I kept getting weird looks from the delivery guys, I think I have reached the point where I have no shame.
They are very efficient. We spent around 5 minutes taking photos at the door and everything arrived by the time we came back.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: XO Sauce Instant Noodles Stir Fry with Pork
Ares can't understand the menu, obviously, but he didn't wait for me to translate anything. He just rushed over to the walls and started looking at pictures. As soon as he saw the XO sauce instant noodles stir fry with pork, he started saying that it looked delicious. He kept saying that was what he wanted while pointing at the wall and that I can decide all of the rest. Leaving me to struggle alone with my decision making issues. I was actually pretty surprised that he'd choose this because he doesn't usually like pork at all. I contemplated ordering the instant noodles stir fry with beef instead but he kept asking me what XO sauce was and stared intently at the photo on the wall. I thought to let him try what he choose. Plus, if he didn't like it, it wouldn't be my fault.
By the way, for those who don't know, XO sauce is a special savory and slightly spicy Hong Kong seafood sauce. Often made with scallops. When Ares learned this, he said for me to choose something that I can eat instead, but he looked like such a disappointed child I couldn't. My immune system has been doing really great lately (knock on wood), so I didn't think a little bit of XO sauce was going to trigger anything.
As soon as it arrived, I could see that it wasn't oily and shiny like most Hong Kong instant noodles stir fry, which is good because that shine is terrifying, let's be honest. Ares was so excited when he smelled it and told me to hurry up with my photos so that he could finally start eating.
The noodles weren't oily but they were very well-seasoned and flavorful, they weren't dry at all, either. I really like the bean sprouts added to the mix. When I bit into them, I could still taste the freshness of the bean sprouts, which was not overpowered by excess oil and saltiness. The pork slices are thick, about twice as thick as the ones we get at breakfast stores in Taiwan. They were also very generous with the proportions. The meat is tender with a hint of sweetness. Ares was also surprised by how much he liked it once he learned that it was pork. He said that he's usually "not a fan." He really loved this dish and it was the first plate to get cleared. He saved me an extra slice of pork at the end, looking at me with this guilty expression of a kid that got into the cookie har.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: Green Bell Pepper with Beef
I've always loved green bell pepper with beef. It's a classic in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Ares, on the other hand, dislikes bell peppers despite being Hungarian. He said that his mom used to put a lot of raw bell peppers in his sandwich. It's hilarious, cause I did the same thing to him once. But you see the irony because the famous Hungarian spice, paprika, is made from smoked bell peppers. Paprika literally means bell pepper in Hungarian. It's so prevalent there that they taught the word three lessons into my Hungarian course on Duolingo. When the dish first arrived he even pointed at it and said "you eat the paprikas."
But Ares was willing to give the bell peppers a try since he said that this was a model staple when he was in Hong Kong and they ordered it almost every day. Turns out that he liked it! He said that the bell pepper was a bit smokey, without the "weird taste" of raw bell peppers.
Compared with other bell pepper with beef we have had in the past, we both thought that this is much less greasy while the beef is much more tender. Ares also loved the sauce. He later on ate it with the rice that came with the Hong Kong Barbecue-Trio. I tired it like that, too, and they went together so well. As an Asian, I am an anomaly for not liking rice, but I could honestly devour 2 bowls of rice with this.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: Mala Spicy Pork Vermicelli Claypot
Ares was originally attracted to the Seafood Tofu Claypot shown on the wall. However, with my seafood allergies in mind, he said for me to order whatever other claypot I'd like. Though I know that he does not eat mama (numbing spicy), I couldn't resist it.
This arrived a couple of minutes after the other dishes. As soon as it came, I could smell the strong aroma of spices. Being under able to survive without spice food, I was super excited! There's a small heap of pork on top with a bunch of dried chili on the side. I was literally drooling when I saw it. There are some cabbages and bean sprouts on the bottom. The crunchiness of the vegetables complements the soft texture of the vermicelli perfectly.
Once the mala vermicelli claypot arrived, I had bowl after bowl of vermicelli. Ares said "Stop eating vermicelli! Don't worry about not being able to finish it because I don't eat numbing spicy food. Eat some other stuff, too. I tried it just now, I can eat that." Cute. I was only 20% worrying about you, it's mostly because I love this, okay, don't get between us.
It's not particularly numbing when you are eating this. It's just aromatic and spicy, super satisfying. But it gets to you later! 1 minute after finishing the entire pot, we were chatting and Ares suddenly said "oh now my mouth is burning." And started drinking a bunch of coke. I actually bursted out laughing.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: Signature Barbecue-Trio Rice
Ares loves Hong Kong style barbecue, especially cha sui and roasted duck, so we naturally had to order this. The first thing that I ate was the cabbage next to the chicken, I was surprised to have a mouthful of chicken juice. My entire mouth and nostrils were filled with the smell and taste of amazing chicken soup. The minced spring onion on top of the chicken are extremely fragrant and were placed on top generously.
The cha sui wasn't too fatty. I usually hate the texture of fat but I liked it. It was smokey with a bit of sweetness. Ares is the authority on roasted duck. He said that the roasted ducks that he had in the past mostly had a very strong taste and were very greasy. Hong Kong roasted ducks are usually cooked twice, and he said that they are often greasy yet dry and chewy, which he found very confusing. How can something be coated in so much oil yet still be dry? The roasted duck we had at Mi Dun Dao was the opposite though. It wasn't greasy at all, yet the meat was soft and tender.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: Butter Pineapple Bun
First of all, there is no pineapple in pineapple buns, just to be clear. They are called pineapple buns because the pattern on top kind of looks like pineapples.
This arrived along with everything else when we first sat down so it kind of got cold by the time we got to dessert. Ares asked the waiter if they could heat it up for us and it came back with a fresh slice of butter as well. We were so surprised by how nice they were!
The buttery crumble on top has a sweet smell that linger at the back of my throat. It's almost similar to a coconut sweetness. Ares also said that it reminded him a bit of the kaya toast he had in Singapore, which he has been ranting about wanting to have for a long time. Though I fed him pineapple buns instead, I think I have successfully satisfied his rare occurrence of a sweet tooth.
The outer layer. of the pineapple bun is toasted to a perfect crispiness, which has the texture of caramelized sugar as I bit into it. The rich texture with a bit of saltiness and sweetness hits the spot for me.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Mi Dun Dao: Beverages
The most classic Hong Kong beverage would be salted lemon 7 Up, but Ares is into Lemon Coke. I've actually never tried putting lemon slices in coke before, it introduces an unexpected freshness to the sweet drink.
Taipei Hong Kong Restaurant—Store Info
Store Name: Mi Dun Dao Hong Kong Restaurant
Address: No. 8, Alley 5, Lane 130, Minsheng East Road Section 3, Songshan District, Taipei (About a 10-minute walk from exit 8 of MRT Nanjing Fushing station.)
Phone: (02)2500-6784
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00–14:30 & 17:00–21:00
Take-out: 12% off for phone call orders and self pick-up. Also on Ubereats and FoodPanda.
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