We haven't eaten together as a family in a while, so the other day, I dragged everyone to Xiao Tong An, which is really close to where we live. There are mainly old houses and small food stands along this street, Xiao Tong An stands out as the only store that looks newly refurbished from the outside. The first thing that you see when you walk in is the glass windows that look into the kitchen. Usually, I avoid looking at the kitchen of restaurants cause they are mostly, unavoidably, dirty. So I'd rather pretend that I don't know about it. But the large wall of clear windows made me peer in with curiosity. I was surprised to see that even the floor looked clean. There weren't unknown black patches and didn't look wet or sticky, which put my mind greatly at ease. There's also an entire row of exhaust hood on top, which made my mom and I so jealous! We wish we had that in our kitchen. Though they have a semi-open kitchen, there wasn't any cooking smell or smoke in the store.
My mom has ordered from this store on FoodPanda in the past, The delivery person arrived late and said "this store is really near you, but I was waiting in line for so long!" Which is why we decided to arrive a bit earlier than lunch time, around 11:30. When we first arrived, the store was relatively empty, but once we finished ordering, the store quickly filled up with people who live or work in the neighborhood at around 12:00. The store was packed all the way until 13:30. Though there were a lot of people, they worked very efficiently and the food arrived promptly. The food was very cheap but the proportions are very large. It was the first time that my family was barely able to finish the food, ordering the same way as we usually do. Considering the price, I thought they would have small proportions and was worried that my dad wouldn't have enough. After we finished eating, he immediately told my mom that he is not having dinner because he has no room. We were so full that we all fell asleep in the living room after we got home.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Side dish
For side dishes, we chose my mom's favorite cucumbers and my favorite bean curd strips.
The cucumbers are very refreshing, they retained the fresh crips with a hint of softness. Compared with the Cucumber Salads that we normally have, Xiao Tong An's cucumbers are not as sour. They probably add less vinegar. My dad usually does not eat cucumber salads because he doesn't like sour food, but he was able to have some of these.
The best part about the Bean Curd Strip Salad is that it was not greasy and there was no bean curd water on the bottom either. My mom usually buys bean curd strips from Yi Chang Yu Fang. While they have good food in general, the bean curd strips there are very oily and I get tired of them quickly. You can also clearly see a thick layer of oil and bean curd water on the bottom of their take-out boxes. The bean curd strips from Xiao Tong An does not have this issue at all, the plate was clear and they tasted fresh.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Braised Beef Soup
My sister usually does not like having beef noodle soup. She's very picky about it and often say that the beef soup from other stores is too oily, too salty, or has too much MSG which made her nauseous. But this day, she ordered Braised Beef Soup and happily finished it! The beef in Xiao Tong An's soup contains both meat and tendon and they are cooked until extremely tender. Even my sister, who usually hate eating tendon, said they they tasted great. The soup was not oily and it wasn't too salty either. You can taste a small hint of spiciness but not too much. My sister could easily accept it despite that she usually does not eat spicy good. Instead, the spiciness complemented the soup and made it even more aromatic.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Vegetable Tortilla Roll
This dish was really special! On the crispy and chewy Taiwanese tortilla is a layer of mayonnaise, inside is a roll of gracilaria, bonito flakes, and vegan meat floss. My veggie-loving mom loved it. I usually don't eat gracilaria because I feel like a goat when I do. But I still tried a bite. Xiao Tong An's Vegetable Tortilla Roll does not have the grassy taste that gracilaria usually has. Instead, I could taste the smooth mayonnaise and the fragrant bonito flakes. It's both a bit sweet and savory, which was delicious. Vegan meat floss doesn't taste as strong as regular meat floss, which means that the taste does not overpower the entire dish, it also doesn't get stuck in my teeth like regular meat floss does. We originally thought that the vegetable tortilla roll would be a side dish. But the proportion was so big that my mom ate it as her main. And she kept saying that if she does not know what to eat for lunch in the future, she will have this to help lose weight and save money at the same time.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Mains
You can choose between thin noodles or wide noodles for all noodle dishes at Xiao Tong A. For noodle soup, you can also choose to have vermicelli. The large proportions are extremely filling, too. I originally thought that it would be a small bowl like what you usually get at food stands, which is definitely not enough for food monsters like my family and myself. Turns out that it was about twice the amount. I was in a food coma just eating that one bowl of noodles.
I ordered chili oil dan dan noodles with my favorite wide noodles. Xiao Tong An's wide noodles have a satisfying dense texture and bounces against your teeth perfectly, kind of like knife-cut noodles. The sauce of the chili oil dan dan noodles is a combination of sesame sauce and chili oil, with the rich taste of sesame, the scent of peanuts, and the fragrant spice of the chili oil.
My sister likes thin noodles. She ordered her favorite Sesame Sauce Noodles. Though it is warm, the sesame sauce is very similar to Taiwanese cold noodles. Xiao Tong An's food is more lightly flavored, none of the dishes are too salty, which makes them very unburdening to both our taste buds and bodies. They taste good on their own and work great with the condiments available as well, without leaving us thirsty after eating. On each table is a jar of chili, my sister decided to try some half way through her noodles. She usually has a super low spice tolerance, but Xiao Tong An's chili was aromatic yet smooth. She quite enjoyed the addition to her noodles. Later on, she wasn't able to finish the noodles cause there was just too much, which, by the way, is the first time I've ever seen her be unable to finish her order. My dad, who does not eat spicy food at all, took over and finished the noodles for her. The noodles that she added chili to! He was completely fine with it and did not have any stomach pains afterwards. The sesame sauce noodles didn't become dry and clumpy after getting cold either.
My dad's Shrimp and Shredded Pork Fried Rice has perfectly separated grains but did not shine with grease. It wasn't oily or too salty and tasted just right, which is perfect for my dad who loves these kind of dishes but have stomach issues. It was satisfying and light at the same time, and did not leave him with any discomfort. The color of the shrimp was beautiful, they looked fresh and did not smell fishy, verified by my sister and I, who are extremely allergic and sensitive to the smell of seafood that isn't fresh. The shredded pork is unlike the tiny sad pieces of leftover meat that you usually see at food stands, but meat strips that you can clearly see and taste. They were also very generous with both the shrimp and pork.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Dumplings (Dim Sum)
A lot of people would wish that they could order a few more types of dim sum when going to noodle shops, but are worried that they might be unable to finish everything. Xiao Tong An's dim sum all come in 2 sizes, you can choose a big size of 8 or a small size of 4 based on how many people there are in your party and how much you can eat. Which is very convenient and thoughtful.
My parents had a small serving of Shrimp Shumai. They look super cute and are huge. The full, yellow shumai are topped with a blanket of fish eggs. They are completely handmade. My mom said that they tasted very natural and did not seem to use coagulator in their shrimp paste, so the meat is very tender, dense, but not hard at all.
I've always loved soup dumplings but my sister and my dad don't usually eat them. A lot of times, the 'soup' that should be in soup dumplings is a pack of oil. I get tired of them very quickly and they are basically inedible once cold. My sister often complains that the world-famous soup dumplings from Ding Thai Fung have a pork odor, and if we leave them in the fridge without finishing them, the whole fridge would stink of oil; even I agree that Ding Thai Fung's soup dumplings have to be heated up and are disgusting when cold.
Xiao Tong An's soup dumplings have the meaty taste of pork but does not stink. There's a pack of soup in it, not oil, so you don't have that sickening sensation of having your entire esophagus and stomach wrapped in lard when you eat them. Later on, we were way too full to finish it all, and my dad actually ate 4 on his own! This is honestly the first time that I saw my dad voluntarily eat soup dumplings. Pre-pandemic, my aunt loved taking us to Ding Thai Fung for lunch and my dad always refused to eat Dim Sum. But he kept saying that Xiao Tong An's soup dumplings are delicious even after they get cold.
Chili Oil Wonton is one of my sister and my favorite dishes, but a lot of chili oil wonton uses shrimp wontons or vegetarian wonton's. Xiao Tong An uses meat wonton so they were naturally a must-try. As soon as they arrived, they smelled amazing. The wonton skin was not too thick but has a perfect chewy texture. They weren't soft, mushy, and floppy like a lot of chili oil wontons are and my mom couldn't stop talking about how good they were. They used lean meat for the filling so they had a satisfying bite to them and you wouldn't come across any weird lumps of fat or tendon. The sauce isn't too spicy but are perfectly numbing (sichuan peppercorns). My sister, who as I have mentioned has virtually no spice tolerance, enjoyed it too.
Red Bean Paste Pancakes are one of my sister's favorite desserts! Xiao Tong An's Chinese pancakes have that strong aroma that flour is supposed to have, with a full layer of white sesame seeds on top. I could smell the sesame as soon as the plate was placed in front of me. They did not taste of artificial flavoring and tasted all-natural. Generally, red bean paste pancakes with leave grease marks on the plates because too much oil was used when frying them, which makes the pancakes soft, oily, and floppy. Xiao Tong An's red bean paste pancakes stand nicely when you pick them up, aren't greasy, and does not stink of lard. It's not too sweet or too hard.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Sides
The Stir-Fried Beef is the strongest tasting dish out of everything we ordered on that day. It has a strong garlic aroma. Most stores that specialize in Northern China and Zhejiang dishes use a lot of cooking oil when stir-frying but this wasn't greasy at all. However, the spices are all fried to perfection with their aroma being fully released. It's fragrant, just spicy enough to satisfy me but not too spicy that my sister can't eat it, and the beef was very tender. My sister loved the spring onions and onions in this dish. Though the onion slices are fully cooked, they did not soften too much and still has a satisfying crisp.
My dad loves eating cow stomach but I was surprised that he was willing to have Mala Cow Stomach! As a cow stomach expert, he said that the Xiao Tong An's cow stomach was delicious and flavorful. I usually do not eat animal organs but I tried some. I found that the outer hive-like layer was crunchy while the center was nice and chewy.
Xiao Tong An's Pork Chop was thick and soft. It was about twice as thick as the pork chop I normally get from other stores. It was so tender that even my dad kept saying that it was nice. I very rarely hear my dad say nice things about food. No matter what delicious delicacies we serve him he would just say "yeah it's ok." He even refuses to eat my cooking.
Xiao Tong An's Blanched Vegetables really are blanched and seasoned afterwards without using soy sauce, which makes it taste fresh and cleansing. A lot of blanched vegetables from other stores with turn black and wither after being left there for a while, kind of like microwaved vegetables. But Xiao Tong An's vegetables were still nice and crunchy even after they got cold. By the way, I keep talking about what the food tastes like after they got cold because the proportions are honestly huge. We ordered as we usually would but we were almost unable to finish everything and spent so long trying to devour it all. The dishes here honestly have great value for the price.
As soon as my dad walked in and saw the photo on the wall, he said that we had to order the osmanthus pig's feet. To be honest, we rarely order pig's feet when we eat out because most store-bought pig's feet are too greasy, salty, and has too much MSG. My dad usually only eats the pig's feet that my mom makes. Even when I made my most popular recipe, jokbal, he only ate half despite saying that it was good. And that's an impressive record when it comes to cooking for my dad. But he actually polished off this plate of osmanthus pig's feet from Xiao Tong An, which, wow, betrayal. It's okay, at least Ares loves my jokbal. Xiao Tong An's pig's feet has been stewed for a very long time so that all the fat has escaped. It didn't taste oily and has some lean meat attached, which means that my sister and I, who don't enjoy eating fat, were able to try some, too.
Taipei Guting Restaurant–Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop: Store Info
Store name: Xiao Tong An Noodle Shop
Address: No. 30, Tongan Street, ZhongZheng District, Taipei City (about a 2-minute walk from either exit 1 or 2 of MRT Guting station)
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-20:30
Phone number: 0900-484-888
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