Both countries tend to go crazy with the MSG, so be very careful if that bothers you. In the NY Times article they mention a restaurant in our old neighborhood (Ximending) called Ay-Chung Flower-Rice Noodle. My Taiwanese wife and I have tried it but the MSG was too much for us. Din Tai Fung is excellent in Taipei, very good in Shanghai but pretty bad in Los Angeles. Most of my local friends in Shanghai now prefer Din Tai Fung (in the Xintiandi shopping area) over Nanxiang Mantou Dian, the supposedly original xiao long bao restaurant. I liked both and would definitely recommend them.

I haven’t been to Hunan province itself so I’m no expert but the best Hunan food I’ve had is at Di Shui Dong on Maoming Nan Lu in the French Concession in Shanghai. The spicy spare ribs are fantastic and the waitresses wear the traditional blue pajama like outfits, prices are reasonable and dress is casual. Another really nice restaurant in Shanghai is Xiao Nan Guo. It’s Shanghainese style and though they have several locations, I usually went to the branch inside the Ruijin Hotel on Ruijin Lu, also in the French concession. My favourite dish was their pork trotter, not sure what you call it in Chinese but the one with the pork fat on top and cut into chunks (also easy to find in Taiwan). They also had the best salad I ever tasted in China.

One to skip is Meilongzhen Jiujia in Shanghai. It’s in all the guidebooks and has been there for a very long time, but this was the general consensus among myself and all the Shanghainese with me.

In Taipei, my favourite meal is actually breakfast. We just walk to one of many breakfast places and order the shen dou jang (not sure about the spelling but my wife translates it as salty soybean though it’s not salty at all), egg pancake, and a dish made from turnip, something like laboga? (can anyone help on this one?) Afterwards, wash it down at an 85C coffee shop, way cheaper than Starbucks and better coffee. I liked the coffee milk tea that is like the Indian milk tea with the marsala spices but they have all the usual ones.

If you have an opportunity to try a real Hakka (kejia) restaurant, the food is awesome. It’s hard to find good ones in Taipei but easy in the four main Hakka cities of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Pingtung. I’ve had vegetables there that I’ve never seen anywhere else. In general, the vegetables in Taiwan are much better than in China, especially kong xin cai (empty heart vegetable), which is my favourite of all.

One dish that TommyBahamas mentioned is Ma Po dou-fu. Made correctly, it’s definitely one of my favourites. I’ve only had good ma po dou fu in China; when I tasted it in Taiwan it was terrible, though there might be good places for it that I haven’t tried. Another dish I really like is Shanxi noodles, handmade rolled and sliced thick so they are really chewy and not thin like the pulled ones.

As time passes, the food gets better and better in China so the differences are less and less. I guess the nicest thing about Taiwan is that there are so many cooking styles to try that are unique from each other. Hey, let’s not argue, let’s eat!!

@ChinkTalk
troll much? but to take you at face value, like chris said, between beef and mutton. it used to be available just across the hk/shenzhen border back when I was a kid, but nowadays…

Now, who mentioned doufunao? Dammit! Now you’ve got me hungry for tofu brains! Haven’t had that for ages!

As for which city would win some kind of cuisine competition, whoever suggested that: Changsha would kick all of Sichuan and Chongqing into oblivion easily, and then they’d bring out their good chefs. Ya can’t beat Hunan for sheer culinary awesomeness.

Can’t compare the Mainland with Taiwan, though. I’ve never yet ventured to that renegade province.

There’s a reason the peasants give up peasant food

Thanks for the url to Prince Roy’s blog. That was very interesting…

As for lou rou fan, I am sorry to see you don’t appreciate peasant food!

Oh, I see…I totally missed your joke. Sorry. I’m not the brightest bulb in this room, I’m afraid

Pickled herring and crisp bread for breakfast, huh? I won’t slam it since I’ve never sampled your homemade version of the said-breakfast. Oh, crisp bread I like. As for pickled herring, I need a nice ice cold soda, ice lemon tea or some tangy white wine to wash off the fishy taste in my mouth. Or perhaps a couple dashes of tasbasco if only beer or a glass of ice water is available.

Hey, actually, Hong Kong, as my friend there pointed out, has the best selection of genuine Chinese, Taiwanese, western – in other words, world cuisnes!

I would say I prefer European for breakfast, and probably Chinese for lunch and dinner… Though I don’t suffer when I’m with my parents who of course eat the food they grew up on. I think I’m one of the few people on this forum to enjoy pickled herring and crisp bread for breakfast.

Shark fin soup and bird’s nest soup are over-priced to me – make me sick to slaughter the sharks just for the fins. I do not think monkey’s brain makes me smarter or some animal’s penis makes me a better lover (I do not say I’m not capable in that department). The wild birds may cause bird flu. The Cantonese eat everything with 4 legs (and some two) except the table.

My long stay in US makes my taste similar to the average American.

In China, I ate in established restaurants. I am always worry about the water and whether the food is clean.

Glad I could help. Always nice to snap zombies out of their zombie state.

Naw, I doubt it you are cured. Here is a shotgun blast to the brainz.

Bye bye.

*Chika BOOM*

On a serious note. Are you mocking me? I guess you are. When did I ever say that the subject of eating dogs implies “western” propaganda. And I tell it like it is, I tell people in real life that I’ve tried dog meat once. No point in hiding it. Well, Chinese people eat anything, and they eat dogs. If you think that’s nasty because “name of your dog” was for dinner, that’s fine. Nobody is forcing you to “accept” it. But it is reality. I don’t mind it at all. And this is not some subjective moralist b.s. either. Universally killing of other human beings is prima facie wrong. But I don’t think eating habits of different societies should be considered something that is universal.

Now for a real piece of the media propaganda I present this (fine, it is biased. I admit):

http://www.goldsea.com/Features2/Comments/nouvelle.html

And you go ahead and believe that western media is not a bit biased. Now do I think there is anything “wrong” with that. I don’t, because I know in every society there is a dominate paradigm, it’s a fact of life.

Oh yeah!!! I know everyone likes those.