A day trip to the Shifen Old Streets to launch a sky lantern 天燈 for blessings is one of the highlights for many visitors to Taipei. A short detour to Ruifang town for Fu Ge Beef Noodle 福哥牛肉面 would be a nice side trip for beef lovers as the restaurant conveniently opens from 8am to 10pm.
A train service runs right through the Shifen old streets 十分老街. The trains used to be coal transporters during the Japanese days but today, they are packed full of tourists from around the world.
Launching a traditional sky lantern with family, friends and loved ones is a Must for many visitors to Taipei.
Visitors write their wishes and requests for heaven's blessings on the lanterns.
The sky lanterns with wishes are lit and sent to the heavens for blessings. It was raining quite heavily when we were at Shifen but the rain dampened no one's spirits. The heavens replied to messages on the sky lanterns with showers of blessings 🙏
Ruifang 瑞芳 is an hour's train ride from Shifen 十分. The well loved 福哥牛肉面 Fu Ge Beef Noodle shop is at the intersection of Minsheng Street and Zhongsheng Road - steps away from Ruifang train station.
Fu Ge is a humble, no frills, dingy corner noodle shop which has been here for almost 40 years. It was raining cats and dogs that day and people were huddled inside, warming their souls with comforting bowls of slurpy noodles in hot beefy broth.
Prices are very reasonable. SG$1 equals around NT$22, so a big bowl of noodle soup with chunks of beef costs slightly less than SG$5 (NT$100).
Seven of us, we had been eating the whole day, so we ordered a bit of a lot of things to share.
福哥牛肉面's noodles were done soft al dente, tender with a light gentle spring.
福哥牛肉面's beef broth is medium bodied and relatively clear. It's flavour is savoury beefy at the right intensity for me with a subtle underlying herbal note. I like it as it is highly drinkable like a mild herbal tonic. (The aroma and taste reminded me of Bovril beef essence I had as a child 😄 )
We had a couple of bowls of chunky tender beef in beefy soup. Love it.
Beef intestines and beef tripe.
I have not seen beef intestines in Singapore and Malaysia. Actually, it is also seldom sold in Taiwan. So, the tender crunchy savoury beefy braised intestines is a signature dish 福哥牛肉面's loyal fans come for. The dish is made by stuffing beef intestines with intestines 肠灌肠 and then braising it in a soy sauce and herbal blend. The braised intestines have layers of varying soft spongy spring and gentle savoury herbalness.
Tender beef shank and tender crunchy beef tendon (known as cowhells here).
Braised pig's ears and snout.
Since we wanted to try a bit of everything, we threw in these tofu, seaweed (kelp) and century egg for completeness 😂 Must order the century egg because it has creamy runny yolk 😋
Leftovers Analysis. Well, we finished everything except for a bit of noodles. We like everything. We even ordered an additional two bowls of beef in soup, so it is our clear favourite. I love the chunky beef and hearty savoury beefy broth - it is heart and soul warming.
4-Star (out of 5). If you are making the obligatory trip to Shifen Old Streets for sky lanterns 天燈, make your journey "doubly worth it" by dropping by Fu Ge Beef Noodle 福哥牛肉面 in Ruifang. You will love the hearty beefiness of the beef dishes here, especially if you are a beefeater and enjoy going local.
(You may also want to throw in historic Jiufen Old Street 九份老街 into your day trip - I will cover Jiufen in a separate post.)
Restaurant name: Fu Ge Beef Noodle 福哥牛肉面
Address: No. 21, Minsheng Street, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224
GPS: 25°06'27.2"N 121°48'21.3"E | 25.107557, 121.805926
Tel: +886 2 2496 0567 | +886 2 2497 9959
Hours: 8:00am - 10:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 20 Oct 2017
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published