It's a brand new shop, they haven't cleared away the flowers for the grand opening yet 😀
The interior is simple, clean, bright, and comfortable. I forgot to take a picture 😬
Two of us, we had the clear soup noodles with mix of boneless beef rib cut, beef shin, tendon and tripe. The is called Combination Specialty Beef Noodles 满福牛肉面 (price $19.90++) in the menu.
We also had the spicy version with everything i.e. boneless rib, shin, tendon, tripe.
The clear soup is actually dark tea colour and very slightly viscous. It tasted savoury beefy though not as beefy as I expected.
They have only one choice of noodle - this thick, heavy, slightly crinkly type. We have a choice of it done soft, normal or hard. We chose normal for both. Ben mentioned that hard is a popular choice (should have ordered one normal, one hard to see the difference).
Normal was just nicely spongy, chewy for me. The noodles picked up the soup and its savoury beefy flavours well.
The spicy soup version is actually the clear soup with spicy stock added. It gave the savoury beefy soup an additional spicy salty layer.
When I was younger, I like such robust spicy hot flavours but now I prefer the mellower flavours of clear soup.
I always associate Taiwanese beef noodles with tender juicy beefy beef shin. I love the way it looks and the nice blend of meat and tendon.
Niu Dian does it tender soft and it had a nice mild savoury beefiness.
The thick tendon were done tender like jelly, smooth with a subtle crunch but not to the point of being melty soft (which would be too soft in my opinion). There's a subtle savoury flavour from hours of stewing in beef stock.
The soft squeaky beef tripe was pretty nice with a bit of savoury beefy flavour from the soup.
Niu Dian has two kinds of chili sauce. The "local" sourish spicy "sambal" kind and this mind blowing Taiwanese kind, 辣油 or literally "spicy oil".
It is made with chili and spices, and more importantly, beef oil skimmed from beef stock. The chili sauce has levels of spicy heat from different chilis and spices, all held together by beefy goodness from beef oil.
Eat this with the clear soup beef noodles and it takes everything to the next level of deliciousness 👍 🌶
Had the privilege of chatting with Kevin, the founder of Niu Dian. To ensure the quality of his Singapore outlet, Kevin will visit Singapore regularly.
Niu Dian uses Australian imported beef like at his Taipei flagship. The beefy soup is make by brewing beef bone parts, mirepoix and herbs for 24 hours.
Kevin told me something which I felt is relevant to the preservation of hawker culture in Singapore.
Kevin believes in a "virtuous cycle 良性循環" for traditional food culture to thrive. He believes that artisanal food needs to be priced at a level which is worthwhile for the vendor to make the scarifices that traditional artisanal methods demand. Some food for thought for me.
👉 Disclaimer: Please note that this was a media tasting. I very rarely attend media tastings. I did not pay for these food but I did not receive any payment for writing this post. I report exactly how I felt even though that could mean that I may not receive another media tasting invite again 😄
Niu Dian in Taipei 👈 click
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