Top 10 Best EAT, SEE & SHOP in Ximending 🇹🇼 Taipei Taiwan 西門町 台北美食 Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel

Hi boys and girls, auntie and uncle. Welcome, welcome back to my channel. My name is CK and my channel is Seekology, where I bring my viewers around the world to eat, see, and explore. Explorer I am today in the city of Taipei, in the district of Simending. And I'm standing right outside the iconic Red Mansion, the most recognizable building here in Simending. Now the Red Mansion was built by a Japanese architecture, completed in 1908. Today it serves as a multi-purpose cultural showcase for Taiwan. A lot of performances, arts, drama are performed here at the Red Mansion. Fun fact, if you look up from above, the Red Mansion is shaped like a cross and an octagonal shape. People say the Red Mansion is designed this way to calm the spirits around Simending. In the late 1800s, Simending was a mass burial place and the Japanese architecture specifically designed the shape of a cross and the bakwa octagonal to calm the spirits. And until today, there are many paranormal sightings here in Simending and particularly here at the Red Mansion. Very peculiar because Simending is one of the busiest districts in Taipei. On another note, my favorite Taiwanese movie is a movie called directed by the brilliant director Ang Lee. In the movie, the patriarch plays a famous chef here in Taipei. And it was my first time in my life, I saw some of the most incredible fine dining banquet food I have ever seen on the silver screen. Taiwanese cuisine, in my opinion, is the most underrated in the world. And today I am bringing you to my favorite district here in Taipei, sample and to take you through journey of amazing, incredible, delicious food here in Taipei. I have diet all week long to make this video. If you're ready, let's go and explore the amazing food of Simending here in Taipei. I usually don't like to introduce viral shop or viral food or viral eatery because a lot of it is actually very overrated. But here in Simending, there is one particular restaurant that both the locals and the tourists can agree that their food is really worth trying. The long hours of waiting. And this particular eatery is called Tien Tien Lee here at Simending. And just look at the line. I better line up right now. I kid you not, people literally leave their luggage outside and storm inside to eat this. The line is a block long and this is Tien Tien Lee. It's absolutely packed. Took us half an hour in the line to get here. And this is what we are all after. The radish cake, the fried oyster, the braised pork, the trinity of Taiwanese snack and cuisine. Look at that. I can eat this every day. All of this. So for breakfast, I am bringing you here to Nanmei Cafe. Nanmei has been here since the 1950s. One of the very old brands here in Simending. Household name. And they are famous for their latte and their coffee, which I need every morning. So this is Nanmei. And I must say it gives the vibe of the very old kopitiam we had back home in Malaysia and Singapore. I like the wall with the granite wall. That's very interesting. And the ceiling, I'm sure it's very original wood high panel ceiling. This is really the very old kopitiam of Simending if you're looking for one. Now I've been told that the people of Taiwan woke up very early for a very special treat. This is the crystal dumpling. The famous Taiwanese crystal dumpling. I have no idea what's inside. But if you want crystal dumpling, they say you have to come to Hongyi. And they've been here for a very long time. You have to get six pieces. I have never seen a dumpling like this. Does it look like crystal? It's a bit of a mincemeat and radish, I think. Very interesting. So there you go. They open about nine. Yeah, it's very moist inside. Minced pork meat and I think turnip. Lots and lots of turnip inside. Hongyi's crystal dumpling. Not just any dumpling. And I'm at the right place. Here is Jingyuan restaurant. Jingyuan serves the best pork chop in all of Taipei City. Look at how incredible this pork chop is. Oh my god. It's fried to perfection. Jingyuan has been here since 1973. 1973. That's how established they are. And they're actually on a basement. This is a shopping mall that you need to come for this pork chop. And it's absolutely packed. You would not believe. Oh my god. This pork chop really is incredible. 140 Taiwanese dollars. Jingyuan is the restaurant to come. At the basement of Wan Nian shopping mall. I'm gonna check into my hotel. If you do not know where to stay in Taipei, I've got a suggestion for you. I'm staying at the fabulous Solaria. It's a great hotel recommended by my friend. And now I'm gonna bring you there. The full name of my hotel is Solaria Nishitetsu. It is a hotel really catered for Japanese tourists. The lobby is at level six. And I must say it is very spacious lobby. The check-in person was really helpful. There is a big lobby space actually where look at that. You can work in this working room. And in the lobby you can find free coffee and tea. Almost 24 hours. Carpet I must say. And the decoration is top-notched. Here the lobby also you can find an amenities. Like toothbrush and toothpaste. And also shaving kit self-service. Also very useful is this. Waving machine for your luggage. And there is surprise surprise. A small laundry room where you can do your laundry. And you don't have to pack so many things. Which I thought was brilliant. Here there's also a self-service cloak room. Where you can place your luggage while you check out. And have another fun more hours here in Taipei. Just don't count on the gym though. The gym is pretty basic. But you should be able to do mini runs on the treadmill. Now let's look at my room. This is the 25th floor. A double twin room. Sorry for this mess. But I wanted to show you what they have here. And you have safe. And my my my. There is actually a pajama. This is the very first time I see pajama in a mid-range hotel room. Let's check out the bathroom. Which I think it's my favorite part of the hotel room. There's a huge number 8 shade hot tub. And this is a Japanese catered hotel. And they have this brilliant sitting place. Where you can bathe like the Japanese. Which I think everybody should do. Look at how spacious this marble table is. And you have a very comfy small couch. Small sitting area. The adequate hair dryer is provided. And look at that. A Japanese toilet bowl. This is what everybody should have. They should make it a human rights that everybody should have that. And look at this a small little dustbin. And what can I say about the bed. It's really really nice and comfy. I have this small sofa and a flat screen. And the view over Taipei. Now let's look at this corner. They provide like every other nice Taiwanese hotel. There are Taiwanese tea. Taiwanese coffee. And Taiwanese teapot. Where you can entertain your guests. There's a boiler. Kettle. And there's some glasses where you can use. And this is some more storing place. And here's the fridge. Where I put some sorbine that I bought. So there you go. Voila. That's the incredible room here at Solaria. Well overall I think this is a terrific room. One of the best I had here in Taipei. Thank you thank Solaria. And on towards more food to eat here in Taipei. I love love my hotel Solaria. Highly highly recommend. Now I am back in D1 here in Wanlian's shopping complex. I feel like this Wanlian shopping mall's basement food court is really a hidden gem. And believe me you. Underneath this basement food court. There is an Michelin star restaurant here. And when you're in Taiwan. You really cannot escape from beef noodle. I am in Lao San Dong. Now Lao San Dong has been here since 1949. Three generations passing down the secret recipe of San Dong beef noodle. And San Dong beef noodle is a little bit different from the Taiwanese beef noodle. The soup is much more clearer. And that's what I was told. And the family started this after they migrated from San Dong province. I presume. And started this business. And it's been going on since 1949. Unbelievable. It's incredible juicy meat. Mmm. I would say that the soup is so clear. Look at that. The soup. Seriously the highlight. And I think they they boil. I saw some of the interview that the boss gave to the press. They boil the soup for hours and hours and hours. And with a secret homemade recipe of course. To come up with the soup and the beef. Look at the heart. I can bathe in this soup. Next up is the dumpling. Which is made of spinach and minced meat. There's not a lot of things on the menu. Like most traditional long time shop. But everything is a treasure. The minimum order for the dumpling is 10 pieces. Seriously I don't mind. I don't mind having this all by myself. I'm gonna finish up. And then I'm taking you to the best shopping mall in Taipei. Ta-da! And here we are. I promised to bring you to my favorite shopping place in Taipei. For souvenirs and lots and lots of shopping. And can you believe that you can actually shop in an environment like this. We are at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. Now this area used to be a factory. And now they've converted it into a cultural park. There is a theater. There's art spaces for exhibition. There's lots of flea market stuff. And over the weekend you have cafeteria and open-air food court like this. Isn't this amazing? I have been waiting for this moment to come back to Songshan. Because I have some really really serious shopping to do here in Songshan. And besides that if you want air conditioning. They have a huge mall here as well to go indoor shopping. You can literally spend the whole Sunday here. Which is what I'm about to do here in Songshan. Let's go shopping. And also to see all the incredible craft made by Taiwanese. Made here in Taiwan. One of the hidden gems of Ximending is Yang crisp pork noodle soup. And look at this noodle soup. It's absolutely clear, crisp and it even smells amazing. Every single local Taipei friend of mine has recommended me here. Oh god. This pork. It's so fried. Deeply fried. And then they dip it into a hot soup. But still super crispy. Absolutely amazing. Look how huge and chunky the pork is. Incredible. Well if it's chicken rice that you are missing. Then I've got this place covered for you. This is Si Fu Jian. It's on the edge of Ximending. And look what they've got. I'm not sure if it's Hainanese. But it is chicken rice. It looks like chicken rice. And look at this incredible chicken. The sauce is the sweet sauce. Look at that. More like glutinous rice than the traditional white rice. It's small little pieces as you can see. Small corner plate. And it also comes with the soup. I think they have like the bird egg on the soup. Let's have a taste of the soup. It smells horrible. Okay. There's a lot of goji. A bit of an intestine. That's very satisfying in a like a cold rainy day. It's very very nice. I particularly like the... I don't taste any pepper at all. To my surprise. Very good. So for the finale. And I came here many many years ago. And since then I have never found anything similar. I am at Simon Tien Pula. But it's actually Tempura. Simon Tempura. And they have been here since 1958 here in Ximending. And this is what they serve. It's really a great afternoon snack. With fish ball. And tofu. And white carrot. In this sweet gravy sauce. I have never seen anything like it. This is some sort of a tofu. And this is like a fried wonton. Mmm. Those are the incredible food of Ximending here in Taipei. I first came to Taiwan in 2006. And I absolutely fell in love with the island. And ever since then I wanted to come back every year if I can. I even brought my parents here. The island of Taiwan they call it. A treasure island. Because everything is here. The people are very self-efficient. I hope I've covered all the incredible food of Ximending here in Taipei. If I missed out anything please let me know in the comments below. If I missed out anything here in Ximending. I think I've eaten everything here in Ximending over the past few days. My waistline is absolutely completely gone. I hope you like this video. Please click like, subscribe and you can buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com. Hope to come back to Taiwan to do another episode of Taiwan. Here are more videos of my travel, food travel here in Asia. Thank you and I'll see you in my next video. Goodbye from Ximending, Taipei. Bye!