Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Xinyi. Show all posts

Taiwan Instagrammable Food: Ice Cream Burger from Hello Burger, Taipei

Salty and ice cream burger from Hello Burger Taipei

Strawberry ice burger from Hello Burger Taipei

Hello Burger near Shinkong Mitsukoshi Xinyi Taipei

When I first stumbled into a snipped of these cute buns from Insta, I thought this is a re-creation of Domo-kun, a famous Japanese character. But surprisingly, this cute burger creation actually comes from Taiwan. Oh what? Is that a burger? I would have thought it’s some kind of dessert because the colorful cube stuff which forms the “teeth” of the burger gotta be something sweet, right? I suppose everything is possible when you are creative, just like the Taiwanese.

After further research, the cute burgers are actually sold by Hello Burger, a burger joint located in Shin Kong Mitsukoshi at Xinyi, Taipei. Shin Kong Mitsukoshi is one of the shopping malls in Xinyi area and I think the easiest way to reach Shin Kong Mitsukoshi is by either taking the train to Taipei City Hall MRT or Taipei 101 MRT station and then follow the direction to go to Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (google map will help a lot). It is at level B2 of the shopping mall. You will find out you are the right place when you see the friendly burger in blue saying Hello.

Hello Burger’s menu is simply a math equation. You start by choosing the bun for your burger (oh wow, bamboo charcoal bun looks interesting although it’s gonna be black) and then proceed to choose the topping based on your taste preference. If you like it salty, it will become a savory burger like fried chicken burger (110 NTD). Oh boy, fried chicken with sauce, now you’re talking. It looks pretty yummy. But I personally think that the more interesting choice is gotta be the sweet burger which is filled with ice cream cubes. All the ice cream selection costs 100 NTD and you can choose from many flavours like matcha & milk, black tea & milk, etc. I suspect Hello Burger changes their flavour every now and then so don’t be surprised if you see something funky. The last thing that you have to select is gotta be either the sauce (for salty) or jam (for ice cream).

Cold drinks are available too and guess what, they are not just some simply coke or fanta. You can choose either tea or soda but both cost the same at 60 NTD and it seems you gonna get the cute holder when you purchase drink too. I wonder if it’s free but I hope so.

Taiwan is so full of interesting food, I really can’t wait to go there again to take a bite of everything cute and yummy.

Credits: @tali4227, @yun_che_0304, @yen.food.life, @_tyng1116, @luck75424

"And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four three two..."

After checking Breeze at Taipei Main Station and Zhongshan, I have finally found the correct (and biggest) Line Friends store in Taiwan. If you are looking for the biggest Line Friends store in Taipei, you should make your way to Shinkong Mitsukoshi A11 department store which is located at Xinyi district (nearest MRT: Taipei Main Station).

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Line Friends Store, Breeze Taipei

There is one smaller outlet at Breeze at Taipei Main Station but I could not find anything that I feel like buying from that outlet. And one of the main reasons of why I really really want to go to the right store is because Choco is waiting for me at that store. Awww.

Huge Coco plush at Taipei Line Friends Store

But of course, I was so happy to find Sally, Brown and Cony and immediately posed with them. Hehe.

Hello with Brown, Cony and Sally at Line Friends Store Breeze Taipei

Choco is really the fashionista in Line Friends universe. She even has her own corner at Taipei Line Friends Store. Thankfully the store was not crowded on Friday evening. We did not have to queue for long time to take picture together with the chic Choco.

Choco' corner at Taipei Line Friends Store in Taiwan

I just went crazy over these socks. Like really crazy. There is no way for me to buy Line Friends socks in Singapore because apparently the people here are not really head over heels for Line. They prefer the boring Whatsapp but I do agree that Whatsapp is more convenient and professional to use when you are chatting with colleagues (which includes your...ugh, bosses).

Socks and eye cover from Taipei Line Friends Store

If only I have my own kitchen, I will surely buy all these kitchenware for sure. Maybe it's a good thing I don't even have my own house at the moment. Hahaha. While these goods are cute, they don't really entice me enough to make me want to buy them.

Pouch, dolls and kitchenware from Line Friends Store

There is a swag corner with Brown, Moon and Edward. Don't you wanna be part of the cool gang of Line Friends Town?

Swag with Brown, Moon and Edward at Taipei Line Friends Store

Mobile phone decoration and keychains are plenty but I already have a lot of these stuffs so I gave them a miss. I cant really hang all of them on my one and only phone after all. Hahaha.

Line Friends keychain from Taipei Line Friends Store

The couple Brown and Cony dolls are so cute but my rented room is too small for another pair of Line Friend plush toys. I really need to get my own house really. Somehow. Someday. God will make a way.

Plush toys at Line Friends Store in Taipei

I was so happy I can finally buy Brown and Cony figurines. There are two sets of Brown and Cony each but I decided to start with these two (because these goodies are not cheap). They have been featured quite prominently in my anyhow-takeaway-food because I put them on my table. Let's say they are good companionship when I eat my food while watching Ipad. #singleladylifestyle

Brown and Cony figurines from Line Friends Store Taipei

Line Friends Store is located at:

Shinkong Mitsukoshi A11

Xinyi District

Taipei

Opening hours:

Daily 11AM - 9.30PM

"You and me, get in the car together and ride."

I always think of doing a solo travelling because it has been a long time since the last time I did it. However, few years have passed and I have been doing it again since then. I always think that as long as I am blessed with someone who's willing to travel with me, I should just go travel with them instead going solo. I suppose the moment I am going solo travelling is when I have nobody in my life to share the adventure with. Sound lonely and yet not so lonely after all. I suppose yourself is your best company? Hahaha. It does take me years to realise this phrase, you know.

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Xinyi Shopping District, Taipei

But I was kinda happy I was not alone when I was roaming around in Taipei. My best buddy from high school, SL, has always been my best travelling companion and she's here with me enduring all the nonsense given by her travelling mate, me. Hahahaha.

The moment after we touched down at Taipei after our days spent outside Taipei, we quickly filled ourselves with so many food from unagi rice bowl to bubble tea to cheese tarts and ice cream. Needless to say, we need to walk and burn some fats right now. We decided to wander around Taipei's most glamorous shopping district, Xinyi. You can reach Xinyi by taking the train to Taipei City Hall station. Xinyi is the so-called Central Business District of Taipei. The area was nicely lit up even though it was not Christmas or anything when we visited Taipei in early March. Street musicians and performers are plenty in this area making it a cheerful place to wander around.

Pretty evening walk at Xinyi Shopping District in Taipei City Hall

Alternatively if you do not want to go via Taipei City Hall station, you can also take the train to Taipei 101 Station instead because the skyscraper is located in Xinyi district as well. Plan your timing carefully if you want to go up to the observation tower because there are so many tour groups going up there, you don't want to be stuck in the queue with them. There was one time where I had to queue for nearly two hours because turned out one of the elevators to bring you up was spoilt. So yeah, plan carefully.

Walking toward Taipei 101 at Taipei City Hal

Few blocks away from Taipei 101, we saw a small park right in the midst of big corporations building. The trees in the park were lit as well and we were getting pretty excited to take picture here. Big names for banks, insurances, consultancy firms can be spotted from the surrounding buildings. I wonder if the Taiwanese office workers have time to enjoy and walk around in the vicinity. Working hours for such industry in Singapore are pretty crazy, after all. Maybe it's about the same in Taiwan. Sad notorious Asian working culture.

Beautifully lit road at Taipei City Hall

Oh hello! Did I tell you I was getting pretty excited taking picture here? I never get excited taking picture at Raffles Place of Marina Bay area in Singapore though despite the same "Central Business District" tagging. LOL.

The magnificent Taipei 101 tower can be seen clearly from the park that we were at. The weather was kinda foggy that day so we did not bother to go up after all. Taipei 101 is leased for both retail and office space. So the first 5 levels below belong to retail space while the rest are leased for office. It will be kinda scary and cool at the same time if let's say I'm working at level 40 of the tower? I don't want to be there when earthquake or typhoon strikes the city though. Hahahah.

Other than Taipei 101, here are some places that you may be interested to visit at Xinyi District:

1. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

2. Elephant Mountain

3. The flagship Eslite bookstore

4. ATT4 Fun

5. Shinkong Mitsukoshi Xinyi (you can do tax refund here)

4. Breeze Songgao (a must visit for LINE Friends lover)

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House is now located everywhere around Asia but if you don't know it yet, Din Tai Fung Dumpling House was originated in Taiwan. Apparently back in 1993, Din Tai Fung was the first Chinese restaurant to be rated as one of the top ten gourmet restaurants in the world by New York Times. When we visited Taipei 101, we saw that there is Din Tai Fung Dumpling House inside the mall so we joined the queue and tried how good the original Din Tai Fung dishes taste.

Let's start with the appetizers. We ordered two kind of appetizers. Talk about being greedy. Hahaha. But they are all veggies so they should not take so much space in our tummy. #excuse

The first one is the cold dressed wood ear mushrooms. I love mushrooms! Especially this type. You should try this because I don't think this kind of mushroom is easily available in the other part of the world (I may be wrong though).

Din Tai Fung cold dressed wood ear mushrooms

The second appetizer that we ordered is the braised bitter melon. Initially, I was quite skeptical about this dish because when I ate this in Indonesia, the veggie really lives up to its name. It is really bitter. But the funny thing is, the Taiwanese love to eat this veggie. And now, I found out the reason why. It is because in Taiwan, bitter melon does not taste bitter at all. I wonder if there's something about the veggie or it's just the way they cook the dish.

Din Tai Fung Braised Bitter Melon Taiwan

After the appetizers, we moved on to the dishes. The dishes menu are basically filled with greens. Stir fried lettuce, spinach, bamboo shots (okay this one not really green), you name it. Since it is important to have a balanced diet, we ordered a plate of stir fried spinach served with tofu sheets.

Din Tai Fung Stir Fried Spinach served with Tofu Sheets Taiwan

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Next, we continued on to the main star of Din Tai Fung, the xiao long bao! Yum! Taiwan has a lot of yummy xiao long bao I must say but I admit Din Tai Fung offers a really delicious xiao long bao. They have so many different fillings on the list but if you are having xiao long bao in Taiwan branch, you should order the truffle and pork xiao long bao because this filling may not be available at other countries' branches.

Din Tai Fung Truffle and Pork Xiao Long Bao Taiwan

If the above xiao long bao is not enough, you may also want to try Din Tai Fung's buns. The pork buns especially taste so delicious.

But how about rice and noodles? After all, we don't really feel we have eaten anything yet without eating our carbs. Blame the upbringing of Asian, but I guess I also live up to that kind of stereotype about Asian. LOL. But the noodles at Din Tai Fung do not disappoint, especially the Noodles with Minced Meat Sauce. My all time favorite.

Din Tai Fung Noodles with Minced Meat Sauce Taiwan

If you prefer something soupy, you can go for the Shrimp and Pork Wanton Noodle. I personally feel that while the wantons are nice, the soup is somewhat bland.